By Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger
“We pledge ourselves to use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.
-The Southern Manifesto, Cong. Rec., 84th Cong. 2d Session, Vol. 102, part 4 (March 12, 1956)
‘This was an activist court that you saw today. Anytime the Supreme Court renders something constitutional that is clearly unconstitutional, that undermines the credibility of the Supreme Court. I do believe the court’s credibility was undermined severely today.”
-Michele Bachmann (R. Minn.), June 26 2012
Most people are familiar with the opinion in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al., 349 U.S. 483 (1954), in which a unanimous Supreme Court summarily outlawed public school segregation by tersely declaring, “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” 349 U.S. at 495. But many people do not know that Brown involved a consolidation of cases from four states. The “et al.” in the style refers to decisions on similar facts in Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia. And the response of Virginia to the ruling in Brown provides an interesting comparison with the actions leading to the current government shutdown.
In 1951 the population of Prince Edward County, Virginia was approximately 15,000, more than half of whom were African-American. The county maintained two high schools to accommodate 386 black students and 346 white students. Robert R. Moton High School lacked adequate science facilities and offered a more restricted curriculum than the high school reserved for white students. It had no gym, showers or dressing rooms, no cafeteria and no restrooms for teachers. Students at Moton High were even required to ride in older school buses.
Suit was filed in federal district court challenging the Virginia constitutional and statutory provisions mandating segregated public schools. Although the trial court agreed that the school board had failed to provide a substantially equal education for African-American students, it declined to invalidate the Virginia laws, concluding that segregation was not based “upon prejudice, on caprice, nor upon any other measureless foundation,” but reflected “ways of life in Virginia” which “has for generations been a part of the mores of the people.” Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, 103 F. Supp. 337, 339 (E.D. Va. 1952). Instead, the court ordered the school board to proceed with the completion of existing plans to upgrade the curriculum, physical plant and buses at Moton High School. When the plaintiffs took an appeal from the decision, the Democratic machine that had for many years controlled Virginia politics under the firm hand of Sen. Harry Byrd had little reason to believe that “ways of life” that had prevailed since the end of the Reconstruction era would soon be declared illegal.
When the Brown decision was announced, the reaction in Virginia was shock, disbelief and anger. Reflecting the prevailing attitudes, the Richmond News Leader railed against “the encroachment of the Federal government, through judicial legislation, upon the reserved powers of the States.” The Virginia legislature adopted a resolution of “interposition” asserting its right to “interpose” between unconstitutional federal mandates and local authorities under principles of state sovereignty. And Sen. Byrd organized a campaign of opposition that came to be known as “Massive Resistance.”
In August of 1954 a commission was appointed to formulate a plan to preserve segregated schools. Late in 1955, it presented its recommendations, including eliminating mandatory school attendance, empowering local school boards to assign students to schools and creating special tuition grants to enable white students to attend private schools. Enabling legislation was quickly adopted and “segregation academies” began forming around the state. Subsequent legislation went even further by prohibiting state funding of schools that chose to integrate.
In March of 1956, 19 senators and 77 house members from 11 southern states signed what is popularly known as “The Southern Manifesto,” in which they declared, “Even though we constitute a minority in the present Congress, we have full faith that a majority of the American people believe in the dual system of government which has enabled us to achieve our greatness and will in time demand that the reserved rights of the States and of the people be made secure against judicial usurpation.”
Throughout this period the Prince Edward County schools remained segregated, but when various court rulings invalidated Virginia’s various attempts to avoid integration, the school board took its final stand. It refused to authorize funds to operate any schools in the district, and all public schools in the county were simply closed, and remained closed from 1959 to 1964.
There are striking similarities between Sen. Byrd’s failed plan of Massive Resistance and Republican efforts to prevent implementation of the Affordable Care Act. There was widespread confidence among conservatives that the Supreme Court would declare the Act unconstitutional. When that did not occur, legislators such as Michele Bachmann, quoted above, attempted to deny the legitimacy of the Court’s ruling. Brent Bozell went further, denouncing Chief Justice Roberts as “a traitor to his own philosophy,” hearkening back to the days when southern roadsides were replete with billboards demanding the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren.
The House of Representatives has taken over 40 votes to repeal the ACA, quixotic efforts pursued for reasons known only to John Boehner and his colleagues. And in accordance with the Virginia legislative model, the House has attempted to starve the ACA by eliminating it from funding bills. Following the failure of these efforts, Republicans have elected to pursue the path ultimately taken by the school board of Prince Edward County and have shut down the government.
Even the strategy followed by Republicans is largely a southern effort. Approximately 60% of the Tea Party Caucus is from the South. Nineteen of the 32 Republican members of the House who have been instrumental in orchestrating the shutdown are from southern states. It is hardly surprising therefore, that the current impasse is characterized by the time-honored southern belief in nullification theory as a proper antidote to disfavored decisions by a congressional majority.
In reflecting upon the experience of Virginia many years later, former Gov. Linwood Holton noted, “Massive resistance … served mostly to exacerbate emotions arrayed in a lost cause.” Republicans would do well to ponder the wisdom in that observation.
davidm,
Obama is OUR leader. He is president of the entire country–just as George W. Bush was.
*****
Peter King: GOP Is Responsible For The Government Shutdown (VIDEO)
Catherine Thompson – October 7, 2013
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/peter-king-gop-is-responsible-for-the-government-shutdown-video
Excerpt:
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) on Sunday placed responsibility for the government shutdown on his own party.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” King disagreed with colleague Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) on the GOP’s strategy to link Obamacare to a continuing resolution to fund the government.
“I’m talking about Ted Cruz, who basically was saying that if he defunded Obamacare he could manage to both keep the government open and defund Obamacare,” King said. “The fact is, it was done in the House, and the government is now closed and Obamacare is going forward. This was a strategy that never could have worked.”
“We are the ones who did shut the government down,” he later added. “Charles Krauthammer called it the suicide caucus. The Wall Street Journal said they were kamikazes. You don’t take the dramatic step of shutting down the government unless you have a real strategy and it has a chance of working. It’s never had a chance of working.”
“I’m talking about Ted Cruz, who basically was saying that if he defunded Obamacare he could manage to both keep the government open and defund Obamacare,” King said. “The fact is, it was done in the House, and the government is now closed and Obamacare is going forward. This was a strategy that never could have worked.”
Peter King used to represent the Congressional District I lived in, so I have followed his career for many years. When he comes across as a Republican
“Moderate”, then I know the country is in real trouble.
lotta,
I’m a little wary of Booker:
Why Booker Attacked Obama: The REAL Cory [Updated With New Romney Ad/Think Progress]
5/21/12
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/21/1093259/-Why-Booker-Attacked-Obama-The-REAL-Cory
Many were surprised to watch Meet The Press and see Obama campaign “surrogate” Newark Mayor Cory Booker attack the message of the Obama Campaign, from Politico:
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising Democratic star, criticized on Sunday the Obama campaign’s attack ad against Mitt Romney for his work at Bain Capital.
“It’s nauseating to the American public,” Booker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright.”
“As far as that stuff, I have to just say from a very personal level I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity,” he added. “To me, it’s just we’re getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially that I know I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people invest in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses [and] to grow businesses. And this, to me, I’m very uncomfortable with.”
It is nauseating to talk about a candidate’s business record? A record the candidate himself has have made fundamental to his candidacy? Stop attacking private equity?
Who is this Cory Booker fellow and why is he speaking for the Obama campaign let alone the Democratic Party?
Well, the people that know Mayor Booker were not surprised he was defending private equity and Big Business generally (admittedly we were surprised he would do it in the context of attacking the campaign he is speaking for). They were not surprised because Cory Booker would actually be much more at home in the Republican Party – an option unavailable to politicians who want public office in Newark, a city which is overwhelmingly Democratic. In fact, registered Democrats are so dominant within the city that the substantial election for power is in reality the Democratic Primary not the general election. If Booker had registered his more appropriate party affiliation he would have had zero chance of becoming a city councilman let alone Mayor.
Cory Booker’s position on private equity is both ideological and practical and not some aberration. But before going into that it should be noted Mayor Booker tried to walk back his comments and was, not surprisingly, very unconvincing. From Steve Kornacki:
It didn’t take long for Cory Booker to get the message. Just hours after undermining the Obama campaign’s main line of attack against Mitt Romney, the Newark mayor released a video late Sunday afternoon in an effort to repair some of the damage.
Booker had seemed to pronounce the Obama effort to highlight unflattering aspects of Romney’s private equity background “nauseating,” but in the video, he suggested he was making a broader statement about negative campaigning…
Booker’s new line is a bit hard to swallow, though, because his “Meet the Press” comments clearly went beyond simply decrying the tone of the campaign. At one point, he offered a pointed defense of Romney’s Bain past, saying: “I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, it — they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. And this to me — I’m very uncomfortable.”…
Booker has throughout his political career cultivated and maintained close ties to Wall Street and affluent, investor class donors – people who, in many cases, believe the administration has declared war on their world and see the Bain attacks as an extension of that effort. Booker’s statewide political aspirations are no secret in New Jersey, and the presumption is that he’s eyeing a Senate run in 2014 (others have mentioned him for governor next year, but that’s less likely for a number of reasons)…
But there were more connections than “college buddies.” Cory Booker’s political rise is intertwined with the constellation of Right-Wing foundations, some you have probably even heard of like the Bradley Foundation and the Manhattan Institute. For example, where did Booker get much of his public policy agenda? Let’s take a look at some of the investigative reporting done during Booker’s first, unsuccessful, run for Mayor of Newark, from Glen Ford:
Cory Booker, Black mayoral candidate from the city’s Central Ward, a cynical pretender who attempts to position himself as the common people’s defender while locked in the deep embrace of institutes and foundations that bankroll virtually every assault on social and economic justice in America. His benefactors sponsor anti-affirmative action referendums, press for near-total disinvestment in the public sector, savage what’s left of the social safety net, and are attempting to turn public education over to private suppliers. Along the way, Booker’s soul mates are busy ravaging the environment and trampling civil liberties everywhere they find them.
Otteray Scribe
1, October 16, 2013 at 7:26 pm
The Southern Democrats of the first half of the 20th Century became the Republicans of the second half.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixiecrats
during the 1980’s pat buchanan referred to them as reagan democrats.
i saw it in alabama at that time. in 1980 there was maybe one republican congressman from alabama. by 1992 they were solid republican. they wouldn’t admit to ever having been a democrat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fob_James
pete – there certainly were many Democrats in the South who switched over to the Republican party. However, it is overly simplistic to claim that the sole reason for this is that the Republicans were appealing to racists and getting them to switch parties. You mention Fob James of Alabama as an example of someone who switched from the Democrat to the Republican party. He is a perfect example of a non-racist Democrat. He was against segregation and campaigned on freedom from racism and discrimination. Clearly he is not an example of someone who switched to the Republican party because they supposedly catered to racism. He was a Democrat in the style of Jimmy Carter, a “born-again” Democrat. The Democratic party became more anti-religious, and then Fob James lost two elections as a Democrat, so he switched parties. If I had to point to the most important factor for him, it would be his religious views and the anti-religiousness of the Democratic party. It certainly was not because of racism.
The truth is that the Republican message emphasized economic issues, limited federal government and states’ rights, which was appealing to Southerners regardless of any racial bigotry. Some political strategists might have embraced it as a strategy of using some kind of code to reach blue collar racist voters who were part of the Democratic party, but that doesn’t mean that people who were racists understood the alleged coded message and switched parties in order to stay with other racists. Such absurd ideology is just a propaganda ploy of Democrats to obscure their shameful racist history. Anti-racist policies of the Republicans won out, and the Democrats wanted to be on the winning side, so they joined the anti-racism bandwagon and created a demonization campaign against Republicans as being the racist leaders. It was all made easy with a northern Democrat named John F. Kennedy leading the way for them. With that Civil Rights Act of 1964, jointly written and passed by both Republicans and Democrats, the Democrats officially became on the side of civil rights. Now all they had to do was blame Republicans for racism and poverty. In the same propaganda style that the Soviet Union used to deceive their countrymen that America was suffering extreme poverty, so Democrats have deceived more than half the country into thinking that Republicans are a party of the evil rich whose policies are responsible for all the social injustices that exists or ever will exist.
Yes Raf, it appears that nothing regarding policy was in the bill from what I just saw, nothing. I’m impressed, really impressed!
There are about 8-10 public works things. Your pork is my public works, wildfire suppression funds etc. I’m cool with good old fashioned public pork. I don’t begrudge some state other than my own getting a new road or dam or like that. The Lautenberg thing was interesting but building a road or putting out a fire in Colorado, that kind of thing is bedrock politics.
RWL.
if a Senator’s estate is owed benefits upon his death, that is one more bill that should be paid. It would have been better to have had the chance to debate the legitimacy of the debt to the estate in the Senate, if just to prevent that issue preventing the main bill from passing.
lotta,
I do think somebody’s feet were held to the fire. The entire Republican Party, especially in the House have been embarrassed and they will probably pay for it in the next election.
RWL, I thought there would be some actual ideological compromises, somebody’s feet would get held to the fire over something. It seems from what I can find that there’s a provision that may make it more difficult to do this again but the rest is pork. WoW, politicians went back to their roots, who’da thunk it. Politicians being politicians. 🙂 It’ll be interesting to see what the bill says.
I should have seen that coming. And to think that Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies and this is one of my favorite quotes:
“Hannibal Lecter: ‘First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself?’ “
OS, re Booker won: But, but, who is going to rescue his neighbors from burning buildings if he moves to DC? Didn’t he also rescue a dog from a bad situation. I saw him in a photo with a dog in his arms. How could one not just give it up to Cory? He seems to be a pretty good politician too from the interviews I saw but of course the dog had sealed the deal.
No, I checked, 2 dogs. Two. Dogs!
Good choice, I hoped he would win. Any day the Koch’s lose is a good day for the Republic.
“Cory Booker Runs Into A Burning House To Save A Life: I Did ‘What Most Neighbors Would Do’”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/04/13/464170/cory-booker-runs-into-a-burning-house-to-save-a-life-i-did-what-most-neighbors-would-do/
“Cory Booker has saved (another!) dog — with Twitter’s help.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/cory-booker-rescues-dog_n_3528967.html
Watching the news, including FoxNews’ Kelly’s File, and wondering when will the American people start boycotting our elections and start marching or revolting: Megan Kelly reporting that both parties (in the Senate and eventually the House) agreed to give a US Congress’ spouse over $170k in benefits and cash, even though the husband is worth more than $50 million. Both parties also agree to increase our national debt by $350 billion, refusing to have a balanced budget amendment.
RWL wrote: “…both parties (in the Senate and eventually the House) agreed to give a US Congress’ spouse over $170k in benefits and cash, even though the husband is worth more than $50 million. Both parties also agree to increase our national debt by $350 billion, refusing to have a balanced budget amendment.”
At least the Tea Party all voted Nay. If more Democrats and Republicans would join the Tea Party, these shenanigans could be deterred.
OS re bribe, I hate that. But it may just cause more resentment within Republican ranks. Every silver lining has a dark cloud,
We have a new Senator. Cory Booker’s opponent had vast sums of Koch money behind him, but to no avail in the current toxic climate for Republicans, especially the Tea Party types. They got their fee-fees stepped on tonight, in more ways than one.
LoL, they look a bit like the Krey twins, if the Krays had been brought up in the ‘good’ part of town.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kray_twins
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1165822/From-angels-monsters-Rare-picture-Kray-twins-young-boys-auctioned.html
LK,
Yup. I just saw a live feed of his remarks to the WH press corps. I see the House Republicans are miffed because he spoke before they voted. Cry me a river.
Looks as if there was a little incentive for Box Turtle Mitch to get his crew under control.
http://wfpl.org/post/mcconnell-reid-deal-includes-3-billion-earmark-kentucky-project
OS, I’m hoping there’s blowback also, but they elected her after all. The President set the right tone, he went to meet with Miss America while the Congress did its job said he will sign the bill immediately when it passes the House. LoL.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/10/miss-america-meets-obama-175222.html
RTC,
The teabaggers are not really in charge either. It is the puppetmasters of Heritage Foundation, ALEC, and all the other astroturf organizations put together by that shadowy group of oligarchs. Heading up the oligarchs seems to be the Koch brothers, although there are other heavy hitter players such as Art Pope.
A diarist over at Daily Kos dug up a photo which he says is of the Koch brothers when they were young. It definitely looks like them. I don’t know where they found this, because I cannot seem to find it with a normal Google search of images. But then, these guys can afford to buy all the privacy they desire, and even have the internet scrubbed if they want to. True character can show in a good photo. Look at their eyes.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l217/Shockwave_73/KochBros_zps3ef479d4.jpg
OS,
I don’t think Obama will blink either. And why should he? This is the signature piece of legislation of his administration. To fiddle with it any more than he already has would be essentially conceding to his critics that it’s flawed. The remodeling would never end. My hope is that this will be the beginning of Obama’s term when he starts implementing policies of social and environmental justice; the way Bill Clinton was supposed to have, if only he hadn’t got caught shtupping the intern.
Tony C.,
A book I read when I was young, “Indispensable Enemies”, by Walter Karp, laid out all the times in American history where the parties have conspired in the winning and losing of elections, basically forming an oligarchy. I’ve applied his formula to predict every election since then with amazing accuracy. (Can you say Bob Dole’s Victory Tour?) Republicans only wanted to be in power long enough to role back reform until recently, when, as Naomi Klein points out, the republicans are actively trying to destroy the economy. That’s what makes this impasse so frightening for me. Boehner isn’t in charge of this. He’s riding a runaway Tea Baggin’ train, trying to make it appear like he’s the one steering.
Like I said up top, I hope he doesn’t give in on anything. I think if he was going to, he would have done it by now. If he does, it’ll probably be Tar Sands pipeline approval. We’ll see. Hang on, this should be interesting.
nick,
What in the world are you talking about?
Maybe id you’re a “Scientist” it’s ok??
I thought all information that doesn’t come from books and studies, no matter how flawed, was anecdotal and 3rd rate. Are there different sets of rules?? Can one person say “I was there” and that be dispositve while others be run outta town. I’m shocked” said Captain Renault.
I do have a great deal of sympathy for the cattlemen, especially the ones with small herds as this could finish them forever.
“Ranchers looking for guidance on how to document their losses with the federal Farm Service Agency, whose workers have been furloughed, are, as some here say, “plumb out of luck.” And the stalling of a farm bill in Congress has left many families skeptical about whether disaster relief will ever come. ”
The Republicans have played politics with real people’s lives and real people are the ones suffering in South Dakota. If South Dakotans send Kristi Noem back to Congress in 2014 then any real sympathy I have for their plight today will disappear.
Blouise wrote: “The Republicans have played politics with real people’s lives and real people are the ones suffering in South Dakota.”
Yes, the Republicans played politics, but so did the Democrats. Your leader President Barack Obama was responsible for the government shutdown. The House Republicans voted numerous times to fund the federal government and keep it running. President Obama complained because they did not vote to fund his pet project, Obamacare. He wanted to blame Republicans, so he had his Senate Democrats not approve the House CR’s. Even when Republicans compromised and asked only for a 1 year delay on the individual mandate, just like he gave his favorite corporations, President Obama dug in his heels and refused to negotiate. President Obama loves to blame Bush or the Republicans for all his problems, but the truth is that he shut down 17% of the federal government. If you can’t see his part in the politics here, I feel sorry for you.
“Yes, the Republicans played politics, but so did the Democrats. Your leader President Barack Obama was responsible for the government shutdown. The House Republicans voted numerous times to fund the federal government and keep it running. President Obama complained because they did not vote to fund his pet project,”
DavidM,
Doesn’t it feel liberating that you finally can “come out of the closet” and show your true colors as a teabagger? Everything thing you imagine is seen through that lens. When caught in your lying about the history of Republican racism and Strom Thurmond you tried to dismiss it as an oversight. There are really two conclusions to be drawn from that oversight. The first is that you are both stupid and ignorant. From your writing I know that is not the case. Therefore I can only assume the second, which is that you will intentionally lie to advance your cause. Given that, your pretense at morality is indeed a hollow one. Now I don’t say this because I see the Democratic Party in a heroic light, because clearly they also are burdened by venality and selfish interest. However, in this particular instance, the “phony shutdown” has proven to be the ploy of the privileged few who back the “teabagging” movement. And yes I’m using the term “teabagging” as a slangy, negative metaphor because that is what you and all its minions do when you slavishly worship your “betters”. I could see you in the court of Louis IV, being the courtier who proudly holds his chamberpot,
DavidM, How are you?
You sed: “So you too believe the erroneous Spindell dogma that Republicans started caring about civil rights in 1964?”
No, I believe they STOPPED caring about them long before that. (Sorry for the caps. I was unable to absorb that whole discussion on using italics in WordPress.)
You also sed: “I guess you too enjoy ignorance.”
Yes, I always enjoy reading your posts.