The Smirking Jezebels From The Appalachians

Tory wierdo Boris Johnson coined the above phrase in his now infamous apologia for supporting the war. It's facile and silly, but it made me realize that the two most vivid symbols of the war are two 21 year-old female soldiers from West Virginia --- Jessica Lynch and Lynndie England --- one blond, one brunette, one the embodiment of American goodness, the other the hated representive of America's dark side.

It appears that the line between good and evil can run right down the center of one little state --- a little state that was created during the civil war when those appalachians refused to join the confederacy. Perhaps it is, and always been, the beating heart of America, warts and all.