It's Mississippi For God's Sake, Of Course Cindy Hyde-Smith Will Win

Whenever statistics come out ranking states for things like rural poverty, public education funding, health care, and even obesity and tobacco use, my home state, Oklahoma almost always comes in toward the very bottom of the lists. That's the bad news. The good news is we hardly ever reach dead last because of one place in these United States.

It is a fact which has given rise to a saying common around here when such stats are published. It goes like this, "Thank God for Mississippi."

Indeed, it would seem as long as there is a Magnolia State, Oklahoma can rest assured there will always be some place in the republic which is poorer, dumber, and fatter than we are. It might be cold comfort, but we'll take what we can get.

Be that as it may, let's get to tomorrow when Mississippi elects a U.S. Senator to fill out the unexpired term of Thad Cochran who retired back in March of this year.

It hasn't been an easy process to get to this point. On November 6th, Mississippi, in keeping with it's reputation, held what it calls a, "jungle primary." What that means is everybody running, no matter what their political affiliation, is thrown onto the same ballot and if any one of them gets over 50% of the total votes cast they're in. If no one does then the top two finishers face each other in a runoff.

This year the two finalists are republican, Cindy Hyde-Smith and democrat, Mike Espy. Hyde-Smith has been in the Senate since April when she was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant. Espy is a former Mississippi congressman who served a brief term as Bill Clinton's Secretary of Agriculture.

From the beginning the big money was on Ms. Hyde-Smith. In fact no one outside of the state was paying any particular attention to the race because the seat seemed to be a republican lock. Then, as all these GOP cranks can't help but do, the Senator opened her mouth.

Not long after the dust cleared on the 6th of November she made an appearance in Tupelo, MS with a cattle rancher named, Colin Hutchinson. Playing to the crowd, Hyde-Smith pointed to Hutchinson and said, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the front row."

Ah yes, quite witty. Especially when you consider, according to the NAACP, that between 1882 and 1968, 581 African Americans were lynched in Mississippi. If you're keeping track of numbers like some do, you have, no doubt, noted the horrifying body count places ol' Miss in the lead for something. That's right, last no more.

Of course, given the current political climate, it also won't surprise anyone, Hyde-Smith's opponent, Mike Espy is black.

When the inevitable backlash to her comment began to build she described her statement as, "...an exaggerated expression of regard."

Regard for what? Hutchinson? Public Hangings? Hanging the opposition? We're all left to wonder since Ms. Hyde-Smith refuses to comment any further on her desire for a front row seat.

The vile insanity didn't end there though. A scant 10 days ago she was caught on tape telling a small group of supporters voter suppression, when it came to the people in other schools was, "...a great idea." When the video surfaced her campaign wrote off the comment as an, "obvious joke."

Right. In the 1970's while she was in school, Ms. Hyde-Smith attended Lawrence County Academy. It was one of the many private--read segregated--institutions which popped up in the state to circumvent federal desegregation laws. The academy's nickname was the Rebels, its mascot was named, Col. Reb and he ran around carrying a Confederate battle flag.

Finally, just to make sure her base knew exactly where she was coming from--after all, you can't be subtle with a lot of these stupid rubes--a photo from social media was released which showed her and someone else wearing replica confederate uniforms while sporting muskets.

The Don initially refused to support Hyde-Smith's appointment to the senate because when she began in politics she was a registered democrat. Her affiliation lasted ten years, long enough to make her untrustworthy in the eyes of The Big Orange Guy.

Not to worry though. He is all in for her now. So much so, he is going to Mississippi today to stump for her. Listen, you have to do something for someone who has voted with you 100% of the time--and now, thanks to overtly racist bull shit, has gone from a sure thing to being in an election day dog fight.

The only questions left are will she win despite the trail of awful dog whistle words, coupled with her crude old south attitude? Or, will decency and Mike Espy pull the big upset?

Oh please, the answer is easy. It's Mississippi for God's sake, of course she'll win.




11-26-18