Scars and Bars

February 9, 2022 11:34 AM

You probably remember the video of Gary Chambers telling Connie to resign from the school board for shopping instead of talking about racism. Or maybe you saw his recent campaign video about the racism of marijuana prohibition. Well, he just released a new advertisement where he sets fire to a confederate flag.
posted by rebent (33 comments total)

I'll be honest - I really love seeing the confederate flag burn. In a recent trip to the south, I saw only 3 of the flags flying - and one was at a right wing flag store with all the rest of those terrible trump flags. But then I saw two more when I got back up to michigan. Yesterday there was a flag sticker on the back of a truck that I saw. I hate it so much that this video made me gleeful.
posted by rebent at 11:37 AM on February 9, 2022 [23 favorites]

That ad was so good I need a cigarette afterwards.
posted by gauche at 11:45 AM on February 9, 2022 [29 favorites]

I would like to vote for him please
posted by supermedusa at 11:58 AM on February 9, 2022 [5 favorites]

Nailed it!
posted by Windopaene at 12:07 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

I would like to vote for him please

If you don't live in his state you can always fund his campaign.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [15 favorites]

It's so clear that Gary Chambers not only deserves to hold public office in Louisiana, folks need him there.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:22 PM on February 9, 2022 [13 favorites]

That was awesome. Thanks for posting.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 12:26 PM on February 9, 2022

Empress duh, yeah!! thanks :)
posted by supermedusa at 12:39 PM on February 9, 2022

I don’t even live in the same country and I wish I could vote for him!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:42 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

Goosebumps. Go, Gary.
posted by tristeza at 12:49 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

(I was curious what ended up happening to Connie: turns out a petition to recall her was filed but did not get the required number of signatures; she ran unopposed in the next election and will finish her (final) term at the end of 2022.

(Also she apparently stood by the lie that it was just a "popup ad" despite proof otherwise.)
posted by ook at 12:54 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

Also she apparently stood by the lie that it was just a "popup ad"

If you don't know how to install adblock plus on your machine in the year of our lord 2022, you probably shouldn't have the ability to make decisions for schools.
posted by nushustu at 12:57 PM on February 9, 2022 [7 favorites]

I came
posted by moorooka at 3:16 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

On a serious note: I always wonder, when there's a great political ad like this, whether it's distracting us from some bad underlying policy positions or problematic history. I don't think that's the case here, but it always requires a bit of extra vigilance.

On a personal note: Fuck yeah. Get 'em, Gary.
posted by klanawa at 3:19 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

Fuck yeah!
posted by djseafood at 3:38 PM on February 9, 2022

Wow. why have I not heard of this person before. That is fabulous, and living in a part of Virginia where seeing the confederate flag is not a daily occurrence but it happens far too often. Really, Get 'em Gary.
posted by bluesky43 at 3:41 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

And thanks for the donation link! I feel like this is the kind of campaign all democrats should be running. It's super powerful.
posted by bluesky43 at 3:44 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

"I do believe the South will rise again, but this time it'll be on our terms" is a wonderful turn of phrase
posted by sleeping bear at 4:40 PM on February 9, 2022 [18 favorites]

Goddammit. Gary Chambers turns out to be tied to/endorsing of/endorsed by notorious grifter Shaun King.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:52 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

Seriously, have we never talked here about what a shameless con artist Shaun King is? He's truly the worst.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:43 PM on February 9, 2022 [9 favorites]

I wish more Americans wanted to burn the Confederate flag.

Not even Southerners from the Civil War era waved that piece of trash through the US Capitol building. But right-wing trash from today did so on January 6.

And they are getting away with it.

More Americans need to burn that trash. And call out the trash waving it.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

It’s kindling not hate.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:13 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have read both sides of the Shaun King “debate” and…I just decided to move on. I don’t think his interest in Gary Chambers is tainting.
posted by amanda at 8:13 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

DirtyOldTown: I wasn't really tracking, but I assume you mean stuff like this? Yeesh. That's not a good look.

Also odd: if you look at Real Justice PAC's donor information, especially back in 2017/2018, it's pretty clear that they're basically being bankrolled with Dustin Moskovitz's Facebook bucks.

Performance-art-for-money isn't something that's purely limited to the political right.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:26 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

A student mentioned this in class today and without thinking, I loudly said, “Good!” The student gave me a quizzical look so I elaborated by saying, “That’s a traitor flag.”

And then the bell rang and I had to talk about car maintenance. I’m kinda bummed, because I forgot to mention that the Confederate Battle Flag should be viewed the same way we view the Nazi Flag. A disgusting symbol of hatred that nobody in polite society wants to be associated with.

Maybe tomorrow.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 10:03 PM on February 9, 2022 [11 favorites]

How is Chambers polling? He's lost the last two races he ran for, so as good as this is, it may be a hail mary play in the Democratic primary.
He's going to have an uphill battle to knock John Kennedy out. But I hope this marks him transitioning to a Stacy Abrams kind of figure for Louisana. Somebody to shake up the complacency of the Edwards family and establishment Dems.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 10:11 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Getting rid of Kennedy is net positive, by-any-means-necessary thing. OK, I can't speak to his (Kennedy's) actual voting record but I can speak to his caustic, un-democratic speech. Every time Kennedy opens his mouth he is denigrating ... everyone. I don't think there's another more craven member of the senate - ok, except for McConnell and maybe, oh I don't know... yeah, ok, most all of them. But still, even if Chambers doesn't win, he's doing a very important service by shoving out the question - "Why shouldn't we burn the Confederate Battle Flag?" "Why shouldn't we legalize pot?" Where, really now, where do our values lie? There's tradition, sure, but if that tradition is only in the service of oppressing a segment of the population, is it really, in any way shape or form, worthwhile?

Shoving the Overton window back to the left like this is a worthwhile mission - Abrams revealed for all to see the naked racist machinations of Georgia politics, hopefully leading to some kind of change there, Chambers, I hope will be able to do the same thing. AOC does yeoman's labor in this field as well. The right does it with MTG and other ya-hoos, the left should use the same messaging tactics.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:45 AM on February 10, 2022 [7 favorites]

Burn all flags.
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon at 9:55 AM on February 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

It's a bit doomer to say, but I feel like ads like this exist only to fundraise. Liberals/the left have enthusiastically funded so many expensive long-shot campaigns (Beto, Harrison, McGrath) while ignoring any number of races where a seat may actually flip.

I guess I just hope he's not going to raise more money than he can possibly ever spend, while Abigail Spanberger loses her seat.
posted by Vhanudux at 10:12 AM on February 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

while ignoring any number of races where a seat may actually flip

That is wonk stuff. People are driven to action by inspiration, by hope, by positive change. Supporting folks who are saying all the right things, who are inspiring, who are challenging the status quo...can be worth supporting even if they don't win. Because they are raising the platform, they are opening up conversations and inroads. They are normalizing the kind of change we want to see so that when the candidate does come along who can win, the stage is already set and motions are in play. Burn the Confederate Flag? Never occurred to me. Hell yeah. Someone steal me a Confederate Flag because I'm not gonna buy one before I burn it.

We have room for inspiration and wonks. I do appreciate being directed to seats that are flippable. I can donate to both. It's not always a zero sum game. How many flags could that guy burn and at what level of notoriety with some additional funds. I also hope he uses his money to protect himself. How much shield can I buy that guy?
posted by amanda at 11:14 AM on February 10, 2022 [6 favorites]

It's a bit doomer to say, but I feel like ads like this exist only to fundraise.

You're aware of the ramifications of what happens to the country as a whole if the GOP takes the Senate back, yes?

So what if this ad exists just to fundraise. Anyone attempting to undo the GOP deathgrip on a Senate seat needs to fundraise a metric assload to do that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:05 PM on February 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

So what if this ad exists just to fundraise. Anyone attempting to undo the GOP deathgrip on a Senate seat needs to fundraise a metric assload to do that.

NOT ONLY THAT, but one of the above examples, Beto, lost to Ted Cruz by about 200k votes. It was the closest Texas Senate race since 1978. So no, these aren't fantasy races. Everybody should donate to them. Hell, even if they lose, it shows the goddamned fucking DNC and the Democratic party in general that they need to stop ignoring the left, stop courting the moderates, stop compromising away everything we have before the other side even asks for anything.

And when they win? Those are the times that we all actually WIN.
posted by nushustu at 3:51 PM on February 10, 2022 [6 favorites]

While I generally dislike the escalating arms race in trying to get voters attention, this guys campaign is pretty awesome. No playing to moderates here!

Every dollar donated to his campaign is a dollar more Republicans have to spend running against him. Maybe he doesn’t win, but if it has the chance of throwing a stick into the wheel of the opposition’s party, then I am here for it.
posted by ckoerner at 6:21 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]