Alabama's Mount Rushmore Includes Bear Bryant, No Martin Luther King

So, there has been lots of talk about "what is your Mount Rushmore" talk going around over the past months. AL.com decided to talk to their own readership and create a similar set up for the entire state of Alabama. To call the results revealing would be an understatement.

So the process was that they asked their readers to submit nominations, and the 50 most nominated people went on the ballot. Then voting opened up, and each person was allowed to vote for up to four people on the ballot. What did we wind up with? Let's check out the list:

1. Rick & Bubba 13.11% (7,108 Votes)
2. Bear Bryant 12.51% (6,778 Votes)
3. Helen Keller 7.33% (3,971 Votes)
4. Bo Jackson 5.63% (3,054 Votes)
5. Nick Saban 4.37% (2,367 Votes)
6. Bobby Allison 4.32% (2,344 Votes)
7. Hank Williams Sr. 3.55% (1,922 Votes)
8. James Spann 3.42% (1,854 Votes)
9. Rosa Parks 3.15% (1,706 Votes)
10. Martin Luther King 2.98% (1,617 Votes)
11. George Wallace 2.78% (1,507 Votes)
12. Hank Aaron 2.55% (1,380 Votes)
13. George Washington Carver 2.33% (1,263 Votes)
14. Condoleezza Rice 2.19% (1,188 Votes)
15. Nat King Cole 2.01% (1,091 Votes)
16. Harper Lee 1.98% (1,071 Votes)
17. Jefferson Davis 1.9% (1,032 Votes)
18. Wernher Von Braun 1.75% (948 Votes)
19. Jesse Owens 1.57% (851 Votes)
20. Gene Bartow 1.52% (824 Votes)
21. Charles Barkley 1.42% (772 Votes)
22. Booker T. Washington 1.37% (744 Votes)
23. Shug Jordan 1.27% (686 Votes)
24. Hank Williams Jr. 1.23% (664 Votes)
25. Jimmy Buffett 1.13% (615 Votes)
26. Randy Owen 1.12% (606 Votes)
27. Jeremiah Denton 1.08% (587 Votes)
28. Lurleen B. Wallace 0.98% (532 Votes)
29. Willie Mays 0.94% (510 Votes)
30. Forrest Gump 0.88% (479 Votes)
31. Chief Tuscaloosa 0.77% (415 Votes)
32. Hugo Black 0.69% (375 Votes)
33. Joe Louis 0.68% (370 Votes)
34. Sequoyah 0.62% (337 Votes)
35. W.C. Handy 0.57% (308 Votes)
36. Ronnie Van Zant 0.43% (235 Votes)
37. Channing Tatum 0.42% (230 Votes)
38. Tim Cook 0.41% (222 Votes)
39. Howell Heflin 0.4% (216 Votes)
40. Mae C. Jemison 0.37% (201 Votes)
41. Rick Hall 0.37% (201 Votes)
42. Joe Cain 0.34% (182 Votes)
43. John Sparkman 0.29% (156 Votes)
44. Big Jim Folsom 0.27% (149 Votes)
45. Oscar Underwood 0.27% (144 Votes)
46. Ralph David Abernathy 0.2% (106 Votes)
47. William Rufus King 0.19% (102 Votes)
48. William Wyatt Bibb 0.17% (93 Votes)
49. Jimmy Wales 0.16% (85 Votes)

O.K. First things first, let's just take a second to appreciate the fact that Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Booker T. Washington did not even come close to sniffing the top 10 spots on this list. There are more highlights than that, though. In order of either increased or decreased surprise:

9. Rosa Parks 3.15% (1,706 Votes)

10.Martin Luther King 2.98% (1,617 Votes)

11. George Wallace 2.78% (1,507 Votes)

12. Hank Aaron 2.55% (1,380 Votes)

13. George Washington Carver 2.33% (1,263 Votes)

Again I say to you: this is the citizens of the state of Alabama, or at least the portion of which that goes online and regularly reads AL.com, voting for the people they would want on their state's Mount Rushmore, essentially the greatest figures in the history of their state.

The original Rushmore is nothing but highly influential presidents. In the state of Alabama, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Hank Aaron barely made the top 10.

I'm afraid to keep combing through this li-- oh, jesus, seriously?

30. Forrest Gump 0.88% (479 Votes)

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. A person who doesn't even actually exist not only made the ballot, but subsequently garnere more votes than Joe Louis or Big Jim Folsom or... oh, hey there Magic Mike. Glad you could make an appearance *sigh*.

So at this point, it should come as absolutely zero shock who the top four (five) were that wound up on the actual mountain.

1. Rick & Bubba 13.11% (7,108 Votes)

2. Bear Bryant 12.51% (6,778 Votes)

3. Helen Keller 7.33% (3,971 Votes)

4. Bo Jackson 5.63% (3,054 Votes)

I can't decide which is worse, that the state of Alabama considers two morning radio DJs the people in the entire history of the state most worthy of such an honor, or that they consider both those two and Bear Bryant to be more important than Hellen Keller. Not like that blind lady ever did anything for anybody. At least she beat out Bo Jackson?

Oh yeah, lest I forget.

19. Jesse Owens 1.57% (851 Votes)

20. Gene Bartow 1.52% (824 Votes)

21. Charles Barkley 1.42% (772 Votes)

Although, seeing Saint Gene of Birmingham nestled in between Jesse Owens and Charles Barkley seems somehow appropriate, given what I know about those three men and the people who appear to have voted in this poll.