Imagine a world without red states. Without the southern states, the rest of us would enjoy:

[Playinghardball]

[TDale313]

1. Well, this should end well.

[Wait Wut]

2. How about we just change them blue.

Saying 'good riddance' to a big chunk of America is rather harsh. Besides, I have family in the south. They're Democrats. And, technically I'm southwester, but you know you'd miss me.

[KittyWampus]

12. Especially since a good lot of that real estate has been gerrymandered.

[Thinkingabout]

16. This is true in Texas, but I refuse to give up, we have been a wonderful blue in the past and I

am willing to work on this again. We had great congressional members in the past and we can get rid of the crazy and restore sanity.

[Lunacee_2013]

140. Good luck!

Our state reps. are insane!

[NightWatcher]

3. It'd be Heaven without those fuckups, right?

How smart are all the Northerners?
They haven't kicked the South out of the Union and they all come here for vacation when its -20 and frozen. Hell tons of Yankees retire here, what's up with that?

Signed, a dumb Southern Boy

[customerserviceguy]

33. Well said, NW

I really despise region-bashing threads more than any other here. I don't really mind if people disagree with me, but when an entire region of the country is written off as being essentially worthless, then my blood starts to boil.

Every time I've been down South, I've always been treated with friendliness and respect. Even with a NY license plate on my car!

[Hoyt]

55. You do have to agree the states we live in need a lot of improvements.

Heck, you can't expect states ruled by Tbaggers to be progressive. I think our region deserves the criticism and even disdain.

[customerserviceguy]

58. There's a difference

between trying to cure something and just plain amputating it.

I would criticize individuals in your region without having disdain for the entirety of it.

[Hoyt]

68. Same thing if individuals you disdain are solid majority.

We need serious improvement, but Tbaggers rule.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

104. Love the people. Hate their politics. (nt)

[customerserviceguy]

217. Let's see

Only two GOP governors in the state of Washington for the last fifty years, and you hate their politics? By the way, both Senators from WA are Democratic women, and it's been that way for over a dozen years.

Is their politics all that offensive? Think about that if you ever go to WA and light up a joint that the VOTERS, not a court said OK to.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

219. Either you're replying to the wrong post or I did...

What on Earth are you talking about? How did Washington get into this?

[customerserviceguy]

234. Sorry

Drinking and posting. We like our beer in the Northwest, and I'm trying to get everyone around here to notch up their game, too. I guess it has its drawbacks...

[Cobalt Violet]

215. many, many more don't retire there than do. n/t

[CTyankee]

4. I couldn't get out of the state of Texas fast enough after I graduated from high school...

I went to college in the Northeast and stayed there. This was at the time of civil rights and I believed very strongly in them, plus my college choices leaned heavily to the northeastern colleges so that is where I ended up. I never went back to Texas to live.

I loved my TX relatives. Many were good Dems for their day but their day had passed and it was a new day. I had to move on.

Life is better for me in CT. After the humiliation and utter sadness of Newtown, I am encouraged with our state legislature passing the toughest gun control laws in the country. I love CT and the rest of New England where my children and grandchildren are.

[cordelia]

47. I'd have gladly helped you pack. And I'm not even from Texas. n/t

[CTyankee]

94. I'll explain this to you. I grew up in the evil system of segregation, went to segregated

schools, rode on segregated buses, drank from segregated water fountains, sat in segregated movie theaters. As a girl during the Civil Rights Era I was struck by the inequity of the system I was living in. I hated that system and wanted to be part of an integrated system, to live in a state where the citizenry was not deformed by institutionalized racism.

I hope you are not saying that you find my youthful idealism objectionable.

[RebelOne]

163. So did I when I lived in South Florida as a child.

I went to segregated schools, drank from segregated fountains, used restrooms that were segre grated and went to segre grated movie theaters and restaurants. I did not know any different because that is how I grew up. I was married quite young and moved to New Jersey with my husband and was shocked to see blacks in restaurants and movie theaters in the north. I was totally floored to see bi-racial couples, as that was totally unacceptable in the South. This was in the mid-'50s.

[CTyankee]

168. we must be about the same age.

However, I did meet kids in my high school who were nyc transplants and I learned a great deal from them. I learned they were really friendly and nice, altho they could be a bit abrupt for my upbringing! New Yorkers still surprise me sometimes, but often their brusque demeanor reveal a true caring about things I care about, so I let it go...

[Blue_In_AK]

59. I stuck it out down there through college

(Unversity of Houston 1964), but like you I was out of there right after graduation and never looked back. I won't even go down there with my husband when he visits his brother near Austin, that's how much I hate it.

[CTyankee]

105. I will concede that things are different from my time there. I lived in Dallas and have

been pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a strong and vibrant gay community in my old neighborhood. And the Hispanic community has made some real strides economically and much better treated than when I was a girl. There is a fine art museum in Fort Worth and Dallas has now stepped up with its art museum, so that is a good sign that progress has been made culturally.

[Blue_In_AK]

147. Speaking as an Alaskan,

what is this "culture" of which you speak?

[CTyankee]

150. well, it varies...

I'll stop at that...

[YoungDemCA]

5. I thought region-bashing was frowned upon here.

I guess you didn't get the memo.

[Paladin]

7. It hasn't been frowned upon for some time, now. (nt)

[cordelia]

42. It's almost celebrated now. n/t

[Paladin]

43. You're absolutely right. Pretty sad, isn't it? (nt)

[cordelia]

45. Yep.

I've never been made to feel more unwelcome anywhere.

Check out who REC'd this garbage.

[uppityperson]

50. huh

6 members have recommended this thread (displayed in chronological order):

chervilant
Katashi_itto
Liberal
Esto
CaliforniaPeggy
xfundy
Squinch

[Tuesday Afternoon]

60. !

gotta admit kind of hurts/sucks/blows to read a couple of those names.

[cordelia]

62. One in particular.

Never would've thought it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

64. yeah ...

did not THINK it THROUGH ...

I hope that is what happened.

[cordelia]

66. I just don't know anymore these days.

[SammyWinstonJack]

139. I would have. Not shocked at all.

One in particular. Never would've thought it.

[cordelia]

231. Think you're right.

[uppityperson]

167. 19 now, with one removed from before.

Now
19 members have recommended this thread (displayed in chronological order):

chervilant
Katashi_itto
LiberalEsto
xfundy
Squinch
Freddie
baldguy
davekriss
Egalitarian Thug
Howler
samsingh
diane in sf
W_HAMILTON
kickysnana
Duppers
byeya
tblue
Corruption Inc
Zoeisright


Yesterday eve:
6 members have recommended this thread (displayed in chronological order):
chervilant
Katashi_itto
Liberal Esto
CaliforniaPeggy
xfundy
Squinch

[Eleanors38]

189. Familiar names in gun debates.

[cordelia]

224. Up to 29

unashamed bigots now.

Some of those names are most definitely not surprises.

[MiddleFingerMom]

233. When you start posting the list of those who rec'd a thread in a kind of Scarlet Letter "exposure"..

.
.
.

... I am compelled to join them in solidarity, not that I agree with the OP, but that I
really really hate self-righteious acts, Reverend Dimmesdale.
.
.
.

[uppityperson]

235. Did you know DU has spell check?

[MiddleFingerMom]

236. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

.
.
.
The most clever retort you could come up with was more self-righteousness? This time about a TYPO!?!?!?!?
.
.
.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You remind me of someone.
.
.
.

[uppityperson]

238. Sigh. You missed the entire point.

I bet I remind you of this person, right?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=153488

Or maybe this one, make sure you read it before clicking on it though. You were warned.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=logout

[MiddleFingerMom]

239. You must have sighed because you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Bummer.

.
.
.
I mean... it wasn't even MORE self-righteousness, was it?
.
Sorry... self-rightieousness.
.
.
.Was there actually an "entire point" that I missed, or was that more empty rhetoric. Or
just an excuse to sigh in such a world-weary manner? I haven't heard that employed
since my days in high school, btw.
.
.
.
And this mysterious "entire point?
.
.
.

[MiddleFingerMom]

246. Uh-huh. I figgered.

[auntAgonist]

226. Sadly, I'm not surprised. Disgusted but not surprised. True colours right there. n/t

[uppityperson]

49. 3-3 jury to allow regional bigotry. Sigh

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this post at Tue Jun 18, 2013, 04:53 PM, and voted 3-3 to keep it.

[cordelia]

51. Says a lot, doesn't it? Sad.

[Puzzledtraveller]

102. For a vast majority loathing and hatred are prime motivators

it is just as applicable to some people calling themselves progressives. It is a problem within our party because these are the voters who will go along with anything X say's as long as it opposes Y.

[MiddleFingerMom]

247. "Loathing and hatred?"... Hyperbole much? Hyperbole causes people to miss anything actually...

.
.
.
... insightful that you might have to say to them.
.
.
.
But you should and (I hope) already DO know that and you really aren't reaching out
to enlighten or change anyone.
.
It sounds like you just want to spank them verbally, not in the hopes of teaching them
changing them, causing them to conder anything... but just to spank them verbally.
.
.
.
That sort of "argument/discussion" makes me think of monkeys flinging poo.
.
.
.

[Puzzledtraveller]

248. I love you

[Ms. Toad]

203. Jury results, BTW

At Tue Jun 18, 2013, 07:50 PM you sent an alert on the following post:

Imagine a world without red states. Without the southern states, the rest of us would enjoy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023042895

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

YOUR COMMENTS:

Red states are made up of people who vote red AND who vote blue. In many red states the former outweighs the latter by a very slim marging. This post is bigoted and hurtful to DUers who live in, or love someone who lives in, a red state. This violates my community standards. I hope it violates yours, as well and we can start to put an end to the region bashing that has been too prevalent on DU recently.

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Tue Jun 18, 2013, 07:53 PM, and voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT ALONE.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Sorry - we should have let them go in 1861
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: Many good DU'ers live in the south. To advocate for elimination of their states is bigotry and inflammatory. Instead, we should be supporting their efforts to change the places they live.

But I am sure your state and the politicians there are just perfect. If we couldn't all just be like you.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: Ludicrous flame-bait. Dishonest and disruptive.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given

Thank you.

I tried - so close. (I was afraid it would be 6-0, and almost didn't send the alert because I didn't feel like having my alerting privileges yanked for 24 hours)

[uppityperson]

213. Thanks, big sigh. I've gotten a 6-0 only once and I thought it'd be a slam dunk Hide. Now am

more cautious.

[Rise Rebel Resist]

214. here

"I tried - so close. (I was afraid it would be
6-0, and almost didn't send the alert because
I didn't feel like having my alerting privileges
yanked for 24 hours)"

I'm not too bothered about my alert privileges, bigots need challenged

[Ms. Toad]

220. Well -

You notice I did still send the alert.

Mostly I just get really tired - and tired of the administrative smack downs when I suggest that such massive jury failures indicate a failure in the jury system. (The last region bashing alert I submitted - an alert I sent on a post that was made while people were still buried in the rubble of the second tornado in Moore .)

[Gormy Cuss]

221. Another 3-3 win!

It's amazing how often crap is allowed to stand because of the tie breaker.

[Ms. Toad]

225. Yep.

I was actually surprised I got 3 votes - so, in the micro sense at least, I consider it progress.

[KansDem]

106. "Region-bashing"

I don't care what "region" you are; just keep it out of my government!

[xmas74]

116. It's not.

If it's about the South or the flyover states it's almost encouraged. At least, the juries encourage it, informing the alerter that they need to get a thicker skin.

[vi5]

6. And this is based off of what?

All those Democrats we have who strongly fight for all those things?

Right.

The Republicans are obstructionists, but make no mistake about it a solid chunk of Democrats (including our president and our leaders in both chambers) love having the Republicans around as scapegoats so that they don't have to actually advocate for any of those things (since almost all of them piss off the money men and their buddies on wall street).

[Brigid]

8. Read "Better Off Without 'Em" by Chuck Thompson.

I am not quite as ready to write off the South as a hopeless case as he is, but it is quite a read.

[Jimbo S]

71. Read the book last year

someone on DU recommended it. A little too mean-spirited for my taste, yet thought-provoking.

[FSogol]

9. Unrec. We can do all that and keep the Southern and Red States. n/t

[chervilant]

10. At some point,

we must recognize that it's not the "red states" as much as it's the corporate megalomaniacs (you know the ones...) who generate the propaganda that keeps our fearful brethren deluded and voting against their own best interests. We must band together to fight for our rights, and to save our democracy. More Republicans are recognizing what the corporate megs are doing. I still hope we can work together to effect change.

[Squinch]

48. I'm not bashing any region here when I state the fact that the Southern states do give the backbone

to the Republican strength in the legislature, and that Republican strength is what has brought us to a standstill. It is also what has voted for all the measures that have given the current oligarchical power to those corporate megalomaniacs you are talking about.

[chervilant]

93. Exactly!

And, I don't think you're bashing. I do think we will have to join with our Republican friends and family to stop the corporate megalomaniacs who've usurped our media, our politics AND our global economy. Some of the Republicans are "waking up." I remain hopeful, especially if more Democrats (and others) work to unify the Hoi Polloi against the megs.

[MrSlayer]

118. Really? My entire state legislature is owned by teabaggers.

And I live in PA, a "blue", mid-atlantic state.

[Squinch]

161. Yes, other states vote republican. But most southern states vote Republican in a bloc. This is

not an insult to anyone. It's just what is.

[MrSlayer]

165. I know but getting rid of the South doesn't get rid of the problem.

The bagger douches here and in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and so on and so forth will never give us all those good things mentioned in the OP, perhaps a separate federal government might but those bagger types still get a vote in "blue" America and they might elect Scott Brown or Pat Toomey types.

[Squinch]

166. I suspect the post was using hyperbole to make a point, and doesn't really want the South to secede.

And so am I when I say that if the South did secede, the baggers in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio would be completely outnumbered and would not stand a chance with any federal legislation. Also, the Republican party's heart would be gone, so the strength of the Republican machine in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio would be vastly diminished, and it's destructive ability even within those states would erode.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. It's not so much Red vs. Blue (all states are varying shades of purple) but urban vs. rural

and educated vs. uneducated.

Furthermore, you overestimate the ability of the Democrats to get out from under corporate financing. Frankly, the Democrats today are, with few exceptions, enablers of all the bad stuff we moan and groan about.

In fact, in most countries, the Dems would be considered a conservative party.

My cousin in Norway is active in a party (I forget its exact name) that she describes as "a bit green and a bit red." Sounds like a party I could really go for.

[BeyondGeography]

13. Imagine all the music the entire world never would have heard

The South is essential.

[Orrex]

17. Meh. What have they done for us lately?

[Hekate]

80. It's pervasive and continually creative and you know it.

yourself.

[Orrex]

107. Okay, the musicians can stay.

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. Imagine a world without idiots imagining a world without red states.

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see 'em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world...

[NaturalHigh]

19. I've tried, believe me.

It's fashionable to hate on the South here. Apparently all yankees are perfect.

[Hekate]

81. Not all of us are "Yankees" anyway, so we know they're not all perfect!

Californians are ... Californian.

I wish the OP could be unrecced.

[NaturalHigh]

198. Yeah, I actually thought about that after I posted.

Sorry...didn't mean to associate you with yankees.

[Hekate]

200. It's an antiquated division from another era

The country is so much bigger now, and terms like "Yankee" refer to an ever-smaller region....

[NaturalHigh]

201. Very true.

My family still uses it because we have a crazy northern cousin whom we call "the yankee."

[Rex]

245. The idiots that imagine a world without red states

are on par with the idiots that imagine a world without blue states. Both groups are worthless.

[moondust]

15. Friendly divorce?

Let's do it!

[Arkansas Granny]

18. Is there any real purpose to this post?

Didn't think so.

[NaturalHigh]

20. Some people just like to remove all doubt about their low IQ...

and lack of class. I see these threads all the time. Nothing new, unfortunately.

[Hekate]

82. It's just divisive crap with no purpose beyond that.

When I read OPs like this one I always wonder: "Is that guy just bored tonight?"

[DirkGently]

21. Hooray more smug Yankee bullshit.

Without Michigan, we could enjoy life without batshit militia groups. And hey, how about that "emergency dictator" law where all the black cities have their elected officials thrown out so they can build more golf courses?

Without Indiana, we'd have fewer crazy textbooks.

Without the Dakotas, less nutty anti-abortion bills.

No one has more crazy racists than the Pacific Northwest either.

How's Wisconsin treating those unions?

Everybody's got rightwingers, folks. Getting an ego boost from the imaginary idea that you're somehow a better person because of your geography is about as stupid and rude as you can possibly get.

[Paladin]

23. +1000. Thank you. (nt)

[customerserviceguy]

52. OK, just Idaho on that NW bashing

Not Oregon or Washington. Especially not my home state of Washington. In 2008, Barack Obama beat Hillary in ALL 39 counties in the primary vote. And Washington always made the right choices when marriage equality (or steps towards it) was on the ballot.

Hell, even outside a few panhandle Idaho counties, that state is OK by me.

[DirkGently]

92. Not bashing anyone. But there are scary racists in Oregon

... And Washington too.

[customerserviceguy]

216. And everywhere else for that matter

I hear more racial slurs used in NY and NJ than I ever heard routinely in Oregon or Washington.

[gejohnston]

174. Yeah, but those crazies in Idaho are transplants from

Illinois and California. Arpaio was born in MA and moved to Arizona from New Jersey. Jan Brewer moved to Arizona from California. New York used to have some RWNJ, but they moved to Florida and Arizona. When I was stationed in California, I ran into a lot of super right wing nuts. My church in Kansas was more liberal than the one in Vacaville.
Point is, the people create the place, the place doesn't create the people.

[DonCoquixote]

22. Born in NJ, now in Florida

Sorry to say folks, I know a lot of places in NJ that are red; think the tooth fairy elected Chris Christie?

Want rid of Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, Willie Nelson, Kris kristofferson, and that is just Texas.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

34. Who cares?

None of those Texans you mention have held public office in the state. I doubt any of the three living could win statewide, or anywhere outside of the larger cities. Chris Christie, (like Ann Richards) is a notable exception to the general rule in those respective states.

Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to a statewide office in almost 25 years. They haven't had a Democratic senator in 20. Quit telling us about how great that state is.

I hate posts like these because the people who post them list every single Republican who's been elected outside the south/Texas while 1) Ignoring the fact that the TX governor, both US Senators, and the vast majority of their house delegation are republicans, also, both houses of the state leg are controlled by the GOP! 2) Pretending that George W. Bush is a damn yankee, who has nothing to do with Texas (despite the fact he was a two term governor, and he carried the state in both of his presidential campaigns). 3) Constantly mentioning the fact that (before the civil rights movement) Texas "was blue". As if, back then, supporting the Democratic party was an indicator of supporting liberal politics.

[Hangingon]

54. K believe my old classmate Jim Hightower was elected Agriculture Commissioner

[muntrv]

24. I don't have a problem with Southern states and red states.

I just have a problem with the teabaggers running those states.

[cprompt]

25. Losing more than half the African American population - nt

Nt

[cordelia]

40. Which leads me to believe that the OP is

bigoted in more ways than one.

[cprompt]

57. perhaps

The whole concept is ignorant anyways

[cordelia]

63. Enormously ignorant, but also condoned.

[cali]

26. baloney. hogwash. codswallop.

[NoPasaran]

27. If you're so goddamned smart

Why don't you Yankees secede?

[n2doc]

28. What About Wisconsin?

What about Maine? Pennsylvania? What about the years when states like California had GOP governors like Reagan?

This sort of divisive, wishing crap needs to stop. The south will be blue, with hard work, demographics, and time.

[Hekate]

83. California sent both Nixon and Reagan to Washington DC, so what about us?

The south will be blue, with hard work, demographics, and time.

[The Straight Story]

29. No Guns? Except for cops/government people (whom we should all totally trust)

Aren't most the big corporations that are running the government ran out of blue states? And aren't the wealthiest in those states as well?

Ban on regular ole cars too and ban on all carbon emissions? Yeah....let's see how that would happen.

I write funny things too when I am on crack...

[datasuspect]

101. practically anyone in rural yankee land

you talk to is a bona fide conservative and big on 2nd amendment rights, gun ownership, and hating obama.

not everyone, but most of them.

people need to go outside of their bubbles a little more.

large cities in yankee land are the oases of blue for the most part.

[The Straight Story]

120. You say it like it is a bad thing:

"big on 2nd amendment rights"

I live in Ohio, a state that switches it mind all the time when it comes to president.

Some of them rural folk hate Obama/dems because they actually have uses for their guns, they are not the ones living in cities shooting up people, but they are the ones being impacted by less than what 1% of gun owners do with their guns.

It might be akin to conservatives wanting to ban faster internet speeds and anon browsing because of illegal porn and then wanting you have to use to your real name on all web sites, etc.

Wouldn't matter who the candidate was, people would not like them based on the ideas of the party when it came to that issue.

"large cities in yankee land are the oases of blue for the most part. "

What is needed in large cities is not needed/wanted in small towns and it is the arrogance of those in such places thinking they know what is best for others that leads to that whole 'liberal elite' image. You all can't handle a gun without going nuts and killing each other on a regular basis? Well, folks out in the country don't have that issue.

It is like the religion of a big church trying to tell smaller ones how to operate.

Yeah, people do need to get out of their bubbles and realize we don't all live in some cramped, crime ridden, city and that gomer out in Byesville, Ohio does not need some guy in a city 80 miles away telling him how to live.

[datasuspect]

123. You say it like you're looking for an argument

nope. just a bald statement of fact.

there are more uses for weapons in rural life, especially for hunting, getting rid of varmints, stuff like that.

and it cramped, FILTHY, and crime ridden cities.

no love for big city life here.

[TransitJohn]

30. LOL at a ban on carbon emissions.

No more energy in the short term. Nice aspirations, but let's keep it real.

[arely staircase]

31. fuck that shit

I am working daily to change texas purple - then blue.

demography is destiny

[graham4anything]

32. Imagine a world that is 80-20. No need to imagine long, its coming in 2017-2018,& it will be great.

America is tired of the lie of the extremists that it is 50-50.

And in 2016, the vote will clearly show it.

Which is why in 2013 they are trying so hard to fracture the 80.

Remember to vote for Markey, now a week away. His voice is a must to keep the Senate.

There is NOT one reason any democratic supporter should NOT vote for him or use a protest vote for some wedge reason.

[Buzz Clik]

35. Sorry, but that is one fucked up sign.

[nomorenomore08]

36. What about Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, the Dakotas?

Not exactly progressive bastions...

[BlueJazz]

37. I live in Florida and IF it were possible for the south to secede, I'd say do it.

I'd gladly sacrifice my happiness/life for the greater good.

[HockeyMom]

177. Native?

Florida is part of the South and as an (unwilling) transplant from the NE, I would include Florida in any Southern Secession movement.

[BlueJazz]

199. My thoughts exactly. No, I was born in Australia but I am naive.

[Liberal Veteran]

38. Imagine a world without gerrymandering districts and disproportionate senate representation.

And we might get somewhere.

[Cirque du So-What]

39. Congratulations

Top-notch shit-stirring and divisive claptrap. Oh, yes, that graphic is utter bullshit as well.

[kentauros]

115. It's definitely shit-stirring

when the OP posts this and then doesn't participate in their own thread. I wonder how much of a laugh they've gotten out of it so far?

[oneshooter]

41. Carefull there, your regional bigotry is showing.

[UtahLib]

44. Please

If you're not finding DU devisive enough, I'd like to direct you to any one of numerous NSA threads currently flooding GD.

[yawnmaster]

46. LOL....riiiiiiiiiight. eom

[MicaelS]

53. Times like this I miss the Unrec button.

Unrec x 10,000. Fuck your Region Bashing bullshit.

[hobbit709]

56. What a pile of caca de vaca.

[Ms. Toad]

206. +1

Or mierde de toro. But cow poop has a better ring in Spanish/

[Tx4obama]

61. Over 3.5 MILLION Texans voted for Obama and we are not fucking going anywhere!

The South bashing on DU is disgusting!

[Hekate]

85. I'm so proud to call women like Molly Ivins, Ann Richards, and Cecile Richards ...

... my fellow Americans. Texas has sent us great populists like Jim Hightower. Lyndon Baines Johnson was a Texan, and worked for Democratic values his entire life.

I no longer know what the hell is going on here.

Hekate
California/Hawai'i

[raccoon]

99. Maybe the Southern DU'ers should secede from DU and form SDU? nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

170. We need a Southern DU!

That's a good idea. Native Texan here.

I have NEVER in my life voted for a Republican politician in over 35 years.

Not once. Third generation Democrat, child of a union organizer and proud of it.

I didn't vote for my governor, senators or Congressman. They don't represent me.

There is absolutely no Democratic county organization, because we're outvoted and outnumbered.

[Rod Walker]

65. How exactly does a complete ban on the emission of carbon work?

Details, please...

[flvegan]

67. I don't even know where to begin with the stupid.

I could start at "No Guns" but I'd have to jump to "electric cars" pretty quickly because of just how strong the stupidity is with that grouping.

Though I'm very impressed with the surge towards veganism with those states in question, their "ban on carbon emissions" being what it would be. Right? Yeah, no more bacon chilly.

Oh, snap...something you LIKE???!!! Shit, can't have that. Regroup and redeliver.

I'd rather imagine a world without morons.

[geek tragedy]

69. "Ban on carbon emissions"

Um, how are people supposed to breathe?

[MADem]

79. Even if we managed to not breathe up north, a lot of us heat our homes in winter with oil and

natural gas and wood and pellets...some even use (gasp) COAL!

We're not all Prius drivers with a solar panel on the roof and a windmill in the back forty...

[Hekate]

86. LOL. Isn't there a movie called "Waiting to Exhale"?

Maybe there's a few tips in there.

[Egalitarian Thug]

70. I could quibble with some of the details, but overall, the nation would be better off without

these people. Just observe the reactions from the easily offended.

[Tx4obama]

72. Wow! So, us DUers that live in the South to you are: 'these people'

Well bless your heart.

[Egalitarian Thug]

74. Nope, wrong as usual. Please don't pretend that you are representative of any group of

"DUers that live in the south". There are plenty of southern DUers that see exactly what is being said here and, even if they don't agree with the statement made in OP, are completely capable of discussion.

No, you are part of the easily and perpetually offended, that give southerners a bad name.

I have been, and likely will be a southerner again. You are in no way representative of southerners.

[Are_grits_groceries]

127. Excuse me?

Who are to you to deem what is an acceptble response? Who are you to announce who are representative Southerners?
Just because someone has a strong reaction to being bashed and told that they should be thrown out with the GOPeas, that doesn't mean they aren't aware of problems. Many have worked to correct them.
It is tiresome and galling to be thought of as trash to be gotten rid of.

[Egalitarian Thug]

129. Read what you wrote and turn it around. Still anxious to make that leap?

You assume positions not taken and ignore the actual content in your willingness to take offense.

We both know many proud southerners that, while we might disagree on this or that issue, are perfectly civil and capable of thoughtful discussion. We also know plenty of people who walk around looking for a reason to fight.

I could argue against nearly all of the points in the OP/graphic, but the underlying fact is that there was no call to expel the southern states. The idea came from a vocal minority of southerners from the latter group that talk about seceding.

[Egalitarian Thug]

164. No, just you and your whiny minority. You keep trying to potray yourself

as representative of southerners. While I can see you coming from the same place as most of Texas' right-wing politicians, you are not typical of southerners at all.

[cordelia]

87. Wrong. As usual.

[Paladin]

96. Thank you, sir. May we have another? (nt)

[LanternWaste]

156. believed the world would be better off without the demographic pollution...

Throughout history, there have always been individuals who believed the world would be better off without the demographic pollution of X or Y. And of course, yours is simply continuing that grand tradition.

Yet I've no doubt that you have absolute faith in your position (as did so many others before you), and those who disagree with you are merely "easily offended (again, as did so many before you), and you will rationalize your position to the best of your ability (as did so many before you). You may even write a book about your struggle with the offending demographics, and how and why they should be removed from society.

And of course, if it helps you validate yourself, you may certainly pretend that I'm merely "easily offended" or that I "just don't get it" to better justify your position... as did so many before you.

[Egalitarian Thug]

159. Thank you for making my point. Again.

Has anyone proposed doing anything? No.

Was it people outside the south that proposed expulsion of the south? No.

Did I write that the individual points listed were correct? No.

Can you deny that the south takes far more from the nation as a whole than they contribute? No.

Does a prominent and ever-present faction of two or three dozen DUer constantly troll this forum looking liberals to bash and for things to be outraged about, no matter how silly or inconsequential? Just look around.

[LanternWaste]

202. And now you put lipstick on that pig.

"but overall, the nation would be better off without these people. "

And now you put lipstick on that pig. But the pig is still there... But please, continue pretending you know who the country would be better of without; many people in history pretended to know the precise same thing...


(and simply saying "you make my point" is rather petulant when that is not in fact the case)

[Egalitarian Thug]

208. So, you have no argument at all. How very typical. Now, feel free to walk away

in a huff of nothing to back up your indignation.

Figure it out and please, quit being a sucker. You just make it harder for the rest of us.

[Lizzie Poppet]

73. No guns outside the southern states?

The person who made that has obviously never set foot west of the Mississippi...

[Fla_Democrat]

75. Bless your heart

[MagickMuffin]

76. So, I Would Imagine California Being So Progressive Already Has ALL The Laundry List Accomplished

Correct me if I'm wrong about the things California has accomplished.

1) Universal Healthcare: Nope

2) No Guns: Nope

3) Strong Unions: Maybe a few unions left out there.

4) A Humane Minimum Wage: Probably Not

5) A Humane Immigration Policy: Not Very Likely, just look at companies workforce and whether they hire undocumented workers and how fair they are treated.

6) High Revenues From A Fair Tax Structure: I'll bet this isn't something being implemented.

7) A Massive Public Works Program: Not anything I've heard about

8) Legal Gay Marriage: OOPS, California is not even close on this one, they are way behind on this as other states have made this happen! And the voters even voted on this a few years back and it lost at the ballot box. OOPS!

9) A Ban On Carbon Emissions: This makes very little sense, but I doubt very much this is in place already!

10) Electric Cars: Perhaps a few, but not very many.

11) Stronger Workplace Protections: Let's ask the field workers who harvest our food if they feel as though they are being protected in the workplace.

12) Extended Family Leave: I'll bet you have this covered!

13) Longer Unemployment Benefits: How long should they last?

As I recall California gave us Nixon, and Reagun.

Yep, and then there is/was Duncan Hunter, Randy Cunningham, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, George Radanovich, David Drier, Jerry Lewis, Robert Dornan, Dana Rohrabacher, etc. etc. What did any of the above list of representatives do for ya?

Sheesh, Silly Season has started early here.

I volunteer as a Precinct Chair and I am working on turning my county back to being Democratic, as well as the state in general. We should ALL strive to be supportive of each other instead of this divisive bullshit. I only mention your state's reps as a general observation that every state has Republicans in it and people who vote to put them into office.

What if ( heaven forbid ) California became a "red" state? How would that make you feel when other Democrats started hating on your state because you weren't the right color? This nonsense is rather tiresome and very juvenile at worst.

I've been informed that I should lighten up. Perhaps I should, but perhaps the better solution would be to start embracing each other instead.

ALL You Need Is LOVE!

[carolinayellowdog]

77. your America would be so much richer and whiter

and colder in more than one sense. Eliminationist rhetoric has a certain odor that seems noticeable only by those against whom it is used. Matters little to me whether I'm to be eliminated over sexual orientation, political views, or the river I live south of.

[Hekate]

78. What about Howard Dean's 50-state strategy? Plus some of our greatest Dems...

... have come from the South, such as LBJ, and a whole slew of long-time DUers. Nearly all our best orators, black and white, have been from the South. Jazz, America's own music, is not just black, it's Southern. People of the Southern US have contributed much to making America what it is.

I could go on and on, even though except for visits to friends in Virginia and Florida, I have never seen the Southern states nor have I ever had any desire to live there. My roots are in Hawai'i and California, and I am pretty sure I would go into culture shock if I up and moved South forever. But that does not make "The South" alien and evil, much less the Southerners who live there.

These United States embrace many American cultures within our borders, and none of them, including yours, is either all wrong or all right. Oh, and in case you didn't notice, Washington D.C. is a Southern city.

Sorry to say it, but the OP's "Occupy Democrats.com" poster is just short-sighted, mean-spirited, and flat-out wrong. Our country would not become some Socialist paradise -- getting rid of the Southern states would be akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Niceguy1]

84. imagine

A world freenof people who make themselves feel better by insulting and bashing others... including the way they talk.


Now that would be nice.

[AngryOldDem]

88. Gee, most of that describes Indiana.

Want it to secede too?

[ileus]

89. We'll stay blue and keep our firearms.

Thanks for offering...

[Captain Stern]

90. Doesn't sound very progressive to me

Instead of working to actually implement these policies for the people that need it the most, you're advocating kicking the very same people out of the country instead.

That would get rid of a lot of those pesky black people, right? But, I'm sure that's not the intention here.

[hack89]

91. All those gun manufacturers in New England's "Gun Valley" will be surprised

Larivee confidently answers all questions, except for one. How can a company like Savage be thriving in high-cost unionized Massachusetts, when we were all led to believe manufacturing was firmly in New England’s past? “I don’t understand why it’s happening,” he says. “No, I don’t.”

Savage is probably the most dramatic example of what’s going on in “Gun Valley,” the swath of Western Massachusetts and Connecticut where industrial gun making in America began. Anchored by Colt in Hartford and Smith & Wesson in Springfield, the Connecticut River Valley remains home to dozens of firearms manufacturers and suppliers. Gun sales are soaring across the nation, with many manufacturers having posted record profits in 2012. And no matter where you fall on the gun debate, there’s no argument that this expansion has very real economic implications for a struggling region. There’s even a chance that the current boom could see guns reprise their role from two centuries ago, powering the growth of other high-skill manufacturing throughout the area.

Although California and Texas are home to more gun-related jobs, Connecticut and Massachusetts rank fourth and fifth in total economic output from this industry, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms trade association. And when it comes to average pay packages for those in the industry, Connecticut and Massachusetts occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, at $71,123 and $65,386, boosted by all the executive salaries at those corporate headquarters. The fact that the foundation is based in Newtown, Connecticut, speaks to both the region’s historic connection to guns and the way the school massacre could reshape the future. The carnage in Newtown came at the end of an assault rifle, and Connecticut expanded its ban on those weapons as part of its sweeping new gun measures passed earlier in April. Even though Savage produces rifles and shotguns for hunting and target shooting and does not make assault rifles or handguns, it is subject to the same winds blowing around the wider gun world

http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2013/04/13/greetings-from-new-england-gun-valley/bnluvQAU7sgWyhe4x8FVgP/story.html

[HereSince1628]

95. At which point we'll turn attention to the northern deformers?

Some days it feels like most of the Blue in WI is from recent bruises.

This mornings kick in the head was news that the 'patriots' are turning on disabled vets...no more capping property tax around $2000 for them.

I guess someone is afraid that tax break encourages disabled vets to be deadbeats.

[Phentex]

97. Thanks for the bigotry. Not all red states are southern...

This is hateful.

[datasuspect]

98. infographics

are a shortcut to actual thinking.

in fact, some can argue they make people even more stupid than they already are.

[Puzzledtraveller]

100. unrec

[siligut]

103. John Lennon had similar hopes

"Imagine"

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

[telclaven]

108. Calls for ethnic cleansing

And people cheer. Wow

[Neoma]

109. Grew up in the south, and the most racist comment said to me was by someone raised northern.

I was also called a Hill William and in turn my husband was called a Yankee.

People are stupid, mean, destructive, greedy and arrogant no matter what part of the world you're in. Pushing people away will only further the right wingers goals.

[MuseRider]

110. Imagine a world

where people who were doing well in blue states helped those who are like them in the troubled red states change it and did not abandon them when they were occupied by the worst of human beings and the most wealthy of human beings.

Imagine a world where the "smart" people attempted to understand what was going on and didn't just continue to pile on when times were rough.

Imagine a world where the "liberal" parts of the country helped those in untenable and incurable situations by supporting the efforts of the very small minorities to make a change.

Imagine those "liberal" people not making things worse every damned day by walking around with their oh so perfect noses in the air leaving that as an example of what a liberal really is making it 10 times harder for those true liberals in those red states to make any headway at all.

I hate living in teabagger land but I have to say I would rather be here working with a few really fine, compassionate, hard working TRUE liberals than live in states with people that would say what that sign says including so many of you wonderful people here on DU who just can't get over your perfection.

While you bash states who say they want to secede you suggest they secede and cheer. So they are evil and you are what? Better? LOL, cute. You understand perhaps less than they do what you are talking about.

Bite me. You oh so smart blue state people don't have the first fucking clue what is happening and has happened here beyond the very most basic of knee jerk hatred. I will go right along with my red state and continue to work on understanding and real, real grass roots progressiveness. It won't happen in my life time, this turnaround, but I would really prefer if you who can't help would step the fuck out of our way.

That this sign has the word Occupy on it saddens me.

[Phentex]

111. Thanks for getting it...

It could happen in our lifetimes. The pendulum always swings to the other side!

[MuseRider]

126. I would like to think that

but I live in Kansas where the governor represents our best citizens, the Koch brothers.

No money or help from the national democratic party. We are outnumbered now when before we actually could compete. So far there is nobody serious even to run against this clown Brownback. Our best bet would be to register R and primary the sucker out. I don't see any way out of this for a very long time. Americans for Prosperity and ALEC make our laws, same for other states and they are passed without a squeak. The only quibbling is how far they can go. Simply put, the Kochs house their businesses here and that is all that matters. There IS no one else to consider.

So I am sensitive about this. We were abandoned, not the only state either. Dean tried and it helped but then we were dropped again and we are entrenched now. We have 33 Dems in the house against 92 Reps and in the Senate we have 8 Dems and 32 Reps. Many of those people are teabaggers and supported by the Koch brothers as is our governor who surrounds himself with ex AFP people.

This is why it is now so difficult here and when I see this divisive crap posted I get so angry. I know a lot of the Dems here and not a one of them would fit the definition of what the Reps call Dems. It all comes from the nose in the air attitude from outside our state like this stupid post and this just makes things 10 times more difficult.

Anyway, not really angry more like frustrated beyond what I ever imagined I would ever have to be. To have to fight through crap thrown out in front of you by your own before you can even get to the other side is simply insane.

[Bosso 63]

112. B.S.

My blue state (Minnesota) has has Al Franken and Michele Bachmann. The ignorant can't be identified by geography alone, the argument is based on a stereotype of the South that is simplistic and derogatory.

[aikoaiko]

113. You think you know that would be the outcome, but you really don't

There plenty of red "thinkers" in blue states and politics in the US has a way of finding an equilibrium.

[NCTraveler]

114. The person who put that sign together is truly ignorant.

They need to get an education. That level of stupid is painful to read. They probably surround themselves with stupid people willing to read that and all pat themselves on the back. The northerner who wrote that needs to stay up north and out of Florida, they would actually drag down the average IQ of my state.

[cordelia]

124. Indeed. The stupid burns. Please notice the avatar of the OP

Jim Morrison who was born in Melbourne FL.

[carolinayellowdog]

117. Reddest states in order: Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Montana...

Alaska, Oklahoma.

So your hatemongering post is based on at best 10% accurate information.

Source:

There is also the "small" matter of fallacy of misplaced concreteness, writing about "them" as if the every resident of every southern state was a rightwinger-- and choosing to spew this nonsense in a forum where virtually every southerner who reads it is NOT one of "them." Anyone piling on or reccing this who lives in one of those reddest Western states should be red with shame.

[kentauros]

119. Isn't advocating for the breakup of the Union considered treason?

One thing I've found interesting about these BS posts and threads in recent years on DU is that the majority seem to want to start the Civil War all over again. And the majority of that sentiment is coming from the victors of the first one.

[HappyMe]

121. Here's some classic shit stirring.

[Egalitarian Thug]

122. I am always amused at the difference between both the numbers and level of vitriol here

between the "righteous defenders" of the south vs. the liberals on this site. Simply fascinating.

"Fuck the liberals, who needs them?", meh.

"Let the south go!", you should be banned!

[Revanchist]

125. I agree!!!!

We need more of those wonderful Northerners like Mitt Romney and less of those vile Southerners like Jimmy Carter


I don't know how to make the sarcasm tag so just picture it here

[premium]

130. When you go to post a reply,

click on the smilies tab, go to the bottom of the smilies and you'll see this: ... click on that and the smilie is in there.

Welcome to DU.

[Revanchist]

131. Thanks for the welcome

But I've been a member for five years now, I just rarely post

[premium]

132. Sorry about that,

I rarely look at someone's profile. Maybe I need to do that more often.

[Cal Carpenter]

128. Divisive bullshit

Seriously. This shit is NOT helpful. Or accurate.

[Serve The Servants]

135. That pic is what the Democrat self-destruct button looks like /NT

[Kingofalldems]

242. As in Democrat party

Got it.

[Orsino]

136. +1

And not original, either. So old it wears bell-bottoms and slurs, "Whazuuuuuup,"

[cigsandcoffee]

133. What part of Alabama is Wall Street in, again? n/t

[Puzzledtraveller]

145. ^^this^^

conveniently ignored of course

[Serve The Servants]

134. I'd gladly support the secession

of all the social micro-managers and control freaks we have in this county, Red or Blue.

That's a lot of people - on both sides.

[snooper2]

137. Where did they OP go? No more input?

OP Massive FAIL

[KamaAina]

138. The South is keeping us from having electric cars?

In my best Johnny Carson voice, "I did not know that."

And no guns? Wouldn't we still have the Second Amendment? How about "Fewer guns and no assault rifles"?

Pending the Supreme Court ruling, California still does not have marriage equality. Is the South somehow to blame for Prop H8? If any state is to be blamed, it's Utah, where a certain church pumped $$$ millions into it.

Unrec.

[npk]

141. The southern states have little to do with national politics.

There are not enough electoral votes for the TRUE southern states to have an impact anymore. The true southern states, or what most people actually mean is "Southeastern States" include, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina. Even if you include states like Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Oklahoma and even Texas these states still don't produce enough electoral votes, even if everyone of them went red to effect a national election or a presidential election. And if people actually believe that states like California, New York, Chicago, Oregon, and Washington don't have a large share of republicans, and even rednecks living in those states they are highly delusional.

The fact is Southern states have long been made irrelevant when it comes to national politics. Now for the people living in those states, where state elections matter for issues like gay marriage, taxes, unions, etc. then yes those places can be difficult to effect change. But if you think that the South is holding up Universal Health Care or a Ban on Carbon Emissions, then some of you might want to look a little closer to home.

[bluestate10]

196. I don't get South bashing. But you are dead wrong.

The problem IS the Representatives and Senators that southern states send north to Washington. The base of the obstructionist republican party is squarely in the rural South. Democrats in the South are gaining in southern cities and suburbs that are influenced by the cities, but a long hard fight is ahead if the republican party of the South either change or vanish.

[npk]

210. I agree that the South has it's fare share of dumb republicans, however...

On the national level the South is not the problem. The south is one tiny region of the country. There are just as many obstructionist in the GOP in the mid-west. Michigan sends it's fair share of Republicans to congress, as does the states of Ohio, Arizona, and the states of Indiana, and Wisconsin. That's not even counting smaller states such as Iowa, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, etc. If you want to make yourself feel better and sleep better at night by stating the basis of Republican Obstructionism is in the south that's fine, but you are only kidding yourself.

No one region of the country is squarely responsible for Republican obstructionism.

[Zoeisright]

142. Yep.

Truth hurts, don't it?

[YoungDemCA]

144. What truth?

[cordelia]

207. Wouldn't know since there's no truth there.

[YoungDemCA]

143. My Tea Party grandfather was born in Chicago, and has lived in California for most of his life...

He's no Southerner, and he's far from the only one.

This shit is neither helpful nor respectful.

[rrneck]

146. What red states?

Your OP sucks.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

169. +1 for the maps and for the reply.

[rrneck]

172. Thanks.

I have to admit I get tired of all the south bashing. I've been called every ugly gun name in the book. I don't care. I've been called a patriarchy enabled MRA. Whatever. I just don't get how people who revel in the label "liberal" can diss millions of the most economically oppressed citizens in this country. The partisan hypocrisy is astounding.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

173. with OPs like this one wonders why the South would want to hang around where they are so

obviously NOT wanted ....

it isn't so much that the South WANTS to leave as it is: WHY hang around where we are NOT wanted

We get the hint people! you HATE us. Buh-bye.

it just makes absolutely NO Sense to me at all.

[bluestate10]

194. One reason why republicans hate education so much is education causes most people to

become critical thinkers, when that happens progressive policies and the people proposing them win elections.

[Rise Rebel Resist]

148. one party states are worse than two party states

[Rise Rebel Resist]

149. one party states are worse than two party states

[TDale313]

151. I'll take my one-party California.

No, not perfect, by any means. And we have our pockets of red. And we have our DINO's. But good things are happening, and in part it's because Republicans don't have enough power to even obstruct.

[Rise Rebel Resist]

157. it was refering to the country not the states

the op's crap btw

[Rise Rebel Resist]

158. it was refering to the country not the states

the op's crap btw

[bluestate10]

195. I will take one party any day as long as members of that party propose and support sane

policies. The republican party deserves to die because it has become filled to near overflowing with conspiracy theorists, haters, racists and generally misinformed people. The country will be far better off if democrats rule coast to coast, that is a fact of the modern age in which we exist.

[AlinPA]

152. Pennslvania is totally controlled by teabaggers; Governor, State Senate and House, US House reps

(13/18 seats are teabagger assholes) and we have one teabagger slob senator (Toomey). I can't bash the south.

[truebluegreen]

153. Region-bashing aside, what are ya gonna do about

Alaska, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas...

They're not exactly in the south.

[LanternWaste]

154. The imaginary and the magical seems rather important to many people

The imaginary and the magical does seem rather important to many people-- in this instance, borders, which are, as we all know, wholly imaginary constructs found nowhere else but our imaginations.

And my goodness!! The weight and stock so many of us humans put into this magic-thinking construct may actually compel them to wage wars on behalf of the imaginary, while they concurrently feign surprise and ridicule at the weight and stock others place into their own imaginary constructs. The irony is much more sad than entertaining.

But such is human nature that we often hold the imaginary creations of others to a much higher standard than we place on the imaginary constructs of our own devices.

But, seeing as that you are, as we all are, indeed, human-- I readily accept and understand our need and our desire to pretend the imaginary does in fact, exist.

[Autumn Colors]

155. I live in New England....

OK, I live in a small town in Northwest Connecticut and the number of teabagger flags I see around this town and the town next to us is frightening. Not everyone in these states is "blue".

With the Hartford region being home to so many insurance companies, I'm not sure universal healthcare would pass so easily here either.

We have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, yet experienced a mass shooting at Sandy Hook.

Yes, it's easier to pass progressive laws in blue states, but we've got our share of right-wingers here, too.

[Dreamer Tatum]

160. Why wait for the red states to secede, then? Secede yourself.

Maybe THEN you can do something about Chicago-dishu.

[NRaleighLiberal]

162. sure, there is idiocy in red states - but also beauty, and lots of blue people....

so this generalization doesn't help much at all. Just a different form of ignorance.

[KatyMan]

171. Michigan and Wisconsin invalidate the argument n/t

n/t

[bluestate10]

192. And Kentucky invalidates the argument.

The common factor is who leads the state. Kentucky is led by democrats. Michigan and Wisconsin led by republicans. We in blue states must re-double our efforts to work with blue southerners to expand the amount of blue.

[Apophis]

175. Sounds like heaven.

[bigwillq]

176. We're never going to not have red states

and we're never going to not have conservatives.

[progressoid]

178. This is stupid.

[WillyT]

179. I Won't Bash My Brothers And Sisters In The South, But I Will Say This...

There are times when the "Red Voters", wherever they are from, (and their representatives in government) can be the difference between life and death for many of our citizens in the entire country.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

180. Exactly,

people on this board don't resent red staters because of where they live, or the decisions they make for themselves. We resent them because they seem determined to drag the entire country down with them. I know my state isn't perfect, but I'm glad we're on the right track. I don't want California to be like Alabama or Kansas.

[Pamela Troy]

182. Naaaa, you don't resent people who live in southern states...

You just wish they'd disappear.

Please.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

183. If you think the country as a whole should be more like the south, great plains, and rural west

then perhaps you're on the wrong message board...

[Pamela Troy]

185. I would love to see the country

become more like the south in the warmth of its personal interactions, more like New Orleans and San Francisco in its attention to good cuisine, more like Tennessee in the grace of its inflections, more like California in its openness to diversity, and more like New York City and Chicago in its attention to culture and the arts. I would hate to see the differences between, say, the beauty of the Florida Coast of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and of the southwestern landscape of New Mexico erased.

And I would not be willing to give up one inch of this country. Anywhere.

[Pamela Troy]

181. This is offensive.

What do you think would happen to my many liberal relatives who live in those red states if they were allowed to secede? To the many, many liberals, Democrats a huge number of them African American?

I have no more patience with this kind of cheap, penny-ante hatred than I do with the Red Staters who think the US would be better off without California.

[kentauros]

232. Of course it's offensive.

If you notice, Playinghardball has not made one single reply to a thread of 227+ posts. This thread is the epitome of "shit-stirring." You can bet that once his/her post was up, that they sat back to read, monitor, and laugh at the responses. There is no other rational reason for a thread like this.

We should probably just use the "trash thread" function, as nothing new will be said, and no members will be swayed to think differently than when they went in.

[Dr. Strange]

241. Nah, no need to trash thread.

Just keep kicking and expose his bigotry, along with the assholery of the current list of reccers:
chervilant
Katashi_itto
LiberalEsto
xfundy
Squinch
Freddie
baldguy
davekriss
Egalitarian Thug
Howler
samsingh
diane in sf
W_HAMILTON
kickysnana
byeya
tblue
Corruption Inc
Zoeisright
Doremus
HockeyMom
WillyT
DainBramaged
warrprayer
eppur_se_muova
bookcase10
dlwickham
HomerRamone
gopiscrap
Cobalt Violet
woolldog
on point
damnedifIknow
MiddleFingerMom
michigandem58
LuckyLib

[Scurrilous]

184. This is stupid and offensive. n/t

[warrprayer]

186. we can only dream

of such a wonderful place

[LittleBlue]

187. I'm starting to think the Civil War was a long-term strategic defeat

for the north.

Along with the good folks of the south (southern DUers included), we got a large group of whites who never got over losing their Antebellum fantasies. It haunts us to this day in the form of conservative Christian fundamentalists dominating policy.

[Pamela Troy]

188. You also got some of the greatest American literature...

(Faulkner, Welty, Capote, Hellman, O'Connor, Hurston etc.) important progressive politicians and thinkers (Bill Clinton, Hodding Carter, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter), wonderful food, a gorgeous coastline, and miles and miles of a major waterway.

If I wanted to read this kind of hatred, I could go to...that other website.

[MrsBrady]

190. 3,308,124 million Texans voted for Obama in 2012, including me.

But don't let a little thing like that stop you from posting hateful nonsense.

http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe

[bluestate10]

191. Big cities in the South lean toward blue. What the rest of us must do is help

blue cities in the South get large numbers of voters out when elections that they can win are happening. A Governor, Lt. Governor, AG and State Registrar can go a long way toward killing off rightwing policy. Kentucky is implementing healthcare reform because that state has democrats leading the state.

[yawnmaster]

193. Some can only see things as black or white...

or in this case blue and red.
There is so much more to it.

In addition, the poster in the OP is somewhat questionable.
If Southern States were not around, it is quite a stretch to imagine there would be no opposition to the items on the list and we would be living in some utopia.
it never works that way.

On edit:
people need to learn to work with other people, not to segregate and exclude.
converse. educate. listen.

[steve2470]

197. This is a very divisive OP, please self-delete, thank you kindly

Signed, a resident of one of those Southern states which is becoming more blue over time

[obama2terms]

209. Come on region bashing? That's petty!

You realize there are many people on this site that are southerners as well (including me). I grew up in Tennessee, and I can tell you there are many many liberals here. In fact, Obama got 60% of the vote in my county, and I'm sure there are other counties that are the same, that you would have never expected to vote dem. The bottom line is, were not all gun crazy, homophobic bigots, that hate paid sick leave, maternity leave, Universal Health Care , blame the victim, anti-choice, etc. etc. By thinking that, you're no better than the fools down here who think everyone from the north hates gun rights, hates the constitution, and the usual right wing blabble.

[gopiscrap]

211. I have heard at times that

TX, SC , MS and LA could at some point turn blue

[Skeeter Barnes]

212. Disappointing to see the garbage you posted associated with "Occupy" in any way.

Not a very appealing message, IMO.

[BainsBane]

218. I don't see how a one party system benefits anyone

I would like the GOP to regain its sanity at some point, but I see nothing beneficial about single party rule.

To imagine the GOP is all that stands in the way of what's listed on your graphic strikes me as naive.

[pinboy3niner]

222. This thread should have been shut down for region-bashing

When a jury fails to act, the hosts should.

[Paladin]

223. Not bloody likely---unfortunately. (nt)

[MicaelS]

227. It is perfectly obvious that certain forms of bigotry are acceptable at DU.

Southern bashing and Texas bashing are at the top of that list.

[Phentex]

228. and obviously a hit and run since the OP has not returned...

I wish there was a policy against posting "shit I saw on facebook" without any intention of discussing the topic in General Discussion.

Another poster did this and was later banned as a disruptor. I don't see any difference here.

[backwoodsbob]

229. I'm from the South and all I can say is

quit trolling

[backwoodsbob]

230. trust me playingwithyourballs

I would gladly walk away from your dream world...it doesn't exist

[actslikeacarrot]

237. That must be EXHAUSTING...

...to hate such a large chunk of land as the south.

[ohheckyeah]

240. Bless your little heart.

As a southerner, I can promise you that I don't really give a rat's ass how you or anyone else feels about the southern states.

Just for a little perspective, guns aren't nearly as big of a problem in the south as they are elsewhere:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map

[Rex]

243. Gee...where is Wall Street located again I forget.

What a dream world you live in. NONE of those things would change, thanks to Wall Street. But keep doing EXACTLY what the Owners want you to do...be a good little puppet and make sure we stay fixated on a divided nation.

This is the same kind of horseshit I would expect out of a Tea Bagger.

[HiPointDem]

244. +1