Sweet home Alabama

March 11, 2016 • 1:45 pm

The title is, of course, a joke. Reader Matt photographed this tag in Huntsville, AL. As he said in his email, “Yet another American Taliban.”

20160311_115730 (1)

You noticed, didn’t you, that it’s a pickup truck, and also bears a Jesus fish? And there may be a gun rack in the back window, but I can’t be sure. I am sure of one thing: whoever’s driving that truck will vote Republican.

53 thoughts on “Sweet home Alabama”

    1. All Japanese manufacturers are non-union. Not sure he thought that far into it, but it is fitting from that aspect.

      1. The recently-closed Mitsubishi plant in Normal IL was UAW. But when it came time to leave, the union could do nothing about the company’s decision.

        It occurs to me that mosta them good ol’ boys ain’t union members (should there be any unions to join in Abalama), nor would they be inclined to make common cause against anything other than racial progress and gun control. Rest of the time they’s in them duck blinds and raisin’ hell in the roadhouses.

        There’s a culture there, but no civilization. Neil Young was, and is, right; the late Lynyrd Skynyrd part of the problem.

    2. So what? The Toyota Tundra is primarily made in America. Providing quality manufacturing jobs to hundreds of ordinary people is a heck of a lot more important than what multinational corporation has its name on it.

      1. Correct, they really have no use for a pickup such as this in Japan. It would be useless and too big to park any place. Also, they could never afford the gas this thing burns.

        Of course this guy probably has no use for a pickup either, but he must have one to look cool. You just throw your trash in back and it blows out as you drive down the road.

      2. It doesn’t fit the redneck persona.

        I have a Ford F350 Super Duty Diesel. No comments about my penis, please. 🙂

          1. I do have to tow things occasionally, and I need a pickup for various chores around the ranch and for plowing snow. It’s more truck than I really need, but the deal was very good and I don’t drive it much. I also have a couple of tractors. I use a six-cylinder Subaru Outback for my day-to-day driving and a 427 Superformance Cobra for fun. I also have a Harley Sportster that mostly gathers dust since I got the Cobra. I’d love to have a Tesla Model S p85d (I’m an early investor in Tesla and very bullish on them), but Idaho has no infrastructure for it. My dream car is a McLaren F1, which will remain a dream.

        3. I drive a 2000 Ford Ranger 4×4 but the thing has a German engine and a French drivetrain. You’d think the two of those wouldn’t mesh up right. But then I’m about 50/50 German and French myself.

          1. Mixed nationalities are not in the least unusual. My English Ford Mk 2 Escort (1978) has an English Ford motor and German Ford gearbox and diff. Works perfectly. The engine bolts are all UNC/UNF and the gearbox bolts metric. The engine-to-gearbox bellhousing bolts and starter motor fixing bolts are specials with M10 (metric) thread since they screw into the gearbox bellhousing and 1/2″ AF heads, presumably so the same spanners will fit them as fit the rest of the motor.

            My wife’s Mazda Tribute has a Ford Zetec motor.

            And so it goes…

            cr

  2. It’s not a gun rack, it’s a sideways-sliding window.

    And the fact that it’s a pickup truck means nothing, especially since it’s a Toyota and not a Chevy or Ford.

    1. Not sure where you live, but probably a good idea in general. I don’t see the point in advertising my political or religious thoughts on my car. Are people really influenced to vote for Bernie Sanders by a bumper sticker?

      I drive a Prius, so I guess that says something about my views, but then my republican neighbor also has a Prius. I do have a Route 66 license plate, as I a member of an organization that advocates for Route 66.

    2. There’s a “Darwinfish” (ichthus with hands and spanners) rodgering a Jeebusfish if your glass is bulletproof.

    3. Incidentally (sorry. So sorry!), the dentition on tyrranosaurids is not that of a frequent piscivore. Conical teeth, more widely spaced, is what would say “fish eater” to a palaeodentist. You want a Spinosaurus on your ichthus.

  4. I always cringe when I hear someone use the phrase “American Taliban.”

    The notion our Bible Belt Christianity is even remotely comparable to the Taliban is a failure to really grasp just how brutal and reactionary the actual Taliban are. ISIS has only brought this into starker contrast. It disrespects the victims of these attrocities to use it for an elitist or Red Tribe-Blue Tribe joke.

    Also the phrase shows up a lot in Regressive Left apologetics on Islam as a point of deflection. Muslim fundamentalists do X, which has no history in Western Christianity, yet certain ‘liberal’ commenters are endlessly amused by references to how those Conservative Christians in Texas, the South, etc. would do the same. Haw haw.

    1. I think the complaints you have are covered by the fact that Taliban is being qualified with American. I view it as an implication that western Enlightenment values temper the movement to the point where we don’t have large scale sectarian violence in the west anymore. That doesn’t make fantasies of anarchy and mayhem that requires stockpiles of weapons and the need for divine direction any less crazy. The Taliban gets to carry out these practices in real life. The American Taliban simply yearns for the day it will happen so we can usher in Armageddon. The regressive left may use this phrase too, but they’re hypocritically forgetting the part about Enlightenment values.

  5. “I am sure of one thing: whoever’s driving that truck will vote Republican.”
    And has a tiny penis.

    1. If driving a pickup implies a male [what if it is a female?] have a micropenis, would owning a microscope mean you have a “macropenis”?

      I’m not sure I get the correlation…

  6. The title is not really a joke. Alabama license plates used to have “Sweet Home” as the motto on the plate. I thought that was nice. Just recently I noticed an Alabama plate with “God bless America” instead. It looks like the plate in this photo has the God motto. I wonder if the state changed the plate motto in the past few years. I don’t normally see license plates of Alabama.

    1. Again, that pickup is made here in America. They have no use for a pickup like this in Japan.

  9. That’s not a fish emblem, it’s a godngun, I mean it’s a dugong. It needs moar flippers, tho.

  11. I just came from the Houston rodeo and in the vendor area there was a guy selling wooden crosses, one of which had pistols painted on the cross arms. Obviously, Jesus would approve.

  13. A Georgia fan went to see his doctor. “Doc, I want to be a true-blue Bulldog”. Doctor: “We’ll have to give you a frontal lobotomy”. Georgia fan: “Let’s do it!” When he comes to after the operation he asks, “How did it go, Doc?”. Doctor: “Unfortunately there were some complications. We had to remove your entire brain.” The (former) Georgia fan says, “Roll Tide!”

    Hope I didn’t offend any Georgia, Alabama, or SEC football fans. (You can change the names of the schools to suit your preferences).

  14. “Patience you must have my young padawan.”

    I am sure there were, or will be, a post on this, but it just caught my attention and provides a context:

    “American devotion to religion is waning, according to new study

    10 March 2016

    Religion in the United States is declining and mirroring patterns found across the western world, according to new research from UCL and Duke University in the United States.”

    “Professor David Voas (UCL Institute of Education) said: “These declines aren’t happening fast, but the signs are now unmistakable. It has become clear that American religiosity has been declining for decades, and the decline is driven by the same dynamic of generational change that has driven religious decline across the developed world.””

    “Professor Mark Chaves (Duke University), the study’s other author, said: “The US decline has been so gradual that until recently scientists haven’t had enough data to be sure the trend was real. The US has long been considered an exception to the modern claim that religion is declining, but if you look at the trajectory, and the generational dynamic that is producing the trajectory, we may not be an exception after all.””

    [ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0316/100316-American-devotion-to-religion-is-waning ]

  15. “You noticed, didn’t you, that it’s a pickup truck, and also bears a Jesus fish? And there may be a gun rack in the back window, but I can’t be sure.”

    I know this is counter intuitive, but often southerners, like the owner of this vehicle, can be among the most effusively friendly people you’ll ever meet. Sometimes, tradition is just another word for the gravity of bad ideas.

    2. Ah, but are they only friendly because they unthinkingly assume everyone they meet most likely shares all their views? That is to say, would this effusive friendliness remain of them verse to learn of your godless-ness?

  16. Screw Lynyrd Skynyrd. Here’s your free bird, guys. I hope Neil Young does remember, about the Southern Man, anyhow, and who cares if Old Neil put him down?

    Whew, might be time to take those three steps towards the door.

  17. Taliban. We’ve abandoned that civility nonsense then.

    Doesn’t fit the redneck personal. When the facts don’t match the stereotype, so much the worse for the facts.

    The conspiracy to elect Donald Trump.

  18. Just out of interest and assuming Matt was in the car we see reflected in the tailgate; what are you driving, Matt?
    From the distorted reflection it looks like a pretty cool 60’s / 70’s car but I’m probably way off.
    Now go ahead and make me jealous.

    Oh, and Stephen Barnard, it does seem a shame to let the Harley go to waste; I’ve got a Sportster-sized gap in my garage as it happens…..No money, but deffinitely a gap. Well, God loves a trier, as my granny used to say.🙏

  19. It’s a gross generalization but I live in South Carolina and I like to run. Let me tell you – when I see this truck coming toward me I give them a wide berth. Other cars and drivers will move over or slow down and the driver will almost always wave. When this guy sees me he moves nary an inch from his god-given lane. Who cares that his mirrors stick out a foot or that his tires spray gravel. He pays taxes dammit! Besides, anyone who runs when you could be out hunting has got to be gay.

    1. Have you tried wearing a shirt with ‘Gun licence revoked, chasing down prey on foot’ printed on the back?

          1. LOL!

            Yes, until he can go faster than a speeding bullet.

            (Or at least a pokey bullet.)

  20. I recently read an article where the author was still enaged about Obama claiming people cling to religion and guns and how that’s simply not true of the conservative movement in the U.S. Clearly, this truck owner must be a Marxist 😉

    1. Alabama University uses Crimson Tide for all its varsity sports teams. Specifically, though it is the football team that most people are going to be thinking of. Roll Tide is their slogan.

      Thus the joke at #13 above, from DrDroid.

      1. So, they intend to slaughter their opponents in a “crimson tide”? Or is it some reference that doesn’t transfer?.
        Rather reminds me of Cromwell’s alleged solution to the “Irish Problem”: ‘Kill them all; let God sort them out.’

        1. I think the “crimson” just relates to their school colors.

          I’m no ‘bama fan, but I do like their slogan, “Roll Tide!”

        2. Well their team uniforms are red with some white, so I just assumed it was a visual reference to seeing their players move towards their opponent’s goal line.

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