Tropical cyclone shoo-shoos, occupied West Florida and Tee Vee talking heads……

Folks Tee Vee news is all about good looks and the ability to read from a teleprompter, not critical thinking so it did not surprise me that a weather channel air-head referred to the Mississippi Coast as The Land Mass Between New Orleans and Mobile, which in turn created a social media firestorm as Mississippians have a well-known inferiority complex, fueled by a world-wide perception the land mass is populated by ignorant red necks.  Worth noting is that perception is based on more than a kernel of truth as there was a massive display of systemic ignorance up Crystal Springs way recently for example.  I personally have no problem accepting that reality for it is just that.  Mississippians have many redeeming qualities though, it just does not get the press attention.

I mention all this because it appears to my untrained eye much of the land mass indignation is coming from “Old Mississippi”, despite the fact the ignorant Weather Channel talking head was in reality speaking of occupied West Florida, which was ripped away from Florida Territory in 1817 and parceled among 3 states.  Picturesque St Francisville Louisiana was our capital and we even had a flag that would not alienate a large swath of the populace.

As YallPolitics’ Frank Corder has pointed out, occupied West Floridians are seen as a different breed of cat by the good folks in Old Mississippi thus it is rare anyone from the coast not from Jackson County gets elected to state wide political office.  Such is a practical manifestation of the fact we’re culturally different here on the occupied West Florida Coast.  Along those lines this is why I find the indignation to the Weather Channel idiocy amusing in and of itself.  The coast has always been a convenient prop for the rest of the state that way. How much better off we would be if Florida had managed to hang on to us.

Moving right along I thought Bob Breck at Fox 8 was a bit of a drama queen Sunday night but he had plenty of company in the video realm.  Natural disasters are truly a politicians paradise as Jr. pointed out this morning. Meantime the Weather Channel talking heads have moved along from Sunday’s land mass gaffe to comparing a tropical storm in Isaac to a major Hurricane in Katrina.  Other than the date it is projected to make landfall this storm has nothing in common with Hurricane Katrina and that gives me the strong urge to smack these talking heads right in the kisser.

That said I know there are peeps in the Slabbed Nation that are in economic exile or are, for whatever reason, not living in this area.  If you want to see the Tee Vee talking heads all the local stations are streaming their news coverage on the internet: Fox 8, WWL Tee Vee, WDSU Tee Vee.  I’m listening to WQRZ since it is covering Hancock County but I must admit that I laughed my ass off yesterday when the DJ admitted she had no clue where George County is located.  Twitter is also chock full of information but the two websites I use to get the skinny in lieu of the Tee Vee are here and here.

Hoping all in the Slabbed Nation stay safe in the coming bad weather.

sop