The Confederate Flag Thread

[Jaymann]

Clearly those are named for Thomas Jefferson and Tom Davis.

[Holman]

George Jefferson and Sammy Davis Jr.

[Isgrimnur]

Has it been a year already?

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and the city of Charlottesville have declared states of emergency ahead of the anniversary of the deadly white nationalist rally in the city that left one woman dead and several others injured.

The Virginia state of emergency ordered by Northam, will allow state agencies to quickly mobilize resources to aid local authorities, the governor’s office said. The order, which also allows Virginia National Guard to assist in security efforts, was announced Wednesday afternoon as Charlottesville officials held a news conference on the city’s efforts to prepare for the anniversary of the Aug. 12 rally.

The state of emergency comes as a number of groups and counter-protesters have rallies planned this weekend to mark the anniversary in Virginia and downtown D.C.
...
The organizer of the last year’s event, Jason Kessler, dropped a court challenge last month seeking a permit to hold a “Unite the Right 2” rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. Instead, he said his group is planning a 400-person rally at a park across the street from the White House. But opponents of the white-nationalist anniversary march — and city officials — are wary that hostile groups may still arrive in town.

[LawBeefaroni]

It's happening in DC and it will be a dud, fortunately. Even tbe hate groups alt-right realize(s) what a disaster it was last year.

Kessler gets to be closer to his patron saint in the White House.

[Smoove_B]

It has indeed been a year, and fortunately Frontline and Pro Publica have been working on a series about Documenting Hate. It would appear they identified people that were up to no good while there and confronted them to find out what they were doing. I'm a bit surprised at the two featured in the provided link, though it's impressive to hear their flat-out denial that they were there, despite having video and photographic proof.

There's a separate news feature on the work they did to identify participants. I think it's called...investigative journalism? Not sure.

We weren’t interested so much in people that just showed up and exercised their First Amendment right and left. We were interested in people who appeared to be engaged in criminal activity. I think what we wanted to do was understand who these people were, what they were doing, and what their connections were to more mainstream institutions.

[Skinypupy]

It has indeed been a year, and fortunately Frontline and Pro Publica have been working on a series about Documenting Hate. It would appear they identified people that were up to no good while there and confronted them to find out what they were doing. I'm a bit surprised at the two featured in the provided link, though it's impressive to hear their flat-out denial that they were there, despite having video and photographic proof.

There's a separate news feature on the work they did to identify participants. I think it's called...investigative journalism? Not sure.

We weren’t interested so much in people that just showed up and exercised their First Amendment right and left. We were interested in people who appeared to be engaged in criminal activity. I think what we wanted to do was understand who these people were, what they were doing, and what their connections were to more mainstream institutions.

I think I need to be in a different frame of mind to get through that. Watched the first 15 minutes and had to simply turn it off.

My anger about "very fine people on both sides" is still very real.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

A crowd toppled a Confederate statue at the University of North Carolina on Monday night, with cheers and smoke bombs filling the air.

The monument had long been a target of students and others, a symbol of a once-honored past that many wanted to demolish. This spring, a graduate student splashed a mixture of ink and her own blood on the statue. On the night before classes began this year, a crowd gathered to demonstrate at the statue and, using ropes, pulled it down.
...
In Chapel Hill, N.C., the bronze and marble “Silent Sam” monument was commissioned by the Daughters of the Confederacy and erected in 1913 to honor UNC alumni who died for the Confederacy.

It is known as “Silent Sam” because the soldier holds a gun but no ammunition. A panel on the side shows a woman, symbolizing the state, urging a student to drop his books to take up arms for the fight.

[The Meal]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

[Isgrimnur]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

[LawBeefaroni]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

You would mock the proud statue-erecting heritage of our forebears? Men fought and died so racist hereditary associations could dedicate statues to them half a century later.

[LordMortis]

I was all prepared to say:

I don't think I understand pulling that particular statue down. I don't think I understand why it's a symbol of hate or racism.

Then I read the dedication.


Now I still don't agree with the action, but at least now I understand and am sympathetic with it. Quite frankly, if I was to thinking about going to UNC and knew the administration tolerated that, I'd be thinking again.


http://hgreen.people.ua.edu/transcripti ... peech.html

This beautiful memorial is unique in one aspect. I have participated at the unveiling of several Confederate monuments, and have intimate knowledge of a great many more, but this is the first and only one in which the living survivors have been distinctly mentioned and remembered, and in the distinguished presence I desire to thank that Daughters of the Confederacy, in the name of the living Confederate students, for their beautiful and timely thoughtfulness.
The duty due to our dear Southland, and the conspicuous service rendered, did not end at Appomatox[sic]. The four years immediately following the four years of bloody carnage, brought their responsibilities hardly of less consequence than those for which the South laid upon the altar of her country 74,524 of her brave and loyal sons dead from disease, a grand total of 133,821.
It is true that the snows of winter which never melt, crown our temples, and we realize that we are living in the twilight zone; that it requires no unusual strain to hear the sounds of the tides as they roll and break upon the other shore, “The watch-dog’s bark his deep bay mouth welcome as we draw near home”, breaks upon our ears—makes it doubly sweet to know that we have been remembered in the erection of this beautiful memorial. The present generation, I am persuaded, scarcely takes note of what the Confederate soldier meant to the welfare of the Anglo Saxon race during the four years immediately succeeding the war, when the facts are, that their courage and steadfastness saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South – When “the bottom rail was on top” all over the Southern states, and to-day, as a consequence the purest strain of the Anglo Saxon is to be found in the 13 Southern States – Praise God.
I trust I may be pardoned for one allusion, howbeit it is rather personal. One hundred yards from where we stand, less than ninety days perhaps after my return from Appomattox, I horse-whipped a negro wench until her skirts hung in shreds, because upon the streets of this quiet village she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady, and then rushed for protection to these University buildings where was stationed a garrison of 100 Federal soldiers. I performed the pleasing duty in the immediate presence of the entire garrison, and for thirty nights afterwards slept with a double-barrel shot gun under my head.
With pardonable pride I look upon the grand record of my Alma Mater, near whose confines I first beheld the light; in whose classic halls three of my sons have graduated and a fourth is now a student, and where my brother and three of his sons also matriculated. The glorious record of this seat of learning is embalmed in affections of our family.

[Remus West]

I don't know that the administration tolerated it as much as they were not wanting to face the up roar of removing it. They had said several times they would happily have removed it had the issue passed a vote which they felt was required by law. And by "required by law" I think they meant "would cause a huge uproar if we removed it without being forced so let us pretend it doesn't exist in peace".

Sigh.

[Z-Corn]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

Wait, Davy died!?

[Isgrimnur]

Wait, Davy died!?

Yes

[Jaymann]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

Wait, Davy died!?

At first glance i thought that was one of those black jockey statues.

[Isgrimnur]

LA Times

Federal authorities have arrested key members of a Southern California white-power group, the latest move in an ongoing effort by authorities to break the back of an organization linked to racism-fueled violence.

Robert Rundo, leader of the so-called Rise Above Movement, was taken into custody Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Two others — Tyler Laube and Robert Boman — were arrested Wednesday morning in connection with organizing and participating in riots, according to federal authorities. Another, Aaron Eason, was charged but remains at large, they said.

All four were charged with using the internet to organize or participate in riots, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Private messages between group leaders, members and associates show an effort to keep their violent intentions secret, according to an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint. Daley urged members in one 2016 phone call to attend events wearing polo-style shirts and khakis, and to get military-style haircuts.
...
The arrests come after several other members and associates of the group were publicly accused of traveling to Virginia with the intent to incite a riot and commit violence in Charlottesville last year.

[Unagi]

and I'm like, "what's that have to do with The Monkees?"

[Skinypupy]

Heather Heyer's killer convicted of first degree murder, and additional charges.

The jury in the trial of James Alex Fields has reached a verdict. Fields was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, eight counts of malicious wounding and one count of failing to stop at an accident involving a death. Fields faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

[Isgrimnur]

Sentenced

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 months ago.

As he had throughout his two-week trial, Fields, 21, sat impassively at the defendant’s table, clad in a powder blue sweater, as the jury delivered its sentencing decisions after about four hours of deliberations that began Monday: life for first-degree murder; 70 years for each of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding; 20 years for each of three counts of malicious wounding; and nine years for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

The jurors were instructed that the sentences would be “presumed to be consecutive” unless they recommended that the terms be served simultaneously. The panel made no such recommendation. Fields’s overall sentence: life plus 419 years and $480,000 in fines.

The same jury of seven women and five men convicted Fields of those 10 offenses Friday in Charlottesville Circuit Court. In Virginia, trial juries determine what penalties should be meted out within sentencing ranges dictated by law. Judge Richard E. Moore, who said he will formally sentence Fields on March 29, can impose a lesser punishment than the jurors called for but is not allowed to increase the sentences.
...
Fields also faces a separate federal trial for alleged hate crimes related to the incident, including one offense that carries a possible death sentence. No trial date has been set, and the Justice Department has not said whether it will seek capital punishment.

In the meantime, after Moore imposes Tuesday’s sentences, Fields will be transferred from the local jail to a state penitentiary, where an inmate who has served a certain amount of a sentence can petition for geriatric release after age 60. Otherwise, Virginia does not allow parole for felonies committed after the mid-1990s.

[GreenGoo]

Also, no parole for felonies? Is it me or is that insane?

[ImLawBoy]

Also, no parole for felonies? Is it me or is that insane?

Sounds like no politician wanted to vote against a "get tough on crime" bill.

[Isgrimnur]

Virginia

Inmates who committed felony offenses on or after January 1, 1995 are not eligible for discretionary or mandatory parole. These inmates can earn a maximum of 4.5 days for each 30 days served. Inmates who committed their offenses on or after January 1, 1995, are brought into the Department of Corrections provided they receive one year or more for a felony conviction or more than 12 months for multiple felony convictions.

[LawBeefaroni]

Also, no parole for felonies? Is it me or is that insane?

Virginia is for lovers, not parolees.


It is odd though, and striking, the difference between states. In Illinois you get an automatic 50% reduction for good behavior.

[Isgrimnur]

Based on the last sentence above, you get can get 15% in Virginia.

There's a "just the tip" joke in there somewhere, but I can't find it.

[Holman]

Sentenced

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 months ago.
[...]

Bets on which prison gang he joins?

[Z-Corn]

Sentenced

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 months ago.
[...]

Bets on which prison gang he joins?

I read a really good speculation thread somewhere on whether the Black Guerilla Family or the Aryan Brotherhood were going to get to him first. It was agreed he would be a prize to either side and it will come down to who has the better intelligence as to where and when he will be.

[Holman]

I read a really good speculation thread somewhere on whether the Black Guerilla Family or the Aryan Brotherhood were going to get to him first. It was agreed he would be a prize to either side and it will come down to who has the better intelligence as to where and when he will be.

Well, I imagine a lot depends on his application essay.

[Z-Corn]

I read a really good speculation thread somewhere on whether the Black Guerilla Family or the Aryan Brotherhood were going to get to him first. It was agreed he would be a prize to either side and it will come down to who has the better intelligence as to where and when he will be.

Well, I imagine a lot depends on his application essay.

Sure. If he writes enough pages he can wrap them around his torso to provide armor against stabbings.

[LawBeefaroni]

Represent:

Bail was set at $5,000 for a Georgia man who allegedly yelled racial slurs and punched a woman early Saturday in Wrigleyville before doing the same to a police officer.

...


The 25-year-old woman was walking when Buschman approached her and yelled “F*** you, immigrant bi***,” Assistant State’s Attorney Luis Muniz said in court Saturday afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Police officers standing nearby saw Buschman punch the woman in her head and face, Muniz said. The two did not know each other.

Buschman called an officer who intervened a “black bit** n****r and punched the officer in the eye when the officer tried to separate him from the woman, Muniz said.

[Isgrimnur]

I bet he doesn't go to the park on Jackie Robinson Day.

[GreenGoo]

I don't care how racist you are, that's not rational behaviour. He's almost certainly mentally ill.

[ImLawBoy]

It was also 2:00 am in Wrigleyville. It's very likely he was drunk off his ass.

[hepcat]

I don't think I could ever get to a state of drunkenness in which I find myself thinking, "I guess it's okay to punch this cop".

Of course, I have thought to myself, "If you climb over this fence into your old girlfriend's yard at 1am and knock on her front door, she'll take you back in a heartbeat!".

[GreenGoo]

It was also 2:00 am in Wrigleyville. It's very likely he was drunk off his ass.

Fair enough. I'll accept "not in his right mind" as also valid.

[Isgrimnur]

Dallas

A Dallas commission voted overwhelmingly to give the city the green light to take down a 123-year-old Confederate war memorial, deeming the monument as “non-contributing to the historic overlay district.”

The Landmark Commission voted to approve the removal of the monument, which is located near the Dallas City Hall, in a 10-5 vote on Monday, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Last month, the city council voted 11-4 to remove the structure, but the commission’s approval was needed to move forward.
...
During the deliberation, commissioners reportedly listened to advocates who pushed for the monument to remain and weighed arguments by the city council, which that said the memorial did not have protection under the historic designations that were provided to the park where the structure has stood since 1961.

The commission’s sole black member, Donald Payton, told the newspaper that the memorial should have been removed long ago. He also added that the city will still have many schools and buildings honoring the Confederacy.
...
The local newspaper notes that there is a 30-day window to appeal the move to the City Plan Commission.

[Isgrimnur]

1913 - 1861 = 52
2018 - 52 = 1966

Isn't it about time for us to start putting up statues dedicated to The Monkees?

Wait, Davy died!?

At first glance i thought that was one of those black jockey statues.

Paulick Report

While music and pop culture aficiandos know plenty about Jones' career, horse racing fans might not realize his connection to the sport. Before he became a famous singer and actor, Jones actually wanted to be a jockey. He was taken under wing by British trainer Basil Foster at an early age and the two remained close throughout their lives. Jones realized his dream of riding in 1996 when he won an amateur jockey's race at Lingfield. He also once galloped a horse at Churchill Downs.

In a February 17 story about how Jones had been caring for the elderly Foster in recent years, the pair talked about the old days and Foster's encouragement of Jones to pursue his acting career:

'He was always a good rider,' Foster recalls, 'and there is no question he would have made a good jockey.

'But I didn't think he would have the same success that he would have in showbusiness because he was so talented. So I pushed him that way and I'm proud of what he achieved. He's a great lad.'

Jones added: 'He insisted I went, and I just cried. I wanted to be a jockey. But he said “You're going! Come back when you're famous”.'

[Isgrimnur]

Sentenced

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 months ago.

CNN

ames Alex Fields, who was convicted by a Virginia jury of driving into a crowd during a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced.

The charges each carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, so Fields will avoid the possibility of the death penalty.

The charges included one count of a hate crime act that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, and 28 counts of hate crime acts that caused bodily injury and involved an attempt to kill other people in the crowd, the Department of Justice said.

Fields had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges, as well as a charge of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity.
...
A Virginia jury in December found Fields guilty of killing Heyer, among other crimes, and recommended a sentence of life in prison. That sentencing hearing, previously scheduled for Friday, has been continued to July 15, Commonwealth's Attorney Joseph Platania said.

[Isgrimnur]

War is Boring

The Defense Department might be prohibited from naming assets after Confederate symbols should an amendment added to the House defense budget make its way into the final version of the law.

The amendment, added Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020, was submitted by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y. The annual legislation cleared the House on Friday by a vote of 220-197.
...
There are 10 Army bases, all named in honor of Confederate army officers during the ramp up to train soldiers for World War I and World War II. They are all located in southern states, and include Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Gordon, Ga., Fort Polk, La., Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Hood, Texas.

The Navy operates one ship, a guided-missile cruiser named the USS Chancellorsville, commissioned in 1989 in honor of the Civil War battle that occurred in Virginia. Some historians consider the battle a major Confederate victory, according to an August 2017 Congressional Research Service report on military installations with Confederate names.

Four now-decommissioned Navy ships were named for Confederate officers, according to the report. All were named between 1960 and 1971.
...
While the amendment doesn’t require existing bases be renamed, it would prohibit the defense secretary from naming future assets after someone who served or held a leadership position in the Confederacy, or after a city or battlefield made significant because of a Confederate victory.
...
The Senate passed its version of the defense budget in June. Congress still must consolidate the two bills into one and pass it before the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

[em2nought]

The Navy operates one ship, a guided-missile cruiser named the USS Chancellorsville, commissioned in 1989 in honor of the Civil War battle that occurred in Virginia. Some historians consider the battle a major Confederate victory, according to an August 2017 Congressional Research Service report on military installations with Confederate names.

Four now-decommissioned Navy ships were named for Confederate officers, according to the report. All were named between 1960 and 1971.

Since Stonewall Jackson died from friendly fire at Chancellorsville there aren't ANY stars & bars waving yokels that would consider it a rebel victory. The SSBN Stonewall Jackson was one of those four decommissioned ships too.

[Grifman]

Since Stonewall Jackson died from friendly fire at Chancellorsville there aren't ANY stars & bars waving yokels that would consider it a rebel victory.

Uh, actually, Chancellorsville is considered one of Lee's greatest victories. He was outnumbered more than 2 to 1 and inflicted about 33% more losses to the Union forces than he suffered and drove back the Federal offensive. It's considered a masterful battlefield performance.

That said, it probably laid the seeds for the defeat at Gettysburg as Lee had 2 new corp commanders, and perhaps even more importantly, the victory led Lee to believe that his army was capable of anything.