Mountain Rebels

In reading the response of the locals to Eric Rudolph's life as a fugitive, I'm reminded of the difference between the simple history I was taught as a child and the more complex, and more interesting, political dynamic I still enjoy reading and thinking about. Sara and others have made several comments at Atrios' blog worth reading regarding the history of this sentiment. Whiskey has given way to pot farming, but the hatred for the eastern aristocrats and federal troops remains. (Sara's comments regarding high schools are later corrected, but she still has some insight to share).

But the parallel for Pennsyltucky, where I live, is often forgotten — remember the Whiskey Rebellion? I think this is because, unlike Western North Carolina, we were blessed with the Three Rivers that meet at Pittsburgh and the water route through Erie. With the trade possibilities, and then the steel and coal industries, which drew thousands of immigrants here, the whiskey trade was not a life or death. Don't get me wrong, there's still moonshine and marijuana, but there were other factors that changed the destiny of this country.

Still, both areas were settled by Scots-Irish immigrants (that's where the yinz comes from), and anti-abortion sentiment runs very strongly here. In fact, there was another anti-abortion terrorist from this area who was supported by the local Assembly of God splinter church. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered the story and the local weekly ignored it (their sister paper, however, did cover it, at least through AP reports). It is interesting that John Ashcroft's plea to stop the terrorist was cited as an important step in apprehending him.