West By God Virginia

Why is it still safe to tell a West Virginia joke?

West By God Virginia

Why is it still safe to malign and ridicule Appalachians?

I heard something the other day that brought out my feral cat claws. You know the kind of cat I mean. It’s fur lusterless and patchy from living rough. Racoon chewed upon ears. You have seen its stiff-legged saunter out your back door. The kind that you want to feed but know you shouldn’t pick up because cat scratch fever is a real thing. You know people who have caught it. Everyone knows to tread carefully around an undomesticated cat.

Normally, I keep my claws politely retracted. Normally, I am a manageable housecat, content to quietly watch the madhouse from my window perch when it comes to the lunacy of modern politics. I have gone so far as to ban it from visitors to and artists of The Ruins. Because there is too much of it. It has seeped into our bloodstreams and turned us into bitter automatons of which side are you on? It’s a lowest common denominator game and no one wins…except the politicians.

Th…