PJ and Thomas: Fall Getaway

The Chattanooga family heads to the mountains of North Carolina with the kids, who are on fall break this week.  (Say what?  A whole week off from school??  In the middle of October???  I can't keep up.)

I'm posting this for the scenery and the sociological interest:  two gay dads with kids, and everyone seems to be happy, wholesome, and well-adjusted.  Lovely.  I'm glad for them - but a little cutesiness goes a long way.  Your mileage may vary, of course.

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Notes from the Revolution, 6/6/20

. . . a revolution of hearts and minds . . .

Today:  Massive Protests in America and Worldwide:

People across the U.S. and other parts of the world are gathering in major demonstrations on Saturday against racism and police violence, marking the 12th consecutive night of protests since the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last month.

In Washington D.C., thousands of people are expected to stage what could be the city’s biggest demonstration yet, and the police department there said it will close many streets until midnight.  Massive demonstrations have also broken out across the world from Europe to Australia, with tens of thousands of protesters calling for an end to racism and police brutality in their own countries.

More than 43,300 National Guard members are on duty on Saturday in 34 states and D.C to respond to protests, many of which have been peaceful. In some cases, peaceful protests have been followed with looting and violence at night. 

All living former Presidents Condemn George Floyd's Murder, Call for Justice, Reflection, and Reform:



Obama on Black Lives Matter in 2015 and 2016:






What I Say:  Of course any halfway intelligent person who speaks English recognizes instantly that the phrase "Black Lives Matter" does not at all imply that only black lives matter. There is no "only" at the front of that phrase; but there is an implied "too" at the end. Even a first grader would understand that without being told. Anyone who thinks differently is being willfully obtuse and dishonest:  a racist bigot. And that's all that needs to be said about it.


Former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi Warns: "I'm calling the next five months in the history of our country the coming chaos."




Watch:  Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin, keeping it real in a powerful statement at the memorial service for George Floyd held today in Raeford, North Carolina, near Fayetteville, where he was born:

We, as law enforcement authorities, don't have the authority to bully and push people around and kill them because we have on a badge and a gun. . . .  Enough.  Don't let the life of George Floyd be in vain.  It has become a sacrifice.

One more thing: I missed this outrageous news story when it happened last year, but I'm utterly appalled that this rich white bitch down in Houston was NOT charged - of course - for assaulting a biracial couple taking birthday pics of their 1-year-old. It doesn't rise to the level of murder, but her arrogant attitude sure does need to change.  It's despicable.

Lennie and Pearl

From HRC, a sweet little campaign ad for Roy Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate:



Ironically, in 2014 Lennie and Pearl sued Cooper in his official capacity in Gerber v. Cooper for the right to marry - and won.

Here's a short bio of the couple made a couple of years ago on their first wedding anniversary:

Who Would Jesus Tow?

The Good Samaritan, Eugene Delacroix, 1849.

From the Washington Post:

Ken Shupe responded to a woman who was stranded on an interstate in North Carolina on Monday. Shupe is a tow truck driver; the woman had been involved in a wreck, according to reports.

But when Shupe arrived, he noticed something about the woman's car — specifically, he noticed that the woman was a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, according to Fox Carolina. . .

"When he saw 'a bunch of Bernie Sanders stuff' he said he told the woman, 'very politely,' " that he could not "tow her car because she was 'obviously a socialist' and advised her to 'call the government' for a tow." . . .

"Something came over me, I think the Lord came to me, and he just said get in the truck and leave," Shupe told an ABC affiliate. "And when I got in my truck, you know, I was so proud, because I felt like I finally drew a line in the sand and stood up for what I believed."

According to Fox Carolina, Shupe identified himself as a conservative Christian who supports Donald Trump.

Rainbow on the Rails

In 2012 and again last year, the North Carolina Transportation Museum held a colorful gathering of surviving first-generation diesels from all over the country at the historic Spencer Shops in the Tarheel State.  Here's an unnarrated but nicely photographed record of the beautiful streamlined paint schemes:  most are E-units and F-units built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, which your Head Trucker thinks are tops; but some railfans prefer the Alco PA, seen here in Nickel Plate colors.  The prettiest loco may well be the Atlantic Coast Line's slant-nosed E3 in its eye-popping livery of purple, silver, and gold.



Also on view is the famous EMD FT 103 demonstrator from 1939, known as "the diesel that did it"; diesel locomotives had been used on passenger trains as early as 1934, but railroads were not convinced that diesels could be counted on to haul much-heavier freight trains until the FT was sent on tour around the country, successfully demonstrating its power.  The demands of the war effort delayed mass production of diesels until 1945, but soon thereafter thousands of them were to be seen speeding along the nation's railroads.  The efficiency and economy of diesels quickly resulted in steam's demise on major routes, with the last regular steam-hauled trains on major railroads being replaced with diesel by 1960.

And also on display is the magnificent streamlined steam locomotive Norfolk and Western J-class 611. The 611 has spent the last twenty years in a museum, but was taken out last year for restoration and is due to start its revived excursion career later this year.

Marriage Tsunami Rolls On

In the last two days, the rolling tide of marriage equality has washed over four more states: Nevada, West Virginia, Idaho, and North Carolina. Just amazing. Here's a sweet clip of the first two men married late yesterday in Raleigh, North Carolina, both of them sheriff's deputies:



Oh my. I have lived to see this day. Your Head Trucker remembers a time when the officers of the law, instead of kissing your sweet lips, would have been kicking your gay ass all over town.

At the moment there are 29 states plus DC with marriage equality - and counting  That covers about three-fifths of the U. S. population.  Here is another ugly but up-to-date map, this time from Freedom to Marry:

Click to enlarge.

Better Late than Never

Grab a box of tissues and learn about these two lesbian couples who recently got married after many years together.

First, up in Iowa, the Quad City Times reports on the wedding of two nonagenarians:

Vivian Boyack and Alice "Nonie" Dubes say it is never too late for people to write new chapters in their lives. Boyack, 91, and Dubes, 90, began a new chapter in their 72-year relationship Saturday when they exchanged wedding vows at First Christian Church, Davenport. Surrounded by family and a small group of close friends, the two held hands as the Rev. Linda Hunsaker told the couple that, “This is a celebration of something that should have happened a very long time ago.”

The two met in Yale, Iowa, where they grew up, and moved to Davenport in 1947. Boyack was a longtime teacher in Davenport, directing the lives of children at Lincoln and Grant elementary schools. . . . Over the years, the two have traveled to all 50 states, all the provinces of Canada, and to England twice. “We’ve had a good time,” Dubes said. Boyack added it takes a lot of love and work to keep a relationship going for 72 years.

And from North Carolina, the Associated Press has this report of two ladies who recently married out of state after nearly fifty years together:



The couple have been active in the fight to overturn North Carolina's marriage ban.  An independent filmmaker has made a movie about Lennie and Pearl, entitled Living in the Overlap, which you can read more about at the official website here.

Two Tales of Two Dads

A couple of charming videos of gay dads and their kids. Which would get all concerned life in the slammer in Uganda, stoned to death in Nigeria, kicked in the head in Russia, and fired in Phoenix.

(Caution: may cause assorted hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions in your place of viewing. Fireproof clothing advised. Watch at your own risk. The Blue Truck is not responsible for any damages.)

First, Mark and Tim in North Carolina from Freedom to Marry and the Campaign for Southern Equality:




And in Paul and James in Minnesota from The UpTake:

2013: A Historic Year for Marriage Equality

The American Foundation for Equal Rights reviews the highlights of this landmark year for the right to marry:




And this afternoon, word comes from Utah that District Judge Robert Shelby has denied the state's request for a stay of his ruling legalizing marriage equality; the state is appealing to the Tenth Circuit. So marriages continue in the Beehive State - as Joe Jervis puts it, "Meanwhile, hell has frozen over and pigs are FLYING in Utah."

Oh, the irony - after the Mormon Church worked so hard and spent so many millions to whip California voters into a frenzy over Prop 8 in 2008 - and today, they have hundreds of gay couples jamming the courthouse in Salt Lake City and other counties to get hitched. I wonder if the so-called Apostles of the Church will announce a sudden email from God about this change of plans, the way they did over black people?

Reporter Jim Dalrymple of the Salt Lake Tribune is posting live tweets and pics of the scene as couples marry in Salt Lake City, where the line wraps around two floors of the courthouse atrium.  The county clerk has announced that 225 couples have been spliced already today.

The Boy Scouts - get this - brought pizza to feed the county clerks, who were apparently too overwhelmed with marriage applications to take a lunch break.  The Apocalypse has arrived!


And in North Carolina, Fort Bragg hosted its first same-sex union on Saturday, with Army Major Daniel Toven and Jonathan Taylor being united in an Episcopal rite of blessing, witnessed by about 100 friends and family. Afterwards, the couple walked through the traditional gantlet of crossed sabers:




And finally, federal court rulings in Ohio and Virginia open the way to eventually overturning those states' bans on same-sex marriage. Ya know, guys, it's all over but the shouting - we just might see marriage equality nationwide by the end of this decade, I'm thinking now. Even in Texas.

Marriage News Watch, 10/14/13

Matt Baume of the American Foundation for Equal Rights reports:




And here's some late news that Matt didn't get to:  a North Carolina county clerk is planning to issue, but not sign, marriage licenses to six gay couples tomorrow.  The N. C. attorney general has come out in favor of marriage equality, but says that won't stop him from vigorously defending North Carolina law against it. 

Also noteworthy: Freedom to Marry is tracking marriage-equality litigation that is now underway in - can you believe this? - 16 states. Read all about it here.

And just to refresh your memory, here's where things stand at the moment - keep in mind that Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania could all be equal-marriage states by Christmas, if things go our way in the courts and legislatures - Michigan too, maybe this week:

Click to enlarge.

And finally - Olympic gold-medal diver Greg Louganis, 53, married his partner, Johnny Chaillot, 52, on Saturday in a sunset wedding in Malibu, California. Here's a great pic of the handsome couple:

The $200 Million Conspiracy to Shut Down the U.S. Government

Lucidly explained by Rachel and well worth your time, if you can stand the sheer horror of it:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Update, 2:20 p.m.: Andrew Sullivan, via Joe.My.God.:

There is effectively no Republican party any more. There is a radical movement to destroy the modern American state and eviscerate its institutions in favor of restoring a mythical, elysian, majority-white, nineteenth-century past. This crisis is proving that more powerfully than even watching Fox. We need to see what is in front of our nose: a cold civil war has broken out between those properly called conservatives, defending the credit of the government, empirical reality, and adjustments to modern life and those properly called radical reactionaries declaring our current elected president and Senate as illegitimate actors, bent on the destruction of America, and therefore necessitating total political warfare, even to the point of threatening to destroy the global economy.

Update, 8:30 p.m.: Obama says he's "not paying a ransom" to Republicans who are "out of touch with reality":

Queering NASCAR

OMFG.  Is nothing sacred anymore?  Now even the holy precincts of NASCAR are about to be invaded by teh gay - what is this world coming to?  Must be the end times for sure. 

Boys, this is some serious gay lib shit going down here, when you start fucking with the good ol' boys and their racecars.  I tell you what.



Lordy, lordy, I never expected to see this day.  Steve is kinda studly, too - and a great role model for the younger generation of Southern boys.

Well, God bless him and send some angels to watch over him, on and off the track, is all I can say.

A Tale of Two Dads

From the Campaign for Southern Equality and Freedom to Marry:



My God, how times have changed in my own lifetime.  I well recall a day fifty years ago when these two guys would not have gotten out of the courthouse, for several reasons - they would have been jailed right then and there, if not shot.  So you see, it does get better.

Somewhere. Sometimes. For somebody.

Dharun Ravi Sentenced in Clementi Case

The gay blogosphere is full of arguments today over the 30-day sentence, plus community service.  Your Head Trucker expected something more like 90 days at least; but it's a hard thing to judge, and that's what we elect judges to do on our behalf, with all the facts laid out before them, and after hearing both sides of the story in depth.

One might argue that 30 days is too light in the balances against a young man's life.  But on the other hand, Ravi had no way of knowing that Clementi would kill himself.  He did not say, for example, "Why don't you go jump off a bridge, faggot."  Which would be a very different case.

As the judge said, Ravi was indeed guilty of "colossal insensitity," to say the least.  Nobody, but nobody would want their private love life - behind closed doors - broadcast to all and sundry in the dorm.  Eighteen is pretty goddamn stupid as a rule - but even at 18, we all know that's totally crossing the line.

Well, whatever people may think of the verdict, and the judge's recommendation that Ravi not be deported back to India, it is certain that he is paying a tremendous penalty above and beyond what the law has imposed:  I find it hard to imagine that he will ever be able to complete college, much less get some high-paying job, in this country.  Maybe back in India, or somewhere else in the world, but not here.  So even if you think he should do more jail time, just remember that he will be paying for his callous cruelty the rest of his life, in notoriety and lost opportunities.  Bad karma, for sure.

Nevertheless, fellas - it's important to retain a sense of balance, and to remember that there are degrees of sin.  If you want to see an indisputable hate crime in process, look at this horrific photo of thugs jumping on the spine of the leader of Kiev Pride, who is already on the ground and helpless after being blinded by pepper spray to his eyes - and this happened just seconds after he called off a planned Pride march, in full view of the press and the police:

And too, for an example of perhaps more sheer willful ignorance than sin, consider this clip, described at Towleroad this way:

In a sermon blasting President Obama for his same-sex marriage support, Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, offered a novel — and horrific — solution to the so-called gay scourge: build an electric fence . . .

Which is so horrendously backwoods ignorant, it almost seems like a parody - I can't help chuckling, thinking what Leslie Jordan could do with this role, you know?

Notice that what would have come out as "nigger lover" fifty years ago has been updated to "homosexual lover." But even fifty years ago, and I was there, no preacher would have ever said the former in church, at the pulpit. Nor "I'm gonna preach the hell out of it." Uhn-uh. Would have been totally unacceptable in the House of God - which shows you how far manners and mores have sunk, even among the "saved" in this day and age.

It does remind me, though, of an incident back in the mid-90's, and I may have blogged about this before - I used to have a standing lunch date with a lesbian friend once a week at a Shoney's convenient to our places of work. One day while we were eating, a great crowd of sheriffs in coats and ties, dress boots and 20X felt Stetsons came in and filled the joint - there was a statewide sheriffs' convention in town - and while they were waiting to be served, one of them near us loudly observed to his tablemates: "They say homosexshuls are born that way. I reckon if we lined 'em all up against a wall and shot 'em, we'd find out in another twunny years or so if that was true." Which clever remark was followed by a great burst of laughter and nodding of heads and "that's right!"

My friend and I just looked at each other. What can you say that would make any difference to an asshole like that?


Update:   Another Baptist minister rebukes Worley on Anderson Cooper's show:



But Worley's parishoners stand behind him, saying he speaks nothing but the truth, and is just trying to save your sorry, puke-inducing gay soul from Hell:

The Solid South

Even Billy Graham came out of retirement to speak against the gays. 
So there was no way in hell that amendment could pass.
Billy is to North Carolina what the Pope is to Italy.

Yesterday, North Carolina voters approved by a 3 to 2 margin a constitutional amendment prohibiting not only same-sex marriage but also all other forms of same-sex unions.  (See map of results by county here.)  This makes the Tarheel State the final brick in the solid wall of Southern states to pass a constitutional amendment against marriage equality (N. C. already prohibited it by statute). 



Nationwide at the moment there are 31 states that prohibit same-sex marriage by statute or by constitutional amendment; six states and the District of Columbia allow equal marriage, and in June, Washington State will also.  The rest of the states have either a strong civil unions law or a weak domestic partnership law, with the exception of New Mexico, which doesn't deny or recognize anything officially, so far.

Meanwhile, after the flap over Vice-President Biden's remarks on Sunday's Meet the Press (you go, Joe!), the President has scheduled an interview with ABC later today to "clarify" his phony position on marriage equality.

What I Say:  Boys, you don't need to be expecting any big change on this issue anytime soon.  Neither the President, nor the Supreme Court, nor the Congress is going to get very far ahead of those 200 million good country people in the heartland who are dead-set against lettin' them damn perverts flaunt their sexshul acts in everbody's faces and ram it down our throats.  That's just the reality of politics.

I don't doubt that Obama's broad intentions are good; but fellas, the Prez is and has been playing us for his own ends, and his one concern right now, to the exclusion of all else, is to get re-elected.  And he will do and say just about anything he thinks he has to for that.  Your rights do not enter into the equation; trust the old man on this one.

If you asked him why, the gist of his answer would most certainly be that his good accomplishments can't continue unless he gets re-elected, and to do that he needs the goodwill even of millions of homophobic voters; and there is a pragmatic truth to that. Even if the truth sucks.

We still have to vote for him come November, of course - make no mistake on that, boys. There is no alternative. And you damn sure don't want leather-bottom-twink Romney in the White House, letting the Bushcheneyites and Tea Partiers in the back door, now do you?

What Obama will do in his second term remains to be seen; he did get DADT repealed, and he has stopped defending DOMA in the courts, among other good accomplishments for our community, so we can't say he's not a friend; but he is a politician first and foremost, and not about to be a martyr for the gays, or anyone else for that matter. 

Your Head Trucker has polished off his crystal ball, and he predicts that if and when Perry v. Brown gets to the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts and crew will not issue a sweeping judgment making same-sex legal across the land.  The best we can hope for is that they will make it legal in California again, or maybe in the Ninth Circuit; but even that is very iffy.

Other cases like Golinski may well open up some more cracks in the wall at the federal level; and I wouldn't be surprised if the federales contrive some sort of registered status at that level in the next few years to cover things like immigration rights, insurance benefits, social security and veterans benefits, joint returns on income taxes, etc.  Not a marriage or civil union - just a status, a form to fill out and get notarized, like when you apply for a passport.

Elsewhere in these United States, yes the tide of history is flowing in our favor - in favor of equality and justice for all - but it's a slow tide, ebbing in and out gradually.  Problem is, we're not ever going to get marriage equality at a single stroke nationwide, as in Canada and other countries, and I'll tell you why.  In Canada, for example, their Constitution specifically gives the federal government the power and authority to regulate marriage.  In other countries that already have same-sex marriage, there's either the same principle at work, or they are unitary governments, not federal ones; therefore it takes only one vote in the national legislature to make it happen.

Our case is just the opposite:  the power to regulate marriage has always resided in the states, not in the federal government.  It's possible for the Supremes to overrule the states, as they did in Loving v. Virginia; but fellas, you have to remember that didn't happen until 1967, when there were only 15 states left that prohibited interracial marriage, and all of them were states of the former Confederacy, which by that time had shocked and outraged all the rest of the nation with their resistance to integration, marked by mass arrests, beatings, bombings, murders, and general reluctance to get out of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. 

The Supreme Court at that time was reflecting the values of the majority of the country - which if you read your history books, you will see that it nearly always has, and probably always will.  The mule can't go any faster than the wagon, and vice versa.  Justice proceeds by fits and starts - look at how long the blacks had to wait for full equality, and women too, and other groups.  Our cause is just as right as theirs, but we must endure as they also endured.

When you hear pundits glibly say, "A majority of Americans now support
same-sex marriage," remember that this is the reality.

Above you see one of several charts that the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has prepared, showing the glacial movement of public opinion yea or nay on marriage equality.  Now your Head Trucker has done some cypherin' on these figures, and he can't see the pro side getting above 60 percent until at least 2020 - and it would take at least that level of support across the board for any nationwide changes to be possible, he believes, if not 65 or 70 percent.  It wasn't until support for repeal of DADT got up to nearbouts 75 percent that we finally got that wicked law changed, and even then there was a shit load of bitch-squawking from the rightwingers, as you remember.

But nationwide marriage equality, recognized everywhere in every state, no questions asked - not until somewhere between 2040 and 2050.  There may be various stopgaps and almost-nearly things before then, but actual seamless marriage equality from sea to shining sea as the straights now have it - not before then.  Remember, fellas, you heard it here first.

So we'll see what the Prez has to say later today, and I'll update you here - but don't be expecting a dramatic, earth-shaking bulletin; ain't gonna happen. 

Meanwhile, I'm sure you guys have seen this already, but here's a replay of Biden's delicious remarks that caused such consternation back in the West Wing:

Dad Shoots Laptop

Down south here, we pride ourselves on being polite and friendly people, but there's a point beyond which you just best not push us.  Once you cross the line, that's it, and Katy bar the door.

There's an old, very old, joke my father used to tell about a man who was walking down a country road and found a farmer sitting in his wagon, taking a big load of corn to market, and the mule who was supposed to be pulling the wagon was in the traces but had sat down in the middle of the road. The farmer yelled, begged, pleaded, and cursed at the old mule, but nothing he said would make him budge.

Finally, the farmer got down off the wagon, picked up a two by four, walked around to the front and and blam! hit the mule a good smack on the head right between the ears. Then the farmer got back up on the wagon, the mule stood up, and began to pull the wagon.

The passer-by asked the farmer, "Say, friend, why'd you hit the mule like that?"

The farmer replied, "Well, he's a good mule, and he'll pull this wagon all day long, anywhere you want to go. But first you have to get his attention."

I'm sure most of you by now have seen this viral video made by a completely exasperated dad, Tommy Jordan, of Albemarle, North Carolina, in which he has come to the point of metaphorically knocking the mule in the head:




Which has generated a lot of criticism from dainty-minded ain't-it-awful types all around the country - but your Head Trucker mainly just finds it very amusing. Even though I've never raised a child, I can totally relate to a man who has lost all patience with ingratitude, flippancy, self-centeredness, and egregious disrepect. I tell ya boys, if I was in his boots, I would have been very tempted to do the exact same thing.

I'm reminded of the joke above, and the saying I quoted here on the Blue Truck from RuPaul a while back: "I always try to come from a place of peace, love, and understanding . . . but sometimes you just have to break it down for a motherfucker."

The only thing that concerns me is that Dad may have wasted nine bucks' worth of bullets. If the girl is so oppositional, so out of control, that she has driven him to this act of desperation - and I see it as an act of love, he still actually cares about the person she is and the person she will be - then probably nothing he does or says will reach her. Rebellious kids are nothing new, I could take you back through history all the way to the ancient Greeks and show plenty of examples of that, and it's probably a necessary stage of child development when you hit your snotty teens - and of course, we were all snotty brats for a while there, weren't we.

But there is a terribly ugly, I-don't-give-a-fuck and you-can't-make-me attitude among a lot of young people today that is just above and beyond anything that's come before. I'll spare you the recitation of cases I've observed at close range with my own eyes, but it's a serious problem and says a lot about the dark side of our modern culture. It's something in the air, and probably has a lot to do with all the out-of-control adults that programming and media people just love to show, over and over, to make a buck by appealing to the lowest human instincts.

I hope Tommy's action will get the little girl's attention; but the way things are these days, who knows. She may still end up a few years from now, like many another out-of-control teen queen with two or three illegitimate kids by two or three drugged-up, lawbreaking dudes, and then you and I will be paying her rent money and grocery bills for the next two or three decades.

I'm not exaggerating about that; I could tell you stories. It's a sad thing, but I admire this guy for at least trying one last time to break through that hard-headed, hard-hearted stupidity. I hope it works.

PS - I also very much admire Dad's attitude in this note he left on his Facebook page - it shows he's a man of integrity and real principles:

(read it after the jump)

"A Black Eye for the South"

Country singer Chely Wright, who is proudly gay, married, Southern, and Christian, tells it like it is regarding the anti-gay politics in North Carolina:

Ghosts on the Move

Midway Plantation in its new setting

Last night your Head Trucker watched Moving Midway, which he recommends to all you fellas if you have any interest in Southern history and culture. It's a really well-made documentary about the moving of an old plantation house near Raleigh, done by a filmmaker who happens to be part of the family. And it shows very nicely how the ghosts of our Southern past linger in the present. As Faulkner said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

Your Head Trucker can relate to all this in a way. Having traced all my grandparents' ancestral lines back to at least the year 1800, and a few of them back to the late 1600's, in Old Virginia and Maryland - ten generations - I can imagine the sense of history and connectedness felt by the family at the center of this film. Although it appears that most of my ancestors were small farmers who lived and died in obscurity, there were a couple of branches that were in the planter class, with fine old homes like you see in this documentary. One well-to-do branch lived in Fairfax County, Virginia, where Martha Washington recorded having a certain Mrs. ____ to tea one afternoon at Mount Vernon - my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. Descendants of those families followed the western movement of the cotton lands first to Georgia, and then on to Alabama and Mississippi. In addition to being planters, they were also army officers, lawyers, and judges.  One of my great-great-grandfathers, who was killed in the War, was first cousin to a Confederate general whose plantation house in East Texas still stands, and who by marriage was very well-connected indeed.

And of course, my planter ancestors owned dozens of slaves - duly recorded in 19th-century census schedules - who worked the fields and may have helped build them large, roomy houses like Midway - though in most cases not as imposing as you may think from watching the movies. (At the premiere of Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell laughed out loud at the grand appearance of Tara - in the book, true to history, she describes it as merely a large, rambling farmhouse, "upcountry functional" as she later said - it was the Yankee David O. Selznick who transformed Mitchell's carefully accurate descriptions into the exquisite but preposterous visions you see on screen.)

My mama, however, swore that she remembered visiting the cousins in Mississippi as a girl and seeing the ruins of the big house, with the white columns still standing. Alas, my male forebears tended to be younger sons of younger sons, or in the female line, so they wouldn't have ended up with those places anyway; and then too, the War swept all the wealth and plantations away. But the memory lingered a long time in the familial memory, brightened and embellished in certain interesting ways.

According to my mother and my uncle, who both told the same story, there was one great-grandmother who, when the Yankees came, absolutely refused to leave her home, and neither guns nor bayonets could drive her out. So they set fire to it and burned it down over her head; but someone, friend or foe, must have dragged her out at the last moment because, as the story goes, her mind was so stricken by the terrifying experience that never thereafter would she sleep in a regular house again. The family had to build her a tree house in the yard, where she made her abode, perched in the branches like a bird, unconquered and defiant to the end of her days.

You have to admit, it does make an awfully good story, don't it? We Southerners have a talent for that sort of thing, or used to. Unfortunately, there is no actual record of such an event to be found, and from my genealogical researches, it does not appear that there was any great-grandmother who would have been the right age and in the right place for such a thing to happen to. But sometimes the myth is much more important than the history.

Continued after the jump . . .

Today's Quote

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R - North Carolina) is one of the most vocal opponents of LGBT rights in Congress. It almost seems as though right wing Senator Jesse Helms has been reincarnated in drag.

--David Mixner