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• Thursday, November 9, 2006 11:23 PM

  Maybe Not a "Bellweather" But Certainly a Birthplace

  Virginia (do any of the first five writers know anything about it at all?) may not be the "bellweather" Epps seems to take it for - although it is certainly a watershed for the moment, and that's all that matters right now - but it wasn't born yesterday, either. It is more the birthplace of the Great Experiment that is our nation, having been the birthplace of Washington, Jefferson, et al, as well as the incubator for the Republic, the one-time Flower of the Confederacy, and, farther back, the place where John Smith's ass was saved by a shortsighted Pamunkey Indian.

  Virginia is exactly what it would appear to be: the great and defining off-center of the American South, and it has everything necessary to the kind of unbelievable story that has sprung from its bosom: the United States of America. Yes, there are bunches of crazy hillbillies down there, vast armies of Wal Mart Shoppers, several fortresses of right-wing religious lunacy and considerable of their flocks; but there are also huge corporations, numerous military reservations, shipyards, waterways, incredible natural beauty and a personality that truly is "for lovers."

  My mother was born there. Her name: Virginia.

  Jim Webb was born there. His native state: Virginia.

  George Allen managed to fool some of the people some of the time, and the state which finally rejected him and his slimeball ways, thus giving this nation permission to exhale after 12 years: Virginia.

  Give credit where credit is due. On top of everything it is, there is one thing Viriginia is not: Texas. Thank you Jesus!

  —AJCalhoun Read AJCalhoun's other letters
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