Redstate

Alabama is a virulently anti-tax state. In 2003, When Republican Gov. Bob Riley tried to restructure/reform the tax system, which included raising taxes, the referendum was shot down 60/40.

Alabama: we may not wear shoes, but we like shoestring budgets.

We are anti-tax..we dont want more money thrown down at a broken system.

ROY MOORE, our favorite judge also said it would give the state the ability to raise taxes.

ALSO on a side note:

THERE IS NO SEGREGATION IN ALABAMA and it is ILLEGAL anyways.

If the CIVIL RIGHTS people want to make this an issue, it shows how shallow they are.

Instead of spending millions to remove a few words out dated words from the nations longest consitution, why dont you spend money on teaching the black community about hard work and improving the inner city.

How does the saying go?  

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt you!?!

Even Bill Cosby has had enough and is speaking out:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/07/01/nat
ional1806EDT0693.DTL

Maybe they should spend there money teaching parents of the community not to buy $1000 spinners for there card and/or $400 sneakers for there kids.

Spend the money on hooked on phonics.

Dan Abrams like that Olberman, ESPN REJECT, have horrible ratings so they have to make crazy claims like Jesse Jackson in order to get ANY attention.

ALABAMA is less racist than most other states I have lived in!

its like a clogged/broken toilet

Throwing more money/tissue down it is not going to fix the problem.

We are too smart of people to think more $ is going to fix anything.

Look at our inner city's...no bang for our buck

Look at the UN..no bang for our buck

Look at Palestine...No bang for our buck

The people in Alabama are the budget hawks!

MRTRIPOD reminds me: Alabama's education system is right up there with Mississippi's and South Carolina's.

His post reminded me of somethign about LIBERALS as well:

They say they are about tolerance, yet they are only tolerant of their views, thus they are BIGOTS!

Say what you want, Mr. Tripod and others, it's a black eye for the state of Alabama.

Cheers -

"We are anti-tax..we dont want more money thrown down at a broken system."

So, how's the system gonna get fixed?

"Even Bill Cosby has had enough and is speaking out"

Black communities in the US have their issues.  Kudos to Cosby for telling it like he sees it. That doesn't make it any less of an embarassment to AL to have segregationist language in their constitution.

"ALABAMA is less racist than most other states I have lived in"

I believe this.  I live in New England, but have family in the south (GA).  From what I see, these days I'd rather be a black person in Atlanta than a black person in Boston.

Cheers -

Mr. Tripod -

It wasn't a personal attack.  He was saying that Alabama's education system wasn't very good.

That might be related to the fact that you don't want to spend any money on it.

It's definitely Alabama's collective choice as to how much money they want to spend and what they want to spend it on, but there's no point in getting your back up about it.

You get what you pay for.

Cheers -

we dont mind black eyes here;)

But we are like the U.S...we do what is best for BAMA!  Just like the US does what is best for itself, we dont care what France thinks.

Maybe for somebody who gets worked up over something small we should care, but we stand by our decision!  I'll vote against it all day and night.

Again, who cares so much about words, care about the actions.

The people who are making the big deal out of this are the true racists.  Why not make a big deal out of what the black community needs?

The blacks are the only group that does not really split there vote.  They vote rougly 90% for democrats.

Thus Democrats do not need to woo them because they dont have to do anything for them for there support.

Under Bush homeowner ships for Blacks is at all time highs.  The first 2 black Sec. of State's EVER!

Yes they give Busht he cold shoulder.  Pretty soon the Republicans will stop attempting to woo the blacks as well, and they will be in even more trouble.  Just the way I see it though.  What do you think?

how can you say was not personal?  did you make the post?

It was personal, look at his wording and how/when he said it.

Our schools are good.  Actually if you look at it, the right for education is not a right in the consitution.

So any schooling is a plus:)

"We are anti-tax..we dont want more money thrown down at a broken system."

So, how's the system gonna get fixed?

!!!!!!!!REFORM..we need a new state consitution and new leadership....Rome was not built in a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Even Bill Cosby has had enough and is speaking out"

Black communities in the US have their issues.  Kudos to Cosby for telling it like he sees it. That doesn't make it any less of an embarassment to AL to have segregationist language in their constitution.

!!!!!!!! Who is embarassed?  I am not, and over half of our state is not...what is sad is people make a big deal out of this and act like this is the black communities problem....there problem is like what Bill Cosby said..they dont want to work....they want to buy $1000 Rims but not $100 hooked on phonics..they want to WORSHIP rappers who praise killing cops and degrading women, but they call Clarence Thomas an Uncle Tom and Condee Rice a "YES" woman!That is what is the embarassing!!!!!!!!

"ALABAMA is less racist than most other states I have lived in"

I believe this.  I live in New England, but have family in the south (GA).  From what I see, these days I'd rather be a black person in Atlanta than a black person in Boston.

I lived up north tooooo....that is why I made this comment:)

Its not called Southern Hospitatlity for nothing.

The racist language in Alabama's constitution is a black eye. I'm not proud of that.

Our lack of a respectable education system is also disappointing. Education is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution. We should, nonetheless, seek to extend the privilege of education--good education--to everyone.

Our dirt roads are good. Actually, if you look at it, the Constitution doesn't guarantee the right to roads.

So any roads are a plus:)

...hmmmm...

well...think about this

1. Rome was not built in a day, the problem has been recognized and soon a lottery will be put in place to fix the problem
   
2.  It is not a right, so don't complain, because its better than nothing.  And it depends what part of the state you are in, I have been to some very nice public schools in some cities.

I mean Mountain Brook has a Rolex as their town clock.

3.  People are quick to critisize the sytem, but nobody has thanked it...It is just like Europe attacking us for our military action, the same action that they are moochig off of for there very survival.

Then Bush announces he'll close some bases, and they are upset about that.

BUSH and ALABAMA cannot be all things to all people.

I LOVE ALABAMA..the HEART OF DIXIE!

Rome wasn't built in a day...but it was built!

If we were only allowed to complain when our rights were being violated, there would be a lot less complaining. Governments have an obligation to protect the negative rights and provide for any positive rights set out in a constitution. Yet, the government clearly can do more.

If your garbage weren't picked up every Friday, Monday, or whenever it gets picked up, would you say, "Oh well, the government is not required to pick up my garbage, so I'll just deal with it," or would you complain? I would complain.

Governments--local, state, and federal--are organizations set up to serve the needs of society. One of those needs is education. It's not in the Constitution--we could put it in--but it's something that a great majority of the people can agree upon. Just like garbage pick-up.

Now if it's worth doing something, it's worth doing it right. If garbage pick-up is worth doing, it's worth doing it right. If education is worth it, it's worth doing it right.

My education has, is, and continues to be a valuable asset to me. Perhaps that is why I am a strong advocate of education.

AGREED..that is why when im sitting in rush hour I pray to god..thats right....GOD..and thank him for giving me life and patience!

Any extra lanes would be a plus.

I am a big advocate to it as well.but not throwing money down a bottomless pit.

1. If garbage collection was done by the gov., it would not ever get picked up due to the red tape and low standards they have.

That is why we have private industry..post office vs. UPS..one makes money, the other...well..u know how long the lines are

Education GREAT and all should want one and deserve one..but what I said is FACT.

also, half the problem is knowing there is a problem, I believe the state has realized that:

NOW we just need to agree on a plan

We have had the lottery and now taxxes being raised, but people agreed it would be pointless to give a broken system more money...it will be done!

But this thread was about RACIST comments buy a liberal media hack with no rating shooting his mouth of like Jesse Fackson does to get attention.

Alabama is not racist, and it was low of him to claim we were over some words in the nations longest consitituion.

What is racist is him not advocating the black community growing up and taking responsibilty.

When a majority of a community wants and believes they are entitiled to reperations, there is a HUGE PROBLEM.

The only people who should get reperations are the JEWS..they were almost made to be extinct..yet now they are hated for being rich and owning buisnesses.

People who feel they are "OWED" something will never be productive.

Those who want somethig will work to get it..which is why I think the Language in our constituion might be a good thing..maybe it will be a chip on their shoulder to teach them what their parents fought to give them, thus they should not trash it!

It'll be a great day when nobody cares what color anyone's skin is.  And believe me when I say I'm not pointing a finger at Alabama.

Cheers -

I hear the Republicans (gasp!) are rewording the amendment to just address the racial parts and leave off the "right to education" parts.  We can argue about the second half if you'd like, but if the new narrow amendments pass I hope to see all the "look RedStaters are racist!!!" guys on the Dem side write just as noticable articles about how they were wrong and it was a tax issue.

Forgive me for chiming in here, but this is a sore point for me.  I argue with my wife about it all the time.

First, the postal service is one of the few services that the Constitution actually EXPLICITLY authorizes the Congress to establish.  Kindly refer to the US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, clause 7.

Second, the USPS is currently required to pay its own way.  It is a financially self-supporting entity.

Third, if you want to privatize all mail delivery, rural communities are not going to have postal service they can afford.  Ask UPS to deliver mail every day, in all weather, to Fort Kent, ME for 37 cents per item and see what they say.

Finally, UPS ain't that great.  I horse trade musical equipment via ebay fairly frequently, and I no longer use UPS because they have a bad habit of trashing my packages.  I now use the USPS because they do a better job, at the cost of about one extra day of shipping time.

If it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight in one piece and undamaged, I recommend DHL.

I'm getting off my soapbox now.

Thanks!

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the red state / blue state divide.

It ain't about morals or family values. Sorry, but it ain't.

It ain't about whether you hunt or not.

It ain't about whether you drink green tea or coffee, or whether your coffee comes from Starbucks or the local all-day breakfast joint.

It's about how large a role government plays in providing services, and also about which level of government does the providing.

Like many blue state residents, I'm increasingly inclined to jump on the state's rights bandwagon.  Trim the feds back to foreign policy, national defense, and printing money.  Anything else you want, you can pay as you go at the state or local level.  

The question of who sets policy on social issues will naturally follow the money.  The feds can jump in on matters that cross state boundaries, or that touch on rights or privileges guaranteed in the federal constitution.

Call me an opportunist if you like, I will take no offense.  Seizing opportunities as they arise has worked well for many.

Have we found common ground?

Cheers -

"I hear the Republicans (gasp!) are rewording the amendment to just address the racial parts and leave off the "right to education" parts"

That sounds like a good idea to me.  Not that it's any of my business either way.

As noted above, I actually don't think the south is any more racist than the north.  Probably less, at this point.  The south does have a stronger, and more recent, history of enshrining their racism in law, but thankfully those days are done.  That's why (IMVHO) it seems like an embarrassment to AL to retain that language in their constitution.

Regarding the second issue -- right to education -- there's no federally guaranteed right to education.  No argument there.  If the folks in AL don't want to spend the money on their kids' education, they probably shouldn't be forced to.  If they can find a way to provide a great education for short money, outstanding, I'm sure the other states will want to know how they did it.  My guess is that they'll get exactly what they're willing to pay for, but I could be wrong.

Cheers -

... I predict that the lottery will be a smashing success.

I don't know what that says about the state, though.

I never said the Post Office was not authorized, maybe its that blue state education of yours;)

I said when the gov. takes something over it goes to sh-t.

Private buisness is more efficient!

That is all i'm saying.

Nobody wants to talk about this so I will though:

WHO CARES ABOUT STUPID WORDS!!!!

FIX these problems first..

1.   Blacks prefer to take "black studies" and "black history", rather then math and science
   
   
2. Blacks score the lowest as a group on all standarized tests
   
   
3.  Blacks are only 12% of USA, but make up over 50% of prisons.
   
   
4.  80% of black babies are born out of wedlock
   
   
5.  Most surveys show blacks in large numbers want repaprations!!!!  Handouts are not goint to fix anything!

All I am saying is that as a black man, I feel my community needs to worry about the above problems.

I am still called Uncle TOM by my people.  They despise Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice but worship P-Diddy and Old Dirty Bastard.

COME ON my BROTHERS!  Jesse Jackson is shameless, hes not out to help us...just himself!

The worst thing in the world the left could possibly do is recoil into the fetal position and weakly claim states rights.  I find the thought to share much in common with the silliness about secession.

Despite the rhetoric on the right, the Federal Government is not going to magically shrink just because they are in power.  The last Republican to truly keep government small was Herbert Hoover, and he ain't coming back.  Alabama couldn't protect itself; New York and California can't either.  The principle of federalism is valuable but limited, and if you think the modern Republican party will truly take a hands off approach to state issues, you haven't been paying attention.

I also disagree with you about the red state/blues state divide.  Size and nature of government is only one axis.  Social issues represent the other.

Not to hijack the thread, but DC spends more on education than any other state and gets little in return.  In fact, education spending has more than tripled over the past 30 years with little to show for it.

I'm not against spending on education, but the protected monopoly setup has been shown to be a failure in most industries where competition is an option.  Sometimes we punish those we hold dearest for we love them too much.  As it is with education.  A real aggressive homeschooling/voucher/charter effort could give parents real variety and choice.  You could choose schools that teach on evolution or ones that teach creationism and evolution.  You could choose art magent schools or math and science oriented schools (at least at a high school level).  You could push for schools that cater to AP or IB programs.  You could have schools that specialize in foreign languages and multiculturalism.  And most importantly, parents make the decisions instead of bureaucrats.

It won't solve everything and money will still be needed.  But I'm not keen to subsidize government bureaucracies that are being inefficient and stifling choice.

The government does have the authority to run it.  However, it was my understanding that they have started to lose money on an annual basis (which means being somewhat subsidized by taxpayers) due to email and competition in the profit sectors (packages).

There would definitely be problems with a total privitization of the post office.  But then again, living in rural areas is a choice people make.  Why should urban letters subsidize rural ones?  I understand that rural areas are generally poorer, but the quality of life is quite high and the internet is spreading.  Thus, it would give a bigger incentive to rural areas to move towards online communication which would be allocatively efficient.  Just another instance of good intentions distorting the market and sending inefficient signals.

and it's roots in law are historically deep. I always liked what happened when the banking issue arose. When a standing army issue arose and so on.

There is much in law that provides structure for administrative policies that would have to be changed over decades and decades to get it truly to change the power structure of the Federal Government.

An endeavor only attainable through common social idealism, and that is going to be unthinkably difficult. (As set up to be by the Constitution).

A literal mindfield of legal precedent and historic social value mixed in. Is will be a challenge to say the least.

I really resist labeling anyone, or group racist and that's how I approached thinking about this story. So even despite Alabama's fairly embarassing past regarding race relations, I really took seriously opponents' arguements to this amendment... and I came away quite confused and disconcerted. How is it that one of the more lightly taxed and poorly educated states(consistently ranking near the bottom)-- with a pretty negative public image -- not vote for an amendment that would do away with some segregationist laws because there was some portion of it that would entitle children with a good education? Alabama's an economically troubled state and how do they expect to attract businesses with an uncompetitive (read undereducated) labor force and the perception of being bigoted?

"Why should urban letters subsidize rural ones?"

So that everyone can get mail.

Cheers -

Who said anything about claiming anything weakly?

And, you won't hear anything from me about secession.  I'm not going anywhere.

I'm actually not a newcomer to the idea of delegating some of the more divisive issues to the states, with the caveats I mentioned earlier.

I agree that Republicans aren't about to start delegating federal power to the states.  They have the federal power now, my expectation is that they will fight tooth and nail to keep it.

Regarding states protecting themselves -- I would, personally, see national defense as remaining the responsibility of the federal government.

We disagree about the red state/blue state divide.

Cheers -

maybe we all do not need mail...we need to start drawing lines

amen

again..how is it embarassing?

I think IT IS BOLD!!!!  We are not going to be pushed around.

Do you liberals KNOW what a BIGOT even is?

again, you are the bigot..you want to act like this is a BIG ISSUE, the big issues are as follows:

WHO CARES ABOUT STUPID WORDS!!!!

FIX these problems first..

  Blacks prefer to take "black studies" and "black history", rather then math and science

Blacks score the lowest as a group on all standarized tests

 Blacks are only 12% of USA, but make up over 50% of prisons.

 80% of black babies are born out of wedlock

 Most surveys show blacks in large numbers want repaprations!!!!  Handouts are not goint to fix anything!

All I am saying is that as a black man, I feel my community needs to worry about the above problems.

I am still called Uncle TOM by my people.  They despise Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice but worship P-Diddy and Old Dirty Bastard.

COME ON my BROTHERS!  Jesse Jackson is shameless, hes not out to help us...just himself!

Those of you who are RACIST and live in the BLUE racist states try and claim we are.  You forget something folks.

The white man did not enslave us.

Our brothers in Africa did.

The white man set us free.

And most slave owners were nice to slaves.  They needed to be because the slave was an investment...although there were some horrible slave owners, just like there are some horrible parents who chop off their childrens limbs!

Why dont you talk about the true problems, the BLACKS in general instead of a few words in the LONGEST CONSTITUTION in the nation?

Our state is doing great, maybe to your standards, but MONEY does not buy happiness..and we here are happy!

We make enough to get buy..and them some, but we have love and each other.

Sadly you blue staters think money is what life is all about..sadly  it ain't!!!!

Gengisdon -

"Size and nature of government is only one axis.  Social issues represent the other."

I brushed this off in my earlier post.  I think this deserves a better reply.

There certainly appear to be wide cultural / moral / social differences between (for lack of a better term) blue and red state residents.  Abortion and the "culture of life", gay marriage, friendliness or hostility to religion and religious expression in public life.

My sense is that the divide is less wide in fact than in appearance.  I believe that, not exactly a consensus, but an acceptable area of compromise is available on most of these issues.  I could be wrong.

I also think that the differences have been exaggerated for political advantage by both major parties.

I also wonder to what degree the strong feeling on social issues is exacerbated by the enshrinement of one position or another in civil law.  "Red staters" feel like abortion and gay marriage are going to be imposed on them from above, against their will.  Ditto for blue staters on issues like, well, abortion and gay marriage, only from the flipside.

It may be that some of these issues really do belong at the state level, and that once placed there, where folks feel that they can exert a greater influence over the making of public policy, people will overall feel less "victimized" by having what are to them odious policies imposed by legal fiat.

There are cases where social policies are correctly imposed from above.  The most recent historical example would be the civil rights legislation of the second half of the last century.  I think they're few, however.

The thing that got me thinking about this a few years ago was hearing a news report about how Montana had removed its speed limit.  It made total sense to me, and it made me wonder how many things there might be like that.  It's a trivial example, but it got me thinking.  The other thing was reading about the civil government in Switzerland, where everything from the language spoken to the number of years kids spend in school is decided at the canton (state) level.  They have twenty-something cantons in a country the size of NH and VT combined -- it sounds like anarchy, but they make it work.

Sorry for the brief reply earlier.  You definitely have a point, the above are my questions about it.

Cheers -

Yes, we must draw a line in the sand against the socialism inherent in the Post Office!

I was unintentionally obscure in my reference to protection.  I meant Alabama couldn't protect itself from social legislation defanging segregation.  New York and California will prove equally unable to defend themselves against national level social agendas.

Are you serious... you really don't see how Alabama's past regarding race relations is embarassing?

I personally DO think this is a big issue. While this larger amendment issue is most certainly colored by race, I feel like a state underperforming in terms of education is hardly a black/white issue. Poor public schools aren't good for black or white students. And that IS a big deal. How do expect Alabama young people to be competitive in the job market with their counterparts in the US -- not to mention globally -- if they're at a disadvantage because they're school system is bad.

And reparations? How is that even an issue here? Since when is access to a quality public education a handout comparable to reparations? You can continue to cite all the stats you'd like about how pathologically screwed up black people are, and the finer points of slavery, but if you continue to believe racism wasn't a factor in the outcome of that amendment vote, and that Alabama's school system is just fine the way it is, then you're dillusional.

And I agree with your logic that the the governmental divide is more important than the cultural one.

But as a regular reader of RedState, do you really think the people that post "STOP THE BABY-KILLING HOLOCAUST" will be satisfied with the overturn of Roe v. Wade?  Or that enshrining the Bible with the Consitution won't have effects in states where evangelical Christianity don't deep roots?  If the EPA is gutted, do you think New York can prevent pollution from Ohio and Pennsylvania from sullying the air?  

Federalism is the retreat of the defeated, and despite the air of triumphalism in these parts we have not reached that point yet.  

It would just cost more for rural people.  You'd pay different amounts based on how far your package was traveling just like we do with respect to the weight of your package.  You might have to pay 50 cents of even a dollar per letter.  If it was important enough you would pay it... more importantly, it would encourage you to sign up for internet and start sending Christmas cards through email.  If it costs more to deliver it, it should cost more to the customer not the urban bystander.

There is a healthy (or maybe even unhealthy) distrust of the judiciary in much of the South.  After seeing several judges in other states (Nevada comes to mind) who ruled that education is a state right and thus must recieve X amount of dollars per student, they didn't want to hand that right over to the judiciary.  The Economist has a great article on this topic that I highly recommend.

This is why I am, and will always be, a blue stater.

Cheers -

Hey Gengisdon -

I don't think the people who post as you described will be satisfied with overturning Roe v Wade.  I do think a federalist model will help keep their point of view and policies in their own states, where it belongs, and out of ours.

Hopefully we won't see the Bible enshrined in the US Constitution.  That one I will be happy to take to the mat.

The EPA is gonna be gutted either way.  I say we take control at the state level and sue their sorry butts until they clean up their mess.

Federalism does indeed tend to be the refuge of those who are out of power.  That would be us.  I have no problem with doing whatever we can to turn that situation to our advantage.

Just a thought.

Cheers -

My previous post was full of typos.  Apologies, haste makes disjuncted sentences.

I just don't think it's time to head to the bunker yet.  Endure the flood tide now, see what 2006 and 2008 brings.  If things keep heading south (pun intended) then perhaps you're right.  But your federalist model will work no better than the conservative version.  You're kidding yourself if you think lawsuits can take the place of regulatory agencies - they do a poor job of it now, prior to the major tort reform around the corner.  Point is, if you clear the field and retreat to little liberal bunkers, the fundies are going to have a field day.  You'll leave national policy arguments to the differences between the country club Republicans and the Bible beaters, and they already have their deal.  Earthly luxury for the business class and heavenly delight for the devout.

Problem is, I'm in a Red State.  Federalism is good for you, perhaps, but bad for me.  Let's not forget the whole red-blue thing only speaks in terms of majority.  I love Kentucky.  Sometimes I'm not sure why, but I do.  Now if only we had an ocean...

I've been out of the loop a couple of days due to tech problems and work.  I'm baaaaaack!

Just a few comments:

I was born, raised and educated in Alabama.

I received a first rate education and am able to compete with anyone, from any place, at any time.

Alabama is extremely competitive in attracting businesses.  We recently have welcomed several new auto manufacturers to the state, including Mercedes and Toyota.

Huntsville, Alabama, is known as the Silicon Valley of the South, boasting NASA, Army Missle and Aviation Commands, a world-class university (UAH, the MIT of the South) and a huge high-tech R&D concentration.  Mobile is an international port.  Birmingham hosts the home offices of many regional and national corporations.

Down heah, we realize that Abraham Lincoln did his homework on the back of a coal shovel and went on to write one of the most eloquent passages in the English language - the Gettesburg Address.

We have voted down the lottery proposal twice.  We have voted down higher taxes at least twice.  

It does not take truckloads of money to educate children.  It takes parental involvement, discipline, and commitment.  

We've tried to improve schools by requiring competency tests for teachers.  They were shot down by some court as racist.  I've seen those tests and they would not be daunting for a ninth-grader with a "C" average.

We tried to instill a sense of decency in people by creating a monument to the ten commandments, as well as other religious writings (from other religions), and installing it in our State Courthouse.  Some other court shot it down.

We are tired of our money going to keep incompetents feeding at the public trough - be they black or white.  We work hard for our money and don't like to see it wasted.  We believe in earning what you get, be it a paycheck, a job, a promotion, or a grade.  We had laws in place to assure this.  Still another court shot it down.

I was prepared to vote "Yes" on Amendment Two until I got an e-mail from one of our state Republican leaders.  He informed me that Ken Guin (a state legislator) had inserted language which could be construed as authorizing court- ordered taxes.  We shot it down.

Most Bluestaters' impression of the South has been informed by slanted, sneering, self-righteous Hollywood movies and really bad TV.  You know, the pot-bellied sheriff, the gang of rednecks down at the pool hall, and the Klan meeting behind every barn.  These are destructive and derisive stereotypes.

So before you go calling Alabama racist, maybe you should denounce the "entertainment" industry

first, for constantly reiterating negative and vicious portrayals of its' citizens.  I wrote a blog a few days ago entitled "Blue City Pathology", a dispassionate discussion of possible psychosocial motivations for liberal voting patterns.  You should have heard the howls!  "How dare you suggest the we all act and think alike (which I wasn't suggesting at all)."

Yet somehow, it's O.K. to blithly dismiss the South as a bunch of "biblebeaters" and unreconstructed "fundies".

Personally, I think the rest of the country could learn a lot from Alabama.  If you give "education" (or any government enterprise) more money, it will take more money, it will spend more money, and it will "need" more money, and all with no proportional benefit to the public at large.  Considering that 85% of teachers are members of leftist trade unions (NEA, AFT, etc.), more "school" money will simply go to fund the propagation of laws and policies with which we vehemently disagree.

  If you still think our vote was "backwards", maybe you need to go back to school.  

Of course, it's spelled Gettysburg.

Further down, sentence should read "portrayals of 'our' citizens", rather than "'its'' citizens".

Spelling again, "blithely", not "blithly".

What can I say?  It was late at night, I'd been at work since 6am, I was tired...so sue me.