Merry Christmas YB !

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Thank you for accepting.

OK. I did note know deleting here would eliminate the item entirely. You learn something everyday, I guess.

I agree neither of us is in the extremist camp; we just lean slightly differently. I consider myself a Yankee, though I come from a conflicted border region (Civil War-wise) and now live in the south. I do know better than trying to put my interpretation of Civil War attitudes and their modern descendants onto those down here with attitudes that differ from mine. So I won't.

I would also agree that there's no reason to be upset with Mr. Wilson's outburst on potential racist grounds. There are sufficient political, factual, and etiquette grounds for doing so.

Thanks for the clarification. For some reason, SH is not showing me my comment to you here in my "show conversation" choice. That's annoying, as it once again makes me go from memory, and I'd rather be able to do exact quotes of myself.

Still, you appear to be misreading or misunderstanding me in some key ways. For one, I can guarantee you that I'd NEVER try to speak for all Left-wingers. The very thought repels me. I must have written an awkward sentence that mislead you. However, it IS true that every Left-winger I've seen interviewed on the race issue does not even make a Racist accusation as strongly as President Carter did--they all waffle somewhat by saying stuff like I said they said, along the lines os, "Who knows what's really in someone's heart? Race is certainly A factor, but it's almost impossible to say when it's THE factor." OTOH, I hear Right-wingers go to the extreme in an opposite sense, saying, "So now all Lefties say if you oppose Obama in the least, it's racist."

I gave you my reasoning to raise my opinion on Mr. Wilson from the usual "who knows?", past even "possibly", and on to "probably" because of specific actions in his past. In my opinion, his actions earned it, though it is unusual for me to say so for someone who is not doing something overtly racist. You disagree, and that's fine; but I'd still argue my decision is made from a reasoned position and is not made thoughtlessly (or without justification). I did not mention Sons of the Confederacy, you did. However, it is one of the troubling indicators in his past. Problems with your analysis of it: 1) there IS a more vehement wing of the group fighting for control of it and that wing might well be thought of as a hate group by some. I do not know which faction Mr. Wilson belongs to. 2) a group does not have to be a hate group to be racist.

Mere membership in that group is not the most troubling thing in his history, though. Neither is his strong, open support as a "bitter ender", promoting continued flying of the Confederate Battle Flag in S.C. right up to the end of that fight. Most troubling to me is his attack on the for years secret Black daughter of Strom Thurmond as being wrong to publicly speak of the connection, even though by then Thurmond's family had acknowledged it. As always, I could be wrong on some details, as I've accepted media reports as true.

Thank you for the rave,sorry if I seemed a little hot.That idiot really pushed my buttons. Oh, and tell JacktownKid it's Illini.

Have a great weekend you-betcha!