Remember how upset trump was that no one would perform at his inauguration and he had to get some runner up from American Idol?

And notice that they aren’t doing it with Rage Against the Machine or another band who would likely sue them or find some other way to really do anything about it.

Same thing could be said for East Tennessee, which was actually pro-Union at the time, but now is more “confederate” than any place that was actually in the confederacy. But dear God, don’t even try to tell any of the locals that.

A large portion of my husband’s family in Virginia have made or currently do make their living in coal mining, including my father-in-law. My FIL is a foreman and something like the 2nd or 3rd head person at the mine; he makes bank. He’ll probably be lucky enough that coal will hold out until after he retires in a few…

I would be frightened to hear the results of a poll that asked West Virginians if they knew which side WV fought on in the Civil War. Going by the sheer number of confederate flags I see on a daily basis, far too many would think that they fought for the south.

Because they remember when they were working in the mines and making more than 50k a year. Some of the more skilled positions you’d be making close to 100k with overtime. Where else could they make that kind of money in WV with a high school (if that) education?

I always find it amazing that West Virginia exists because they were on the right side of the civil war, but now they’re much more “southern” than most of Virginia.

“non-college educated white men are doubling down on their love for him.

She did, but all it took was Fox Mews cutting the context away from her speech on the subject and playing only the part where she says “We’re gonna put coal-miners out of work*” a few times to convince my family and entire home state of WV to call for her head. God forbid they use thier smartphones to actually look…

Didn't Hillary have a plan to set up training for out-of-work coal industry employees, offering training for new careers, future-proofing their lives? I feel like she did. But God forbid we do something new. Gotta keep doing the same soul-crushing, environment-harming, health-hazard thing my pappy n' grandpappy did!

There have been a lot of poverty porn thinkpieces written about Appalachia in general and WV in particular since the election. Most are not very good (here’s looking at you, JD Vance).

I’ve been in WV for the last 5 years. When I’m done with this job in about a year, I will leave and never return. And I’m not one of those people who brought a whole lot of preconceived notions about WV to the place when I moved here. I really did want to meet people, become part of a community, and like the place. I…

The only hope I have is that his “ground soldiers” are mostly poor and can’t take the time off of work to throw a coup. But I certainly believe his army of angry, disaffected single white men will answer the call. The perpetuation of the “conspiracy” coming true will undermine every government after Trump.

Decades of brainwashing have convinced the downtrodden that the worst, most dangerous jobs in this country are their only source of pride.

“Indeed, all political dialogue from start to finish was conducted at a third grade level.”

The sad part is that selling this type of politics is so so easy. It’s easiky digestible, simple, and requires zero soul searching or sacrifice. Actual political change is hard and boring and requires caring about something beside yourself. It’s like trying to sell broccoli, which is healthy and not fun and what you…

Interestingly, the geographical features mentioned in Country Roads (Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River) are not in West Virginia, but in the western part of Virginia. The song is not about the state of West Virginia at all.

I can’t believe there’s still people that think coal is going to make a comeback.  Nor do I understand why the fuck anyone would be clamoring to work in a coal mine again.  They’re truly hellish places to work.

It never stops to hurt my heart that Trump is president. Ultimately, not because of the ugly qualities that this article perfectly captures but because it told me something that I didn’t know about the working, everyday 63 million fellow Americans with whom we share the country. I used to love road trips and exploring…

His real first name was Lancelot, but he was so talented at bringing projects in more or less on time and more or less on budget, that in his 18th-century lifetime he was given the nickname “Capability.”