My pal Chris is reading
this book about the civil war, and read to me the following children's jump-rope rhyme from the era. I'll let you guess what side of the Stuckeys-Waffle House line it came from:
Abraham Lincoln, king of the Jews
pinchback trousers and cowbelly shoes
Here's one thing I like about Dixie: the reconstruction reminders of what a weird, pluralist place the US is.
If you visit Alabama, head over to its capital Montgomery and drop by the state capitol building. Notice a big statue at the front door - of Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy during the Civil War.) The stars and bars flap away on the state flag above.
Consider for a moment how few monuments commemorating Chechen separatists will ever be erected in Russia, or what the chances are of Tutsis unveiling statues comemorating Hutus in Rwanda. Or how many monuments to Thieu stand in Vietnam or Chiang Kai-Shek in China or the Shah in Iran.
On the minus side, I'd like to announce to the south that I'm on to you about those shitty boiled peanuts you sell to yankees on the roadside. Man, what the fuck.
-r