Absolute MUST Read: Gov Wallace's daughter's commentary on her dad and Obama

[panzerfaust]

For those who are too young to recall, on June 11, 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace physically stood in “The Schoolhouse Door” of UAB to block the federally ordered integration of Alabama’s public schools.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/wallace.kennedy.obama/index.html

...George Wallace and other Southern governors of his ilk stood defiantly in the 1950s and '60s in support of racial segregation, a culture of repression, violence and denial of basic human rights.

Their actions and the stark images of their consequences that spread across the world galvanized the nation and gave rise to a cry for an end to the American apartheid. The firestorms that were lit in Birmingham, Oxford, Memphis, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Little Rock and Selma were a call to arms to which the people responded...

...And now a new call to arms has sounded as Americans face another assault on freedom. For if the stand in the schoolhouse door was a defining moment for George Wallace, then surely the aftermath of Katrina and the invasion of Iraq will be the same for George W. Bush.

The trampling of individual freedoms and his blatant contempt for the rights of the average American may not have been as obvious as an ax-handle-wielding governor, but Bush's insidiousness and piety have made him much more dangerous...

Her hope is that in THIS presidential election, that her father might have voted for Obama.

Gov Wallace's most famous quotes:

"...you know why I lost that governor's race?... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."

"The only four letter words hippies don't know are 'w-o-r-k' and 's-o-a-p'"

"If any demonstrator ever lays down in front of my car, it'll be the last car he'll ever lay down in front of."

And, his MOST famous:

"I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

His infamous “Schoolhouse Door Proclamation” can be found here: http://www.archives.state.al.us/govs_list/schooldoor.html

He also said "Being governor don't mean a thing anymore in this country. We're nothing. Just high-paid ornaments is all. I'm thinking of running for president myself.”, and run himself he did, first for the Democratic presidential nomination, basically coming in third ... then later as the presidential candidate for the American Independent Party, becoming the last third-party candidate to win electoral votes.

Also worth reading are the brief comments made by Dr. James A. Hood, who was one of those Wallace was trying to stop from attending UAB
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wallace/sfeature/opinions.html

I am convinced that he was sincere and, further, realized the error he had made. He was, in my opinion, a redeemed man

The difference between Wallace and Bush, is that Wallace was a real person, filled with racial hatred, who made some very bad mistakes, which he later admitted; whilst Bush is simply a creature of power who has accomplished much of what he was put into power to do. I doubt that Bush has a thought in his head - remember, this is the guy, who on the night of 9/11 - when the rest of us were up worrying - was already toasty in bed by about 2300 (11 PM) and had to be awoken to be rushed to the Führerbunker after the (false) report of another threat.

Read a bit of history, it is then harder to be blinded by the moment, and gives even more appreciation and meaning to what was accomplished on 4 Nov 2008.