New York Times Reignites Civil War

In today's Times, "For South, a Waning Hold on National Politics" says the Southern counties that returned more Republican votes in 2008 than in 2004 "tended to be poorer, less educated and whiter" than their Dem-voting neighbors. The Times also quotes experts who suggest that these voters were influenced by, ahem, "the persistence of traditional white Southern attitudes on race," and provide cracker soundbites ("I think there are going to be outbreaks from blacks") to give them the ring of truth.

Expectedly, this excites cheerful Northern aggression in some quarters ("let's just ignore the backwards morons and let them rot"), and less kindly reflections below the Mason-Dixon line. "NYT Takes Aim at the South," says Red County. "That culture war is alive and well. It was not just waged against Sarah Palin but is aimed at all of US by Them at the NYT and elsewhere. I'm ready for the fight!" Rally 'round the flag, boys! We'll make something horrible out of this election yet.