Y'all don't know about the black belt? Billy, here. EDIT - link fixed, I hope.

My diehard conservative parents live near the SE corner of the state. I love that their Congressman is now Democrat Bobby Bright.

Also, I'm not used to watching Fox News eat one of its own, but this is fascinating: [link]

sarameg that sounds like an awesome trip! You must go, if there's any way to swing it.

Also, is there really a Godless American PAC?

I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised.

ok, so this is the third instance that I have seen of Smith where he seems not at all bad. I don't watch tv news, but is that normal, is he actually balanced?

B'ham is ... different. My brother lives near Trussville but works downtown. Driving from the airport to, well, anywhere, you get an acquaintance with southern poverty. He used to live in a beautiful, but crumbling, house in the old city. On the edge of gentrification, but the outside edge. The poverty and racism were laid bare there. It has it's beauty, but.

They want to leave. I won't lie about that. It isn't just their sons having accents, it is the racism laid out before them, unhidden because they are so very white. And both don't want their kids to grow accustomed to that.

I just rewatched Obama's acceptance speech. Will be puffy eyed again tomorrow. GODDAMNED. It was as lovely as I recalled. And I kinda adore the Obamas' casual affection, whether between family and husband and wife, or MIchelle stroking the hair of (I presume) Biden's granddaughters. It's just so ...normal and kind and natural.

Anyway. I've pretty much decided I WILL go to this inauguration, even if only to stare at the backs of other peoples' heads. msbelle, you should join me.

yeah, I was thinking of making the trek, but I am not convinced that it won't be better to just watch it on TV.

The puppy with the purple collar is a big trouble maker, knawing on the others and stirring them up.

Yeah, there's that. But I'll feed you! And extra kitten! OK, we need someone with connections...

it is the racism laid out before them, unhidden because they are so very white. And both don't want their kids to grow accustomed to that.

As a native Alabaman, I'll say that's a very strong reason why we don't want to return there. I have more and more friends moving to Birmingham, emailing us that it's different, it's getting better, all that sort of stuff. But every time we're there, I hear casually racist comments all the time and feel positively Marxist when dealing with the overbearing, unthinking privilege of the rich white Mountain Brookers.

My parents lived in Trussville when they lived there, but they moved to South Alabama about six years ago.

It's kinda freaky. I watched the rental dude treat me with a lot more caution than the black guy before me. And I was the cheapass! He was going all out for features and shit! Alabama has been good to my brother's family, but. Yeah, that "but." They aren't black. They've seen the shit their minority friends face in everyday life there. And the thing is, where they lived before, in TX? If you got outside city limits, it was even uglier. However, next door was the mammoth Ft. Hood and Killeen, and that made up for some of the scaryass small towns. Because even if those areas were certainly not liberal bastions, they shat upon even casual racism. They haven't really found a safezone in ALA.

I should note, I feel bad consigning a whole state to UHG. But that's been their experience.

A lot of people from high school have found me on Facebook. I don't really want to revisit the feelings I had when I was growing up, but I find all these people - some former friends and some who hated my guts for reasons that have never been clear - fascinating. Most have been trumpeting how hard they spent the last few weeks praying for a McCain win. Some of the women - who, like me, are in their mid-30s - have been planning a botox party where a doctor will pitch what botox can do for them. I feel like I grew up in a foreign country that's become stranger over time.