Bellingham area sitings of Confederate flag while visiting (Seattle, Ferndale: 2014, houses)

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Just for reference, and since the typical Confederate waving racist tends also to vote Republican, I want to point out that Bham is strongly Bernie country (and I'm not saying all Republicans are racist, just addressing one subset). Bham feels like one large Seattle neighborhood, the people are the same. Many in Bham have moved here from Seattle to escape the traffic and high cost of living, in fact. The community is equally liberal, educated, outdoors-loving, community focused, organic embracing, generally fit, coffee loving, dog loving, crazy bike loving, etc... I saw my first Trump sign ever in an adjacent rural area, around Ferndale.

(And personally I am for Clinton!)

Well said and I thought your earlier response was well-considered. For someone to say to the OP "just ignore it" is not empathizing with their concerns at all. (Clinton too!)

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Generally, Bellingham is very liberal and tolerant. There was at one time a large "biker" element there, but not sure about now. While northwest cities are very liberal, the "sticks" can be pretty conservative. It does sound to me that the guys in the Capri were out to get a rise out of people. Hard to tell from the telling if they were students (WWU) or local knuckle-draggers.

Whidbey has a large naval air station, with many personnel stationed and retirees settled there from other parts of the country, including the deep south.

This, and the "sticks"may just be the more rural outskirts of a city. Bellingham is a college town, and as such is probably more liberal in general than Seattle, but there are plenty of conservatives around the area outside of town.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Well said and I thought your earlier response was well-considered. For someone to say to the OP "just ignore it" is not empathizing with their concerns at all. (Clinton too!)

For the sake of clarification, I'm certainly not minimizing their question or being unsympathetic to their concerns. After all, why would I have taken the time to craft a lengthy response? I'm really just adding to what others have said and suggesting that tactically, when you physically see people doing things like that to get a rise out of people, it's good to ignore it, because all they're seeking is attention.

At the end of the day I want to reassure them that even though there's a urban/rural divide here and obviously some rednecks in the sticks, most of the local population- especially in town is pretty progressive and like-minded, and that compared to other places, they'll probably be just fine.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Well said and I thought your earlier response was well-considered. For someone to say to the OP "just ignore it" is not empathizing with their concerns at all. (Clinton too!)

If you intended that comment for me, know that I am a minority myself and have very good perspective that taking the bait from haters does nothing to diminish their activity. Better to ignore them, since there is so much better stuff to do than NOT moving on.

Really, it is a lesson that goes all the way back to elementary school age. Ignore the turds and they will lose interest in you.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Well said and I thought your earlier response was well-considered. For someone to say to the OP "just ignore it" is not empathizing with their concerns at all. (Clinton too!)

If you intended that comment for me, know that I am a minority myself and have very good perspective that taking the bait from haters does nothing to diminish their activity. Better to ignore them, since there is so much better stuff to do than NOT moving on.

Really, it is a lesson that goes all the way back to elementary school age. Ignore the turds and they will lose interest in you. The one exception is outright bullying. Gotta stop that by fighting back...I known that from personal experience, too.

[Luke9686]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Just for reference, and since the typical Confederate waving racist tends also to vote Republican, I want to point out that Bham is strongly Bernie country (and I'm not saying all Republicans are racist, just addressing one subset). Bham feels like one large Seattle neighborhood, the people are the same. Many in Bham have moved here from Seattle to escape the traffic and high cost of living, in fact. The community is equally liberal, educated, outdoors-loving, community focused, organic embracing, generally fit, coffee loving, dog loving, crazy bike loving, etc... I saw my first Trump sign ever in an adjacent rural area, around Ferndale.

(And personally I am for Clinton!)

Flashback: The Time Hillary Clinton Praised Former KKK Member Sen. Robert Byrd [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller


Yes, most racists are republicans. Democrats, the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

Flashback: The Time Hillary Clinton Praised Former KKK Member Sen. Robert Byrd [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller


Yes, most racists are republicans. Democrats, the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK.

Thanks for joining the thread to impart your wisdom. Now kindly do yourself a favor and read up on the Southern Strategy and George Wallace, so that you know what you're talking about.

Here's a quick primer: http://www.salon.com/2013/12/22/how_...te_mans_party/

I'm not sure why contrarians are so excited to bring up the history of the Democrat party, when it's a very well-known fact that the parties and movements swapped affiliation in the 1960's. Do you really think that it was conservatives that pushed for civil rights legislation? The Know Nothings, the Klan, the Dixiecrats, the modern day religious right- are all conservatives. It really doesn't matter if it's with a "D" or with an 'R"....

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

For the sake of clarification, I'm certainly not minimizing their question or being unsympathetic to their concerns. After all, why would I have taken the time to craft a lengthy response? I'm really just adding to what others have said and suggesting that tactically, when you physically see people doing things like that to get a rise out of people, it's good to ignore it, because all they're seeking is attention.

At the end of the day I want to reassure them that even though there's a urban/rural divide here and obviously some rednecks in the sticks, most of the local population- especially in town is pretty progressive and like-minded, and that compared to other places, they'll probably be just fine.

I wasn't referring to you, I promise.

Originally Posted by pikabike

If you intended that comment for me, know that I am a minority myself and have very good perspective that taking the bait from haters does nothing to diminish their activity. Better to ignore them, since there is so much better stuff to do than NOT moving on.

Really, it is a lesson that goes all the way back to elementary school age. Ignore the turds and they will lose interest in you.

Not you either, I promise. I was referring to a previous out of state poster who seemed to be telling the OP to just get over it and ignore it. In the OPs place, I would be asking how common this was too.

[mhays25]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

Flashback: The Time Hillary Clinton Praised Former KKK Member Sen. Robert Byrd [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller


Yes, most racists are republicans. Democrats, the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK.

Wow the schools must be pretty bad in your area.

You're talking about the parties of generations ago. The parties have changed positions and position dramatically since then.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

Flashback: The Time Hillary Clinton Praised Former KKK Member Sen. Robert Byrd [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller


Yes, most racists are republicans. Democrats, the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK.

I'm sure you are aware that the "democrats" of old are the heritage party of the republicans today? They switched their name/platform. Explanation:

http://www.livescience.com/34241-dem...platforms.html

http://factmyth.com/factoids/democra...hed-platforms/

When I grew up in N.C., I knew many then Jesse Helms type democrats who always voted Republican. Their registration Democrat per their heritage, but the ideology was racist, Bible thumping conservative. Obviously today's party does not reflect racist ideology -- look at our candidates....and compare that with the Republican contender.