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I thought of that after I made my post. The former mayor of Port Allen (DeeDee Slaughter) was thoroughly corrupt, as well.
Atlanta's former mayor Bill Campbell did time for racketeering, wire fraud, and bribery.
The South already has states as corrupt as Illinois, such as, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. They were ranked among the most corrupt states in the USA, alongside Illinois, Alaska, South Dakota and Pennsylvania.
Atlanta's former mayor Bill Campbell did time for racketeering, wire fraud, and bribery.
The South already has states as corrupt as Illinois, such as, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. They were ranked among the most corrupt states in the USA, alongside Illinois, Alaska, South Dakota and Pennsylvania.
Believe it or not, there are states in the South with worse corruption issues than Massachusetts. and Illinois. What makes IL and MA stick out are that they have huge cities. Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, they don't have cities that large. Tennessee has Memphis. However, I think many people forget that Memphis is in Tennessee.
Believe it or not, there are states in the South with worse corruption issues than Massachusetts. and Illinois. What makes IL and MA stick out are that they have huge cities. Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, they don't have cities that large. Tennessee has Memphis. However, I think many people forget that Memphis is in Tennessee.
I guess I don't think of Massachusets when I think of corruption (in spite of the Kennedy family) like I do other states. New Jersey has legendary corruption. Even today they close bridges there when your local politicians do not support the sitting governor. Illinois is another one that comes to mind. How many states can say their governor is sitting in jail for selling a senate seat??? Of course there is a long history of corruption there too. Mayor Daily in Chicago is a legendary corrupt figure. Chicago corruption goes back to bad ole Capone days and beyond. Louisiana has historical and legendary corruption as well. The home state of Huey Long still has issues, what happened to all that Katrina money anyway?? Anyone ever figure that one out?? It seems to me corruption is not a north/south issue as it is everywhere. Some states have more problems than others, but they seem to be scattered around the map without regard to region. Politicians are innately corrupt. Some are better at hiding it, but all of them have done it. My state of Tennessee has plenty of local corruption, it turns up on the news now and then when one gets caught. The question is how many do not get caught??? That is the question we all should be asking.
Your right about Memphis, while everyone SHOULD know its in TN I can understand why some would not associate it with TN. It seems to have a lot more in common with Mississippi culturally. Memphis is the only part of TN that is "deep south". A different world from the upper south culture of Appalachia, Cumberland plateau and Nashville basin.
i know people hate the south, but think off all the sea ports we have from corpus chriti to virginia. thats a lot of freight moving. think of all the refinery we have along the coast. paper mills, chemical plants
Believe it or not, there are states in the South with worse corruption issues than Massachusetts. and Illinois. What makes IL and MA stick out are that they have huge cities. Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, they don't have cities that large. Tennessee has Memphis. However, I think many people forget that Memphis is in Tennessee.
hey we have sent the last three governors of alabama to prison. we got the best politicians money can buy
You completely underestimate the South. Some of the most economically successful places in the nation are here. Have you been here??
Yes, sir, I certainly have. I live here, as a matter of fact. We own homes in Louisville and Central Kentucky, and live in Boyle County.
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Originally Posted by danielj72
Have you seen Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte or Dallas??? Also have you seen the cities of the North?? How about Detroit or Cleveland?? Baltimore?? Things are not so good in those places.
You won't get much of an argument out of me on that issue. I truly and absolutely love Nashville. It's one of my favorite cities in the United States, and living only a few hours' drive from there is a true privilege - and one of the things I'll miss the most when we do move away from here. I've always had a very high opinion of Atlanta, too, despite the horrendous traffic.
But whether you realize it or not, moving your argument in that direction actually points out what I think is one of the most significant problems with the South - once you move away from the small handful of urban pockets of civilization, and get into the rural and semi-rural regions that comprise the vast majority of the South, you start to understand that there really isn't a whole heck of a lot left to work with.
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Originally Posted by danielj72
You think if secession were tried again the same result would occur, meaning we would lose a civil war with you. Think again, this is not 1865. The south is strong, values are intact here.
Can you be more specific?
Strong in what way? What values are intact here? I don't see much that really makes a very strong impression on me. There's really not that much about the South that I find impressive, and the values systems and the supposed intangible strengths... well, they totally escape me. From where I sit, it's all purely baseless boasting. Where I live, I frequently hear the phrase "Kentucky Proud" - and my first reaction is invariably "of what?"
What strengths and values do you see represented in the South in sufficient significance to give this region a decisive advantage in a second armed rebellion against the lawful government of our nation? The rampant poverty, the borderline third-world educational systems, the 12th Century barbaric religious fundamentalism? Sorry, but when you're going up against F-16s, B-2s, and brigade after brigade of M1 Abrams tanks, you're going to need something a little more substantive than "Onward, Christian Soldiers."
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Originally Posted by danielj72
The people up north are not strong, they are corrupted by decadence and immorality. Most of them do not believe in guns so what makes you think they could pull off a second victory over the South. Most members of the US armed forces are from the South or West. What makes you think they would join a fight against their people. Northerners likely do not have the stomach for something like that.
Uh-huh. Are you aware that this line of thinking is almost a word-for-word reiteration of the brash, incredibly over-confident hubris that emboldened the South to start the first Civil War 155 years ago?
You, uh... do recall how that one turned out for y'all, do you not? It didn't end well, in case your memory is selective in this matter. One out of every three Southern males of fighting age came home dead from that war against the soft, pampered weaklings who supposedly didn't know the loud end of a gun from the end you're supposed to stick against your shoulder.
Aside from the brashness of this particular argument, it's neither particularly logical nor factually correct, unless you cheat by trying to lump the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest states in with the South. "Most of them do not believe in guns?" Per-capita gun ownership in states such as Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire exceed (and in some cases, vastly exceed) gun ownership in many Southern states. Last time I checked, none of those states fall south of the Mason-Dixon line, but I would say that with gun ownership rates as high as 50+%, it's safe to say the argument that those people "don't believe in guns" is completely false. I'd suggest you do some googling before you take that one to war.
And as for the argument that Southern members of the military would be disinclined to take up arms against fellow southerners, I'll grant that you have a point. But that argument goes both ways - how many of them do you expect to commit outright treason, throw away the Constitution which they have sworn an oath to defend, and take up arms against their own lawfully elected government? Have you ever served in the military, sir? Are you well-acquainted with many military personnel? Because your argument strongly suggests otherwise.
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Originally Posted by danielj72
Also you think the northern "blue" states would only be fighting the South?? What makes you think the red states of the west and parts of the Midwest would not join the South. There is ALOT of frustration with overbearing federal power in red state America, land grabs out west, gun control, Obamacare, gay marriage edicts, bailouts etc. Red state America is very very fed up. It would not be North vs South, it would be South, West, parts of Midwest vs the Northeast and the Great Lakes/Midwest states. The result would likely be an overturning of everything the leftist have worked for in the past few decades. They would face a total defeat. One of two things would result from this, either a breakup of the USA or the nation remaining united with a new government and constitution enshrining Christianity, capitalism, states rights and traditional values as the foundations of the nation.
So now it's not just the South, it's basically about 75% of the United States that is on the cusp of rebelling against the government. Have I got that right? I'm sorry, but with all due respect, your reasoning has crossed the line into sheer fantasyland. No offense - I'm sure you're a very nice guy and all that - but I think you're listening to the wrong radio stations.
I do completely agree with you that there is one hell of a lot wrong with this country, and much - if not most - of it has gone past the point of no return, but aside from those dorks who drive around with giant Confederate flags in the beds of their pickup trucks blowing clouds of black diesel smoke to show how courageous, patriotic, and independent they are, I'm really not seeing any support for another disastrous rebellion against the government. I despise Obama just as much as the next man, but it is what it is, and I'm just not seeing a second Civil War on the horizon.
Last edited by Mr. In-Between; 07-31-2015 at 02:20 AM..
The irony is that after living here for almost 4 years, it's genuinely difficult to tell if that was meant as a joke or was a serious post.
I'm sorry if what I said offended you, but don't shoot the messenger. I didn't exactly make it up. It's a statistical fact that the south has lower wages, more poverty, higher obesity, poorer health, higher adult illiteracy, and a poorer education system than the country as a whole (and in fact, has a higher adult illiteracy rate than some Third World countries), and that the region tends to suck way more federal tax dollars out of the US Government's treasury than most Northern states - and all I'm doing is pointing that out and suggesting that y'all can't afford to secede.
Who's going to pay your bills if you cut yourself off from the part of the country that actually pays more taxes than it takes out? The South already can't afford to educate its children as well as the rest of the country as it is, or take care of its citizens' health needs, without the help of the "Yankees" that you love to make fun of, so what makes you think that's going to get any better if you cut yourself off from that welfare? Who's going to pay your bills for you if it isn't the blue states? Mexico?
And my original question regarding secession stills stands -
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Why would they? What purpose would it serve?
What would the South stand to gain from seceding, other than to make a childish point that they don't like the way the country is heading? Do they really think they could do better - and if so, on what basis?
Last edited by Mr. In-Between; 07-31-2015 at 02:25 AM..
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