Remember "Heritage, Not Hate," that malignant tumor on the ass of American society that we thought we killed in 2015? LOLNOPE, it's still very much alive and well, although one Georgia lawmaker is now being forced to rescind his attempts to forward the pro-Confederacy agenda after saying a bunch of racist comments. (SURPRISE!)
Georgia state Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Of Course) is such a treasure, we're genuinely surprised we've never heard of him before. After fellow lawmaker state Sen. Vincent Fort forwarded a fairly ballsy (for Georgia, anyway) bill that would forbid the state from formally recognizing any holiday in honor of the Confederacy or Confederate figures, Benton got RILL MAD:
Mr. Benton called that bill “cultural terrorism” and its sponsor, Sen. Vincent Fort, a “fanatic.”
“That’s no better than what ISIS is doing, destroying museums and monuments,” he told the Journal-Constitution, referring to the terror group by an acronym. “I feel very strongly about this. I think it has gone far enough. There is some idea out there that certain parts of history out there don’t matter anymore and that’s a bunch of bunk.”
He then tried to get even, forwarding three bills that were HOLY SHIT insane:
House Bill 855 would force the state to formally recognize Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s birthday as public holidays. House Resolution 1179 calls for a constitutional amendment protecting Stone Mountain as a Confederate memorial ... House Bill 854 would require street names changed since 1968 to revert back to their former names if their prior name had honored a veteran. Although the bill does not mention Martin Luther King, the civil right [ sic ] leader was assassinated in 1968 and the bill would rename a portion of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Atlanta Gordon Road, in honor of Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon, an early leader of the Georgia Klan.
A word about John B. Gordon: he was the Confederate officer who presided over the formal loser surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia losers led by loser Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in 1865. Also too in what we're sure is a complete coincidence, Gordon is thought to have been the titular leader of the KKK during the post-war 1860s.
We mention these facts not so you can have a fun Thursday Afternoon Racism History Lesson (although that too!), but because they shed some light on the following comments Tommy Benton made in defense of his legislative racisms:
The Klan “was not so much a racist thing but a vigilante thing to keep law and order,” Mr. Benton claimed.
“It made a lot of people straighten up,” he said. “I’m not saying what they did was right. It’s just the way things were.”
The guy looking to honor the memory of the Confederacy thinks the KKK had some good ideas?! And in Georgia, where up until 2001, the state flag was basically just an enormous confederate flag?! WHO COULD'VE PREDICTED THESE BOMBSHELLS?!
Good news, though! Benton's comments in defense of his own bill were so atrocious, even to racists who like to pretend they are not racist, that he's been forced to withdraw his "the Confederacy was awesome and no, fuck YOU, MLK" bills, citing "negative perception." He didn't apologize, because of course he didn't. Still, Benton now has to slink off back to his racism corner and plot new ways to do racisms. That's something, at least.
To sum up: the good guys win (at least for now), the loser Confederacy sucked, fuck Gone With The Wind, the end.
Racist Georgia Rep Forced To Withdraw Racist Bills After Doing Racism In Public, Unfair!
Please, do you have any more info on it?
Four Starfleet Captains agree...