fatdavid8

In a recent election, my current home state had one of those anti-gay-marriage/"Defense of Marriage Acts" pass rather handily. Local liberals weren't surprised that it passed -- the state's a traditionally red state, after all -- but they were dismayed that it passed so handily in our town.

The conventional wisdom in the state, at least among the local liberals, is that the most populous city in the state is full of rational, pro-business, fiscally conservative Republicans, that most of the rest of the state is full of rural, irrational, voice-in-the-wilderness, values-voting, neanderthal Republicans, and that our home town -- which is home to the state's capital and to the largest university in the state -- is the state's lone bastion of enlightened liberalism.

I, personally, found the local liberals' astonishment to be indicative of their naivete, and I found myself wondering whether they've ever paid the slightest attention to the environment in which they live and work. For example, while walking home from work recently, I noticed that the dedication on a monument near the state capitol's main staircase reads:

Honour to
pioneers
who broke
the sods
that men
to come
might live


I mean, come on! The phrasing of that "that men to come might live" bit is a little convoluted and ambiguous, but they have a monument to the pioneers who "broke the sods"! Right by a main entrance to the capital building! Obviously, the state was built upon a foundation of anti-gay violence. No one who knows me would suggest that I'm overly sensitve or too PC, but that "broke the sods" business seems pretty clear to me.






DISCLAIMER: The phrase "broke the sods" may appear to be more humorous if you should happen to be British. Individual perceptions of humor, or humour, may vary.