Southern Republicans think Obama is a Muslim. Southern Republicans are incredibly stupid.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Are we really at all surprised that, when asked if President Obama is Christian or Muslim, an overwhelming majority of Republicans in Alabama and Mississippi say either Muslim or "not sure"?

First, these are Republicans we're talking about. Not exactly the smartest lot on the planet.

Second, these are southern Republicans, so ignorant they make their non-southern brethren look downright Einsteinian by comparison.

(Of course, I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with being Muslim, just that these Republicans are incredibly stupid. And, of course, if he were a Muslim, their intense bigotry would be even more obvious than it is already.)

And that's not all. As Jonathan Chait also notes:

The poll also finds that two-thirds of the Republicans in both states do not believe in evolution. Two-thirds of Alabama Republicans also believe interracial marriage ought to be legal, compared with 54% of Mississippi Republicans. Progress!

Uh, yeah, sure. I guess when the starting point is somewhere in the Dark Ages, any movement in the direction of civilization can be called progress.

Alabama and Mississippi -- the heart of the Republican Party!