[CrashBomb]

Originally Posted by Over_Easy

My parents, their parents and their parents, etc. all come from Western border area of PA and I have not witnessed this great, can't miss, RACIST civilization you and Mertha make it out to be. I'm not saying rednecks don't exist or that all people will accept a black person as being theirequal...heck, I live in FL and have lived in TX, AL, GA, MO & KY.

But to say there is justification for Mertha to say what he did the way he did because it may be prevelant in that part of PA is ignorant. Because if a conservative politician were to proclaim that the "gun-totin', gold teeth, jean droppin', street corner negros" will have an impact on voting the guy would be drawn and quartered by the liberal and conservative media and then for those same people of their district to vote that man in office reflects their level of intelligence. That is truth.

You missed my point entirely. Let me explain it again. No one called anyone a "bible thumpin'" anything, he didn't say everyone in western Pennsylvania was "ignorant" or "uneducated." There was no "gun-totin'" statement. The quote that r8 offered up as proof of "stupidity" simply does not and did not exist. THAT is truth.

John Murtha never said that "the citizens of Pennsylvania are bible thumping, gun toting, uneducated rednecks." That is truth.

John Murtha said; (this is a DIRECT quote, this is EXACTLY what the man said to Eddie Blazina, a friend of mine, who has been a staff writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for nearly ten years.)
"There is no question that Western Pennsylvania is a racist area."
That is truth, end of line.

I have seen it reflected in campaign signs in yards:
"The U.S. will never elect a ni@@er president!"
"No coon in '08. Vote American. Vote McCain."
"Ni@@ers don't live in the WHITE house."

at buisnesses:
"Hussein Osama will destroy America."
"All Muslims out of the U.S."
"January 20th, assassination day."
"It's called the WHITE house for a reason."

There was a theater in Mercer that took the showtimes off of it's marquee to provide the space for the following:
"Wanted
Obama
dead or more dead
reward 50 cents."
That is truth.

No one claimed it was a "great racist civilization," you're putting words in my mouth and in John Murtha's mouth. But unless you went through high school here and have actually seen it for yourself I doubt you have the slightest idea how prejudiced people in this area really can be. What we DO have is a definite undercurrent of prejudice that often rears its head when the area or the country are faced with racial issues.
THAT is truth.

During this election season there have been fights in downtown New Castle, a girl in Pittsburgh scratched a B on her face with a plastic knife and told the police a seven foot tall, three hundred pound black man did it because he saw her McCain bumper sticker, cars in Mercer county were spray painted, homes in Beaver county were vandalized, black students at Shenango high school received threatening phone calls, and there were bomb threats. The house of the only black family in Pulaski burned down last week, the further the investigation goes the more it's looking like arson. Don't tell me that the area doesn't suffer from prejudice, I live here. I see it every single day. And yes, that is truth.