Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Drone Chronicles


I have had so much fun watching the flogger and floggerette frenzy over the VaFlaggers' new drone.

True to form, Simpson was the first (and so far the only) flogger to blog about it, and the comment thread at XRoads is super-duper rich!

As I said in a comment over there (that actually got posted!) they're just jealous, and a little bit affronted, as if the VaFlaggers did an end-run around heritage attackers.

Corey Meyer's comment is so typical. Sez he:
  …"they bought it for $1100+ with donations form supporters. In essence, they bought Norwood Lewis a new toy."
Uh, nope, Corey. No Virginia Flagger funds or donations were spent on the drone. (Corey, in case y'all don't know it, is inadvertently obsessed with the VaFlaggers financing -- just as if it's any of his business!)

So then we have this cringe-worthy observation specifically to Simpson from somebody named John Kim:
I think you give them far more attention than they deserve and the debates have become more personal than professional. However, I’m encouraged now that the Flaggers are leaping into the future and embracing new technology. This indicates a willingness to grow, learn, and be exposed to new ideas.
Can you believe the arrogance? Well, I couldn't let that go unanswered, so I sent a response and, wonder of wonders, Simpson let it through. Of course, his motive for so doing was ... well, you'll see:

Me:  I hear some of ‘em’s gonna start wearin’ shoes and installin’ indoor plumbing in 2015…

And Simpson's dig: More evidence of how Connie Chastain hates the South and evilizes southerners. No responsible person would advance such sectional slurs. Of course, she’ll now say she’s simply being sarcastic, but, as she knows what other people’s true motives are, I am simply returning the favor.

What I can't understand, though, is Mr. Kim's assumption that Confederate heritage folks in general, and the VaFlaggers in particular, are throwbacks. Does he truly imagine we don't have microwave ovens and drive electronic cars? That we don't have cell phones, even smart phones, and computer access? Maybe he thinks we still travel in horse-drawn carriages (for the rich) and mule-drawn wagons (for the poor) and women wear hoopskirts?

As ridiculous as Mr, Kim's statement (and his mindset) are, Jimmy Dick takes the cake, as he usually does. Here are his comments and my replies....
What good is a drone for a group that is trying to educate people about the history of the Confederacy?
They identified the uses for it, didn't you read the article? Besides, educating people about the history of the Confederacy is only one of their purposes. Honoring Confederate soldiers as a huge part of their purpose, and I can see it becoming quite useful in that endeavor. But since you're not a member of the group, why is it a concern to you at all?

Isn’t the problem for this group in the first place their lack of ability to interpret the past using facts and to transfer that knowledge (I’m being nice) to others?


Nope, that's not a problem, and nope, you're not being nice. I'm not certain you're capable of it. Like Simpson, you love the put down, you get off on denigration, you lust after hurting people. The difference is, you don't have Simpson's snot-slick finesse with the language.

How does a flying object that’s only use is to take visual images going to help them accomplish that?

(1) How do you know that's all it is useful for and (2) your mistake (well, one of many) is attempting to bind your limited vision on them and (3) because they're vision is not as limited as yours, they see many more possibilities than you. And are you aware of how useful visual images can be?

Here's some communication from the Drone Master:
"I already sent a freebie bridge inspection to the Department of Transportation showing them the bridge joints on the RE LEE Bridge. Said, "Here, this is free, if you need more done, please contact me." Probably cost them 50-60k to do that on just one side in 2 weeks. I did it in 3 min..."
See Jimmy? You just don't know how to think outside the box.

Let’s face some facts here.


No, Jimmy, these are not facts.  They're at best your unfounded opinion -- with a lot of bigotry-based fantasy mixed in.

1. Their parading in farb gear with the confederate battle flag has failed to do anything but draw ridicule and scorn upon them.


Farb gear? Most of them wear ordinary casual wear for flaggings. Even those who wear re-enactor apparel don't do it all the time. And you need to get over the childish assumption that everyone feels like you do. The ridicule and scorn are coming from people like your fellow travelers, whose opinion matters ... how?

2. Their extremely bad history interpretations of the Civil War era fail to pass the scrutiny of the general public. If anything, their attempts to pass off the lost cause as real history are alienating the very people they are trying to gain support from.


The general public doesn't scrutinize, Jimmy, and they don't know a whole lot about history -- the civil war kind and nearly any other. The people they've been trying to gain support from basically support them. Just so you understand, they're not trying to get the "support" of the VMFA. They just want the museum to put the flags back.

3. The erection of confederate battle flags along highways has had the reverse effect from the one they desire. Instead of educating people all those symbols do is embarrass the citizens in the region.

The flags have ticked off a few ultra-leftists. They have brought praise from many Southerners (and brought donations, as well)... But just out of curiosity, let's say the "region" is Fredericksburg and Richmond. The first has a population nearing 30,000 and the second, 214,000. Of those people, how many are embarassed by the flags; and how do you know? Did they tell you? No, you're just making it up, like a little kid.

4. The existence of the flaggers has been an absolute farce, yet they can’t understand that. The group appeals to a specific set of people whose grasp on reality is at times tenuous. When they do get positive attention it is usually to exploit them for political or financial purposes. The group fails to recognize that.

More utter phantasmagorical unreality. I think they understand their experience better than you do.  Only a fool would claim they know more about someone else's experience than that person. This whole fantasy you've spewed here is puts you in the category of having a tenuous grasp on reality.

Until you provide independently verifiable third-party information from reliable sources (it can't be a prejudiced flagger-hater like Simpson) proving what you've said here, I'm calling you out as bald-faced liar.
Stay tune, folks. I don't think we've seen the end of The Drone Chronicles yet....

10 comments :

  1. Connie, such comments from those people only serve to represent how ignorant they choose to be of who Southern heritage proponents are and their goals.
    I have to admit recently I was floored by the level of disconnect these folks seem to have.
    I was responding to and debating folks on a facebook page: The Blue and the Gray. The page is mostly pro-Union flogger types, but only a few of them seemed hostile. One or two expressed curiosity and have been talking to me over IM the last week or so, with positive results. At least a few appeared to listen to the truth about our goals when it was expressed, though I cannot vouch for their acceptance of it. Most of the discussions eventually get back to the Flaggers somehow....the continued obsession staggers the mind.
    Tell the truth I actually had to dumb it down a bit so they could keep up with what I was telling them. Okay maybe not the best word for it....I had to go slowly with them.
    One of them though, a real skull full of mush named Katherine - another "educator" apparently - was not only hostile from the first but when called on her flaws in logic, became irate and actually (and Connie, folks keep in mind I am NOT making this one up) claimed that we - Southern heritage folks and the VA Flaggers in particular - actually "worship" the Southern Cross battle flag.
    (Pause a moment to let that one sink in slowly)
    I mean really, that was the word she actually used.
    It took me several minutes to actually regain control of my laughter and that of my coworkers reading over my shoulder before I could begin to respond to that asinine statement.
    I've often taken it in stride what they say about how we "yearn for the good ole days of slavery and plantations and ect. blah blah blah" but - sometimes to my shock and complete bafflement - it really dawns on me that these folks really truly believe that sort of thing about us, that its not just rhetoric thrown around to get a response.

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    Replies
    1. The irony is that these Neo-Yankee types worship the Stars-N-Stripes like some kind of totem fetish. I've seen plenty of memorials around here in Texas and in Russia, on TV. They're all the same. Crosses and flowers. But the one's in Boston had flags instead of crosses. Who are the ones worshipping a flag?

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    2. Yet these are the same people who originally began protesting a war against those who killed nearly thousands in New York on 9-11, and all of a sudden "rediscovered" patriotism after a guy they approved of became President. These are people who have no problem burning a US flag as a legitimate (if obscene) form of protest and looks the other way when other groups replace a US flag with a Mexican flag to appease a politically correct mindset.

      Having no respect for people who disagree with them, why should i believe them to have any more respect for the flag of this country?

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  2. The Virginia Flaggers just got 5,008 likes on their facebook page. Southern Heritage News & Views has 8,956 likes. Lastly, Southern Historical Society has just reached 10,072 likes.

    Heritage groups are reaching people, just not the kind of people who plug their years and call everything that moves a "racist". Those kind of people will never be "reached'. Do you know how many people I hear reciting things from "The South Was Right" and books of that nature, without even knowing what those books are? People are being told the truth, and Southrons are waking up and feeling unashamed pride for their land and people, that's all that matters.

    "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
    -Mahatma Gandhi

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    Replies
    1. Southern Nationalism is a deep wellspring. We just have to drill out the plug and let it flow.

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    2. And flow it shall, like a raging river.

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  3. Connie,

    Just want you to know that on the Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education website most of my posts run into the hundreds of hits. I long ago removed the hit counter from the main website and have over 10,000 on Negroes in Gray. To be honest I am not surethe counter is still working. Gotta put that on the "to do" list

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    Replies
    1. I don't doubt it, George. ProSouthern sites and blog get a lot of hits from visitors who come to read and learn, but don't leave comments.

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  4. Myself I am content knowing I get all these hits. Mackey, Simpson and bunch seem to think I am targeting them. Wrong. They are just a vehicle in which to get ideas for research or to reach my real targets, those folks with an open mind and a willingness to learn. Hopefully these people will take the time to try to prove me wrong and in turn learn something else.

    As you said we are getting read and that is what really galls the other side.

    George Purvis
    Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education - website
    Cold Southern Steel - Blog

    I do believe that aqsyou say we are getting read

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