But she's the red menace...
Posted on 09/18/2003 10:08:02 AM PDT by sheltonmac
As if the Yellowhammer State had not received enough attention over the Ten Commandments controversy, Alabama has once again piqued the nation's interest. By an overwhelming majority, voters struck down a major tax increase proposed by Republican Governor Bob Riley. They recognized the tax hike for what it was: an effort to justify government spending increases in spite of a $675 million budget deficit. Unfortunately, some of the more "progressive" states see this as a sign that Alabama is every bit the backwater, trailer trash community they always thought it to be.
Most of the negative reactions to the recent vote are coming from those in the North. This isn't surprising, given that the in-bred, hillbilly stereotype of the South is very much alive and well north of the Mason-Dixon line.
While a native of Louisiana, I have spent most of my life in Minnesota. Needless to say that in a state where the majority of residents believe mayonnaise is a spice, keeping in touch with my Southern roots has been a bit of a challenge.
Most people up here have never heard of boiled peanuts. If you serve them grits, the first thing they reach for is the sugar. Sorghum molasses is about as rare as chicory coffee. The term "Cajun" is used to describe anything served with an extra sprinkling of pepper. There are no "sirs" or "ma'ams." College football doesn't exist outside of the Big Ten--and as a lifelong LSU Tiger fan, I can tell you that this has made life up here very frustrating!
People in the North truly have a misguided understanding of the South and its inhabitants. This is especially true when it comes to politics.
In a recent editorial appearing in the Sept. 15 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Alabama voters were castigated for their out-and-out refusal to raise their own taxes. As with most Star Tribune editorials, the main point was to praise socialism as the answer to life's ills. Bemoaning the decline of trust in government, the author said that "the nation will find out if Christian charity can run the public schools, pay the medical bills of the poor and elderly, build highways and prisons and do other work heretofore associated with government."
The unnamed editorialist saw nothing but doom and gloom in Alabama's future, saying, "The result will be a deepening of the two-tier society apparently sought by the anti-tax lobby: minimal public services for the unworthy poor and a lush, walled-off, privatized world for the privileged." And those of us in favor of smaller government are considered to be the extremists?
The faux compassion exhibited by those who love to be generous with other people's money betrays an underlying distrust of the private sector. Terms like "free enterprise," "individualism" and "personal responsibility" have no place in their vocabulary. They see government as society's great equalizer. They firmly believe that if everyone can't be rich, then no one should be rich.
Fortunately, these elitists seem to have underestimated the will of the people. In one resounding "No!" the people of Alabama have spoken volumes. They sent a message that more government spending isn't the answer.
The concept of shrinking government is a completely foreign concept here in Minnesota. We pay the fourth-highest taxes in the country, and people continue to brag about how generous our government is.
Our Southern counterparts in Alabama get it. They know instinctively that if more money is given to the government, the government is going to spend it. It's a fact of life. Once the trend of increased spending catches on, it's very difficult to cut back.
It is my hope that this independent and defiant spirit coming out of the South is catching. This is the kind of thing we need to see in places like California and New York.
Keep your eye on Alabama. A crimson tide is rising in the heart of Dixie, the beginning of a great flood that may begin to spread across the entire nation.
Some people will just never 'get' what college (and high school in many communities) football is in the south. It's family and friend oriented, traditional and fun. You wear Crimson & White or you wear Blue & Orange in Alabama...the rest really don't matter, especially that jealous orange and white school north of here.
Course, if you visit Alabama's Gulf Coast in the winter you'll swear you are in Wisssscccoonnnnsuuun or MinneSOHTA. When the snowbirds tell us how they do things up north, we just smile sweetly and nod and give them directions to the FloraBama for that early bird happy hour!
The thing is, they are only preaching to their own sheeple. I think what bothers those who don't live in the South the most about us is that we really don't care WHAT they think about us.
I'll be mighty glad when that tide spreads into GA. My property taxes are set to go up AGAIN this year, and they are already too high. "They" say it's needed for the schools, but "they" don't like it when a private school takes kids out of public schools, thus reducing (or should) the public system's expenses.
I have a strong suspicion that "they" will never be satisfied till they own my property, and I am totally dependent on "them" for a bowl of beans and rice every day.
He left out the part about the folks of Minnesota and elsewhere in Yankeeland where they are too lazy to take care of themselves in a disaster. They'd rather whine that it is not their responsibility to buy duct tape and plastic......that's what the government is for.
But she's the red menace...
Southern BUMP!
Well, they are preaching to their own sheeple, BUT Kali has 1/5 of the votes needed to elect a president; they don't control the Senate, BUT the media whores put such pressure on Republicans that their collective spines have been snapped (to the extent they ever had one); they can't (right now) nominate federal judges, BUT leaky Leahy, Fat Ted, Slimy Schumer, etc. can bottle up any nomination they want. Their power ain't so limited as you think, even though only a shrinking minority of dependent people believe the lie of liberal ideology.
As to what bothers them, my favorite is the gun issue. During a debate/argument over the issue, one of them will always say something brilliant like "one day you'll get yours when we outlaw guns." To which I respond: "and how are you bunch of anti-gun bleeding hearts going to take away guns from 50 million good 'ole boys who can shoot the eye out of a squirrel at 200 yards? Further, just what are you going to eat in your seaboard cities when the trucks and trains stop bringing food to you from the farms in the gun-owning heartland?" That seems to bother them a bit, which is a good thing - it really puts power into perspective.
ROLL TIDE ROLL!
Good Lord. Has anyone been paying attention to Tim Pawlenty and our Republican House and Senate in our last legislative session? Or is it just easier to make generalizations?
true, yet shrinkage is good. now is the time to put in place people willing to really work for their constituants. teddy and his buds think they will endure forever, but their bubble will eventually burst.
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