strom and bad bloggers

An interesting piece on Strom Thurmond’s 1948 run for president, including some interesting context on the “gendering” of Southern politics. (See the “Importance of Virility” section.)
On a completely unrelated note: I suppose one should expect it, what with the holidays and all, but haven’t there been a lot more “woe is me” blog posts of late? You know, the sort of teenage drivel that, before the Internet, was left quite happily in private journals? “My life is sooo bad, so much worse than any other life that’s ever been lived!” “My life is so fraught with drama!” “To an unnamed individual: I hate you, hate you, hate you!” “Should a movie someday be made about this period in my life — as it surely must! — only Meryl Streep would be able to fully embody the dramatic tension that lay within my very soul!” Geez.