For starters, this is not a political blog. I have never, ever drifted into a political discussion here, not because I don't have political opinions but because I'm a little self-centered I guess and my immediate rants and needs usually don't fall outside of the work/church/husband/child area. That being said....today I have something to say.
I was reading
this article on the Yahoo Front Page. Yes, I am aware that Yahoo really isn't the best place to be getting my political news, but I was logging into my email and I saw the word Alabama. What can I say...I'm nosy. Low and behold, Alabama is making national headlines with it's primary election. Unfortunately, like it always is when they put southerners on TV, it's not positive. I can't even call this a news article because there was a distinct lack of story in my opinion. All the article entails really is a collection of video clips with commentary typed out between them. Such is American journalism these days, but that's not my point. That being said, I watched all of them. They were short clips, no big deal. Than I see the comments section. What the hell?? Over 1100+ comments (almost each comment had double-digit
replies as well) on Alabama's Primary! Now, I have no problem with people having differing opinions. I welcome it in fact. I think that is one of the greatest things about our country... that brave men and women have fought and died for our right to argue with each other and I love a good debate. Today, I didn't even get 40 comments in and I was disgusted. At this point, there are literally
thousands of comments from people about
their opinion on the men running for office in
my state and almost NONE of them were positive. These people aren't attacking the politics these men advocate nearly as much as they are Alabama-bashing. Citing Alabama and ALL of it's citizens as back-woods, uneducated, redneck, bible-thumping bigots who don't even speak English themselves and therefore unqualified to know if an immigrant were speaking it correctly. Don't even get me started on the amount of grammatical and spelling errors there were on these "better educated" Yankees comments!
As an Alabamian (not a native, but having spent half my childhood and most of my adult life here), I am appalled.
Really?
A man says something with an accent and he's an illiterate moron and they are calling us bigoted?? Just because a man speaks with an accent doesn't mean he thinks with one. I have seen the Tim James ad that is listed in the article. While I did marvel at the fact that he said it
out loud, it was not because I disagree with what he says. Let me be crystal clear here: I do not believe that anyone who does not speak or read English should be allowed to be licensed to drive in this or any other state. Is that a racist opinion? No. I wholeheartedly believe it to be a safety issue. While giving the test here in 12 different languages might get us brownie points for political correctness and tolerance, it completely undermines public safety as our road signs are all printed in ONE language...English. As a nurse I can tell you that native English speakers have plenty of trouble driving as it is without throwing people that couldn't read the sign even if they
had seen it into the mix! Having said that, the reason I was shocked that he said it in his ad is that normally, nowadays, saying what you really think is something that is not conducive with a political career. Even if I disagreed with him, kudos to him for being transparent. We normally learn of our politicians true feelings on issues like these after they are elected and it normally involves either a slip of the tongue or a secret recording.
Before today, I honestly hadn't seen the other ads, so apparently they weren't as well funded as the first one. I can't say anything for the African-American candidate who said Obama "fell in with leftist-radicals, played with terrorists and let his America-hating pastor baptize his children". I mean... what do you say to that? As for the Winchester-
totin' cowboy running for Ag Commission, he definitely has a unique approach, doesn't he?
My only complaint here is the insane amount of hatred and filth that came pouring out of "Joe the Plumber" today on those comment boards...and we are supposed to be the ones that are full of hatred, judgement and ignorance. I can say one thing for sure- Hubby is a Yankee (shh, he doesn't like me to tell people) and his family hails from the great state of New Jersey by way of Philadelphia. You know, the "City of Brotherly Love"? Well, I have heard more ignorant and bigoted things uttered from their side of the Mason-Dixon than I hear on any given day in the "Old South". From where I stand, no matter which accent you're using, ignorance is ignorance. Trust me, other dialects get pigeon-holed as uneducated too. Do you think that any one would have listened to Albert Einstein if he had sounded like Vinny
Barbarino? Doubtful. There is a reason Hubby fought so hard to lose the Philly drawl when we were teenagers...any one remember Rocky?? I hope that one day even a fraction of these people meet an upwardly mobile, educated Southerner with a sharp enough tongue to end their ignorance. I kinda secretly hope it'll be me.
This is my most favorite picture of Savannah. This sums up the whole city for me.
The Harbor Light.
Olympic Torch Monument.
The Waving Girl of Savannah, waving at all the ships passing through the channel to the harbor. True story of a lady who spent her entire life waving at passing ships in hopes of finding the sailor who said he was coming back for her...he never came.
The riverboat.
View of the Harbor.
They call this a "true Savannah rose". The homeless give them away for donation. It's made out of stripped up palm leaves.
I thought it was wonderful~
Our room at the B&B.
I thought that this headboard was gorgeous. Antique of course.
This is the tedious little stairway we had to navigate with all of our luggage. You would think that we wouldn't have much luggage for a 4 day trip. You would be wrong.
A view down the sidewalk at our B&B. Not to be a broken record, but I cannot express how beautiful Savannah is.
Deserted little courtyard.
Jasper Monument...this poor fellow died saving his regimental colors during the Seige of Savannah. I thought it was pretty all lit up.
There are horse drawn carriages every where you look! Sounds quaint...in reality the whole downtown area smelled like manure. You do get used to it...kinda.
All the gutters downtown have these Dolphin Fish spouts. Some old sailor's lucky charm having to do with flooding or hurricanes or something. They were cute.
One of the squares at night. 
This is the interior of the Wesley Monumental Methodist Church that we attended while there. Going to church is not something we've ever done on vacation, but it just seemed like the thing to do and besides there were at least 5 historical churches in as many blocks. This picture show the Sanctuary at Christmas...that's because I ripped it off their website. They did not allow flash photography. Funny that they had to make that rule, but it's probably because of stupid tourists like me :)
Exterior of the Wesley Monumental. I couldn't get a close up of the stained glass windows but it's worth mentioning that they are Tiffany.....as in Louis Tiffany himself came from New York to install them with his own hands.
This is the Pink House. It is a converted Civil War mansion that is now a pricey, reservation-only restaurant. We ate here on my birthday. Sadly, cannot give it a good rating at all. Our meal cost almost $100, we couldn't hear ourselves think for the noise and Hubby couldn't cut his $40 steak WITH the steak knife! I think we know how the can get away with it...I order a cute little fruity cocktail, drank only half of it and I don't remember the ride home. At. All.
Distant view of the steeple at the St. John Catholic Church, built in the 1700's when Georgia was a colony.
St. John's from across the street.
St. John's up close. 
St. John's....the next post will have all the breathtaking interior pictures.
The back of the Cotton Exchange....the front was the only part the public could see so it was the only part that mattered :)
The Gold-leafed Dome on the Savannah City Hall.
Savannah City Hall
St. John's Episcopal Church, 
We called this the half-building...we're pretty sure it is all that's left of a whole building since one side is rounded and the other is not.
Not a very good shot, but it's the steeple for the Wesleyan Methodist Church..started in the late 1600's by John Wesley when he was driving out of England during the Reformation. We attended this church the Sunday we were there...in another post I will show the interior pic.
Six Pence Pub...great pub food. Side Note: A scene from 'Something to Talk About' with Julia Roberts and Dennis 
A bas-relief of a woman and children on the front of the Board of Education...I thought it was beautiful.
First Presbyterian Church Steeple. Side Note: The opening scene of 'Forest 
Random sculpture...I couldn't possibly take pictures of every beautiful sculpture or art we found in Savannah. The city is teeming with it.
Posts
