War Liberal

They're not even in the parts of Pennsylvania close to West Virginia. As a snickering Virginian, I'm confused.

Mac,

College buddy of mine, white boy raised in Tuskegee, who's lived most of his life in Auburn, is now -- with his wife -- doing grad and PhD work at PSU. He calls me last year, they've been there three weeks, "I have never seen so many rednecks in all my life."

That is what I've heard. I've also heard Pennsylvania west of Philly and east of Pittsburgh referred to as "Alabama".

I wonder if Senator Santorum has a stance on this issue.

Carville made that comment -- don't know if it was original to him.

Okay. I googled my way over to www.cousincouples.com, "the world's primary information and support network for and about romantic relationships among cousins." Needless to say these folks are big on cousins being allowed to marry. States that allow it are: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee...but also Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia--also Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Utah and Wisconsin "if couples will not bear children" - how do they know for sure, I wonder--and Maine, which requires genetic counseling beforehand. North Carolina "prohibits double first cousins only." I don't know what that is, but it sounds like it might involve the endearment "Uncle Daddy."

Anyway, with so many states all over the map allowing cousinly love, I don't think we Alabamians need to hang our heads in redneck shame or anything. On the other hand, I once knew a guy who'd traveled across state lines to marry his cousin. Ten years later, when he decided to dump her for a 23-year-old, he announced that he'd seen the light and now realized they'd been committing incest for all those years.