Redneck, White and Blue

In case it got buried for some of ya'll, I do want to post another link to my politics/off-topic blog.

Politics? Religion? Oh, yes.

By popular demand, I have started my other blog of half-coherent rambling (which is better than most of politics) and extremely pointed comments. It can be found here. Enjoy.

Politics? Religion?

Folks, as I'm sure you're all aware, this year is a major turning point in history, and will turn out to be marked as a major turn for the worse or better for the United States and the world given time. I have done my best to keep politics and religion out of this blog, being"serious" issues that don't necessarily fit with the lighthearted, entertainment tone and atmosphere I'm going for. Being a politics junkie who is fond of waxing philosophic about the role of religion in our society, though, that has been tough, and I have a lot to say about things. Before I get started soapboxing, though, I want to ask my readers' opinions on whether I should include my commentary and somewhat cynical notes in this blog, not at all, or start a secondary blog in which I post all that. Please give feedback in email or comment form, and, as always, keep on rockin' the redneck way, ya'll!


Note: I know they're kind of buried, but I do have two new posts right below this one, so scrolliing would be good right about now.

Are all rednecks bigots?

Skanky Jane asked me a while ago, "Are all rednecks bigots?" I've had to think about this for a long time, but my final answer has to be no, not all of us. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of us are. It would appear that the same cultural conditions that are likely to lead to the tendency to take a straight line from problem A to conclusion B, regardless of the issues in the way (making them a redneck), is also likely tolead them to jump to conclusions about people. The tenacity to not give up when things get difficult also tends to lead to a tendency to not admit we're wrong. Mix in the fact that the racist South is the birthplace of most rednecks, and you get the tendency for a randomly selected redneck to also be a little bigoted. Sometimes more than a little.

Let's review the sorts of pop culture examples that lead to the perception of being a racist, sexist, and generally bigoted person as being synonymous with being a redneck.

In the closing scene of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper are riding their motorcycles out of New Orleans and a truck comes up behind them. Pickup truck--redneck mark #1. One of them says to the other, "pass him, let's give him a scare." Accent--redneck mark #2. You will note that they are probably socially conservative (like the vast majority of rednecks are) based on their antagonism towards Hopper, as well as their close haircuts and the demographic makeup of the region they come from. The man riding shotgun then pulls out an actual shotgun, points it at Hopper, and shouts derogatory remarks at him. Hopper flips him off, and the redneck shoots. Please note the use of stereotypical redneck traits immediately surrounding a man who shows himself to be a murderous bigot. Thus, a Pavlovian association is formed between redneck and bigot in the viewer's mind, even when someone the judge to be a "redneck" displays no bigoted behavior. Fonda stops to check on Hopper, then rides in the direction they and the truck were going, to go get help. By this time, the shooter has convinced the driver of the truck to turn around and check on Hopper. We are unsure whether this is out of human concern, or to make sure he's dead. The truck passes Fonda going the other way now, back towards Hopper, and the trigger man pulls the shotgun again as Fonda draws near, and the shot hits the tank on his motorcycle, causing a large fireball and blowing him to Kingdom Come. As the truck drives away and credits roll, one can hear the two men laughing.
Given the tendency for rednecks to grow up in the South, and the the American South's history as a racist, sometimes sexist, generally intolerant cultural area, it is not statistically suprising that many rednecks are a little right-of-center on the mainstream political spectrum. Rednecks tend more than the general U.S. population to be

1. somewhat racially biased (many without even knowing it-- heck, everyone is, just some more so than others)
2. wary & unaccepting of outsiders (remember, small-community upbringing is a common formative factor for rednecks, even if that is just a neighborhood or trailer park within a big city)
3. more outspokenly critical of anyone whom they have concluded to not be straight, especially men. This escalates to violence much faster among rednecks than among, say, your average New Englander.

However, I believe that since prevalence of these stereotypical (and accurate) redneck traits drops as cultural setting changes, it is the setting causing both these bigoted behaviors and redneck-ism, not redneck-ism causing the behaviors.

I hope that's a satisfactory answer, ma'am.

My name's Jean, I am a politics junkie, and I do not have a survey problem.

Seriously. The only things that I will not tape over to record a political event are motor races, music, and home movies. I would probably tape over porn to record the '08 election results (one tape for every news network, mixed down to one after the night is over) if I ran out of blank tapes, and had porn on tape.

Being the politics junkie that I am, I am a huge fan of this blog, which delves into the math of the elections. I love math, too. Math is delicious. Give me politics, math, and motorcycles, and I will never leave. Give me any two of the above (Paul Sr. from OCC should run for president), and I will be happy all day.

As for my survey problem, unlike some people I know, I do not have one. I am not addicted. But when I ran into this one, I had to try it. You will probably not be finding all of Side 4 on myspace, as I can't get my bloody master tapes digitized. (If you --anyone-- could teach me how to digitize music, especially in quadrophonic but stereo and monophonic are fine, you would be my hero and I will send you cash).

DIRECTIONS:Go to the Wikipedia home page and click "random article". That is your band's name.
Click random article again; that is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

Now, being a fan of 5 minute and longer songs, this would have to be a double-LP. Yes, I do mean vinyl.

Band name: Recoil. That is so badass, I wish I had thought of it.

Album name: Ralstonia Metallidurans (Say that five times fast.)

Side 1:
1. Stopping Power
2. Capitoline Triad
3. Aubin Nom (I took the liberty of taking wikipedia's (name) and translating it)

Side 2:
1. Pogonia Coat of Arms
2. Komatsu 830E
3. Penken
4. Mayrhofen

Side 3:
1. Minnesota's 5th congressional district (okaaay.... wait, I can write a song for that!)
2. Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg
3. John Jasperse (I can totally write a song for that, too.)
4. Coventry Bears

Side 4:
1. USS Camden (AOE-2) ( I may drop the AOE-2 bit for the song...)
2. Seagate ST1 (Dude, 12-gigabytes?! That small?!)
3. Slade Hall (this would be fun to wite, too)
4. Burns Flat (I'm dropping the Oklahoma part)
5. Rocketplane Kistler

You know what I just learned reading about Burns Flat? "It is near the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark which is a licenced spaceport expecting to start commercial manned spaceflight starting in 2008." HOLY CRAP! I was not informed.

I seriously cannot wait to go record the songs for Side 4. Just because ya'll will never hear them is because ya'll are lazy, and need to ask people. I've already asked people. They tried to sell me a new recording machine, after having been the ones to sell me my beloved four-track.