Jeff Foxworthy, the king of rednecks, performed a couple of shows today in the capital of the redneck kingdom — my home state of West Virginia. The Charleston Gazette has the report:

In 80 minutes Foxworthy worked through what could only be the tip of the iceberg of his near endless supply of tales and tidbits about regular folks, who may or may not be rednecks. The subject, of course, made Foxworthy famous.

The whole “you might be a redneck” line is his personal calling card and the merchandise derived from it probably generates more money than most county governments in this state, but it’s only a catchphrase attached to the larger idea of what Foxworthy is about: everyday people.

That last line is key. Rednecks are everyday people. Foxworthy gets it, and that’s why he has made a small fortune laughing with his kind rather than at them, as bigoted elitists do.

“Foxworthy doesn’t blame. He doesn’t point fingers. He just shrugs. Yeah, he might be a redneck, but you probably are, too.”