The Year of Moving Forward

The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Drive-by Truckers explore the past, Birmingham votes on the future

This day is very important for the future of Birmingham and the future of our nation.

In Birmingham the voters have the choice of electing Patrick Cooper who has a fresh vision for the city, or William Bell, part of the establishment of the last 30 years.

The difference also is in the attitudes of the supporters of the candidates. Sure, Cooper has the support of many in the LGBT community and progressive whites, and these are some of the people he has surrounded himself with.

Bell, on the other hand, has the support of Frank Matthews, who has put out divisive and homophobic campaign materials in an attempt to promote hatred and fear and divide the people of Birmingham.

The future of the nation may depend on the results of the special election in Massachusetts, where Martha Coakley and Scott Brown are fighting for the senate seat formerly held by Teddy Kennedy. Brown's campaign is being promoted by teabaggers and it looks like he has a chance to win.

If he should win, teabaggers from the across the nation will feel emboldened and no telling what will happen. But whatever, we will have to deal with it.

That being said, I think Patrick Cooper will be the next mayor of Birmingham, and Martha Coakley will be the new senator from Massachusetts. But the elections will be close.



Check out this video featuring Drive-by Truckers.




It tells of story of the racist past in Alabama from the viewpoint of Patterson Hood, one of the band members. "The Three Great Alabama Icons" and "George Wallace" are from their album, "Southern Rock Opera." h/t to mooncat. And, h/t to Matt Osborne.








It's interesting how some people who grew up here had to leave the state to see what was really going on. Read a writeup about the album from Patterson Hood.


"We began writing the Southern Rock Opera some years ago. We wanted to examine people's misconceptions of the South, and study some modern-day southern mythology."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Coakley will not win. Cooper will! If Brown wins Mass. we can thank Obama for backing her. Everything he touches turns to crap! Birmingham needs a new face and fresh ideas.