tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43288498501947989112024-03-05T17:57:57.295-06:00The Great Red SpotBlogging on Mississippi Since 2007...At Least Until the Thought Police Show Up.The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.comBlogger638125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-51340235443698467192019-11-04T19:32:00.000-06:002019-11-05T22:32:23.283-06:00A Small Gripe With GalloI was listening last week when Jay Hughes, the progressive-pretending-to-be-moderate candidate for Lt. Governor on the D side, was on Gallo. I was slightly disappointed with Mr. Gallo. I know he has to be civil for the sake of getting guests that he might not see eye to eye with on the air.<br />
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However, Jay Hughes is the guy who is running as a veteran and wants to be civil. So explain to me this:<br />
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<a href="https://www.yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/state_rep-_jay_hughes_compares_educational_consultants_to_isis_in_twee/" target="_blank">Jay Hughes compares EdFirst to ISIS.</a><br />
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Now, I am a bit hyperbolic on this here blog from time to time, as my 50 or so readers can attest. But I think you should, if you are sincerely "looking for purple in a red state," not compare some paid consultants to ISIS. After all, one makes recommendations, the other cuts people's heads off on YouTube.<br />
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I'm kind of sad Paul Gallo let him get away with that. Yeah, he said it 3 years ago. Doesn't matter. He needs to be asked-is there any other group that he thinks is worthy of being compared to a terror group.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-87940797994247991302019-10-16T21:52:00.000-05:002019-10-16T21:53:51.064-05:00What's Your Number?Everybody, as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_DiBiase#Christian_ministry" target="_blank">famous Mississippi resident</a> noted, has a price.<br />
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I've heard my friends for a long time talk about how much more Jim Hood is going to get them paid. He's going to raise teacher pay, and public employee pay, and this, and that. And he'll do it by cutting grocery taxes!<br />
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(If you cut grocery taxes, property taxes go up, especially in municipalities, because that's where a lot of their funding comes from. But don't expect Jim or his media enablers to tell you that.)<br />
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So my question is: What's your price?<br />
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What's the price of being able to defend your home? Jim Hood doesn't want you to be able to do that.<br />
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What's the price of being able to defend your business from lawsuits, especially like those that <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/11/masterpiece-cakeshop-case-stop-misrepresenting/" target="_blank">Jack Phillips</a> has had to go through?<br />
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What's the price of not giving boards and commissions over to the people who gave us <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/oct/04/20031004-123030-2013r/" target="_blank">this nickname?</a><br />
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What's the price of only defending Mississippi laws during election years when you need some pro-life cred with the "Bible thumpers?"<br />
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What's the price of watching unsolved murders continue to go unsolved just because nobody at the New York or Chicago or LA papers cares about them? Even when the crime occurred 35 miles from Jim Hood's house in Houston?<br />
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Bet you thought we forgot about that one, didn't you?<br />
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What's the price of giving power over to someone who has no problem using his office to punish his political opponents, or those of his friends?<br />
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Oh, you thought we forgot about that one too, didn't you?<br />
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So is your raise worth all those things? When you're probably getting a raise anyway, no matter who you're voting for?<br />
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Give me your number. Because you've admitted you have one. Just go ahead and say what it is.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-52473872585629388222019-07-16T16:17:00.000-05:002019-07-16T16:17:54.363-05:00Jim Hood Will Meet With Women Behind Closed Doors!So will this guy.<br />
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<img alt="Flashback Bill Clinton: 'We Wonât Tolerate Immigration By People Whose First Act Is To Break The Law' " src="https://media.townhall.com/townhall/reu/ha/2018/157/1dd35a5d-7982-4868-b4e4-6adeabac0a82.jpg" /><br />
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Also, he will fight for an Equal Pay Act.<br />
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(<a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm" target="_blank">The Equal Pay Act passed Congress in 1963</a>, and was signed into law by President Kennedy, but since Jim Hood is just a good ole country boy that lives in the country, he doesn't know it. Things move slower out in the country, you see. Also, imagine the lawsuits his friends can file if he gets it passed! Win-Win!)<br />
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Seriously, though. You can't really win this fight. You either invite the controversy of not being alone with a woman, or you invite the possibility of scandal. There's only one solution in either the professional world or the political one in the age of "MeToo".<br />
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<img alt="Image result for the only way to win is not to play" src="https://www.bing.com/th?id=OIP.mgReJf6OYZm5tUPPwKc2EwHaEz&w=296&h=188&c=7&o=5&pid=1.7" /><br />
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(Also, John Kennedy<a href="https://people.com/politics/how-jfk-seduced-white-house-intern-mimi-alford/" target="_blank"> had</a> some of his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/9-things-jfk-did-with-that-young-intern-that-will-make-you-sick-2012-2#according-to-alford-the-president-had-sex-with-her-in-jackie-kennedys-bedroom-2" target="_blank">own issues</a> with things that would be...less than charitably viewed today.)<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-69438260128639399722019-07-15T10:55:00.002-05:002019-11-05T22:36:04.667-06:00All The Time In The WorldOne of the great things about social media is the mask often comes off of people.<br />
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Take Stuart Stevens. He ran Mitt Romney's 2016 presidential campaign. He's a Mississippi native, 8th generation! It's to him what being a vegan cross-fitter atheist is to bar jokes. He is what you think of when you think of an "establishment Republican." His twitter background is where he went skiing last year, for crying out loud! </div>
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(If you follow him on twitter, it was the most extended and insufferable humble-brag in the history of humble-brags).</div>
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He's anti-Trump, and that's caused his mask to slip off quite a bit. Ostensibly, he is a Republican...who just happens to be pro-abortion. He despises the average Republican voter. He despises his fellow Mississippians as racists, uninformed yokels, and marvels that we dislike the politics of New York and California, who "pay 40% of the state's budget."</div>
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(Never does he mention that much of that is in programs that are the nation's debt drivers, and also the drivers of much of our continued pathologies of poverty. After all, if you want more of something...you subsidize it). </div>
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Yes, I don't like the politics of New York and California. One is a city-state that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/16/fracking-new-york-primary-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-donald-trump" target="_blank">ignores 90% of its state</a> in order to please the unpleasant city dwellers and the other is a place where it's basically legal to <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/human-wasteland-map-plots-all-of-san-franciscos-poop" target="_blank">poop</a> and use <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html" target="_blank">heroin</a> in the streets. California is a state where a college professor that committed <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/08/eric-clanton-bike-lock-professor-probation/" target="_blank">assault with a bike lock</a> was allowed to walk away Scot Free. The great thing about federalism is that <i>I can live freely with a minimal amount of input from New Yorkers and Californians. </i></div>
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He was very vocal about Senator Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy, so he keeps an eye on what's going on in state. <i>He was ashamed, y'all. Ashamed</i>. But he's been strangely silent about something that's affecting a whole lot of people in the state, which is the flooding in the south Delta area.</div>
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If you don't know (and why should you? It barely gets covered on the national news. We didn't deserve coverage after Katrina, and I guess we still don't deserve it now), there's about half a million acres in the Yazoo backwater area that are currently under flood conditions. Due to the volume of water coming down the Mississippi, the Yazoo River and its tributaries are backed up and have spilled their banks. This has affected people throughout the lower Delta. People have lost their homes and livelihoods. Would you like to guess how many times that this influential Mississippian, with his numerous connections, presumably, has said anything on social media about the flooding?</div>
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None.</div>
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He's had plenty of time to tweet about Donald Trump (who hasn't?). He's had time to tweet about the threat that Robert E. Lee poses to the world (he's been dead since 1870). He will moralize until the cows come home. But he can't be bothered to summon up the humanity to do something that might actually help people in the state. He loves Mississippi. He just doesn't like Mississippians, especially those who don't blindly do what our betters who get to go on CNN tell us to do.</div>
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There's a word for that. Hypocrite.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-60109530440938344792019-07-10T08:36:00.000-05:002019-11-05T22:36:44.964-06:00Teacher Pay RaiseJim Hood wants to "raise corporate taxes" to pay for a pay raise for teachers. Apparently, out in the country, where Jim Hood is from, remember, they didn't ever talk about the goose that laid the golden egg. In the last 16 years Mississippi has been able to attract businesses because of our low tax rate and favorable business climate, but hey, LEROOOYYYY JENKINS! to all that.<br />
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I have another funding source: All the attorney's fees that Mr. Hood has disbursed to his friends over the last decade and a half (and Mike Moore before him). When the state of Mississippi wins a lawsuit, it sure would be nice to get that money, instead of the guys that Jim Hood decides need to be able to<strike> fund his campaign</strike> make an honest living out there a-lawyerin', as they say out in the country, where Jim Hood is from.<br />
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In reality, the money is there. It's always been there. It just never actually reaches the teachers due to the bloat and bureaucracy that infests both the Mississippi Department of Education (Hi, Dr. Wright and your ridiculous salary!) and many of the school districts.<br />
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How come they never suggest cutting her $300,000 per year? I know it's a drop in the bucket, but as a character in a movie once said, "What is an ocean, but a multitude of drops?"<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-59245711220799094442019-06-13T16:11:00.002-05:002019-06-13T16:14:01.244-05:00You're Not Pro Life Unless You're Pro Big Government or SomethingI see this statement a lot (or something like it). I have kind of pondered it over the last few weeks. This is mostly because it's the left's new favorite talking point to shame you into giving them whatever they want, namely expanding the welfare state.<br />
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Yeah, I'm pro-life. That doesn't mean that I love the border situation. I'm so pro-life that I don't want them killed, which I think the authors intimate all pro-life people want, though I do want an orderly and lawful immigration system that discourages the risky proposition of travelling clandestinely to the southern border from all points south using less than savory means or people. That's a pro-life position-that the law should not be so haphazardly enforced that they encourage people to risk their life in order to break them.<br />
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I'm pro-life. That means that I want an efficient, humane Department of Human Services in my state that doesn't <a href="https://reason.com/2019/05/09/kentucky-cabinet-family-health-child-services-judges-pre-signed/" target="_blank">have judges sign blank documents so that kids could be illegally taken from their parents.</a> This is a pro-life position-that the state should not have unlimited power to simply take children from their parents. The corruption of the Kentucky Health and Family Services people did that in the above link; increasing their budget (or that of their counterpart in Mississippi) wouldn't help the issue, simply because they are abusing their power.<br />
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(An aside-in a country with a less-government worshiping press, the Kentucky story would have led the front page in every widely read paper the country-and the Clarion-Ledger too-and would have been a top story on the TV news. But alas, I had to learn about it through other means).<br />
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I'm pro-life. That means I think that your wacky ideas about vaccines being unhealthy is stupid. I don't care if you're a hot actress from the 90s or 00's or the son of one of America's leading political families. I don't want them within a mile of a healthy child.<br />
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Yeah I'm pro-life. I donate to Crisis Pregnancy Centers in order to help women avoid the trauma of an abortion. I've donated clothing and other items to charity specifically to clothe them. I've encouraged people to adopt for years, after the example of my own family, which has 4 adopted members. Your snarky tweet or shaming article isn't going to make me change any of that behavior.<br />
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It's an old talking point on the left-"You only care about children til they're born!" But for the most part it isn't true. If it was true, I guess the opposite is true of the left-you guys only care about people on election day, since that's the only time some of them see you.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-76063424789995823322019-04-22T13:49:00.000-05:002019-11-05T22:37:42.095-06:00The Clarion Ledger Organizes a Strike<br />
<a href="https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/22/mississippi-teacher-strike-more-support-one-day-sickout/3537770002/" target="_blank">From Today's Edition</a><br />
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I guess they've decided that Magnolia State Live and Mississippi Today (or is that reversed? I can't even remember) aren't liberal enough, and they're going to out-leftist them. Good luck with that<br />
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Seriously. They are openly advocating at this point for teachers to walk out of schools, and to "punish" businesses that support "anti-education" candidates. If they were any more in the pocket of the MAE, they'd be choking on lint. A majority of 1700 teachers responded to a survey...out of about 63,000 teachers in the state.<br />
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It's no wonder people have "punished" the CL to the point where I don't even know who the beat writer for my college team is. If that's going to be the case...if you're going to "punish" people for disagreeing with you...then why would those people ever do business with someone who advertises with the Gannett company? See, this works both ways.<br />
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Here's a dirty little secret: The majority of teachers aren't members of the MAE. They aren't even members of the MFT. They avoid those two like the plague because they are political organizations that have teachers as members, not the other way around.<br />
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If we're going to have economic warfare, that's fine. But the CL should remember that they're in a far more precarious position than, say, the local grocery store or outdoor supply company.<br />
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EDITED TO ADD: Strange coincidence that is article was published the week after State Auditor Shad White dropped a ridiculous stat about school funding in regards to the increase in administrative positions relative to the number of teachers and students decreasing. Million to one chance that happened I guess.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-13154799646615866102018-11-26T22:52:00.001-06:002018-11-26T22:52:23.027-06:00The Media, Mike Espy, and YouYou want to know why I can't stand the media, especially the quite lazy media we have in Mississippi?<div>
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This is why.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cblockquote%20class=%22twitter-tweet%22%20data-lang=%22en%22%3E%3Cp%20lang=%22en%22%20dir=%22ltr%22%3EPlease%20explain%20how%20it%20occurred%20that%20you%20described%20these%20signs%20which%20make%20clear%20it%20was%20a%20Democratic%20stunt%20only%20as%20%22hate%20signs%22%20and%20omitted%20their%20content%20completely%20in%20your%20initial,%20highly%20deceptive,%20reporting.%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://t.co/Q0skVTPul6%22%3Ehttps://t.co/Q0skVTPul6%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%E2%80%94%20Phil%20Kerpen%20(@kerpen)%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1067229739335716864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22%3ENovember%2027,%202018%3C/a%3E%3C/blockquote%3E%20%3Cscript%20async%20src=%22https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js%22%20charset=%22utf-8%22%3E%3C/script%3E" target="_blank"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Please explain how it occurred that you described these signs which make clear it was a Democratic stunt only as "hate signs" and omitted their content completely in your initial, highly deceptive, reporting. <a href="https://t.co/Q0skVTPul6">https://t.co/Q0skVTPul6</a></div>
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) <a href="https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1067229739335716864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></a></div>
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The state media and Democrats (but I repeat myself!) have decided to go all-in on Mike Espy. And when I saw this report this morning, I already knew what was up. If I was more conspiracy-minded, I would think that WLBT or the Clarion-Ledger staff (which is run by the former executive director of the state Democratic party, Sam Hall, though as we've pointed out before, he doesn't exactly advertise that anywhere that I can find) cooked it up. It's almost too good to be true, and it fits the narrative too well. When did I know, you ask, that it was a false flag? </div>
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When nobody would report what was said on the signs. </div>
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See, if it had been anything about Mike Espy, or in favor of Cindy Hyde-Smith, it would have been published immediately. After all, WLBT was called, and their reporters got there before the authorities did! (My apologies to the media-you guys only think you're the authorities.)</div>
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You're being played. The objective is to see how many votes they can whip for Mike Espy, and without ever having him leave Jackson! (Seriously, if he's left the Jackson metro, I haven't seen it. But I guess the state media has been busy looking through old yearbooks, a la Bret Kavanaugh, to see what he's up to.)</div>
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Don't fall for it. They earned every Fake News taunt they've ever gotten, and this just earned them a few more. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-39018228700688961192018-10-03T19:40:00.000-05:002019-04-22T14:19:30.282-05:00Jim Hood's Announcement Speech-EXCLUSIVE First DraftBelow is the EXCLUSIVE first draft of Jim Hood's Announcement Speech. Please credit us here at the Spot for any excerpts.<br />
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Hello Darlin'. Nice to see ya.</div>
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Oh, wait, this is my announcement speech, not next week's Conway Twitty Look-Alike Contest. That one's on me.</div>
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My fellow Mississippians,</div>
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Over the last 10 years, while I've been in Houston-not Jackson, you understand, because I'm a good old country boy from Houston, not a lawyer that moved to Jackson first chance he got-being your Attorney General, I've done a lot of things I'm proud of. </div>
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I've defended allowing liberal activists to sue you if you dissent from their agenda.</div>
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I've defended the idea that a judge in Jackson should be the education czar for the state.</div>
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I've gone after Google to figure out which of you are pill-poppers (not to get your search information, heavens no, just to keep you off the drugs you criminals want). </div>
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I've tried to make it illegal for adults to vape, or to consume alcohol that might have some kind of flavor other than "acetylene torch."</div>
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I've smeared every opponent as BEING FOR CRIME BECAUSE THEY WERE AGIN' JIM HOOD.</div>
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I've insisted there is no voter fraud, ever. But I've also made sure you knew whenever we, I mean *I* prosecuted someone for it.</div>
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I've made sure that you couldn't engage in the sin of...daily fantasy sports.</div>
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I've made sure you were protected from the paperwork snafus of my cronies' opponents.</div>
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I've also made sure that fine public servants such as Ike Brown are allowed to practice their service without so much as a peep from me.</div>
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And any time I've been cornered on an issue, I've demurred cryptically to Jesus, to make sure you rubes get to hear me say it without ever actually giving a position that might expose me for the fake "moderate" I am. </div>
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So you see, I want to make sure that I can continue to give you the benefit of my services for the next four years as governor. And with the help of my friends at the Clarion Ledger, Daily Journal, and Sun-Herald, not to mention all the fine folks from out of state that want to see me succeed, we can continue this record of success. Even if you don't want it.<br />
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Also, if you're in the area, I'm competing at the Tri-States Conway Twitty Look-Alike Contest at the old train depot in Potluck, Arkansas next weekend. Hope to see you there!</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-75411037512895367562017-11-16T07:09:00.001-06:002019-11-05T22:36:55.914-06:00Per the Clarion-Ledger...Jim Hood is waiting on his wife's approval to run for governor.<br />
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<i>It's just like Hamlet, ya'll. He wouldn't do it unless she was ok with it.</i><br />
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I'm sure we'll all be shocked when she says yes, right?<br />
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Right?<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-47048631705947099642017-03-20T20:33:00.002-05:002017-03-20T20:41:14.610-05:00Future Clarion-Ledger Exclusives on Immigrant DetaineeImmigrant Detainee Has Lunch<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Watches TV<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Buys Groceries<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Drinks Milkshake<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Walks Down Street<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Sings Karaoke<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Searches For Bigfoot<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Contacts Elvis<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Finds Pot of Gold at End of Rainbow<br />
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Immigrant Detainee Can Believe It's Not Butter<br />
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After what seems like forever, how far are we from seeing these headlines? I know a manipulative sob story when I read one. It's almost like...she's getting exactly what she wants. Fawning press coverage from the state's newspaper, which is owned by a national newspaper brand, which will then be on national wires.<br />
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Between that and the distinct "this is Anti-Woman" slant of the last week (keeping up with "Anti-Woman" bills? Who exactly determines that?) it's like...they're setting up a narrative. Who benefits? Other than the state's finest Conway Twitty impersonator, you mean?<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-55047974920638924922017-02-18T15:12:00.002-06:002017-02-18T15:12:56.713-06:00A Play, in Two ActsA nice read on Bill Simmon's site, The Ringer, on Sports and Politics.<br />
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<a href="https://theringer.com/how-sportswriting-became-a-liberal-profession-dc7123a5caba#.94vhhlf8a" target="_blank">Sports, Worship and You</a><br />
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It's a nice theory, but I have a better one. But first, read this piece of damage control:<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/833038757410512898" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/833038757410512898</a><br />
<br />
You, sports writer, are a celebrity worshiper.<br />
<br />
Of course, you are sympathizing with the underdog! Who happens to be your lifeline to a better life, to more prestige, to more fame for yourself. The tweet above is my exhibit A. Kyrie Irving, if you haven't heard, thinks the Earth is flat. Rachel Nichols is in full damage control mode, but Irving never says he doesn't think the world is round. He rambles a bit about the state of media and reporting. And to someone with a vested interest in <i>keeping the celebrity happy</i> makes sense of it and falls in line for damage control.<br />
<br />
She follows up by stating that he did get into Duke, after all. Because no one with screwy ideas could ever go to Duke, right? And it's not like anyone with screwy ideas could ever teach at Duke, right?<br />
<br />
Maybe celebrity worshiper is too much. Celebrity enabler is more appropriate.<br />
<br />
They feel like they're courageous, but really, I think they're motivated by fear. Fear of losing access to the golden goose. In that, they're now exactly like their political counterparts.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-84645700581006736642017-02-11T17:20:00.001-06:002017-02-11T17:20:08.020-06:00On Boycotting the Trump White HouseIt's come to my attention that many professional athletes and White House press corps members (why do they call themselves a corps? Is there a Press Lt. General that they answer to?) are debating or have outright stated that they will not attend events at the White House so long as Trump occupies the Oval Office.<br />
<br />
My sincere wish is that they do so.<br />
<br />
The practice of athletes visiting the President is semi-monarchical; its unfitting for a republic such as ours to have visits to the Executive Mansion to kiss the ring of a Dear Leader. The same for the White House Correspondents Dinner. It has devolved into a poor comedy show, and that is something that Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, James Corden, and Jimmy Fallon have given us enough of on a regular basis. Kill it, and do it quickly.<br />
<br />
While we're at it, let's rid ourselves of the State of the Union as an address to Congress. It reeks, as Kevin Williamson has noted for years, of <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429629/tate-union-address-next-president-should-not-deliver-one" target="_blank">the Queen's Address from the Throne.</a> It's outlived its usefulness; the President does not need 90 minutes of prime time to get his message out, not with near as many twitter followers as the combined audience of the 3 legacy network's newscasts.<br />
<br />
It's a modest proposal.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-20631275758542973222017-02-04T12:25:00.002-06:002017-02-04T12:25:24.560-06:00An Addition to the Bill Luckett Post Below<a href="http://www.picayuneitem.com/2011/03/does-gubernatorial-candidate-bill-luckett-reside-in-mississippi/" target="_blank">Bill Luckett Voted In Tennessee</a>. Meaning he lived in Tennessee long enough to see the point in registering to vote there.<br />
<br />
Yes, the man who chided people for leaving Clarksdale and "taking their money out of public schools..." Left Clarksdale, and "took his money out of public schools."<br />
<br />
Motes and Beams, Mr. Mayor.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-18188686633643752952017-01-17T20:20:00.002-06:002017-01-17T20:20:33.910-06:00A Thought on Clarksdale<a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/diversions/2017/01/15/blues-tourism-and-where-clarksdale-stands-now-katie-eubanks/96445342/" target="_blank">The CL did a story on Clarksdale and the Blues</a>.<br />
<br />
And while I don't mind the work-it's really something the state newspaper should be doing more of-some things stood out.<br />
<br />
First of all, the mayor, former gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett, who once tried to insult his way into that office, dismayed the state of the city, and one of the things he pointed to was the school district, and "white flight." One of his gripes was that white families left the school district for the academy, and took their tax dollars with them.<br />
<br />
Ahem.<br />
<br />
One does not remove oneself from paying school taxes simply because one does not have children attending the public schools.<br />
<br />
Clarksdale's population has dwindled over the past several decades-it has seen a 13% drop in population since 2000, mainly through out-migration. Meanwhile, Batesville has seen an increase of 4%, Senatobia 22%, Oxford 60%. This doesn't even factor in the growth of the Memphis suburbs. Why did they all leave? Was it because they just can't be governed by those of another race? Or is it the fact that mechanization has decreased the amount of labor necessary for agriculture, and no other industry was there to take up the slack, and people-of all races-had to find gainful employment elsewhere? <i>Wasn't that the entire point of the article-that the Blues was the main thing keeping Clarksdale alive?</i><br />
<br />
Instead of casting blame at the citizens who stayed in Clarksdale, no matter where they send their children, perhaps the mayor should thank them. After all, if Clarksdale suffers from them not sending them to their schools, how much more would it suffer if they were to pull up stakes and simply leave altogether?<br />
<br />
The quote from the mayor is telling. It really reveals how those on the left-and Bill Luckett is on the left, from reading past statements he's made-view citizens. We are not the engines that drive places economically, socially, and spiritually. We are cows to be milked.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-62070695598498640562016-11-23T11:10:00.004-06:002016-11-23T11:10:25.412-06:00How To Talk To Your Family About Politics This ThanksgivingDon't.<br />
<br />
Enjoy their company. Eat too much. Clean up after yourself.<br />
<br />
Happy Thanksgiving.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-90765813969348354932016-10-20T18:00:00.000-05:002016-10-20T18:00:18.478-05:00So This Has to Happen, Right?NFL players, after the Josh Brown arrest, pretty much have to refuse to wear the NFL shield, cause otherwise they're all culpable, right? Forget the fines.<br />
<br />
That's how this all works, isn't it?<br />
<br />
If not, they're hypocrites.<br />
<br />
But you knew that.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-60727108503411268332016-09-05T15:45:00.001-05:002016-09-05T15:45:15.703-05:00The Clarion-Ledger Comes out For KaepI presume that they now support Tebowing as well, since FREEDOM OF SPEECH Y'ALL!<br />
<br />
Spare me your lectures on "Principles," Ms. Pettus. They seem to be selective at any rate. Mr. Kaepernick's kneeling seems to have correlated with his sitting, as he seems destined for the dust bin of history. I can't wait for the '30 for 30' on him, where he will undoubtedly blame his inevitable release not on his cratering skills but on his political stances.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-50029531541795890812016-07-27T13:03:00.001-05:002016-07-27T13:03:21.699-05:00Today's Bit of Media Hypocrisy Bobby Harrison of the Daily Journal has an article about the confluence between interest groups and legislators. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You can read it here, and <a href="http://djournal.com/opinion/bobby-harrison-full-story-anti-gay-marriage-bill-remains-written/" target="_blank">conspiracies abound.</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will be interested to see if Mr. Harrison will also be doing a piece on what influenced Attorney General Jim Hood's decision to forgo his constitutional and statutory duty to defend the laws of Mississippi in the courts. I also will not be holding my breath while doing so. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will remind everyone that if any other elected official in the state refused to do his or her duty, Jim Hood would have thrown a library's worth of books at them. And he would be lauded for doing so by the press in our state. But he's Jim Hood, and they're the Mississippi press corps, so I will leave you with a bit of wisdom from ages ago:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He who expects little, is never disappointed.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-50714513139532328202016-07-19T06:34:00.000-05:002016-07-19T06:34:14.044-05:00All Your Google Searches Belong to Hood<a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/07/google-ends-spat-with-mississippi-ag-over-his-mpaa-tinged-investigation/?utm_content=buffere2a60&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">Harmful Content</a><br />
<br />
I'm sure Google searches for Jim Hood will now only tell you he is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being you'll ever know in life.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19.2px;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-4695800979972417822016-07-10T12:38:00.001-05:002016-07-10T12:38:47.891-05:00Oh ESPN...As I was driving yesterday, I was listening to one of ESPN's numerous talking head radio shows. I can't remember the hosts names, which tells me how deep on the bench they are. One of the things they were pontificating on was Carmelo Anthony's decision to speak out in regards to the recent spate of officer-involved shootings.<br />
<br />
The two hosts stated that it was nice to hear an athlete using his celebrity to speak out on social issues. And how great it was that he was using the platform for social change. And how more athletes needed to speak out on societal issues.<br />
<br />
And then the wham line.<br />
<br />
"No matter what their view."<br />
<br />
Hold up. Hang on. Stop. <i>Wait just one freaking minute.</i><br />
<br />
ESPN has given any sports figure who holds a worldview that is not in line with the coastal elite a beating since they've gone full-on social justice warrior. Mike Wallace, Curt Schilling, Chris Brussard, Matt Birk-all got raked over the coals by ESPN due to their beliefs. They've gone so far as to give a courage award to Bruce Jenner, in a year when a college basketball player played through a brain tumor and an amputee combat vet won marathons. They've turned an Entertainment and Sports Programming Network into the Entirely Social Justice Network.<br />
<br />
Do not tell me that you want people speaking out "no matter their beliefs."<br />
<br />
Mr. Schilling was unavailable for ESPN to get his comment. I assume he was busy picking his jaw up off of the floor.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-54767553571679065182016-07-08T17:38:00.003-05:002016-07-08T17:41:07.559-05:00So Samson Doesn't Know If He's Running For GovernorYeah, listening to his interview about "large campaign donors" and "tax breaks for the corporations" tells me he's really leaning toward not running, you know? SARCASM.<br />
<br />
Since he's so unconcerned about social issues, here are a few business issues he should ask.<br />
<br />
Should the power of the state be used to compel a person to violate their conscience? <br />
<br />
Should the state have oversight of medical operations that require invasive procedures? (Like a certain Dr. Gosnell)<br />
<br />
Should the state fine businesses for not using someone's "preferred pronouns?" (Yeah, that's the new thing. It's happening in New York)<br />
<br />
Should the state start regulating churches and require that they deviate from their teachings and beliefs? (As was mentioned here on Wednesday in Iowa)<br />
<br />
These are questions that an honest state media would ask him. But (spoiler) they won't. Instead, he'll get to pontificate and will always get the last word in. Unfortunately, his opponent will probably be Tate Reeves, who's probably woefully unprepared for the onslaught that he'll face. After all, Hood is pretty much it on the left. There's Brandon Presley, who really, really, really wants you to know about that no-call list, ya'll (The PSC is basically a remnant of the state's 1891 anti-business and, oh yeah, racist constitution, and like your appendix, it might need to come out at some point). But Hood's got the trial lawyers in his pocket, and they're gonna sink or swim with him. <br />
<br />
I can see his announcement now. The groundwork has been laid, the move back to Houston, the little law office he's renting. Can't run as an outsider from Jackson, after all. The whole spiel about fighting the robber barons for the little guy. The faux-centrist but-really-trying-not-to-offend-Democratic-intrest-groups-while-not-offending-conservatives schtick. He's thought on it, he's prayed on it. He's going from Samson to Hamlet. He feels that he's got to, for the good of the state. All he'll be missing is R2-D2 with a hologram of the Princess saying he's our only hope.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-46267665682065264412016-07-06T10:08:00.001-05:002016-07-06T10:09:45.515-05:00Voltaire (Supposedly) Was RightVoltaire supposedly said, "Show me who you can't criticize, and I'll show you who rules you." While I'm not enough of a French Enlightenment scholar to tell you if he actually did say that, I do believe that's generally true. <br />
<br />
Which brings me to HB1523, the favorite whipping boy of the state press. Remember that the bill carved out religious beliefs that were to be respected by the state, and could be used as a defense? And that the press got the vapors from the mere idea that people might need protections from the government telling their churches what they could and could not preach and believe in?<br />
<br />
(Never mind that the federal government has a similar law. I can hear them now-"But it wasn't meant to protect Christians!" they cry. Yeah, wipe your tears with the 14th Amendment.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thefederalist.com/2016/07/06/iowa-bureaucrats-force-trans-bathrooms-on-churches-forbid-non-pc-preaching/" target="_blank">*AHEM*</a><br />
<br />
This is where they're going. You didn't really think it was all about who could use which toilet, did you?<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-20166676737462033352016-06-13T22:37:00.000-05:002016-06-13T22:37:55.748-05:00Hood says he's short $ to defend 1523Translation: Those sweet, sweet out of state campaign dollars ain't gonna get themselves into his account, folks.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328849850194798911.post-52089339215809608512016-05-16T20:41:00.001-05:002016-05-16T20:41:41.178-05:00Cultural Revolution, Then & NowCNN has an article written by a former Red Guard in Mao's Cultural Revolution. <br />
<br />
I read this, and I went back to Charlie Mitchell's article from a week or so ago. Remember I said I had more thoughts? <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;"><i>As Red Guards, we subjected anyone perceived as "bourgeois" or "revisionist" to brutal mental and physical attacks.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>.... <span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;">Others accused her of being a Christian because the character "Ji" in her name could refer to Christianity.</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>.... <span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;">Not long after, she was sent to the cowshed -- a makeshift prison for intellectuals and other "bourgeois elements" -- and suffered all kinds of humiliation and abuse.</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> ...<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;">Nobody was safe and the fear of being reported by others -- in many cases our closest friends and family members -- haunted us.</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>... <span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;">When I saw a student pour a bucket of rotten paste over our school principal in 1966, I sensed something wasn't right.</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">
<i>...My generation grew up drinking wolf's milk: we were born with hatred, and taught to struggle and hate everyone. </i><i style="font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667;">Some of my fellow Red Guards argue that we were just innocent children led astray. But we were wrong.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
If any of this sounds familiar, it's because scenes like this are taking place all over colleges across the US. I don't know if Mr. Mitchell has missed this, but the rest of us haven't. Little Cultural Revolutions have gone from school to school, demanding apologies for slights real and imagined (many imagined). Many have thrown temper tantrums in restaurants and malls. They have forced university presidents to resign, speakers to leave campus, and generally made fools of themselves by demanding "Safe Spaces" that resemble Daycare Centers more than anything else. <br />
<br />
(Lest you think I'm kidding, one school's safe space had coloring books. COLORING BOOKS. I guess wombs were unavailable.)<br />
<br />
So when people demand protection, these are the types we're thinking of. They're one encouraging word from President Obama or Senator Sanders from trying to carry it out here. Why do I say that?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px;">Fifty years on, however, I am worried by the increasing leader-worship we see in state media, similar to the ideological fervor that surrounded Mao.</span> </i></blockquote>
I'd add to that "Victim Worship," which is the quest that so many take to top each other's victimhood, and is aided and abetted by the media. I saw that the Whole Foods in Austin was accused of making a cake with a...less than tactful message regarding the gentleman's orientation. It turned out that the gentleman had added the message himself. Had it not been for a video of him checking the cake at the checkout line, that company would likely already be deluged by protesters. It's not like an outlet like Gannett would hesitate to run the story with a minimal amount of fact checking, since it <i>feels </i>true.<br />
<br />
CNN's article can be found <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/15/asia/china-cultural-revolution-red-guard-confession/index.html" target="_blank">here.</a> The protesters can be found...pretty much anywhere in America, sadly.<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The Great Red Spot-We Aim To Misbehave in Mississippi.</div>The Commanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550554646263940985noreply@blogger.com0