No Southerners in Obama's Cabinet

[WillK]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

[Kaine for Senate '18]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

[WillK]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

Huh.  I guess it must depend on your definition of 'non-aristocrat' because I don't see it. 

[angus]

I was being facetious

Totally, dude.  I understood the sarcasm as well.  I really think we're on the same frequency.  Even about Andrew Jackson.  The comments were more for the benefit of the great unwashed masses than they were for you.  I still haven't forgotten that you were the first to question my allegiances five years ago when I first started posting here.  "I don't know, man, I don't know many anti-Iraq War, pro-marijuana legalization, anti-capital punishment, anti-school voucher, welfare-friendly Republicans.  Is it the gun thing?"   "Um, no, well, yeah I think folks ought to be able to own any gun they please any time they please, but it's mostly the narrow-mindedness of the Democrats that make me a Republican."

LOL.  Yeah, strange alliances we gringos have.  Seriously.  I'm watching Guyana specials on Discovery.  Guess it's like the 30th anniversary or something, because they seem to have some new Jim Jones show every night lately, and it seems so strange that all these San Francisco Socialists are all very deeply Christian, committed to the downtrodden, the poor, to egalitarianism, and to Jesus.  It must seem really weird to you, assuming you're not old enough to remember the whole thing.  Whatever.  I'm not much into the poor or into Jesus, but I know bigotry when I see it, and I see it just about every time I'm surrounded by registered Democrats.

That said, you'll notice I've shed the R-CA shield, and not just because I moved away from California long ago.  I'm officially a no-party man now.  I didn't like being naked at first, but it's quite liberating.  Here in Iowa we're actually a plurality.  Last time I checked, there were five hundred thousand registered Republicans, seven hundred thousand registered Democrats, and about a million registered unaffiliated voters in Iowa.  It's catching on.  You should try it out.  Lose that ugly green shield.  (I also never much cared for the way forum folks call them avatars.  I think Al started that.)  Nekkid is better than green.  Come streak with me, buddy.  Feel the wind. 

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

Huh.  I guess it must depend on your definition of 'non-aristocrat' because I don't see it. 

Surely at some point in your superior yankee education you learned at least a tiny morsel of American history.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Speaking as a lifelong resident of the north, in my experience, most of the North doesn't care about the South.

I'm not even really thinking of the regional divide as such, more the general attitude shown in this thread towards areas (this is the amazing thing I think) that vote in the "wrong" way. It's the sort of divisive madness that makes even less sense in America, with it's lumbering-yet-porous catch-all parties, than the rest of the World. And, yes, we're only talking kids and activists here in this thread, but the kids will grow up and the activists may well influence (not individually, of course) wider perceptions of their party. And it isn't as though the obvious immaturity of that way of thinking has prevented the Republicans from playing at it over the past few years, to their great cost. Attitudes like this are both poisonous and addictive.

Yes, I might be reading a little too much into spiteful comments on the interwebs. But I don't think that pointing out that something is wrong, foolish and hypocritical is a bad thing.

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People here have not been insulting the dominating political class of the South, except when their insults have been so broad as to make it impossible to miss them.

[WillK]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

Huh.  I guess it must depend on your definition of 'non-aristocrat' because I don't see it. 

Surely at some point in your superior yankee education you learned at least a tiny morsel of American history.

I have learned much more than a morsel.    

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

Huh.  I guess it must depend on your definition of 'non-aristocrat' because I don't see it. 

Surely at some point in your superior yankee education you learned at least a tiny morsel of American history.

I'll grant that Jackson came from lower circumstances than any previous President, but John Adams was hardly an aristocrat by birth.  If one is going to count Adams as an aristocrat because of how far his circumstances had risen before obtaining the office of president, then Jackson was one too, indeed he was even more of an aristocrat than John Adams had ever been.

[Beet]

... After all, this is the region that gave us our first non-aristocrat President ...

Who are you referring to? 

Andrew Jackson.

Huh.  I guess it must depend on your definition of 'non-aristocrat' because I don't see it. 

Surely at some point in your superior yankee education you learned at least a tiny morsel of American history.

I'll grant that Jackson came from lower circumstances than any previous President, but John Adams was hardly an aristocrat by birth.  If one is going to count Adams as an aristocrat because of how far his circumstances had risen before obtaining the office of president, then Jackson was one too, indeed he was even more of an aristocrat than John Adams had ever been.

Economically the Adamses were not in the elite, but his parents were descended from the original 'founding families' from the 1630s by blood lineage, and Congregationalist Puritans. It was surely this background that afforded him his Harvard education.

[WillK]

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Jackson was born and raised on his uncle's farm, a substantial place tended by slaves, and had himself inherited 200 acres from his father and later a nice sum of money from his grandfather.  

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By the 1820s Jackson lived the aristocrat lifestyle as master of the Hermitage.

[memphis]

Jackson was the original "plain folks" campaigner. Like W, it doesn't mean the he was actually of modest means.

[WillK]

...
Economically the Adamses were not in the elite, but his parents were descended from the original 'founding families' from the 1630s by blood lineage, and Congregationalist Puritans. It was surely this background that afforded him his Harvard education.

JA got a partial scholarship from Harvard and his father sold off part of his farm to pay for the rest. 

[justfollowingtheelections]

I haven't read all replies yet, but what happened to picking the best people for the job?  If none of them happen to be from the South, so what?

Why is it that every day a new article comes out complaining that Obama hasn't picked a member of a particular yet?
Can we please stop with that nonsense.  The cabinet doesn't have to be diverse for the sake of being diverse.

[Lunar]

As the article points out, some of this is due to a lack of a Democratic bench in the South -- you need expert talent in order to recruit it. 

And again, Obama's top national security adviser is James Jones (I?-MO), and One of Obama's inner circle and press secretary is from Alabama, Robert Gibbs is dixie-born and bred.  I mean, there's no intentional exclusion of the South.

Obama's the first non-Southern president we've had for a while, so it shouldn't strike us as surprising that his two main recruiting pools are Chicago and New York City.  The bulge of windy and big applers has pretty much pushed out a lot of the lower-level picks.

And they'll have a Southern person in the cabinet, patience

[specific_name]

I wouldn't know where to begin addressing the wave of utter ignorance in this thread. That is, in reference to how the American South should be "punished" or something along those lines. These two or three posters clearly have nothing more than a skin deep acquaintance with history. The whole mantra of "the civil war is over" cuts both ways.

If you think it was only about slavery or any other single issue, I'd direct you to your local library. Of course, assuming one who makes such claims gives a damn about facts or dispelling preconceived notions. Regardless, those who characterize an entire group/region with blanket statements, have already proven that ignorance knows no regional boundary or past precedent.

[Matt Damon™]

America needs a kulturkampf to remove southern influence from the US.

[Aizen]

we need another civil war. that will solve the problems that plague us.

[LanceMcSteel]

We need to send in the US Army to rape and pillage the South again and colonize it with Northerners. The South's peculiar and odd cultural traditions will no longer be forced upon the the true American Yankees.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I find it quite ironic that when the first black President of the United States is elected nobody from the South is appointed in his cabinet. Of course its not intentional, but as the main theme throughout the article indicates, Obama didn't selection any Southerners due to a lack of a solid Democratic base in the South. Have patience my Southern friends, at least one will be selected in the coming future I can assure you of that!

[jamestroll]

I am no fan of the deep south, but come on guys, calm down on the Southern bashing.. damn..

[Rob]

Wonderful news! This is the kind of change America needed. You would never know the South lost the Civil War from the way those states have been pandered to in the past.

[Meeker]

So how many Cabinet positions are left?

[Matt Damon™]

We need to send in the US Army to rape and pillage the South again and colonize it with Northerners. The South's peculiar and odd cultural traditions will no longer be forced upon the the true American Yankees.

[angus]

We need to send in the US Army to rape and pillage the South again and colonize it with Northerners. The South's peculiar and odd cultural traditions will no longer be forced upon the the true American Yankees.

Go the fuck away, troll.

You really have no grounds to say this.

Actually, you're sort of right, but he was just responding to bigotry with vehemence. 

Most of us aren't of yankee stock.  My European white-trash ancestors, all of whom were catholic and jews, and none of whom were protestant or english, and who migrated to this great country in the early 20th century were treated like dogs.  I recognize that in most of the world "yankee" means any white person from the U.S., but here it means yankee.  And, if that wasn't clear, the poster made sure to say "true yankee."  I.e., the George Bushes of the world.  Connecticut-born, Connecticut-bred, descendents of Puritan congregationalists and moralists who gave you Prohibition of alcohol and the Salem Witch Trials.  No thank you. 

The statement was bigoted.  It was bigoted against southerners, in particular, but such a bigoted statement has been made against many an ethnic minority.  And frankly, I see the bigotry, as evidenced in this thread, against southerners and their culture, as no better and no worse than the bigotry against Sicilians, against Irish, against Eastern European Jews, and against every other group that has had to prove itself.  Sure, I recognize that it's just a fringe.  Al rightfully pointed out that it's the very young (and therefore unwise and not very authoritative) and the active (and therefore probably not very committed) who harbor such resentment and hold such deep hatred in their hearts.  But the young will someday become old, and the active, although not committed enough to be patient, are loud of mouth and have the ability to influence others, and therefore it's time to call them out.

Sure, Benconstine was a bit rash, and the label "troll" was misplaced, but his vehemence was understandable.  And what's amazing is that even with the election of a black guy with a first name (barack) that means "blessed" in Arabic--let's appreciate that:  a black man with an arabic name.  True, only in America.  At least this isn't France or Germany.  I get that.  I'm down with the free speech and all that.  But even here it's amazing--you'd think we could breathe a bit.  Have all you white, anglo-saxon, protestants of English stock--and I know you're not one, but it's worth point out to the many who are--not finally gotten over your prejudices?  Is it only because Southerners (and Chinese) are the last groups that you're allowed to make fun of in public that you still make fun of them?  My guess is that it is.  If you could come out against blacks and Jews and Catholics you probably still would.  But times have changed.  And Southerners, East Asians, observant Christians, and Republicans are pretty much the only groups left to pick on.  It is simply a very hateful joke to talk about raping and pillaging.

That said, it's kinda funny.  Like I said, I can even laugh at starving ethopian children who get adopted by overfed, overprotected American families.  And, seriously, if you can laugh at that then you can pretty much laugh at anything.  And no one has ever accused me of being politically correct.  In fact, I despise political correctness, mostly for the reason you point out:  it's an anathema to free speech.  I'm just saying that there's a difference between a joke and a venting of deep-seated resentment.  And, as far as I can tell, many of the posts herein full of abject hatred.  Sore winners, too.  That's the really ing weird part.  Like I said, I can understand sore losers, but sore winners??!  That's gotta come from somewhere deep.   Somewhere unfulfilled.  Like, daddy beat me, mama didn't breastfeed me, and I'm 30 and still haven't been laid without paying for it.  That sort of thing.  It's the sort of hatred that almost makes you feel sorry for the bigot, know what I mean?  And Benconstine was just expressing that sympathy.  In his impetuous Southern Jewboy sort of way.  Sometimes it's okay to say Fuck You, and this was one of those times.  And if you don't think "rape and pillage" are fighting words, then you're deluded.

No poll necessary.  We're all different.  But you (and others) have to accept that.  Until we live in a society in which no one says it's okay to rape another's people or pillage another's lands, then we really haven't lived up to the noble promise that was Jamestowne's, some 401 years ago.

[The Mikado]

we need another civil war. that will solve the problems that plague us.

America needs a kulturkampf to remove southern influence from the US.

We need to send in the US Army to rape and pillage the South again and colonize it with Northerners. The South's peculiar and odd cultural traditions will no longer be forced upon the the true American Yankees.

Way to insult every man, woman, and child in Dixie, many of whom hold doctorates, own businesses, research biotech and aviation, and have been on the cutting edge of American innovation since the invention of air conditioning.  Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston all have large populations of highly educated, innovative, intelligent, progressive people.

By the way, I'm sure the thirty percent of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana that are of African origin are charmed that you think they're ignorant rednecks.