the night they drove old dixie down

for the last two hundred years, nearly all of my ancestors have lived and died in the south, most of them in georgia --- but i still don't quite understand why the south remains so retarded in so many ways:

despite the oceans of ink spent analyzing the electoral shift in 2006 and 2008, i continue to think this transformation has been under-appreciated. the old south has punched above its weight in american politics ever since 1787, and during the few times their influence has temporarily waned (reconstruction, the 60s) it drove them crazy with fear and persecution mongering. so it's not really surprising that it's happening again.