>> Live and learn.
> You should take your own advice.
I do. That's why I've basically ditched this thread, leaving it to the tender mercies of that bastion of rationalism that YOU can SEE in some of the OTHER POSTINGS.
It's important to know what kind of person opposes your view, and what kind supports it. When your supporters are little more than Deaniacs (YEEEAAARGH!!!), you've got to wonder if maybe you might not be on the right side.
I figured out what side I was on in the 4th grade. When one of our lovely SC public skool teachers told my class that the Civil War was fought so that I, as a white person, could own slaves. That every injustice against black people that followed was because of white people from South Carolina. After I grew up and started reading more and more into this "unpleasant business" I formed my own opinions.
As you can see, I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the revisionism that has taken root in our schools and popular culture.
I'm American by birth, but I'm Southern by the Grace of God.