Met some fabulous frendly folks in Mississippi when I went through… Came back through 20 years later, and except for the Walmart out on the highway, NOTHING had changed. 

I’m willing to bet that folks who find the entire State of Mississippi a horrible place are looking for horror. 

BUT then I live in Maine where my grandfather claimed “Maine is Mississippi with snow”

Get real, There is every bit as much racism in New England as there is in the south.... The real “white man’s domain” is Long Island New York where some neighborhoods STILL reject “black applicants”

If I had a nickle for every time I heard the word “Jew” used as a verb, I could retire....comfortably!!

Rangel is correct. The best thing to come out of Mississippi was my mother and my wife. Neither of which still resides there. I drive through MIss without even buying gas there. Let’em join TX as the worst places to live and work. As matter of fact, just add all of the “right to work” states for that matter. They all suck for the working men and women of this country. Move to IL, MI, MA, anywhere but the south. I hate the south, but I have to live here right now. I tell them to the faces, daily, how much I hate the south.

Rangel was absolutely right. Mississippi has been a moral cesspool and a parasite on American culture ever since it was created. Its reaction- ary political trash has now switched labels over the last 54 years, but it still only ships moral degenerates and intellectual runts of the litter to loot Congress. Let’s sell this white trash to Cuba. iclrevusa.com

Right on, Charles.  I grew up next door to Mississippi and visited there occassionally. I drove through last October and was reassured it had changed not one whit.  If you gave me all of Mississipi, it wouldn’t be enough to convince me to live there.

Charlie Rangel may have spoken inadvisedly, but it was the truth.  Just read the history of MS and you will find they are still trying to live in 1806 instead of 2006.  They committed the most vicious crimes of the civil rights movement, Emmett Till being just an example and were never prosecuted.  Read MS author, John Grisham’s book about the development of the casinos for an insight into widespread corruption.  True, they produced some of our great authors (who by the way spoke many truths about their state). I have lived and worked in that state and was constantly amazed at the backward thinking, racism, ignorance and utter disdain for the 21st century.  No, I would not want to live there ever again.

Next door in Alabama which gets its share of criticism the stadard response is-"At least we aren’t Mississippi”

The recent hub-bub concerning the off-hand comments of U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) concerning the state of Mississippi, reiterates a point which I made for many years now: The utterly imperative necessity of nationwide secession!

“Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?” Indeed, and this coming from a man who represents the garden like environs of Harlem.

I expect that this type of sentiment is a lot more typical than our federal overseers would like to admit. Truthfully, why should someone who inhabits the lofty cliffs and wild craggy heights along upper Manhattan’s western shoreline of the Hudson River give a rat’s behind about the folks who inhabit a swampy feverish nowhere, to their existence, nearly a thousand miles away? I often find myself asking the same questions about other parts of this far flung union of disparate states.

For instance why should I care if a bridge to nowhere gets built in Alaska or for that matter why should Alaskans be forced to pay out some of their hard earned shekels to help Florida re-build after a hurricane? The United States was never meant to be a forced mutual aid society, but instead a loosely confederated voluntary association, with strictly limited and enumerated powers delegated to federal authority. This meager set of federal duties is laid out very specifically in the now largely ignored document known as the U.S. Constitution.

I don’t blame Charles Rangel one bit for his sentiments any more than I do the proud Mississippians who are outraged at his frank and truthful comments. The answer for them both is a sensible and amicable separation along the lines of what occurred in the former Soviet Union nearly two decades ago and what the South attempted to accomplish 145 years ago along the murky waters of Charleston Harbor. Until then we should all stop whining and get used to the child-like state of bondage our federal masters wish to keep us forever chained in.

Charlie Rangel was right when he said “who wants to live in MS”. Personally, I would never set foot in that backwater of a state. Were it an independent country it would be considered 3rd world. I would advise Rangel, not to accept any of those phony invitations because southerners are still savages and who knows what they’d do to him.

I’m from Mississippi, from age 1 through 18. Still visit home there yearly or more, to the Gulf Coast or what was the Gulf Coast.  You all who have not seen it would not believe how much is just gone.  Gone. 

Yet I love Charlie Rangel, and what he said is actually a lighthearted retort and extremely mild rhetorical payback to the constant stream of nasty slander perpetrated by Nixon’s Southern Strategy South, still the heartland of racist redoubt, since Ronald Reagan opened his 1980 presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the actual town where the three civil rights workers were murdered in the mid 1960s.

How’s that for a signal!  Couldn’t have been more unmistakable than a 1000-foot burning cross!

And how about Pickering’s response about the “Democrat” Party.  Even that (Democrat and not the actual Democratic) is one of the many slurs against Democrats and their supporters across the country that is used by the old Dixiecrap leaders and their racist constituency to try and discredit a venerable American political institution that has done more for this country than any other.

Social Security, the Marshall Plan, winning World War II, the G.I. Bill, Medicare, the Space program, the end of segregation (sorry bout that, heah, Massah Pickering), even the unbridled prosperity of the 1990s, et al.  All led by the Democrats, and near all of it forced down the throat of the backward-looking, racist southern political powers and their socially inbred constituencies.  Polite society, my ass!

No, Rangel just gave back a tiny, tiny bit of the vitriole and defamation that the Democratic Party and its supporters have been receiving for close to 30 years.  And the whiny little Pickerings of the losing party couldn’t handle it.  Typical.  Can dish it out but can’t handle it.  Maybe it’s good they’re being thrown out of the kitchen, because they can’t take the heat.

Love,
News Nag

Concerning Representative Pickering:  I would never say that all Republicans are racists, but I cannot help but feel that all racists are Republicans.  I’m not sure where Mr. Pickering’s true loyalties lie.  Is Rep Pickering complaining about Mr. Rangel’s coments from the point of view of being a Republican or as a racist?  I need a program to know my players.

As a person who has lived in Ca. and La. even though the west is liberal, there is just as much prejedjudice is Ca. as in Miss. but the pay scale in the western states is higher than Mississippi, the south has the lowest minimum wage than any other state, so if they receive more in welfare than other states it may be that they are poorer than people in other states due to factors such as poor schools, people who have inheritated poorer genes due to the fact that is a direct corralation between diet of a mother and the health of her children.

Rangel is right, maybe Mississippi would be nice to him, because he is a high profile person.  But be a poor person of color, and there would be predjedice because I witnessed it first hand, I had bought a car from Mississippi, and in the glove compartment was a racial joke about open season on certain people, so just because some People in Mississippi are afended the ole south is still the ole south and the Confederate flag still flies and some facts some people would like to sweep under the rug.

Y’all hush na ya-ear.

Yes, Mississippi has its flaws, but doesn’t every other state in this country?  I would rather live in the poorest state in the Union than in one of the richest and be miserable.  I am proud to say that I live here.  After visiting my northern neighbors many years ago, I am no doubt convinced that God has blessed this state and the South.  Give me excrutiatingly hot summers and good southern cuisine anyday and I will be a happy lady.

Why can’tg anyone say anything in this country?
I am sure the people, cuisine and music of MS are fine… and who cares? The point is that we in the blue states are continuously insulted for being amoral, elitist, etc. Our money pays for their development. The south was developed on northern capital. Thats a realisty. States like MS are net takers in the federal system. Thats a reality. I think many people are fed up with a political habbit in MS that treats norther money like an entitlement, and then condemns entitlements

(1963) nina simone

The name of this tune is mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it

Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

Cant you see it
Cant you feel it
Its all in the air
I cant stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

This is a show tune
But the show hasnt been written for it, yet

Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every days gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I dont belong here
I dont belong there
Ive even stopped believing in prayer

Dont tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
Ive been there so I know
They keep on saying go slow!

But thats just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the windows
Do it slow
Picking the cotton
Do it slow
Youre just plain rotten
Do it slow
Youre too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinkings crazy
Do it slow
Where am I going
What am I doing
I dont know
I dont know

Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about mississippi goddam

I made you thought I was kiddin didnt we

Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say its a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And youd stop calling me sister sadie

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
Youre all gonna die and die like flies
I dont trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!
Go slow!

But thats just the trouble
Do it slow
Desegregation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Reunification
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow
Why dont you see it
Why dont you feel it
I dont know
I dont know

You dont have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about mississippi
Everybody knows about alabama
Everybody knows about mississippi goddam

Thats it!

Big deal,instead of laughing you find fault. We Americans are uptight people.Relax,and be angry about real problems, like the war,unaffordable healthcare,etc. Chris, Michigan

And where is the evidence that Rangel is a good man? He is a conservative who recently denounced Hugo Chavez

Mississippi sucks and so does most of Texas minus Austin.  NY is not all that great and I was born here.

But what are people talking about, The landscape?  The political culture? The economic well being? The educational level of the population and its sophistication? The quality of life as measured by set indicators such as the UN uses for countries?

Obviously these things matter.

So Charlie Rangel was right depending on what you are talking about.

As to the Republican scum, previously called Dixiecrats or racist pigs.  I agree with Phil Ochs, Mississippi should find another country to be apart of!

I am amazed that the American People have so quickly made the completely ridiculous DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, which sounds like something Herr Hitler would have dreamed up, and was as necessary to the security of the US as viagra for a sixteen year old boy, a talking point when discussing funding for this or that. Actually wrangeling over which state got the most money for homeland security.....with completely lame and silly explanations given and ACCEPTED.

IT IS ANOTHER WAY TO MOVE MONEY DIRECTLY FROM THE TAXPAYER TO VARIOUS CONTRACTOR BUDDIES OF THE POLS IN POWER.....AND CREATE ANOTHER ¨INDUSTRY¨, TO BILK THE UNWARY WITH BOMB SHELTERS......THOUGHT WE GOT OVER THAT WITH THE SO-CALLED COLD WAR.

Phil Ochs - Ode to Mississippi -

Here’s to the state of Mississippi,
For Underheath her borders, the devil draws no lines,
If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find.
Whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes,
The calender is lyin’ when it reads the present time.
Whoa here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of,
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of!

Here’s to the people of Mississippi
Who say the folks up north, they just don’t understand
And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of the Klan
The sweating of their souls can’t wash the blood from off their hands
They smile and shrug their shoulders at the murder of a man
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Here’s to the schools of Mississippi
Where they’re teaching all the children that they don’t have to care
All of rudiments of hatred are present everywhere
And every single classroom is a factory of despair
There’s nobody learning such a foreign word as fair
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Here’s to the cops of Mississippi
They’re chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door
Their bellies bounce inside them as they knock you to the floor
No they don’t like taking prisoners in their private little war
Behind their broken badges there are murderers and more
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And, here’s to the judges of Mississippi
Who wear the robe of honor as they crawl into the court
They’re guarding all the bastions with their phony legal fort
Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report
When the black man stands accused the trial is always short
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here’s to the government of Mississippi
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they’re always bogging down
And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns
They’re hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds
And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here’s to the laws of Mississippi
Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay
While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay
Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I’ve even heard them say
Yes, corruption can be classic in the Mississippi way
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here’s to the churches of Mississippi
Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust
And the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust
The fallen face of Jesus is choking in the dust
Heaven only knows in which God they can trust
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Com’on, Charles.  You’re better than that.  If you and your colleagues in congress did the peoples’ work instead of evading and distracting with sex-sleeze, immoral wars, fighting amongst yourselves raking muck and slinging mud like bratty children and, in general, country clubbing it down there wasting our money, Mississippi’s good citizens would have gotten the helped they deserved after Katrina and support to bring their education system on par with yours in NY.  Why don’t you people make Mississippi a place everyone would want to live? You could, you know.  You all were quite willing to appropriate about $400 billion for Iraq.  Mississippi could have made good use of that much money keeping its citizens alive and improving their standard of living. That’s constructive, not destructive.  I bet Mississippians even would have welcomed Halliburton in to do the work.  It’ll be hard work. But do it, Charles.  America will be a better place for it and you’ll be a hero.  God Bless Mississippi and God Bless America!!!  Oh, I forgot, and God Bless diversity and inclusion and mutual respect and humility and unity and brotherhood.

Racial prejudice against blacks is still deeply ingrained in Mississippi.  Poverty is present and anti-education attitutes and Bible belt ignorance is rampant.

I think what is happening here is that the credo of the South, that politeness is more important than being direct about issues that ought to be exposed to full daylight and honest and critical discussion, slipped a bit. 

Maybe this is the difference between the old south and New York City. 

This isn’t much an issue.  Yeah, Rangel could have been more diplomatic. But, so what?

Aren’t we tired of politicians who dissemble because they don’t want to be honest?

I definitely agree with Mill (below). Can anybody think positively and progressively in this country? I sure hope so. This is a great country that needs and continues to grow after some awful disasters, lets focus on that!

Rangel is a good man but his remark is way out of line. What would be his answer if some people say certain ethnic groups get more federal dollars than they actually paid in the form of taxes?

Right on Charlie.....who indeed.

It seems that no one is immune from opening their mouth just to change feet. No matter how many times it happens, especially in the political arena, we’re bewildered when we realize that someone has done it again.I am, however, surprised that Charlie Rangell would fall into that same trap. Perhaps he neglected to take his medicine that day!

Imagine an African-American wanting to live somewhere besides Mississippi.

Who’s screaming “Politically incorrect!” now?

There a good and gracious people in every state in the US ... and there are less desireable neighbors as well ....

... I grew up outside NYC, went to college in Indiana and Illinois, and have made my home in Minnesota ... I am amazed how little some people in NY know about other parts of the country ...

but to have an elected representative in Congress offer that sort of simplistic, overdrawn stereotype of an entire state?  and a man who knows racism first hand? 

how disappointing.  how could it possible help ANYONE to have said that?  it’s as dumb as the Kerry comment about education or getting stuck in Iraq.

i guess there are gracious politicians on both sides of the isle ... and there are the gutter-dwellers ...  at age 76 I hope Mr Rangel has more regrets about this stuff than his contemporary, Mr Rumsfeld, has had about his role in handling Iraq

Speaking as both a Democrat and a resident of New York, I think Rangel has a point even though he chose to phrase it in a truly execrable fashion. If I’m not mistaken, the blue states as a rule pay more to the federal goverment and yet receive less in terms of federal funding per capita than the red states do. For crying out loud, why are states like Montana and Mississippi receiving more money from the Department of Homeland Security for security measures than places like New York and Washington, DC? Has anyone forgotten that boneheaded report from within the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year which basically stated that New York City has no monuments worth protecting? Was that not an insult—especially considering the way in which the Republican party shamelessly exploited New York City as a backdrop for their 2004 convention so that they could wring every last possible reference to 9/11 out of it? Realistically, what is the statistical likelihood that an Islamic terrorist is going to attack someplace like Billings, Montana?  I’m not an expert, but the odds don’t seem that high to me…

This strikes me as particularly ironic given the way in which many “red-staters” complain about people whom they don’t perceive as paying their fair share, such as people who live on public assistance. They don’t hesitate to condemn individual people for taking money from the government without paying what some would consider their fair share—but they also don’t have any problem doing something similar themselves as long as they’re doing it collectively! Nevertheless, this is still no excuse and no reason for the rude manner in which Rangel chose to express himself. While he claimed afterwards that he meant to say he personally as a native son of New York can’t understand why anyone would want to live there, this is a far cry from what he actually said—Rangel doesn’t speak for everyone, and a blanket statement like the one Rangel made goes much farther than expressing a simple personal opinion.

As someone who has patiently waited for the Democrats to take back the House and Senate, I find Congressman Rangel’s comments regrettable.

While it is true that some in the Republican party have engaged in regional smearing and stereotyping; Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco, East Coast liberal/secularists Kerry and Hillary, that doesn’t make it right for the Dems to partate in tit for tat tactics.

I’m a native Bay Area Californian now living in Austin, TX.  Growing up in the Bay Area I harbored some unfounded prejudices about Texas.

However, all that disappeared when my wife and I moved to Austin.  This is a great place to live, work and play!  Like Mississippi, Texas has it’s share of problems.  But the great pride, humor and rich, varied cultural traditions of Texas people will be the source of the solutions to those problems and continue to make Texas an even better place to live and visit.  I’m sure the same is true for Mississippi.

This Democrat controlled Congress has a lot of work to do for ALL the citizens of our country.  Engaging in regional back-bitind and sniping from either side of the aisle won’t help the process.