Bill Maher: Lose the twang, y'all

[Manix]

Salon
Feb. 7, 2004


Enough with the Civil War complex: It's time for Southern Democrats to get enlightened about voting Bush out of office.


<snip>


New rule: Southerners have to at least consider voting for candidates from the North.

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has a powerful argument in his bid to be the Democratic nominee when he says, "What I give people is a candidate who can win everywhere in America."

Translation: "We Southerners ain't gonna vote for no Yankee! You suckers up North will take our Clintons and Carters, but we just ain't buyin' Kerrys and Deans."

And that's a shame. Not just for Democrats but for democracy itself. And I feel bad for the millions of intelligent people who live in a region still dominated by so much prejudice that anyone who wants to be president better have a twang in his voice and pronounce all four E's in the word "shit."



Salon

[xxqqqzme]

1. anybody w/ HBO needs 2 catch

the replays of 2nites program. I haven't laughed that hard in....... at least 3 years!

[Gunit_Sangh]

4. re: anybody w/ HBO needs 2 catch

I second that ... I am SOOOOO glad HBO decided to put him on at 8pm (est) on Friday's. I've caught his show the last 3 weeks and I find it one of the most entertaining political shows on the air.

[question everything]

8. Thanks, intend to to this tonight

http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet

[quisp]

2. but the fact is, the Civil War still resonates

Than and the fact that nobody likes to be talked down to. Which Northerners do so well. I know, I know, they talk down to everyone. So just to say "Get over it" isn't going to help much. I live here and I don't know what the solution is. But I can assure you, scolding platitudes and condescension won't fix it.

And to assume that just because one pronounces every e in "shit" (there are 5 btw) he is an ignorant racist is part of the problem.

[ixion]

5. Southerners have their own methods of being condescending

like treating people from the North poorly when those people are traveling through the South.

Please. This argument is moot because it goes both ways.

[Skittles]

10. THANK YOU

I have lived both north and south and the south has no freaking lock on BEING COURTEOUS.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. Give me a F***in' Break

I have been treated like crap down South because when I open my mouth they know I'm from the Northeast. I'm polite, have Southern relatives and treat people respectfully. But my accent gives me away and I suffer for it. it goes both ways, pal.

I will give you that some of the stereotypical cultural differences ring true. Northeasterners speak quickly and tend to be blunt. Southerners take their time and are more polite.

All this Civil War BS is getting old. I guess I should hate the British because they fought in my backyard (literally), killed a few of my ancestors, and destroyed my great-great-great-great granpappy's farm. Give me a break!

[tedoll78]

9. Maybe the South deserves a talkin'-down to.

And I say this as a born-and-bred Southerner.

We've largely voted solidly Republican for the past thirty years. And our best times have come when we voted for the Democrat.

Why my neighbors don't see the pattern.. Southern states are consistently 45 through 50 in quality of life measures. Poverty, child abuse, environment, education, etc, etc - we're always ranked last in all the wrong studies. Of course, many of the idgits around here couldn't link their voting patterns to these results.

Meanwhile, the North votes intelligently. Blue states. The schools rank better, healthcare is better, divorce rates, etc, etc. Maybe the Blue states are in a position from which they can teach the Red states how to get things done properly..

Of course, I'd never recommend that the nominee talk down snobbishly. Just plainly point-out to the South: "You've voted Republican all your lives. What do you have to show for it?"

[seasat]

12. Reminds me of a story.

tedoll78 wrote:
Why my neighbors don't see the pattern.. Southern states are consistently 45 through 50 in quality of life measures. Poverty, child abuse, environment, education, etc, etc - we're always ranked last in all the wrong studies.

I attended a comedy performance at a Mississippi University. A comedian from SC was performing and was joking about education in SC. He said they ranked something like 49th. A group of students sitting near the front suddenly shouted, "We're 50." The comedian didn't know how to respond so to avoid insulting the heckling students. He said, "I'm sure there is something Mississippi is first in." The group of students then shouted, "Teenage Pregnancies." The guy wasn't really able to finish his act after that.

[xchrom]

3. i don't know about the twang part

but i am tired of so much of the surface of politics being played to the south.
maher points out what we are really talking about -- either the south won't vote for a northener or it's the cultural war stuff{which i really think it is}.
by southener, in many circumstances, we mean culturally conservative. -- well i'm not culturally conservative and i'm sick and tired of being dismissed like that.

[goclark]

7. My impressions

I saw the show and I thought it was his best yet!
My take on it was a bit different. Though he talked about the south,I thought he was reaching for a broader idea. One that I support. Why do we keep saying that it has to be someone from the south or north or whatever to balance the ticket? Why can our party just pick two good men or women :toast: to run this country? Do you think we will ever come to that day?

Maher, in my opinion was saying, get over it and get on with it- pick the two best candidates! I would be thrilled to see a Clark-Edwards ticket,why do we still have to care what part of the country they came from - forgive me, I'm just dreaming.

[donhakman]

11. it was

It was one of his laugh out loud shows instead of a chuckle.
Bill took charge and had great material.

Neil Bush and his Asian hookers was a scream.

[atre]

13. Nonsense

Bill Maher is hardly a voice of reason or of liberalism. He has an amazing ability to embarass himself with utter nonsense. The quote above, while it appears to satisfy many DUers in that it conforms to their stereotypes about Southerners, is hardly an accurate interpretation of the quote. And the substance of his response is likewise nonsense.

People in the South routinely vote for people from outside the region. FDR (NY), Truman (Missouri), LBJ (Texas is not "South," it's Southwest), Richard Nixon (California), Ronald Reagan (California), Bob Dole (Kansas), George H.W. Bush (Texas), and George W. Bush (Texas/Connecticut/Maine) come to mind. None of them are Southerners.

The reason why I don't think Kerry will win the region in the G.E. is because he doesn't care to. If his rhetoric is any indication, he will leave Southern Democrats (very few of which are anything like Zell Miller) out to dry. Southern State Democratic Parties may atrophy at a time when they are ripe for the taking. The influx of Latinos, the impact of the Bush economy on the region, and the high percentage of minorities all present a tremendous opportunity in the coming years. Ever read The Emerging Democratic Majority? Kerry appears willing to ignore that opportunity, perhaps because he shares the same prejudices as many of the anti-South people on this forum.

If you say you don't care, consider this: Who suffers if the State Democratic Parties do indeed wither? African Americans, for one. The South houses about 60% of the nation's black population and is the home to most of the nation's elected black officials. If you have genuine concern for black Americans, you might want to think twice about a Kerry nomination.

That's why I don't think Kerry stands a chance in the South- he doesn't care- NOT because he is from Massachusetts. Dean, who is from Vermont, WOULD mount that kind of challenge. Lieberman, from Connecticut, would have, also.

The only way Kerry gets my vote is if he commits to mounting that kind of aggressive campaign in the South. Until he demonstrates that commitment, I am firmly ABKGB (Anybody but Kerry and George Bush).