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    Go Set A Watchman

    I have read Harper Lee's new (old) book and had a chance to think about it. The early reviews said that Atticus Finch is a racist....how doya like them apples? Well, as someone who lives less than 100 miles from Monroeville, AL and as one who lived through the times this book discusses, it ain't that easy an explanation.

    This book captures the essence of small town Alabama in the early 60's in a way that no one else can. I can smell the honeysuckle and hear the squeak of the chain on the porch swing. Sorry if I sound snobbish but no one who has not lived in the area can really create the aura. Some actors try to fake a southern accent that only makes me want to cringe because its so phony. Harper Lee's accent is genuine.

    Since this book was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, there is no way it could have been created to reflect current events.....but it does. Early reviews said that Atticus had attended a Klan meeting....but that is incorrect. He attended a Citizens Council meeting. Sound familiar? That was the forerunner of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Yeap, the same group that has received recent publicity thanks to Dylann Roof. Do we need any more proof that Harper Lee's writing is timeless?

    I won't write a spoiler for anyone who plans on reading the book. I will say that it openly discusses the situation of the era. Race has never been an easy subject in the south. The book talks about the SCOTUS rulings of the time and its relationship to the Constitution. It deals with right & wrong and the difficulty that reality brings to change. The amazing thing is how relevant to today this book is.

    I think this one is worth reading.
    Through all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh we just would go insane. - Jimmy Buffett

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  3. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by PolWatch View Post
    I have read Harper Lee's new (old) book and had a chance to think about it. The early reviews said that Atticus Finch is a racist....how doya like them apples? Well, as someone who lives less than 100 miles from Monroeville, AL and as one who lived through the times this book discusses, it ain't that easy an explanation.

    This book captures the essence of small town Alabama in the early 60's in a way that no one else can. I can smell the honeysuckle and hear the squeak of the chain on the porch swing. Sorry if I sound snobbish but no one who has not lived in the area can really create the aura. Some actors try to fake a southern accent that only makes me want to cringe because its so phony. Harper Lee's accent is genuine.

    Since this book was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, there is no way it could have been created to reflect current events.....but it does. Early reviews said that Atticus had attended a Klan meeting....but that is incorrect. He attended a Citizens Council meeting. Sound familiar? That was the forerunner of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Yeap, the same group that has received recent publicity thanks to Dylann Roof. Do we need any more proof that Harper Lee's writing is timeless?

    I won't write a spoiler for anyone who plans on reading the book. I will say that it openly discusses the situation of the era. Race has never been an easy subject in the south. The book talks about the SCOTUS rulings of the time and its relationship to the Constitution. It deals with right & wrong and the difficulty that reality brings to change. The amazing thing is how relevant to today this book is.

    I think this one is worth reading.
    The 19th Century Populist leader, Tom Watson, started out sympathetic towards Blacks but then became disenchanted with them. Instead, Liberal dupes claim he became cynical and power-hungry. As far as Atticus, I don't see why defending an innocent man necessarily has anything to do with what he thought of the man's race.
    On the outside, trickling down on the Insiders

    We won't live free until the Democrats, and their voters, live in fear.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PolWatch View Post
    I have read Harper Lee's new (old) book and had a chance to think about it. The early reviews said that Atticus Finch is a racist....how doya like them apples? Well, as someone who lives less than 100 miles from Monroeville, AL and as one who lived through the times this book discusses, it ain't that easy an explanation.

    This book captures the essence of small town Alabama in the early 60's in a way that no one else can. I can smell the honeysuckle and hear the squeak of the chain on the porch swing. Sorry if I sound snobbish but no one who has not lived in the area can really create the aura. Some actors try to fake a southern accent that only makes me want to cringe because its so phony. Harper Lee's accent is genuine.

    Since this book was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, there is no way it could have been created to reflect current events.....but it does. Early reviews said that Atticus had attended a Klan meeting....but that is incorrect. He attended a Citizens Council meeting. Sound familiar? That was the forerunner of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Yeap, the same group that has received recent publicity thanks to Dylann Roof. Do we need any more proof that Harper Lee's writing is timeless?

    I won't write a spoiler for anyone who plans on reading the book. I will say that it openly discusses the situation of the era. Race has never been an easy subject in the south. The book talks about the SCOTUS rulings of the time and its relationship to the Constitution. It deals with right & wrong and the difficulty that reality brings to change. The amazing thing is how relevant to today this book is.

    I think this one is worth reading.

    Thanks! I'll start chapter 2 tonight.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    @Chris - have you read the James Lee Burke novel yet?
    Through all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh we just would go insane. - Jimmy Buffett

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    Quote Originally Posted by PolWatch View Post
    I have read Harper Lee's new (old) book and had a chance to think about it. The early reviews said that Atticus Finch is a racist....how doya like them apples? Well, as someone who lives less than 100 miles from Monroeville, AL and as one who lived through the times this book discusses, it ain't that easy an explanation.

    This book captures the essence of small town Alabama in the early 60's in a way that no one else can. I can smell the honeysuckle and hear the squeak of the chain on the porch swing. Sorry if I sound snobbish but no one who has not lived in the area can really create the aura. Some actors try to fake a southern accent that only makes me want to cringe because its so phony. Harper Lee's accent is genuine.

    Since this book was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, there is no way it could have been created to reflect current events.....but it does. Early reviews said that Atticus had attended a Klan meeting....but that is incorrect. He attended a Citizens Council meeting. Sound familiar? That was the forerunner of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Yeap, the same group that has received recent publicity thanks to Dylann Roof. Do we need any more proof that Harper Lee's writing is timeless?

    I won't write a spoiler for anyone who plans on reading the book. I will say that it openly discusses the situation of the era. Race has never been an easy subject in the south. The book talks about the SCOTUS rulings of the time and its relationship to the Constitution. It deals with right & wrong and the difficulty that reality brings to change. The amazing thing is how relevant to today this book is.

    I think this one is worth reading.
    When I think of Alabama -I think of $#@!ed up -break your ankles drop zones, chiggars, humidity in August, sweltering exhaustive environmental racism, Hee Haw, and next level BBQ -sweet baby back ribs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PolWatch View Post
    @Chris - have you read the James Lee Burke novel yet?
    No, set it aside and haven't returned to it.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vilifier of Zombies View Post
    When I think of Alabama -I think of $#@!ed up -break your ankles drop zones, chiggars, humidity in August, sweltering exhaustive environmental racism, Hee Haw, and next level BBQ -sweet baby back ribs.
    you have forgotten one very important trait....its one of the reasons there is a repub majority in Congress now. Ya'll have to be nice, whether ya want to or not.
    Through all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh we just would go insane. - Jimmy Buffett

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    Quote Originally Posted by PolWatch View Post
    you have forgotten one very important trait....its one of the reasons there is a repub majority in Congress now. Ya'll have to be nice, whether ya want to or not.
    You're certainly not confusing campaign money and resources vs electioneering vs the rule of thumb regarding the Midterms, fundamentalism wrought from overreach, and that Alabama makes the top 5 dumbest state's list with why there is a Republican majority in Congress with having to be nice. Congress is still stunted from stark polarized idealism -some on the left and a bunch on the right. No matter what though -Federal campaigns have $#@! all to do with the state of affairs in Alabama.

    When Ohio State and Ole Miss whooped Alabama or Mississippi State, the Aggies, and the Badgers pushed Auburn's $#@! in -the United States was better for it the same way when the Duck's dicked Florida State.

    The point is -we don't have to be nice whether you think we ought to or not.

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    Ah, Vilifier is back. We argued quite a bit but I remember he is a tea drinker.
    Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up. Whoever criticizes immigration, while remaining silent about capitalism, should do the same.


    ~Alain de Benoist


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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister D View Post
    Ah, Vilifier is back. We argued quite a bit but I remember he is a tea drinker.
    That's right. I still drink lapsang souchong w/ Red Label. Had it not been for you, I wouldn't have ever known about it.

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