You left out the "bigoted" part. I read a lengthy post on kos about 10 days ago whose premise was how those awful ignorant Appalachian bigots in West Va. and Kentucky were going to rain on Obama's parade by voting for Hillary. That, of course, was the only possible reason they would vote for Hillary - they were bigots.

The interesting thing was that I'm sure the writer of the piece didn't realize s/he sounded bigoted toward folks in Appalachia. And the comments - ooh boy - "white trailer trash" got thrown around a lot.

I don't deny there are bigots in them thar hills. Some are in my own family. But nobody's talking about bigots in Oregon (another primary coming up soon), and believe me, parts of that state are every bit as redneck as parts of Appalachia. And just as white.

I guess we do need to bring back the poll tax to keep these folks in line.

If we can't make fun of West Virginia, what states can we? How about Mississippi...Obama won that state, can I still poke fun at them? Or just latte-sipping "eggheads"?

Now, if we want to take a serious look at it (which wasn't really my intention), West Virginia has the lowest percentage of college grads in the 50 states (Arkansas has the second lowest); which makes it prime Hillary Clinton territory, and makes it hard for a black candidate to win (at least, if those non-college grads are white), as those who haven't attended college are more likely to be weary of other ethnicities and cultures.

That isn't to say there aren't smart, nice, well-educated, racially unbiased Hillary Clinton supporters in West Virginia and around the country...but it does not bode well for Obama no matter how populist or 'down to Earth' he tried to be.

I'm interested in what the Hatfield and McCoy clans have to say about this. Then again the Mothman could have the final say...

You're still here? It's over. Go home.

You missed the Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Center - also in WV. Probably the most helpful, most "have their stuff together" group of government workers I have ever dealt with.

It is interesting to look at a mapping of Hillary's strongest support does actually track the Appalachian mountains very closely. Don't know exactly why but it's true.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

Talk about uneducated - one of those "dueling banjos" is a guitar.

Chuck Yeager is from West Virginia.

So was Don Knotts.

'Nuff said.

Why are"bigots" always connected with "rednecks" (As in there are bigots in Oregon too because Oregon has rednecks too ...)

Latte sippers have exactly all the same potential to be bigots as the rest of the human race. Check this whole primary season and look at the Obama crowd.

Latte bigots are the ones who can't discuss anything without the word "diversity." Diversity means one is keeping score. To keep score one has to mark differences and assign values. That's a bigot.

Your point is well-taken, but are you sure Deliverance was filmed on the Chattooga River? I've never heard of it (I'm from Western North Carolina), and I always thought it was filmed on the Chattahoochee River.

With apologies to Rudyard Kipling the poet; Here's my reworded version of his poem “the White Man’s Burden* which praised the "benefits" of colonialism for the lucky colonists:

The Left Wing’s Burden

Take up the Left wing’s burden
Send forth the same old breed --
Go bind your journalists to brief exile
To serve your hillbillies’ need;
To wait away from starbucks
On fluttered folk and wild --
Your captive, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.

Take up the Left-Wing’s burden --
In condescension to abide,
To veil the threat of exposure
And hide the evidence of pride;
By duplicitous speech and lies,
An hundred times mad plain.
To take another's profit,
And steal another's gain.

Take up the Left-wing’s burden --
Our savage campaigns for “peace”
Shut down those coarse distractions
And bid “bitter” ignorance cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The presidency for others sought,
Watch guns and Small-town Folly
Bring all your hope to nought.

Take up the Left wing’s burden --
And reap an entitled reward:
The blame of those ye enlighten,
The hate of those you deconstruct
The vulgar cry of the working class ye condescend
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light: --
"Why brought ye us from bondage,
"Our loved Appalachian night?"

Take up the Left-wings burden --
Ye distort what Obama meant --
Nor call too loud on freedom
To cloak your true intent;
By all ye preach or publish,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your party and you.

Ragnell

*The White Man’s Burden http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/kipling_ind.html

There is some interesting information at IMDB including this:

The movie was shot on the Chattooga River, dividing South Carolina and Georgia. The year following the release of the movie, 31 people drowned attempting to travel the stretch of river where the movie was shot.

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OK, let me see if I have this right. Obama wins the primary. He gets the most votes, the most delegates, and the most states, but we shouldn't nominate him becuase he cant beat McCain? So why did we have all these primaries? You knew he was black all along. Why not just say "no blacks need apply" because even if you win, we will cave into the perceived racism of others, and choose someone else more "acceptable to the bigots". If we are to choose Hillary Clinton over the person who beat her in every objective balloting measure, how do we explain it in a non-racists way? Please tell me how do we turn Obama away after he did everything that was expected of him?

"West Virginia has the lowest percentage of college grads in the 50 states (Arkansas has the second lowest); which makes it prime Hillary Clinton territory, and makes it hard for a black candidate to win (at least, if those non-college grads are white)"

Over 90% of blacks vote for Obama.

Now, let's have an honest conversation about American demographics and for whom it's hard to win.

Oh and Sean? Look up the word "demographic".

If you celebrated Mothers Day this week then you honored a West Virginia-born tradition that enjoyed it's 100th anniversary this very week. Mothers Day was started at a churh in Grafton, WV and caught on around the country.

Therefore, Hillary, who is a mother no matter how you cut it, will win in the state that gave us Mothers Day!

Chuck Yeager is from West Virginia.
So was Don Knotts.

Don't forget Jerry West and Morgan Spurlock.

My favorite West Virginian....Jesscoe White the Dancing Outlaw

Mary Lou Retton - 1984 Olympic Gold Medal winner in gymnastics is from Fairmont, Marion County.

And what about Homer H. Hickam, Jr., Cyrus Vance, and Brad Paisley?

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Jesscoe White the Dancing Outlaw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesco_White

Just FYI, all those federal back-offices being in WVa are primarily a testament to the pork trough prowess of Robert "Big Daddy" Byrd.