I am buoyed by the fact that this “Tennessee congressional candidate” ignorant douchebag is old and will likely die soon. People, and politicians especially, who base their logic in TV shows should be patted gently on the head and told to go stand ‘over there, away from the thinking adults’.
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You’re funny. If I lived in your district in Tennessee, I’d totally vote for you!
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Yep, this guy is delusional.
There’s LESS violent crime now than there was in the 1960s.
That’s an easily looked and up often cited truth.
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I have to agree with @anon15383236
There is a middle way of framing this, but it requires abandoning the notion of ‘progress’ in favor of ‘evolution’—two vastly different concepts that are often conflated. Whereas the concept of progress suggests an extrapolated future where everything is better, evolution suggests no such narrative, but simply observes that these days it’s more adaptive to not be racist. And given human nature, that can always change.
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I live in Tennessee and often feel obligated to follow that up with an apology. Or I could just offer this metaphor: it’s my home, it’s where I want to live, and there are even some things I like about it, but that doesn’t make me blind to the leaky roof, the vermin in the walls, or the cracked foundation.
I’d rather try and fix the problems than move even though people like Rick Tyler make it seem like a losing battle. It should hearten me that this guy is only running for office, but there have been some pretty awful people elected to the Tennessee legislature.
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Plus children just uncritically accept what they see. Although I imagine with guys like this, critical thinking is not a skill he ever picked up.
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Replaced with signs that say “Make America Hate Again” because they thought that was a better slogan.
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From the article:
Channel 3 asked Tyler if he feared for his safety or backlash from the campaign sign. He said, "I don't fear it. I welcome it, and I will respond with the application of truth." Tyler said on Wednesday he had been receiving death threats.Tyler posted a second sign on Highway 64 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous “I Have a Dream” quote written over a White House surrounded by Confederate Flags.
The sign was taken down less than 12 hours after being put up, but not by Tyler.
Even so, that was enough time to get the public’s attention and cause some controversy.
The owner of the billboard will not confirm if or why his company removed the signage. Tyler wants it to be put back up, he said he paid for the signs to be there until after the November election.
“If I could I’d have hundreds of these billboards up across the 3rd District,” he said.
The way the article is written, it appears the second sign, the one with MLK Jr.'s speech, was the one taken down, but that’s not entirely clear.
Today, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann also released a statement regarding the billboards.“I totally and unequivocally condemn the billboard and Mr. Tyler’s message and will vigorously fight any form of racism in the 3rd district of Tennessee or anywhere else in the nation,” said Fleischmann.
So we’ll be hearing from you regarding trump’s various racist statements in the national press?
Two very old tourist traps, and I’m not going to do it justice. They are two separate tourist attractions on the top of Lookout Mtn in Chattanooga, TN. Rock City is, well, not sure how to describe it? (This is from memory, so forgive me.) It’s a tour through a bunch of large rocks with features such as “Fat Man’s Squeeze.” You are also supposed to be able to see seven states from one area within Rock City, but I always heard a rumour that in the old days (the attraction dates back to the 30s), the owner paid a farmer to mow a field in the shape of seven states (this again, may or may not be true and just a urban myth from growing up in Chattanooga). Ruby Falls is an underground water fall and there are stalactites and stalagmites in the cave in the shapes of things like “ham and eggs.” My sister was actually a tour guide at Ruby Falls as a teen-ager. I was consigned to Conferderama.
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Also, my beloved Rock City beer cooler. 
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Well, I have to say sheer scariness is all over America. I just got back from a trip to Alaska, which was my 48th state to visit, and we counted 23 churches in tiny Ketchikan. Ignorance: An American Tradition.
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Very true, but some places are much scarier than others.
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Agreed. Like my bathroom right now. Somebody decided to put legos down the toilet. I’m blaming my husband.
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Oh, that’s just evil.
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I cannot express how much I love this reply. I have lived in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and now, Alabama. I even lived in the Mississippi Delta, a tiny town where B.B. King called home, Indianola. And in each and every one of these places I found a small but mighty group of blue dots hoping to make things better.
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In case people are wondering what’s at the link, but don’t want to click it, essentially, it’s a long, poorly-formatted “Lost Cause Of The South” denialist screed. So, rather than read it, here, have a Rational-Wiki link that takes apart every single point at the original link, and with a shorter word-count to boot.
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Oh, I love the South. Yes it can be culturally fucked up like anywhere else, but there’s still awesome wonderful things and people there, too. I miss living there and I’ve always planned on going back.
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Well, shug, (yes, I’m the living embodiment of Nancy Gribble), you’re welcome anytime. Bless your sweet heart.
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Spoilsport.
