News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Opinion Columns

November 20, 2012

RONN MOTT: President of the Confederacy

It’s too bad Mitt Romney wasn’t born in the 1830’s because the mass voting of southern states would have made him President of the Confederacy. Now, after the recent election, Mitt is showing his stupidity by grousing about Blacks, Hispanics, and young people receiving gifts from the President which swept the voters into the voting booths and Barack Obama’s return to the presidency.

What’s wrong with Mitt Romney? God did not appoint him King, or even President. He acts as if his birthright has been taken away from him. In America, you earn that birthright. It is not given to you. It just goes to show that all that money does not increase your brain power.

It’s no wonder the south votes for Romney. South Carolina has been revolting since the War of Independence in 1776. And in case you have forgotten, the Civil War, which began in South Carolina, killed more than 600,000 Americans. Some southern governors did their best to gerrymander the election (the long lines in Florida are a great example) and even at that the people went out and voted in great strength.  

The southern states were once called the “solid south,” because it was a Republican president who freed the black people from slavery. So, the southern you ’alls all voted for the Democrats. In the 20th Century when the Democrats began to wake up and fight for civil rights for all, the “solid south” went solid Republican. The Republicans just don’t like the idea of a one-man, one-vote democracy. Now they will complain and gripe about me saying that, but history shows the truth. And the truth is, the Republicans don’t like one man, one vote.

It is a shame because it was a Republican who held the country together during the Civil War and a Republican who freed the slaves. Things have changed. I remember living in the south and the deeper south you go the crazier it gets. When I ran a couple of radio stations in Marianna, Florida, and people knew I was new to the area, they would say to me, without knowing anything about me, “What are you … Church of Christ or Southern Baptist?” Not even giving any consideration to a thousand or more protestant faiths in America. When I would answer, totally going for surprise, and say, “I am a secular Christian,” their jaws would drop to their toes. They would look upon me as something very different and strange. And I was.

It seems going toward the 200th birthday of the American Civil War we would look upon our past, slavery, KKK, and other bigotries, and try to change. I would like to think Mr.  Romney is not a bigot, but every time his mouth opens up, bigotry falls out.  

Eighty-seven percent of the present GOP electorate is white.  Old, and white, but the country is changing. We must have law in this country for everyone. The law should not be for only a chosen few.  

I know when the South votes for the cause of all the people, regardless of race, religion, etc., we will reach a shining example for the entire world to admire.

Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.

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