Carnival of the Magnolias II

Welcome to the second edition of the Carnival of the Magnolias, where we highlight the best posts from southern bloggers over the past week. The carnival has turned out to be a tremendous success and I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed articles to help get this thing rolling. Now, let's get on with the show.

First we stop in Seabrook, Texas where Jack Cluth comments on the recent news of Sheryl Swoopes coming out of the closet. Jack hopes for the day that a star or celebrity can come out of the closet and people will say "so what?" Uhh...Jack in case you hadn't noticed we've already gotten to that point...but I digress.

Next stop is south Florida where Yoshi recounts his tale of working at Starbucks during Hurricane Wilma. Yes, believe it or not, there are people that will go out in the middle of a hurricane for things like Starbucks...and then have the nerve to complain about something...sheesh.

Our road leads us on to Virginia where Doug comments on the "secret prisons" holding Al-Qaeda members. Let's treat it like a war. Right on brother!

Next it's on to Longstreet's blog where he sums up the battle that is sure to come with the Alito nomination. Bring it on!! As the years go on people will probably forget how Bush almost blew it with the Miers nomination. Instead he'll be revered for giving us Samuel Alito and could go down as one of the greatest conservative presidents ever. Of course, that's not something I'd particularly agree with but I'm glad he nominated Alito nonetheless.

Our next stop is West Virginia where Don Surber comments about military recruiting efforts. He points out how the intellectual elitists are quick to point out the fact that they have the right to speak freely but leave defending that right to us southern hicks.

We head further south to Georgia where Brad Warbiany comments on correspondence with Senators regarding the "Fiscal Watch Team." Much of the recent decrease in spending has resulted from pressure from the blogosphere particularly with the ongoing Porkbusters campaign.

We head back to Virginia where Norm Leahy urges conservative voters to get out and vote in the upcoming governor's election. The primary Rebulican candidate, Jerry Kilgore, doesn't have the backing of most conservatives in the state so Norm suggests voting for principles rather than staying home on election day. I agree 100%.

It's back to Longstreet's blog as he points out the potential ramifications of a "national health insurance" program. While free health care sounds nice it simply won't work and will give the government too much power over its citizens.

We end this week's trip back in Old Dominion as I'm Not Emeril points out the fact that the Democrats have done nothing for Virginia over the past 150 years. Plants and factories have closed and the region has suffered yet Kaine insists that the Dems have created "15,000 new jobs."

Thanks to all who contributed. If you're from the south and would like to enter a post in the Carnival of the Manolias, then take a look here. Entries are due by Sunday night at 7 PM EST. It's best to use the carnival submission form to send in your entries.

Carnival of the Magnolias III will be hosted next Monday by Alabama Improper. If you're interested in hosting a future carnival email me at everyman dot blog at gmail dot com.

Cross posted at the Southern Blog Federation. Linked to TTLB's ubercarnival and Basil's Blog.