asfoxseesit: June 2020

About Me

Born May 18, 1953; got saved at Truett Memorial BC in Hayesville, NC 1959. On rigged ballot which I did not rig got Most Intellectual class of 71, Gaffney High School. Furman Grad, Sociology major but it was little tougher than Auburn football players had Had three dates with beautiful women the summer of 1978. Did not marry any of em. Never married anybody cause what was available was undesirable and what was desirable was unaffordable. Unlucky in love as they say and even still it is sometimes heartbreaking. Had a Pakistani Jr. Davis Cupper on the Ropes the summer of 84, City Courts, Rome Georgia I've a baby sitter, watched peoples homes while they were away on Vacation. Freelance writer, local consultant, screenwriter, and the best damn substitute teacher of Floyd County Georgia in mid 80's according to an anonymous kid passed me on main street a few years later when I went back to get a sandwich at Schroeders. Had some good moments in Collinsville as well. Ask Casey Mattox at www.clsnet.org if he will be honest about it. I try my best to make it to Bridges BBQ in Shelby NC at least four times a year.

Friday, June 26, 2020

Mohler on Trump and Western civilization. Heavy on Tocqueville, Light on the Texas Regulars

Al Mohler was subject of recent interview in the New Yorker on how he went from reluctant Trump in 16 to all in with some Coral Gables scrupulations for 2020. It's a doozey this interview.

Be looking for Alan Bean, Bill Leonard the Baptist historian at Wake Forest, and Randall Balmer to weigh in.

Mohler a grad of Samford University in Bham, born in 59, said faced with Trump and Hillary in 16 it was no brainer. I would love to see him explain himself to Sidney Blumenthal, Hillary's friend who is working on a quartet on Lincoln.

In the 90s Sidney took LBJ biographer to task on the Senate election of 48 in Texas where Lyndon defeated Coke Stevenson, the Texas Regular who rode a white horse and represented the Criswell Baptists of his day.

Lot of Regulars legacy in the Birch society which was driving force of the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler either hasnt read Wuthnow's Rough Country or conveniently dismisses that aspect of recent history that gave him his current platform to talk about Tocqueville and populism. He doesnt talk about Criswell in 56 in Columbia SC saying You wouldnt call a chigger a chiggerow now would ya.

See Curtis Freeman Dead from the Neck Up on that matter.

Shake him down and Mohler is a ruse. Read the interview. Ask Mohler about Paige Patterson and Paul Pressler and the Moyers inteview. Get Blumenthal in the conversation.

Mohler bragged to Charles Marsh of UVA, the Preacher's son and biographer of Bonhoeffer Billy Graham was energetic behind the scenes in the fundy takeover of the SBC. Explore that in a room with Eric Metaxas.

Stay tuned this has legs.

Monday, June 15, 2020

What Dabo got right and a few things he missed

I attended the Clemson football team Black Lives Matter March at Bowman field Saturday June 13 with about 3,000 plus in attendance. I got to talk to QB Trevor Lawrence of Barnsley Garden Community Ga and His Mother; and Had brief chat with Darien Rencher of Anderson SC, a walk on the team whose father ran track at Clemson in the early 80s.

It is my understanding Darien was a driving force for the event and spoke at Dabo's New Springs mega church a couple weeks ago. It is my impression New Springs has a conservative culture kinda like Church of the Highlands in Alabama where Tua was a member. Whether New Springs is as stealth political for Trump's America as Highlands, I haven't been able to figure out; though it appears some influential people on the margins of the program are a little touchy about it.

I thought Dabo did a great job Saturday and I told Trevor and his Mother I was proud of him.

Will come back to this later but a transparent conversation at Clemson and across the ACC and |SEC that matters will look at the White Trump culture of Country Club Republicans in the Upstate or for Bama Richard Shelby's complicity to date on Trump's SOB Comment. In the Upstate it will look at Lee Atwater's infamous morph of the Nword strategy and his compatriot Carroll Campbell. Also Tom Edsall's Audacity of Hate, NY times piece is out there and a few weeks ago, the Greenwich Rebellion, by Evan Osnos at New Yorker.

And Trey Gowdy's, now William Timmons SC 4th can take a close look at Marty Cohen's Moral Congress. A synopsis of Atwater's legacy can be found there for the good folks at Christ Church.

And of course there is no legitimate conversation that makes a difference at New Springs or Christ Church Episcopal, or Nick Saban's St. Francis Catholic in Tuscaloosa that doesnt include Joe Crespino and in SC his book Strom Thurmond's America.

That goes for Paul Finebaum too.

I asked Trevor how he came down on Drew Brees tweet exchange with Trump suggesting Trump appeal to the Flag as a strategy was a "distraction". Trevor said he hadn't had a chance to talk to Deshaun Watson about that specific aspect of the country's ordeal in the last month, but he, Trevor thought people should have the freedom to express their concern in the manner that was most appropriate for them.

I read that to say Trevor is with Drew and Deshaun and has reservations about Trump.

More later.