Traitor States. How come so many were part of the Confederate States of America?

[Botany]

These states are suing to keep other states from counting black people's votes because they don't like
the outcome of our elections.

BTW one of the reasons that Trump could steal his way into the White House is the electoral college which
was written into the Constitution in order to placate slave owners so they would sign off on it. It is time
to get rid of that damn thing.

**************

An amicus brief (amicus curiae) or ‘friend of the court’ brief was filed with the high court earlier Wednesday. The states of Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia have all signed on to the brief that backs the Texas suit.

Arizona was the latest state to file an amicus brief on Wednesday bringing the total to 18 states.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/12/09/18-states-join-texas-general-election-supreme-court-lawsuit-swing-states/

[magicarpet]

1. They hope the cold Civil War II gets warm and toastie.

[hlthe2b]

2. Several of those states were staunchly union and abolitionist. They should be ashamed.

Others were border states and should damned well have learned their lesson.

[hatrack]

8. West Virginia exists because it seceded from Virginia . . .

And Indiana (some things never change) was a hotbed of pro-Confederate sympathies and activism.

[hlthe2b]

12. I'm referring to Kansas (union and home of a staunchly violent abolitionist movement)

and border state, Missouri which continued to look blindly at the likes of Jessie James and his band of post-war confederates led by the horrifically murderous William Quantrill but with pro-union strongholds nonetheless. For Utah and the Dakotas to be buying into this new confederacy, along with Nebraska, is inexplicable from an 1860s confederacy pov, but clearly, they are preparing for the next.

[MuseRider]

19. Thank you.

I was going to say something but I am sick of needing to defend my state because of a past that would probably be different at this point. They should just rename the state to Koch and stop pretending. How it could have gotten worse this last election is beyond me but it has.

My ancestors were part of that abolitionist movement and even rode with John Brown for a while. I have never been able to find out if they stayed with him as he got violent. When he mentioned them in his letters they were either unarmed or carrying a squirrel rifle but never shot.

I am so ashamed of my state right now. History is one thing but this hard right going even harder right has got me puzzled and worried.

[hatrack]

20. People think of the Civil War - flapping flags and battle lines and stirring music . . .

It wasn't like that out here. It was psychopaths hiding in the bushes with shotguns, or Bill Anderson butchering unarmed Union soldiers on leave.

It was the "romantic outlaw" Jesse James riding with Quantrill to help massacre around 150 (we'll never know the exact number) civilian men and boys in Lawrence, KS, some as young as 14.

And now we have to listen to the grunting clowns of the Trumpentariat talk about "civil war", 'cuz they're Real Americans Suffering From Economic Anxiety.

Fuck. That.

[MuseRider]

22. I just deleted not because of you

but because I went off on a tirade that was not appropriate for this thread.

I agree, Fuck. That.

[hatrack]

23. Hey, no worries - it was gone before I got back . . .

But yeah, the Jesse James bullshit around here I'll never fucking understand.

[My Pet Orangutan]

13. West Virginia did not want a war to be fought in them there hills.

[Yeehah]

16. Lee's first campaign as confederate commander was into western Virginia

It failed miserably and, if not for Lee's close friendship with Jefferson Davis, he might have been relieved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Virginia_campaign

[empedocles]

3. Feudal heritage?

[Botany]

6. America would have been better off if we had hung and/or imprisoned the leaders of C.S.A. (traitors)

... and had used its might and quashed the rise of the KKK and Jim Crow laws after
the Civil War.

[empedocles]

7. Some wealth and power redistribution would have been nice

Slave owners had monumental wealth and power.

[Botany]

10. The greatest source of wealth in the C.S.A. was the slaves.

Funny, how the rich white slave owners in most cases didn't fight in the Civil War but got
poor whites who didn't own slaves to do the fighting by selling to them that God had made
blacks as subhumans and that owning them was part of the south's heritage and culture.

The super rich and the GOP have kept this legacy up by stopping blacks from voting or
having their votes counted even today.

[empedocles]

11. Before the Civil War, the greatest source of wealth in the country

[cwydro]

15. Good thing Lincoln disagreed with that.

I think I’ll go with his views.

This crap going on is all over the country.

I know it’s hugely fashionable here on DU to hate on the south, but fact is, this shit is in EVERYONE’s neighborhood.

[Yeehah]

17. We know that now,

but the USA expected the rotten confederates to become loyal Americans. Hasn't really worked out that way.

[NCDem47]

4. "Giver" and "Taker" states. Guess who are the takers?

These states are playing with fire.

From a US News online article from May 2020:

The biggest givers in our latest report, based on 2018 data, were New York, which paid in US$22 billion more than it received; New Jersey, which paid $12 billion more; Massachusetts, which paid $9 billion more; and Connecticut, which paid $8 billion more than it received.

Combined, these states paid over $50 billion more in taxes than they received in federal spending. For each dollar workers and businesses paid in taxes, the states got an average of 90 cents back.

[EDIT]

The low-income states that receive a lot of federal spending per person are primarily in the Southeast and include Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama.

With lower-than-average income levels, residents in these states contribute less through income taxes. They also receive higher-than-average levels of spending from programs such as Social Security, Medicare, social assistance grants and contracts.

[link:https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2020-05-15/some-states-like-new-york-send-billions-more-to-federal-government-than-they-get-back|

[turbinetree]

5. And to everyone of these lawyers in the AG offices they should be disbarred......for starters......

[Tarc]

9. They have bene re-fighting the Civil War since the 1900s

When those Daughters of the Confederacy asshats started throwing up statues all across the South.

[Docreed2003]

14. Tennessee is an interesting one on that list

Yes TN ultimately seceded and joined the confederacy but we were the last state to do so and the first to rejoin the union under Lincoln's plan for reconstruction. Traditionally, and in the not too distant past, TN was a Democratic state. We had Democratic senators and several Democratic reps. This red wave in the state is a very recent change.

Tennessee, for those that aren't aware, is divided into three "grand divisions": east, middle, and west. East TN was strongly Union and had many troops that contributed to the Union effort. So much so, there are cemeteries that are for Union soldiers throughout East TN. Middle Tn was split between staying in the Union and seceding and West TN was strongly pro confederate, largely because of the large plantations and cotton production.

Interestingly, today, Middle TN, at least Nashville is very blue, East TN is blood red except for pockets in Knoxville (there are folks flying confederate flags routinely there who have ancestors buried in those Union cemeteries), and rural west TN is Red but Memphis is blue. It's a crazy demographic here and it spans generations. I could write a book about the political shifts in this state and why they are what they are.

Sadly, this Republican AG falls under and reports to the GOP legislature. He is not a member of the executive, although Bill Lee likely supports this full bore.

[bdamomma]

18. Kentucky

too and Mitch McConnell is perfectly fine in keeping his constituents poor and destitute.

[Baclava]

24. Two conflicting views of reality clashed in the winter of secession, 1860-61, we are about there

106 members of Congress are enabling madness, I dont know how it could get much worse