Rights

You have a right to your opinion- I have a right to mine
Just because it's your opinion, doesn't make it correct
You have the right to be a religious as you chose- I have the right to be as free from religion as I may chose.
You do not have the right to impose your religion or morality onto others or kill, hate or harm in the name of any God.
You have the right to watch fox in your home- I have the right to ask for the channel to be changed at any business or restaurant that I may enter.
Watching fox has nothing to do with patriotism or freedom.
You have the right to be an obnoxious jerk face- I have the right to ignore you or respond in kind.
Daring to speak up or return fire isn't disrespectful.
You have the right to hate the government- I have the right to love it and defend it.
Government workers aren't the problem but are people so stop being jealous.
You have a right to go broke because of medical problems- I have the right to healthcare that covers us all and doesn't break the bank.
Being sick shouldn't be a matter of living only if you can afford care and it should be illegal to profit from the misery of others.
You have the right to defend corporate welfare- I have the right to defend human welfare.
Corporate welfare is 10 times higher than human welfare.
You have a right to right wing radio- I have the right to demand equal time for Liberal causes on the public airways.
Conservative media has a monopoly on the airwaves and it's not because it's preferred by the public.
You have the right to call yourself an independent or libertarian- I have the right to point out that you're hiding behind those titles when every viewpoint syncs up with the republican party.
Tea Baggers are also nothing but republican junk yard dogs.
You have the right to make up facts and pull figures from dark orifices- I have the right to call you a liar.
Every issue or opinion doesn't have two sides, sometimes there's a right and wrong side... period.
You have the right to be racist or homophobic- I have the right to point out these issues and make you feel embarrassed for being that way.
This is a case where a right is actually a wrong.

TSD-

The Civil War 2012

I've lived in the South my entire life so I have plenty of skin in the game. Some misunderstand my criticism of the South as hatred and some get defensive and want to rally around the South at all cost. The only way to make the South a better place for us all is to be honest and open about the good and the bad. Don't get me wrong, I know that there should be free speech and people have the right to have and to hold any feelings that they want however, just because someone has an opinion or feeling, it doesn't mean it's a good thing or justified or proper. We still have an alarming amount of people living under the mantra of "the south's gonna rise again". This basically amounts to a belief that the South was right in the civil war and that we were somehow wronged by the Northern aggression during the civil war. The pressure to not be openly racist and hateful has been a good thing and much of the sentiment as well as the rebel flag society has gone underground. There are a few brave souls who get rebel flag tattoos or run around with a huge flag attached to their truck but the more refined rebellion has now embraced the don't tread on me flag. It often feels that the civil war is being fought by the die hard South but just not with guns on a battlefield. The politics of the South has been co opted by an opportunistic republican party that considers Southern conservative voters to be their property and pet. The powers that be pour the hate, the racism, the fear and the religious guilt into the South through a funnel. The funnel runs through some churches, through conservative talk radio, through fox news and through peer pressure. This influence is unfiltered and hits the desired target at full force. The feeling of we'd rather be morally right that protect our best interest or provide a better future for our children is unbelievable and dangerous. You can't be in charge of your life as long as you're a pawn on a chess board. One day, I can only hope that we will wake up and realize that different doesn't equal evil and see that letting go of the past grudges does not make us weak. I crave an honest and open debate about real issues. The government is not out to get you and is not to be feared. We are the government even if there are republican elements that aren't capable of ever accepting a Democratic leader as fairly elected or legitimate. The facts are, the South isn't going to break away from the United States again, it's not the job of the South to "save" the rest of the heathens up north or out west and until we decide to think for ourselves and not be used, the South will never be all that it can be. Never find pride in ignorance and instead of trying to find an enemy to attack or rally against, can we find a way forward?

TSD

Conversation with Conservatives

Welcome to a new series on the Southern Donkey Blog. Whenever you see this title or image, you will know that the series is continuing. I have had so many interesting interactions with conservatives that I've decided to start publishing some of them under the title of "Conversations with Conservatives". The names will be protected but the interactions are real. If you have similar events, please feel free to send them to me or post them on one of our pages. The first conversation that I want to share is a brief encounter that thrust me into the political fight and occurred during Bill Clinton's second term. I've always been a Democrat but had seldom felt the need to openly defend myself. On this particular occasion, my brother and I were visiting my Grandmother at the hospital and as we were leaving, I was confronted by an older gentlemen in the waiting room who was watching the television and staring at CNN's coverage of the President. He reached out and grabbed my arm as I passed him and this what transpired....

Older Man- Ain't you glad that you didn't vote for him?

TSD- Well, I actually voted for Bill Clinton two times. 

Older Man- The hell you say!

TSD- No, I voted for him and really glad that I did.

Older Man- mumbling obscenities......you, you... you draft dodger!

TSD- No, I never dodged a draft, I'm just a Democrat.

White Lady working behind the reception desk- Well  I agree with the Older Man, why would anyone vote for a Democrat?

African American Lady sitting near us- I'm with the man who voted for Clinton and he's a great man. 

TSD- Thanks, you know it's just a matter of opinion and everyone has a right to their own.

At this point, my brother came by and asked what was going on and what the ruckus was about? The waiting area had divided into two groups and was getting very agitated. I decided to leave before a full blown riot broke out. As I left, I turned to the Older Man and said, you have a nice day now and this was roughly equivalent to handing him a grenade as he went into a ballistic fit. Although this was a short happening, it changed my life and made me chose a side in the Southern political fight. This wasn't a war that I had asked for but it became really obvious that it was either learn to fight back or be beaten down politically. Watch for more conversations with conservatives to be posted in the coming weeks.

Flowers in the Desert

Sometimes, the South can be a lonely and desolate place for a Liberal or Progressive minded person. Every day brings battles and persecution just for daring to speak your mind or voicing support for the Democratic Party. To the untrained eye, the South would appear to be unified behind hunting, fishing, country music, concealed carry permits and anti governments sentiments. Just when the desert seems to be harsh and without any hope, an oasis can often be found. The Southern Donkey found an oasis in the Southern Desert tonight. I attended a high school musical. The kids put in a ton of work and it paid off greatly. Against all odds for success, the drama department decided to put on a musical called "Singing in the Rain". I'm sure that many of the kids that participated in the play were subjected to ridicule for learning to tap dance and for singing their hearts out. In full disclosure, my daughter had some minor parts in the musical but it wasn't so much pride in my daughter as it was just being moved by a group of people who put the arts on display for the world to see. Being able to get lost in an innocent story line was refreshing and although there were some concealed carry people in the audience, even their hard hearts became warmed by the spirit of the the performance. Art, sports, comedy and music have the ability to unite us in common interest and they allow us to leave the bickering world of hateful politics behind. I have to feel that the next generation will have a chance to advance the South beyond it's old stereotypes. Imagine a South free of racism, conservative extremism and one that isn't so stuck in tradition and the rebel way that we risk our future in order to feel that we are right and the rest of the country is wrong. Southern Pride can be found in our sweet tea, hospitality, cooking and the beautiful scenery but only by striking the resentment from our past can we begin to find solid ground to stand on in the future.

TSD

The Sporting Life in 2012

It's no secret that The Southern Donkey has been known to play some golf. I have a strong background in sports including basketball, softball, football and various others. I've lost a lot of my sports addiction over the past few years for many reasons but part of my dissatisfaction comes from the fact that corporate America has tried to make sports into a business and they have become all about story lines and not about the games or the competition. Giant corporations have taken control of the teams and the events and are mostly concerned with exacting as much profit out as possible.
Sports have also become the domain of religion much like politics. With conservative corporate America running the show, the tendency has become to appeal to a base of religious fans who are fascinated with the white christian American story line. This in part explains the fall of Tiger Woods and the rise of Tim Tebow and the likes of Bubba Watson. It's ironic that I was on the verge of posting some comments about Bubba Watson being the Tim Tebow of the PGA but I restrained myself because I didn't want to offend people on either my golf or political pages but then, as it turns out, Bubba and Tebow are buddies and they media has gone crazy with the hype.
I believe that white America to a large degree still holds a grudge back to boxing being taken over by African Americans as well as the NFL, basketball and even baseball. The longing for a great white hope still lingers in the hearts of some and the Nationalism that took hold after 911 only further cemented the desire for a non Muslim hero to emerge on the scene. The PGA is controlled and dominated by wealthy white christians and they have mixed religion, politics, sports and patriotism to levels that make me want to just puke. They constantly have military day, do huge segments about some members holding religious services on the course and the announcers are almost 100% male and white. The sport seems to try to discriminate based on financial abilities and the charitable giving that is done is only a means to ease the critical eyes that would dare gaze upon the huge profits being made.
If you're a fan of Tebow or Bubba or any other great white hope, it's not a problem and you have every right to be a fan of whoever you chose but all I ask is for some balance. When is the last time that you supported or the corporate media did a story on an athlete of a non christian faith or who might be an atheist? Why do we never ask if God was responsible for the loses and the interceptions as well as the wins and touchdowns? I'm perfectly willing to allow others the freedom to focus on and be a fan of anyone just as long as I also receive the same courtesy to dislike players and athletes, especially the ones that I'm told that I have to like and approve of. I ask today, that you broaden your horizon and decide for yourself what your opinions are in every situation in this life. Only by thinking for yourself can you truly have solid and grounded reasons for the life that you live. Freedom to agree as well as disagree without demonizing others can make us strong and if your product is really a good one, why would you ever fear competition?

Think about it..... TSD

Time to Speak Up!

Jesus wore a hoodie and sandals, does that make him a thug or a hipster douche bag? Jesus also is pictured with long hair so does that make him a threat or a dug dealer? I ask these questions partly in jest but also because I'm really tired of the people in life who judge others based on their looks, skin color, piercings, hair length and tattoos. Being a natural born southerner, I inherited a rebel spirit but not one that makes me hate ethnic people or Yankees. My rebel soul makes me want to express myself in ways that aren't common to our section of the Country. Accepting people at face value and forming your own opinions should be the only reasonable way to live your life.
Racism still exist and is a dirty little secret in much of America. If the conversations that take place in private were to be know in the open, I'm afraid that all out race wars would occur. So many white Americans hold racial grudges against all ethnic people but especially against African Americans. They've been told that Black People are lazy, scary, criminals or that they have taken their jobs or been promoted when not deserving. They resent mixing of the races and interracial dating or marriages and the "N" word is alive and well whenever people feel they are in sympathetic company. At one point, it was considered acceptable to allow older people or dumb people to cling to their racist and hateful opinions but there comes a time when we can no longer remain silent. It's no longer reasonable to allow others to express racist jokes or sentiments without rebuttal. I also have a word for the Christian community....1 John 4:20- If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Whenever you hear a Christian express hatred for President Obama, African Americans, Latinos or Liberals, just ask them to read this verse. 
It's amazing to me to watch as people become hero's or zero's based upon their perceived political actions. We watched as Captain Sully went from a right wing hero to a zero after saving lives on his airplane and then speaking up in support of unions and now, we've watched as the right wing has rallied around a confessed murderer in George Zimmerman. The support comes because he carried a gun as the NRA preaches and he has in some sick manner, obtained street credibility by killing an "evil Black Person". 
I've followed this case for days on end and I just can't let it go away. The following thoughts are simply my opinion and are not intended to be the final word in this matter. The facts are, Florida is largely run by conservatives in power and they have obeyed the NRA and a group called ALEC in passing laws that favor more gun ownership and more use of guns in the public streets. The side affect of these laws has been racism with extreme prejudice. I'm going to offer my view of how this horrible situation might have happened. You may have a different view and that's fine but in the end, we may never know everything exactly as it happened. What we do know is that a 17 year old kid, who was unarmed in dead and the killer walked free. 
In my mind, George Zimmerman is an unstable person who should have never been allowed to carry a gun. I  believe George Zimmerman had racial influences from his father who turns out to be a retired judge in Florida. Zimmerman probably watched this family and this kid as they moved through this neighborhood and it got under his skin. I'd also assume that he would be a fox viewer and right wing radio listener. The gun in his holster was much like money that burns a hole in a person's pocket until they can use it. On the night of the murder, Mr. Zimmerman took it upon himself to follow Trayvon Martin. He may have started with some honest intentions by calling the police to report a "suspicious" person but the Rambo syndrome quickly took over. It becomes apparent that he's not interested in allowing the police to do their job but his longing for wild west justice begins to take over. He follows Tayvon and as it should, it begins to make Tayvon very nervous. The 911 operator told Mr. Zimmerman  not to follow along but he continued to do so. Zimmerman caught up to Teyvon just before the police arrived and I firmly believe he tried to grab and detain him by force. As any normal person would do in that situation, Treyvon would have fought back and tried to escape. He had no idea if this guy was trying to kidnap or assault him. I believe that Zimmerman pulled his gun in an attempt to subdue Trayvon and as you can hear in the 911 calls, Trayvon appears to be begging for his life. In the end, Zimmerman pulls the trigger and kills Trayvon. If the stand and defend law applies here, it would be more on the side of Trayvon Martin than Zimmerman because Zimmerman was clearly the aggressor and was staking a 17 year old kid who had no weapons. The hit job being done by the republicans against the dead is unforgivable and the newest development of Mr. Zimmerman's father talking to the media and blaming the President, the NAACP and civil rights leaders for hatred is, in my opinion is the final missing piece of the puzzle. His father is working the media in order to obtain all the right wing support possible and in the end, what we're dealing with is a case of a former judges son who committed murder and was allowed to be released because of his father's connections. Much of the current unrest would be quieted if the shooter was simply arrested and placed in jail until a real investigation could run it's course but the longer he remains at large, the more we risk further violence. 

The Age of Disrespect

One political party in the US has been on a slow train to a dark and sad location for many years. The journey has been long and deliberate and the final destination is a place called "Disrespect". In my lifetime, I can't remember another President or even a Government official that has been attacked and hated in any way similar to President Obama. I know, I can already hear the republican wanna be victims crying about the way Bush was treated but let's be clear, the next image that someone shows me with elected officials yelling, shouting down or getting in the face of Bush, will be the very first one ever. It simply never happened. Conservatives were the first ones to demand that everyone respect the office of the President, even if he did commit war crimes or send our sons and daughters to die for a false cause. Sure there were some Americans who took issue and tried to protest the Bush administration but they were kept far away from view, not allowed at functions and never showed up with guns at protest rallies. Zero Democratic officials ever offered any public disrespect to Bush or even Cheney. Obama has endured a greatest hits collection of racism and violent rhetoric. Let's look at the following links as further proof. In case you forgot, the President was openly heckled during a speech to congress. This particular video shows the famous "You Lie" comment by a South Carolina redneck politician who went on to raise money from his lack of manners. The things that were lost in this video clip were the other republican members who were talking back during the whole speech and waving papers and signs and the President as well. Some of their papers were supposed to be bills but turned out to be blank just like their souls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aE_nEoE5kE&feature=fvst

We won't also get into the tea party idiots who took up arms and spit on Democratic leaders who were going to Capital Hill to vote on the health care law. Let's next take up the Birth Certificate fiasco. There have been too many republican politicians to even mention here that have questioned or refused to admit that President Obama is a legitimate President or even a US citizen. Any reasonable person knows that if there were any proof, in the slightest that Obama wasn't a legitimate citizen, his enemies would have stopped him in his tracks long before he was ever able to run for President. The following clip shows Obama taking the high road as always. Here, he roasts his most vocal critic at the time, Donald Trump. As we discuss this, there are still States trying to block him from being included on their ballots for the next Presidential race. Let me go ahead and break this down for them. Even if a racist state decided to block Obama in their state, it would quickly be over ruled on the Federal level and there would probably be fines imposed for bringing such a stupid theory to the courts. I'm not even going to justify the other birth certificate talkers with a clip. Tom Delay may have the most goofy quote on the matter when he actually asked for the President to show his "gift certificate". I'm going to assume that he was drunk at the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8TwRmX6zs4

We now have republicans who are running for President and using racial overtones to appeal to the racist South voters. Newt has staked his claim to tapping into racism and hatred of Obama. The following clip discusses him calling President Obama a "food stamp" President. Newt and Mr. Google search, Santorum  have bought into the whole idea of making white people afraid that Obama is secretly working to help Black people and to take from White people. There's only one party that finds a home for racist politicians and hate speech and it certainly isn't the Democratic Party. Liberals are talking in terms of making America strong and building a better tomorrow while republicans are trying to set back race relations 100 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcwgUWje0LE

We've also had professional athletes who have refused to go to the White House because they don't want to meet President Obama. The following article shows a goalkeeper for the Boston Bruins who declined an invitation to the White House as a protest. Whatever happened to respect and civility and common decency?
Hockey Player Disrespects The President

There are many others but I want to end with the latest example of blatant disrespect given to President Obama. Governor Jan Brewer tried to make news and sell books by confronting the President and ultimately pointing her grim reaper looking finger in his face for all to see. John Boehner and Eric Cantor have also shown little to no respect for the President by refusing his invitations to meetings.
Brewer Disrespects The President

In the end, this is not a both party issue but it is simply the republicans reaping what they have sown. For years, they have allowed Rush and fox to attack Liberals on a daily basis and have mixed Christianity and Sports with right wing politics to the point of believing that Democrats and Liberals are going to hell and should be assaulted verbally and physically. What use to be said in private is now out in the open and it has reached the point where their elected officials on the republican side agree with the racist and wrong headed audience of conservative voters. President Obama and his beautiful family have been gracious in the face of open racism and have chosen to take the high road in every situation. I can only hope and pray that the republicans come to their collective senses at some point before they are forced to face their demons after their disrespect and hatred come to fruition in a most unfortunate way.

01/27/2012 1:50 TSD