The six weeks that (potentially) cost Donald Trump the 2016 Presidential Election...

Six weeks ago, Donald Trump won the Indiana primary in such a decisive fashion, the last two Republican challengers, John Kasich and Ted Cruz, suspended their campaigns, effectively ending the GOP election.  At that moment, the door seemed open for Trump to begin pivoting his views towards the center, unify GOP support, and prepare for a general election showdown with a Hillary Clinton that was still trying to put away a surprising challenge from Bernie Sanders. In fact, during the last six weeks, Trump actually led Clinton in a general election match-up in a smattering of polls.  And it appeared to be a wise move by Trump to visit California for several days in late May to play havoc causer in the Democratic Primary, when a Sanders win would have sent Clinton limping towards Philadelphia and the Democratic National Convention.  It might have even been a little devilishly genius for Trump to appear in CA, and stir up protests by Latinos against his campaign visits in an attempt to solidify support in battleground states in November.

But instead of showing the ability to pivot, Trump played to his base and attacked many of his fellow GOP rivals, shaming them for not endorsing Trump immediately.  Paul Ryan faced his wrath for a while before the Speaker of the House meekly endorsed him in late May.  Susan Martinez and Nikki Haley, both diverse women who are the future of the GOP, came under attack.  Trump also couldn't resist going after the Bush family and Mitt Romney, calling them losers and demanding their support of Trump.

The turning point, however, may have been Trump's pettiness in a legal matter now going through the courts concerning one of his ventures, Trump University.  In mid-May, U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, ruled that Trump University case in California should begin in late November, which was a defeat for prosecuting lawyers who wanted to have the case begin this summer.  While the Trump legal team wanted the case to begin next year, it was a victory of sorts for Trump who dodged a trial until after the election. Curiel also ruled the public could see documents related to the case. In response, Trump immediately began attacking the judge and accused him of being Mexican, even though Judge Curiel had been born in Indiana.  When confronted with the facts of Judge Curiel's birthplace, Trump doubled down on his attacks.  GOP leaders were horrified and Trump was condemned for being a racist on all sides.  By the time Trump tried to tell the GOP to "get over it", it was far too late. 

Trump's attacks on Judge Curiel also put Latino protests in CA in a more sympathetic light.  I suspect Latino support helped carry Hillary Clinton to surprisingly huge victory in the California primary last Tuesday, as well as a victory in New Mexico.  Bernie Sanders' last chance for momentum heading into a possible contested convention in Philadelphia was effectively over.  Within 48 hours after the CA primary, most major Democratic leaders unified around Clinton, and began an all-out attack on Trump.  Led by Mass. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vice-President Joe Biden, the Dems turned Trump's attacks on Judge Curiel into a rallying cry for Democrats.  While Sanders has yet to endorse Clinton, it would appear at least Bernie will pledge support for Clinton sometime in the coming days.

All major polls taken within the last 7 days now show Clinton with a small to sizable lead over Trump... even polls that once had Trump in the lead.  But look closer, and you will see Trump is losing or tied in states that he must win to have even a chance to win in November.  GOP strongholds like Utah and Kansas show the possibility of going to the Democrats on election day.  (Clinton leads Trump by 7 in the latest Sunflower State poll, while Utah shows a tied race in a state that "loser Mitt Romney" won by 48% in 2012).  Trump is trying to ignore such abysmal showing in reliable GOP states by stating he could make things competitive in PA, MD, NJ, and CA.  Pennsylvania, maybe.  But #1 Trump water boy, Chris Christie is very unpopular in the Garden State, there's a huge Latino voting base in CA already angry with Trump, and Maryland... Well, I live in the Old Line State, and the only chance Donald Trump has of winning it is if a nuclear bomb destroyed the entire I-95 corridor between D.C and Baltimore.  He's not thinking realistically.

The last straw may be the Orlando massacre over the weekend.  Trump seemed to congratulate himself for predicting such an ISIS-inspired massacre might happen, then attacked Obama and Clinton for being too soft and called once again for a Muslim immigration ban.  But in the process, he also took time to revoke the press credentials for the only newspaper ever powerful enough to bring down a sitting President... the Washington Post (Watergate/Nixon).  If Trump could do something that would potentially show disdain for the First Amendment of the US Constitution, what's to say he wouldn't challenge other aspects of the Constitution... Perhaps even the right to bear arms?  In the past, he has called for a ban on certain guns.

Of course, things could change, and events could happen that would swing support back to Trump.  And the full impact of the Orlando has yet to be felt in the polls.  But it appears Trump has lost his best chance to win the Presidency and is now forced to wage the same ground game President Bush (43), John McCain, and Mitt Romney had to run to try and win the top office in the land... a toss-up scenario at best.  At worst, Trump may be abandoned by the rest of the GOP leadership by the time the first General Election Presidential Debate reaches Wright State University in Dayton, OH this fall.

Funny how things can change in six weeks.

The Drive-By Autopsy of the 2016 Presidential Primary Season

We now know the two main participants in the General Election for President of the United States.  On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton learned from her defeat of 8 years ago at the hands of a young Illinois Senator named Barack Obama, and turned back a surprising and spirited challenger from Independent Socialist turned Democrat, Vermont Junior Senator (and I use the term “Junior” loosely) Bernie Sanders.  While on the Republican side, Democratic-leaning Independent turned GOP Populist and alleged billionaire, Donald Trump, used anger at the establishment in Washington and controversy to bully his way past 16 other challengers to become the GOP nominee.  Both main participants used contrasting styles to win.  And while both candidates emerged victorious, both Trump and Clinton enter the General Election cycle with record-high negative ratings. 

So how did we get here?  And will the General Election play out similar to the last four cycles or be different as Donald Trump has promised?

(1) THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE:  Clinton survived a scare in Iowa and a humbling early defeat in New Hampshire to Sanders, then began taking advantage of her popularity among minority voters to steamroll Bernie across the South. She also won the all the key big delegate states, with the exception of Michigan (the upset of the primaries).  Even though Bernie hung tough and picked off 22 of the 50 states, Clinton never lost control of the situation and won when it counted.  Bernie’s last attempt to seize momentum heading towards Philadelphia failed when Clinton scored a double-digit victory in California, thanks to Latino support.  Clinton’s pillars of African-American, Latino, LGBT, and voters over 45 were stronger than Bernie’s pillars of under 45 voters, as well as crossover voters.  It is expected Bernie will concede, probably after the DC primary next week.  Clinton won the popular vote by about 3.5 million votes (est.) and the pledged delegate count by about 400.  At this point, Clinton needs about 30% of the superdelegates to clinch, and she already has locked up about two-thirds of those, so despite Bernie’s pronouncements that he wants to take the fight to Philadelphia, that threat would be counterproductive.

(2) THE REPUBLICAN SIDE:  Donald Trump used the power of the media to race past traditional candidates like Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, and others, outlasted rising stars like Marco Rubio and Ben Carson, and finally wore down Ted Cruz and John Kasich to all but wrap up the nomination in early May.  Trump’s controversial statements about building a wall across the southern border and banning Muslims from entering the US played well to the GOP audience.  His unorthodox style confounded pundits who believed his politically incorrect style combined with his lack of policy specifics would ultimately be fatal blows, but Trump seemed to get stronger as controversy swirled more around him.  He now has the establishment GOP bending to his will, save a few outliers here and there.

Despite the dynamics and promises that this cycle will change the electoral college map one way or the other, it appears that, just like the last four election cycles, both candidates will start with over 3/4ths of the states and electoral votes already decided (sorry, Donald, after what happened in California yesterday, your boasts of winning the Golden State will not be backed up).  In the electoral college map site, 270 to win, Hillary Clinton appears to be up 217 to 191 on Donald Trump in projected electoral votes, with about 130 electoral votes in the toss-up range.  That is the most optimistic estimate for the GOP nominee, however, as other polls suggest Clinton has the edge in 253 electoral votes to 190 for Trump, with 95 electoral votes in the toss-up range.  Nate Silver, the guy who correctly predicted the 2012 Election Winning margin for President Obama has Hillary as a strong favorite.  Most predict Trump will have to win the Rust Belt Battleground States while turning back Clinton attempts to win in states like North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona if Trump has any chance to be the 45th President of the United States. 

Of course, things could happen to change the dynamics, and Trump’s willingness to cause controversy while stirring things up is the ultimate X-factor. Trump could peel off enough Sanders’ supporters to win a close race in November, but he could just as easily lose in a blowout, and, in the process, cost the GOP control of the Senate and (while a longshot) maybe even the House.  We will know by the end of August which way the election is heading.

So despite the negatives about each candidate, here we are.  The next five months are likely to be even uglier than the last five months.  I fear we’ll all need a vacation from politics on November 9th.

Postcard from the Edge…

Recently, I had a unique opportunity while out on the West Coast.  I had a chance to see the US/Mexico Border up close and personal.  The experience really opened my eyes to the complicated relationship we have with our southern neighbor… A relationship that could become even more complicated if a certain Presidential candidate were to become the 45th President of the United States.

While I won’t get into too many details about the time I spent along our southern edge, I will say the relationship between the two countries is not one-way.  I saw just as many people crossing into Mexico for goods and business as I saw people crossing into the US for similar reasons.  I did not interact with these travelers; merely I observed the comings and goings of daily life along this narrow line.  It is a relationship that even the most observant people cannot fully explain.

Like it or not, Mexican culture is prevalent across a huge part of the American Southwest.  It’s been that way since the 1840s , when the US and Mexico fought a war that initially started over the land claims of the newly acquired Texas territory, and ended with the US claiming what would eventually become the states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and portions of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.  It can be difficult at times to determine who is native to the area and who has migrated up from the south.  Going through Old Town San Diego was an example of this.  There was a lot of Mexican heritage seen in the area in the form of restaurants, art, music, and culture.  And it’s not just San Diego as Mexican culture is clearly evident up the California coastline.

Now, from where I was, there was a fence separating the two nations.  I do not know when that fence was built, but you could clearly see it on Interstate 5 South several miles before you reached the border. You could clearly see the city of Tijuana even before you can make the outline of the fence. But the fence is visible… a clear dividing line.

Are there issues in Mexico?  Certainly.  Rival drug gangs are committing violence along the border.  The things I heard were very shocking and sobering.  And yet, many Americans will cross gladly into places like Tijuana for fun, for adventure, for medical reasons… And some Americans have decided to settle down and live their remaining years south of the border.  Like I said, the issues between the United States and Mexico are not simple.

A ten foot high fence does not and will not stop the two-way traffic between the two nations, whether people cross into this country through legal means or non-legal ones.  Neither will a 35-foot wall (or higher wall) across the entire southern border do anything to stem the flow.  You can always find a big enough ladder, or a longer rope to get over.  You can go under the above ground obstructions by digging tunnels.  Or you can manage to sneak past the checkpoints if you have the means to do so.  To think a wall will protect your job or your life from southern non-legal incursions is simple-minded and unrealistic.  That is reality.  All building a 35-foot wall will do is strain relations between neighbors on the continent.  I’m not saying the border should be open like it is with our neighbors to the north.  However, what Trump is proposing will do little to change the flow, and may instead backfire on the US if things “go south”, if you pardon the pun.

For now, I am grateful for my time visiting our southernmost limits.  Big picture perspective helps keep me grounded and forces me to confront my own heretofore ignorant observations.  I am more knowledgeable now than I was this time last week.  That is always a good thing.

Twilight of the Icons…

Recently, I found out that "The Barber" in my hometown of Snellville had retired.  Yes, Snellville has many people that could cut hair, but there was only one true barber.  Kenneth Dalton, better known by his nickname of “Peanut”, finally took down his shingle and turned out the light on his barber pole on New Years’ Eve after cutting hair in Snellville for over 5 decades.  Getting your hair cut by Peanut was more than just a hair cut; it was a rite of passage for any male of the town.  He had been cutting hair in Snellville for nearly two decades before my family moved there; he would cut hair there for nearly another two decades after I had left.  The town grew from a small intersection on the way from Atlanta to Athens to one of the major suburbs of Atlanta.  We wish Peanut the best in his well-earned retirement.

Peanut is just another example of beloved iconic figures over the last several years, local and national, that have been around for so long that their departure often leaves a void that cannot be so easily replaced.  Dick Clark. Larry Munson. Ernie, Skip, and Pete. Pat Summerall. John Madden. Willard Scott. Chick Hearn. Johnny Most. Jack Buck. Harry Carey. Jerry Lewis. Ernie Harwell. Even Vin Scully is not immune to Father Time, as 2016 will mark his final season behind the booth calling Dodger Games. You can come up with even more names I am sure.

Many younger than me may not understand the romanticism some of these names have, especially as they look as how some of the “icons” of our past are now being exposed as less than perfect people.  They see Bill Cosby as a rapist, for example.  They see Hulk Hogan as a racist.  Jared from Subway is a child molester.  What skeletons are hiding in the closets of other larger than life figures, they wonder. They care less about the changing of the guard, thinking it’s time to kick the old guy/broad to the curb to make way for Ryan Seacrest or Miley Cyrus or someone they can identify with. 

They are critical about things like the new Star Wars movie.  It’s just a rehash of the original movie, they say.  They do not understand why old fogies like me enjoy the movie or what we see in the new movie that makes us feel good.  They do not understand why we cheered to see Han and Chewie again, or Leia or Threepio or The Falcon or you-know-who at the end. 

Point is, many of us want to see our icons one more time.  We’re willing to see Motley Crue, even at this stage of their lives one last time.  Or Sir Paul McCartney.  Or Jimmy Buffett.  We know they will not be with us forever.  We want to enjoy them, even if they can only do half of what they used to do before they move off the stage of life.

One day, maybe the younger generation will understand.  Maybe they will appreciate iconic figures who have real talents.  Maybe.  For us, however, we appreciate those who have spent many years giving us the sound bytes (and even a haircut or two) of our youth and adulthood.  The last voices from our formidable days are heading off into the sunset of life.  Let us pay homage to those icons while we still can. 

I remember… (10 years after Hurricane Katrina)

I remember a fictitious movie in 2004 that appeared on FX called “Oil Storm” in which a fictional Hurricane Juliette struck the New Orleans, LA area on Labor Day Weekend 2005, destroying Port Fourchon, and setting off a fictional chain reaction of events that would change the United States’ dependency of oil and gasoline forever…

I remember thinking “That’s crazy, it’ll never happen”…

Then I remember the summer of 2005…

I remember a crazy start to the Hurricane season in 2005…

I remember Anderson Cooper nearly getting cut in half on live TV from a flying metal sign back in July…

I remember a lot of named storm early.  I remember it was very unusual…

I remember thinking about the Oil Storm movie I had watched a year earlier, and began to wonder in mid-August was life beginning to imitate art…

Then in late August, Katrina formed as a Tropical Storm…

I remember that fictional Hurricane’s Juliette’s path in the fictional documentary…

I remember Katrina’s path starting to go roughly parallel to Juliette as it approached Florida…

I remember an E-Mail to the Tony Kornheiser radio show on Thursday, August 25th, 2005 as Katrina was about to make landfall just south of Miami say approximately the following, “You know it’s going to be a bad day when you turn on The Weather Channel and you see Jim Cantore doing a live remote from your front lawn”…

I remember Katrina actually strengthening as it moved over the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula from a Category 1 to a Category 2 Hurricane…

I remember a lot of flooding associated with Katrina and multiple deaths…

I remember thinking that was weird.  Florida had been struck by 4 hurricanes the previous year, and I didn’t remember any significant loss of lives during any of those Hurricanes…

I remember as Friday night approached it was starting to become clear that New Orleans could be in the crosshairs of Katrina…

I remember Saturday morning, August 27th, 2005, when it became clear Katrina upgraded to a Category 3 Hurricane and was aiming for the Crescent City…

I remember talking to my parents that afternoon about Katrina as I was watching mass evacuations from New Orleans…

I remembered the story that my dad told about having gone to New Orleans 40 years earlier in the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy…

I remember asking my dad about Betsy… The responses he gave about that storm did not give me much comfort…

I remember waking up the next morning to find Katrina had upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane and was a monster in size…

I remembered thinking New Orleans was about to die…

I remember thinking this was far worse than the “Oil Storm” scenario…

I remember telling someone I thought Gas prices would go to $4 a gallon after Katrina made landfall at church that Sunday morning before Katrina hit…

I remember watching Jim Cantore on TV that evening as he reported just north and east of New Orleans…

I remember he looked scared to death about Katrina and that he wanted no part of being anywhere near the Crescent City…

I remember turning on WWL Radio in New Orleans that night (870 on the AM dial) and hearing numerous tornado warnings and weather emergencies…

I remember wondering if New Orleans would survive until morning…

I remember watching news about the MTV Video Music Awards from Miami that Sunday night, where 3 days earlier Katrina had disrupted show prep…

I remember many of the MTV VMA presenters telling Katrina jokes like it was no big deal…

I remember that Monday Morning going to work wondering if we would be watching the death of New Orleans… and of Port Fourchon…

I remember watching Mobile, AL was experiencing major storm surge…

I remember initial reports seemed to suggest New Orleans had taken a beating but appeared to survive intact…

I remember breathing a premature sigh of relief…

I remember Tuesday morning when the scope of the disaster finally became all too clear…

I remember my heart sinking when I heard the levees were breaking…

I remember thinking not to panic, help would be coming soon…

I remember the scope of the disaster got worse and worse as the day grew on…

I remember wondering where the help was…

I remember wondering if people were still alive…

I remember that night into Wednesday morning the discussion was about whether we were witnessing a dying American city before our eyes…

I remember seeing the damage to the Superdome…

I remember hearing reports of suicide, rape, and murder in the Superdome…

I remember hearing the Dome was flooded in areas…

I remember wondering where was the help…

I remember wondering where was Gov. Blanco and Pres. Bush…

I remember reporters covering the suffering of the city… I remember people in anguish…

I remember the chopper rescues from rooftops…

I remember hearing roads out of New Orleans were destroyed…

I remember there was only one way out of New Orleans, and that it was littered with debris…

I remember on that Friday before Labor Day finally the National Guard arriving in New Orleans…

I remember thinking the tide was turning…

I remember not thinking once about the devastation in MS during that time…

I remember hearing initial death toll estimates of 10000 (thankfully never reached)…

I remember hearing about how Port Fourchon had survived Katrina…

I remember being unusually happy about hearing that…

I remember hearing about long gas lines, high gas prices, and pumps running dry in Atlanta on the Friday before Labor Day…

I remember Bush’s poor praise of FEMA director Michael Brown…

I remember people took Hurricanes a lot more seriously after Katrina…

I remember over caution about Hurricane Rita…

I remember how Hurricane Wilma surprised weather people with its track…

We all remember different things about Katrina, a storm that ultimately killed 1800 people and changed how we deal with future Hurricanes…  This is but a small trip down Memory Lane… What do you remember?

The shell of a man behind “The Immortal”…

Terry Bollea (better known to the World as “Hulk Hogan”) was fired on Friday by the WWE.  No, fired isn’t the right word.  He was Chris Beniot’ed (or Crispin Wah’ed) by the WWE.  For those of you not familiar with that term, Chris Beniot was a wrestler who had won titles around the world, but made his biggest name as a member of WCW and WWE.  In 2007, Chris and his family were found dead in their GA home.  Initially the WWE paid tribute to Chris the night after his death… Until the truth came out that Chris had murdered his wife and son before committing suicide.  The WWE then scrubbed Chris’ name from all WWE/WCW videos and web pages.  It is hard to find his name anywhere among the WWE history archives today. Now, the biggest superstar name ever in WWE and Wrestling history has been given the same treatment, as not only WWE, but also rival wrestling organization, TNA, has erased all traces of “The Immortal One”.

The reason?  Racist statements made by Hogan on a sex tape he made with the wife of his then-best friend back in 2007.  Basically, he used the n-word… in a derogatory fashion concerning someone who was dating his daughter… while he was screwing another man’s wife.  This tape, BTW, is the subject of a $100 million lawsuit Hogan has filed against the Internet news/tabloid blog site, Gawker.  (Side note:  can we root for both sides in that lawsuit to lose?) The racist portion of the sex tape recently came to light via The National Enquirer.

Should Hogan be scrubbed from Wrestling history for these statements? No.  But is this just an isolated incident from Hogan?  Hardly.  Because while we used to worship the man who preached about “Prayers, Vitamins, and Training… Brother”, the Hogan that was off-camera was anything but.  He was clearly on Steroids during the heyday of the 1980s when Wrestling moved from Regional Territories to National and Global Prominence, thanks to the WWE.  If Vince had not been the target of the feds in the early 1990s, Hogan would have likely been thrown in jail for his steroid use. 

Instead, Hogan left the WWE for then-rival promotion WCW.  Ted Turner was all happy to use Hogan to challenge Vince for Wrestling Dominance, and allowed WCW to give Hogan “Creative Control” in several Wrestling matches. Yes, the infamous “Fingerpoke of Doom” match in January, 1999 is the most obvious, but there were other matches in the dying days of WCW where Hogan had some type of control in outcomes of World Heavyweight Title Matches.  Hogan also held back potential up and coming wrestler, preferring to “burying” rising stars, all at the cost of maintaining his legacy. 

After his Wrestling career was over, Hogan tried to use his star power as a GM at TNA Wrestling to try and go toe-to-toe with the WWE, but that experiment failed horribly after 4 years.  Among the bad decisions, Hogan controversially fired an up and coming TNA African-American Wrestler named Jay Lethal, who currently just happens to be the World Champion for another Wrestling Promotion, Ring of Honor.  Lethal has proven that Hogan screwed up regarding Lethal’s talent and may have unwittingly exposed Hogan’s own racist attitude long before the sex tape’s rants were made public.

Hogan’s private life isn’t much better.  Hogan’s wife divorced him for a younger man, and his children are either struggling with either law issues or trying to establish a musical career.  The reason Hogan returned to wrestling long after he couldn’t wrestle has more to do with financial issues than with Wrestling prowess.

There are other examples of Hogan not living up to the Hulkamania lifestyle he set back in the 1980’s.  Needless to say, given the perception as either the ultimate Good Guy in yellow or the spray-painting, backstabbing leader known as Hollywood Hogan of the nWo, Hogan’s real life is persona is more Hollywood than Hulkamaniac.

Eventually, Hogan will likely quietly return to the WWE at some point in the future.  Triggering the scrubbing of Hulk’s accomplishments in WCW/WWE comes off as Vince being petty.  And WWE does not have the best track record with African-American Wrestler stereotypes themselves (Junkyard Dog or Kamala, anyone?).  As for TNA Wrestling, they’ll be lucky to see the end of the year as a functioning entity.  Scrubbing Hogan from their records is more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.

Hogan doesn’t deserve the elimination of his name from Wrestling history.  But he is also not the Ultimate Good Guy Wrestler we knew and loved from the 1980s (just like Bill Cosby is not who we thought he was). He is just a shell of a person in real-life of what he portrayed on Camera back in the 1980s.

To steal a line from Hulk himself: What’cha gonna do?

An open letter to my Southern Friends…

First of all, this post is directed to a set group of my friends.  So if you are from Yankee country… PISS OFF!  That goes especially for Indiana Rebel-Wannabes from Porter County… and for Marylanders that like to pretend they are Rebels but never had the guts to defy Martial Law to do anything about it.  You were not included in the Confederate flags for a reason, Maryland, even though Kentucky and Missouri were, OK?  The fact that you are the only Yankee state that includes a Confederate license plate is hilarious, especially considering how “progressive” you claim to be.

OK, now that Amateurs are out of here…

To my Georgia friends (those who still remain in the Southern U.S. and those whose hearts have never left):

I finally have to face the day I never wanted to.  A day that saddens me, but it has to be said.

It is time for me to let go…

I take no pleasure in saying this.  My Southern roots are complicated.  My family may have come from the Midwest, but my Mother’s ancestors are Georgia royalty.  She is a Walton.  Her ancestors fought for both sides in the Civil War, according to family history passed down by word of mouth.  I was born and raised in the shadow of Stone Mountain.  Whether it was Decatur or Snellville, I always considered myself a Southerner.  But I must acknowledge the complexity.  Lutherans aren’t exactly Deep South kind of people.

I remember the Georgia of my youth… the one portrayed in “The Dukes of Hazzard”.  I was there when Sorrell Brooke was Grand Marshall and going to Briscoe Park and hearing him as Boss Hogg.  What a great day!  I remember Six Flags over Georgia the way it used to be. Do you remember the Glass Salt/Pepper Shakers you could get which had the Six Flags that flew over Georgia?  I do.  I remember Stone Mountain as it was.  It oozed South.  I remember Dixieland music.  I remember the South Gwinnett Fight Song being a Rendition of “Are you from Dixie?”  I remember it all.  You remember it too.  The fact that you could get around town by foot or bicycle if you wanted to.  It was Mayberry, wasn’t it?  Nobody really got into serious trouble.  Never meant any harm on our pranks, did we?  And we had dirt back roads.  We could shoot bibi guns in our back yards and not have to worry about neighbors behind us… because they didn’t exist.

Yes, there were always ugly undertones which may not have shown up on the surface of Snellville or Gwinnett County, but they were there in the shadows.  Never spoken of, but those ghosts were there.  I never knew anyone directly associated with them, but I’ll bet the house Snellville had a few white sheets.  They may not have burned any crosses, but they were willing to jump over into Forsyth County and harass Hosea Williams back in 1987, right?  And the Stainless Banner was always there… publicly.

But times have changed.  The towns we knew are gone.  They have been replaced by crowded suburbs.  It’s multicultural.  You see, Atlanta became a hot destination thanks to A/C making Southern life bearable, and the vision many of its leaders had to show the city off to the world and bring the world to Atlanta.  And the World came, and the world liked what it saw.  They also came to other cities around Atlanta… To Athens, Rome, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, and other cities.  But the world has different attitudes than the natives.  They want to bring their culture, while at the same time having trouble with parts of the Southern culture, like some of the symbols.  At the same time, many native Georgians have ventured out into the world and have either returned with different perspectives or have never returned.  In the end, life has changed.  You want the true return to your roots, you almost have to go out to “Deliverance Country”… where you will have you head on a swivel every time you hear a banjo.

Now you are watching the symbols of the South being stripped from public and you think “That’s not what those symbols mean.  I know what they mean, because I was there.  It doesn’t mean hatred.  It means Pride.  Why am I being accused of being racist?  I treat everyone kindly!” Of course, we all like to think we are saints.  But can we take a hard look at ourselves and say we treat everyone kindly?  Can we say that about ourselves when we are around friends and co-workers who are non-Caucasian? Can we say we can treat everyone equally?  Or do we have even a tinge of bias that we can erase just by removing certain symbols to make people feel better?

I think the world of my childhood friends.  I have never met more kind, more loving, and more genteel souls than my Southern acquaintances.  I mean that.  So I say this as a friend… Consider making peace with the controversial symbols of the South.  And whether you keep them out or put them in that box in the corner of your attic or get rid of them altogether, know that I still consider you my friends.

As for me, I will always love my Southern roots.  I am better off remembering the good things about my early life… When I have the chance.  But now that I live in Maryland, I realize the world is a bigger place.  The best thing I can do to show the goodness of my Southern roots is be the best person I can be to all.  And I can do that without Flags or decals or pins of symbols from a more volatile era of our nation’s history.