Gop and the City shows that a hater is always a hater.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Every once in a while people ask me why I use the name "Confederate Yankee" for my site. It refers to a couple of things, on a couple of different levels.

Part of it was simply convenience: my very first post was meant as a one-off, addressing the historical ignorance of an arrogant liberal by the name of Jane Smiley who said those of us who lives in "red" states suffer from "unteachable ignorance"—as she reversed Civil War history, getting it precisely backwards. With the Civil War as a reference point, using "Confederate" and "Yankee" seemed as logical as any other possible throw-away blog name I could have chosen. I had no idea that influential blogger Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame would actually link to the post even though I emailed him about it, and as the comments started rolling in I got hooked, and what was intended as a one-off protest post quickly became a blogging passion.

The blog name also worked on other levels, of course. I began blogging as a Southerner relocated to upstate New York, where because of my accent, I got my fair share of ribbing about being on the losing end of the Civil War. On another, more important level, I am also a North Carolina native with a New York-bred wife and in-laws. Our family and values come from the convergence of two very different cultures.

Last but not least, I've always been a fan of Mark Twain, and there is a distinct possibility that "Confederate Yankee" is a subconscious nod to one of my favorite Twain stories, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

That explains the name of the blog. "Confederate Yankee" is however, just a handle.

My real name is Bob Owens. I've been a day laborer, atv rider, sports writer, web designer, technical writer, and blogger. I have both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English from East Carolina University. I've moved back south since starting this blog in New York, and currently live and work near Raleigh, North Carolina.

I am an original member of Pajamas Media, where I contribute frequently as a writer.

I was interviewed by the Washington Post on February 27, 2006, and guest-blogged there on Feb 28th, March 1st, March 2nd, and March 3rd, and was honored to be a panelist at the John Locke Foundation's Carolina FreedomNet 2006. I've been most recently featured nationally in an op-ed adaptation on one of my blog entries in the New York Post on July 23, 2008.

I've also been discussed in the book Blog Wars: The New Political Battleground by University of Kansas journalism professor David Perlmutter, who has also featured some of my work in his teaching and in media conferences as an example of bloggers as investigative journalists.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 06:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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