OK, your responses to whether blue dots in red states would find a better life elsewhere amazed me. For one thing, I hope you folks will keep sending us news and pictures (also through Facebook) from where you live -- that helps us develop stories. Meanwhile, it's fun watching you get to know each other. With your help, I can try to keep the blue dots thing going. Consider this blog a front porch. (And if anyone finds a response from a red dot in a blue sea, I would love to include them in our conversation.)
A few of your comments about life as a blue dot, starting with our sizeable Idaho contingent (picture above of Democrat Gulch, from Alison Smart in Hailey):
While I have plenty of Republican family and friends, they don't seem to be as radical - maybe they are moderated by living with all of the "blue dots" in the Treasure Valley.No matter the politics, I love Idaho. Especially, the beautiful outdoors. Things would have to get really bad for me to want to leave. And even then, I think it is important to have a progressive voice in the reddest of states.
Tereasa L. Bendele-Nichols writes:
What I wouldn't give to be blue dot in Boise! I live in the red-ist part of the state, Southern Idaho. I do think of leaving, often. My feeling has be eased lately by the discovery of a few fellow blue dots in my peer group. My co-workers know that I am not one to talk politics (or nutrition/food or organic farming) with. It can make work days long... It's nice when I travel up to Boise to go to the co-op once a month, to see more Obama '12 bumper stickers that match mine! I think I've seen one other here in Twin Falls.
I'm 45 and have lived in Idaho my entire life. Being blue in a red state can be frustrating but it can also be rewarding. Engaging with friends and families and trying to create seeds of doubt in their Fox News/talk radio world view by exposing them to pesky facts they are unaware of. I'm a saboteur behind enemy territory.
I just moved back to blue Illinois from red Indiana. It is a feeling of relief. I hope to not be constantly punished socially and economically for my values. In Indiana, racist, sexist, homophobic comments are the norm in the workplace. (I work in higher education.) But my progressive point of view is offensive. In Illinois, those intolerant comments are not socially acceptable. People may hold them, but they are not fit for public conversation. Even though Indiana and Illinois are side-by-side, Indiana has much lower education rate, and is pretty typical of red states. It is harder to make friends, fit into the workplace, and find community when you are a blue dot.
As a young progressive living deep down in a Georgia small-town, I can say without hesitation that I love the South. I am absolutely in the political minority in my area--as a matter of fact, the Republican Party of my county erected a billboard on the interstate that implied our President is a Stalinist Communist. What outsiders tend to forget, however, is that people are more than their political beliefs.
The South is a beautiful place populated by a beautiful people. The culture of community and brotherhood in this part of the country is unlike anywhere else I have lived before, and I have seen time and time again how willing Southerners are to go out of their way to help strangers and neighbors alike. The famed "Southern Hospitality" isn't a romanticized element of a forgotten past--it is the living legacy of a people who feel spiritually connected to those around them.
Do I disagree with my friends and neighbors regularly? Absolutely. But if anything, I find it to be a stimulating exchange. Being constantly surrounded by people who confirm what you already believe in inhibits growth and encourages stagnation of thought. By talking about politics with those who disagree, I am able to gain a deeper understanding of my own beliefs and a broader perspective of opposing viewpoints.
I don't consider myself a "blue dot in a red state." I consider myself an American in the company of Americans.
There is no "them;" there is only "us." And the people of the South--though I so frequently disagree with them politically--are in my experience caring, kind, and deserving of consideration beyond stereotypes.
I grew up in and went to Undergrad in California. Now I'm in Atlanta. Atlanta is a very blue blue dot, if voting records are anything to go by. However, the people I talked to when I first got here were not the kind of liberals I am used to. The thing that bothered me most is that they had a much more limited scope of what liberal ideals are practically achievable; this probably comes from dealing with the ubber-scary conservative Georgia state government, where, for example, some people like to compare women to farm animals. My life improved significantly, after I joined a UU church. My advice to blue dots is to get involved with an organization, like the Unitarian Church, that is actively involved in fighting for liberal ideals. It's much easier to deal with the conservative dominance in public policy, now that I know people involved in trying to make it better and when I have time to participate myself, it's really rewarding!
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Thank you Laura.
I am so grateful my parents left Oklahoma in 1960.
Unfortunately, they moved to a red county in California.
Doooohh!!!
I also am a blue dot in a red county in California. Our county also has a very high rate of residents on government entitlements and very high unemployment. It is very frustrating to see it elect conservative GOP Congressman every two years. The area continues to vote against their own interests and I honestly do not understand it.
What a pretty blue retriever! Reminds me of taking my doggie out hiking in Montana. They have such dry brown grass out there.
Hey now, if I escaped Fresno so can you! ;)
California's red counties are probably some of the meanest places to be. It's like someone found a way to combine all of the worst memes about the South and all of the worst memes about California into one rotting cesspool of intolerance and religious bigotry.
No sense of community, no hospitality, shallow people seeking status and acclaim, and all of the sexism, racism and homophobia you can imagine. Also doesn't hurt that it's all pretty much blighted Desert now outside of the National Parks either.
Stay strong! :)
OK, Crackhead. Where were you from in Oklahoma? I was born in Tulsa and lived there through most of my school years, except for a couple of years in Pittsburgh when I was in high school. After that, I've lived in Dallas; New York; Wilmington, DE; Los Angeles and Marin County, CA; and now Montana. I've only gone back to visit Tulsa once since I left there for good in 1970. It was nice to know for sure I never wanted to live there again.
My favorite place, of course, was Northern California and I did spend 17 years there. Mill Valley is a VERY blue dot in a blue blob (SF, southern Marin, Berkeley). But it's so expensive that you have to be constantly running full-tilt on the hamster wheel to make it work. I decided in 2006 to transition to a quieter life. Now I have land and four horses and a dog. I wake up to gorgeous mountain scenery. Wish I had more friends here, but I expect that will come as I get acquainted with more people in the community. (I've only been in this town since June.)
Anyway, I've been enjoying reading about you all. Thanks for sharing.
Know how you all feel. I'm a red dot in a sea of blue. Sometimes I just shake my head when I hear conversations.
I'm from Perry.
You know? ...... the place that caught the Oklahoma City Bomber.
Currently residing in the Greater Los Angeles area.
Ground zero for the economy-pocolypse courtesy of Arnold the Governator.
The California economy is getting better since Democrats decriminalized foreigners.
And Baja Oklahoma escaped the Great Recession by NOT outlawing Mexicans.
Life is what happens when you are making other plans.
Maybe its the flu, but maybe there is some surreal connection of politics art innocence and alienation expressed in the movie Pleasantville. This quest for serenity and peace- first by a monotonic order imposed by a quiet benevolent authoritarian order, and later multicolored but kept within a private sacred space which cannot be violated. There is something very curious here to ponder. The being pleasant thing and loving the surface pleasantness. I know it well from my visits to relatives in Texas with the most disgusting political perspectives you can imagine just a few microns below the surface. And yet these people are not monsters- they are very loving relatives, family-oriented and supportive in every other way.
The theme of being alienated from the people around you in your everyday life is not at all new, along with the strategies to cope. What is new and scary is what happens when so much breaks down fast. There's this part where the Mayor is mobilizing the reactionaries who are alarmed when they return back with a "Honey, I'm home", don't have their dinner ready for them on the table.
People become multicolor dots- and the black and whiters call them "coloreds" And it drives them to riot.
Youtube: Across the Universe with imagery of the pleasantville reactionaries rioting in pleasantville. Maybe sometimes the blue dots like that-clinging to an island of serenity in a sea of madness.
John
Feel better soon (meant to tell you that yesterday oops)
One thing about our President that drives many of his detractors to distraction is the fact that in addition to every other way in which he is superior to them, he's simply a better, nicer person than they are - a real gentleman.
Not me. When I think of the many ... boneheaded things McConnell and McCain have done, when I think about the life lessons Palin is teaching her daughter by selling her to reality tv, when I hear how rude Foxx is to people she thinks of as inconsequential, when I think about the Kochs, Trump, Adelson, or Murdoch taking for granted that their millions put them beyond the law, I want to ... do something vigorous.
Mr. Obama tries to find some way to get them to see that some other way is in their best interest. Damn him for being so sane...
'do something vigorous'...I am SO stealing that! THANKS!
IN response to MANGST98
I agree with everything you say but I am just too old to do anthing vigorous. Just remembered, "The pen is mightier than the sword".
As a purple dot...I feel completely left out and alone after reading this.
the blue dots along the canadian border are forming nicely. New Canada and universal healthcare. let the red states leave.
I live in Charlotte, NC. Once a month 2 of my liberal friends and I have lunch to talk about current events and politics. We are all fans of 'The Rachel Maddow Show" so many of conversations begin with - omg - did you hear Rachel last night talk about voter suppression or now - the new GOP gerrymandering - as the GOP tries to rig the next election.
Living in a red state and being a liberal and being a white male - a lot of people assume I am a Republican and say the most outrageous things - such as 'Obama' is a King and we have to get rid of him any way we can'.
I depend on TRMS, Hardball, The Last Word, and other MSNBC programs to check in to make sure my thinking isn't crazy. Plus I am a huge fan of Nate Silver and Richard Engel!!
My friends and I will continue to turn NC to blue but we have some hard case wing nuts down here in the South.
Peace out! I am a happy blue dot in a beautiful state but is currently a red state.
Tom Sawyer. move to Dilworth. It's a lot bluer.
I'm in NC too. I think we can turn this red state blue,,,look at all the rednecks here. I live in Franklin County. As long as no one messes with the guns, we'll be okay.
Greensboro, myself. It is a mix, definitely some blue folks here, but I had a strange conversation with a delivery man who said "I try to be informed, and I listen to a lot of talk radio. I think Obama has a secret plan to destroy America." I very politely disagreed, but the conversation ended there.
I think Obama has a secret plan to destroy America!
Really? What's that?
Can't say, it's a secret.
I'm here in Michigan where the Republicans are chipping away at our state little by little. Snyder is thinking about upping car registration fees to help pay for road repair. I'm waiting to see how my Michigan taxes are going to be, from my understanding, he's taken away many of our tax breaks and given them to corporations. Of course, let's not forget, we are now a right to work state where unemployment hasn't changed much and then there are the new anti-abortion measures. Rumor has it that he's "thinking" about changing our electoral college votes before the next presidential race. I'll be receiving my Masters degree by summer, my oldest daughter graduates from high school and we're seriously thinking of a move to New Mexico. I had initially thought Arizona, but they have an equally idiotic Governor. I do have friends in the process of moving to Portland Oregon, so who knows, I'd consider that as well....
I vote for Portland.
Oregon is a really nice state in general. I have lived in Washington State all of my life myself, but if I had to live in another state Oregon would be pretty high on the list.
I just can't understand why anyone would back the Tea Party extremeist. I have Republican friends that don't believe in socialism, but I believe that socialism is a neccessa
ry part of our government. I hate that I live in a red state...NC...but I think the majority is for Obama as long as you don't try to take their guns! I live in a redneck state...a redneck county..you'll never get his state to turn blue if you mess with their guns.
What the TPers need to understand is that the TP is a made up thing that may have sucked in some supporters. But the truth is, the corporatism the TP backs up is fascism.
Yes, there are Republicans that got sucked into a false narrative. Sort of like a script being acted out. The manipulation needs attention. They are being manipulated into cutting SS and Medicare, things even Republicans love.
There will be no gun taking, but that is what they are told. Not true.
Nancy, I live in a deep red county, and each day I can predict what outlandish misinformation people will parrot by reading right wing nut headlines the previous evening. The power of repeated rhetoric on the weak minded makes one wonder how some of them can make intelligent decisions when holding a gun.
Now, where I work, some are expressing the desire to bring guns to work; one of which has a difficult time walking without falling down when sober. They are good people, with no bad intentions, but I have never been more inclined to avoid working directly with some in my life as I have this last week.
No one wants to mess with legal gun owners, or their guns. And we sure as hell don't want them using their guns to mess with the rest of us. It's called consideration for others, and a "safety in the midst of insanity" issue.
It was much more pleasant being a blue dot in New Orleans where I lived for 27 years and which is a sweet big blue button in this red state; however, I was born in the blood red of North Louisiana, and my now 91 year old mother (something of a blue dot herself) needed me back in 2005, two months before Katrina hit. I have tried reasoning with the people up here, but they argue by shouting--the loudest wins. The worst pain I have caused them is to make them think. Thankfully, I teach at an HBCU where the minds are open and the hearts are huge. They keep me going. Nevertheless, there are huge Confederate flags everywhere, and hatred spews so quickly and so uselessly at the sight of the smallest, most tasteful Obama/Biden bumper sticker. When I'm feeling particularly outrageous and bold, I wear my Obama or my Hillary tee shirts to the massive Wallyworld set in the center of a circle of churches. As I push my buggy down the long aisles, I hear the hisses happening all around, and I smile happily.
I am a blue dot in Indiana. Thank, God, however, it is NORTHERN Indiana. I have many liberal friends here. The problem I have is mainly with people on Facebook. I am an Indiana University alum. Bloomington, at least the campus, was very liberal when I was there. I am happy here and would miss Lake Michigan terribly if I moved. I also enjoy my city's proximity to Chicago.
I'm also from Northern Indiana but from south county. Blue dot, red town, blue county, red state. I'm surrounded by rednecks who are convinced the black president is going to take all their guns away, make them personally pay for some woman's abortion (which she uses as her means of birth control, you know) who thinks Sarah Palin is the smartest woman ever in politics and the N word is their favorite adjective. They are tolerant of gays but you still hear the childish snickering and stupid jokes. I try not to read the comment section of the local newspaper because I usually want to wash my eyes out afterwards. And then there's the Facebook posts from the Conservative Club, One Nation Under God etc that these people fall for and they will start screaming at you if you fact check them. What scares me is these misinformed angry rednecks are the ones who are probably carrying a gun in one hand and a beer in the other.
You can put an eensy weency itty bitty blue dot in Yuma, AZ, because I'd swear I'm the only liberal here. It's farmers, retirees, and military. They all love Arpaio and Brewer. Speaking of Brewer, how about her 180 on setting up a healthcare exchange? I wonder what they're going to do with THAT?
Kerry, I figure she has some kind of plan to get her hands on it. She certainly isnt doing it out of the kindness of her heart - lol.
It's funny, I am a Demo in AZ, have been pondering this blue dot thing for a bit, and it just hit me, "Oh, that's me!". All I can contribute that might be worthy in this thread of thought is that it's amazing how hard it is to get the Right to simply think. The AZ Right is stultified politically to the point of flat lined political-brain scans. Living in Phoenix is not the same as living in Rural AZ, thank god. But it's still pretty shocking to deal with the Neanderthals in this State's Gov.
Blue Dot here in SLC UT. I'd put my city up against the bluest of blue cities SLC has been blue in a sea of red for over 4 decades... just outside of the city limits is crazy town. I can't stand this state, but my liberal enclave makes it moderately tolerable.
I'm a rare native Blue Dot here in Summerville, SC (greater Charleston area) in one of the most rabid of red states. Fortunately lots of northerners are moving into the area and some of them are liberal which makes things a lot more tolerable. My relationship with South Carolina is love-hate : hate the prevailing intolerance and love the beautiful landscape. I am often sad and embarrassed that my native state is so backward leaning but am determined to try to turn it blue. Yes, I have lived elsewhere and frankly will likely end up out of state but I regret that is so.
Not to wail that you all have no idea how lonely, isolated and helpless one can feel, may I suggest that you imagine living in Alabama? Mobile, Alabama to be exact. One of the oldest cities in the country, home of the original Mardi Gras (yep, predates NOLA). I have dear like minded friends however am surrounded by ultra conservative, regressive, individuals. The mystery to me is why people in a state as poor and backward as Alabama continue to vote against their own best interests? I emailed Richard Shelby this week, urging him to do the right and moral act of supporting the ban on assault weapons/pointing out that a very poor state has made him an extremely wealthy man. I am "old" and it would be difficult to relocate, yet I think about it all the time. I really worry about the long term impact of the BP spill, since I live near the Gulf of Mexico. Life expectancy is 49th, high school dropout rate is abnormally high, ditto infant mortality. What matters? That the stupid Crimson Tide won a national championship, a modern day Django. What a pity. High crime, over crowded prisons, pro gun, anti environment, the election in 2010 resulted in a clean sweep of members of the Democratic Party in state offices. First order of business was a vile anti immigration act.
Well there are two more blue dots here in Idaho...Mountain Home Idaho. Land of 20 churches and a Walmart. During most elections here in Elmore County a Dem doesn't even run. My hubby and I are a bit odd, he's active duty military and I served my 6 years and got out. We own guns but nothing crazy...just two hand guns and a few shot guns that his dad gave him. We have been stationed here in Mountain Home for the last 4 years and we have had enough. We tried being part of the community but when your an Atheist family living along the Mormon line it doesn't go all that well. We really wanted to start a business here but you have to be part of the "good old boys club" to even get a store front to rent. Last week we finally called quits, hubby put in a request for transfer. I hope in another year we will be in England or Japan. I won't raise our son around these gun crazy fools that can only read one line in the entire Constitution
I feel your pain Misty, beautiful landscape with such a repulsive population, you are not the only source I have heard from, about Idaho.
Wyoming is full of "Cowboy Rednecks ",,, and , with one mindset, me, me, me,,,, and $$$$
I too live as a blue dot in the red state of Louisiana. I am in Houma, where oil and gas are king and you can make a six figure salary working off shore with just a 5th grade education. It is frustrating to say the least, especially since we have lived in Chicago, Cincinnati, Miami and Key West before moving here. As a white woman I too have been asked why I am not a Republican. Most recently when I was working as an election commissioner. The person asking was my African American neighbor, who is a Republican. She was shocked that I was not. What can I say? It is a strange, strange place this deep south. And Miami and Key West are not the south.
I live in a red state with a blue heart - Georgia. If Atlanta was it's own state, then it would be blue. The surrounding counties are mixed and the further away you get for the urban sprawl the redder it gets.
What aggravates me is when I go to vote, there are almost as many if not more races with only one candidate and that candidate is a republican. In the 2012 Presidential Election, I had to vote republican more than I did democratic but I did it - I didn't want them to find any excuse, like not filling out a complete ballot - to discount my vote for Pres. Remember, we're the state of photo IDs required to vote and the Mind Control theory of some of our celebrated republican "representatives". Really, with just a little more money and support from the Democratic National Committee, I believe that GA could actually turn blue. I'm begging someone, Anyone, to run against Saxby Chambliss and at least give me another option. Whoever you are I'll vote for you, I promise!
I believe the 2014 elections are critical in terms of who controls congress for the foreseeable future. The repubs gerrymandered away almost all of our access to progressive candidates and of having the remotest chance of getting them elected. The Dems need to counter that by getting the voters out in record numbers in a non-Presidential election year.
Georgia has the most counties of any state in the union. That means LOTS and LOTS of little county vs city government skirmishes all across the state. If the DNC would make GA one of their top priorities in 2014, they could chip away at republican support by using the age old "divide and conquer" strategy.
Some parts of the state will never be anything other than red, especially the rural parts of North Georgia and deep South Georgia but it's the more heavily populated parts of the state surrounding Atlanta where republicans are most vulnerable. Although in Cobb County (home of Chip,the mind control freak, Rogers), I don't think they even wear blue much less vote blue.
So Deborah Wasserman Schultz, if you're reading this, please come to the aid of your fellow liberals land locked in this sea of red. I swear I see more blue dots on the horizon.
I can't live in provincial Georgia much longer. NPR has been my lifeline to reality. I never thought Obama stood a chance in 2008 because I lived surrounded by trucks with 'W' stickers. I was stunned when he won. I was relieved to see so little open support for Romney down here. Probably the most disturbing aspect is seeing FoxNews EVERYWHERE, in waiting rooms and every public place. The invective seething from the TV keeps everyone angry, hysterical, paranoid and looking for conspiracies. Sometimes I can almost feel the rage in the air. I don't understand actually wanting to live so enraged from day to day.
I experience this also. I mostly take my lunch to go and plug my headphones in and tune it out. It seems seriously Orwellian sometimes. It's 100% propaganda blaring all day long.
I live in North Atlanta surburb. I've lived here a long time and it just gets redder and redder. I posted last night about losing some of my circle to out of state jobs, a couple to cancer and now I find myself without friends from the old days and feeling very isolated. My daughter wants me to move to Seattle but I have arthritis problems so the weather is prohibitive. But I may have to buy long underwear and tough it out. The new neighborhood I moved to is the most unfriendly place I have ever seen. It is really sad. Atlanta did not used to be this way. Southern hospitality and all the good that goes with that but in the last decade, the first thing a new neighbor wants to know about you is whether you are conservative or liberal. The latter draws hateful stares. And that person you just met, once learning your political affiliation, will not even wave at you in the car, much less come over for a cup of coffee. Guess I'm just not used to that sort of behavior. I've never immediately judged anyone based on how they vote. Then they want to know what church you attend and if you say none .. well, that's the cincher, I guess. I have actually had my mailbox egged. It could have been my car but I do keep it in the garage. It is totally not the South I grew up in and I don't like it. So long underwear .. get ready. At least I can see my grandson grow up.
OMG, dollarshort. My sympathies!
Gayle, I don't don't get hateful stares. But my wife (who some people know works for the federal government) and I (college professor) are conspicuously ignored. We don't even wear our (blue) colors, no bumper stickers (except "Mean People Suck") and don't even talk politics. Problem is, we are sufficiently educated to fall into the bizarre "Liberal Elite" category. When we first arrived here four years ago, we invited neighbors to two house parties and some even came. Since then we haven't been invited anywhere and seem to be invisible. We are planning a move soon just so we can have friends and friendly neighbors again. It tends to be true that NOT attending everyone's favorite church is one of the very first obstacles to social survival down here.
I consider myself fortunate, in that I live in a red pocket (Springfield) of a blue state (Illinois), but one where the reds are relatively sane, and where most of my friends and acquaintances, to the extent I know their politics, share mine. This is even Dick Durbin's home town! So I don't feel that isolated, but my heart goes out to those of you who do. Keep fighting the good fight. There are more of us around than you (and they) might think.
I'm a teeny little blue dot in northeastern nebraska. There are a few of us around, but we don't hang out. I moved here two years ago to help family and I live in a beautiful old house with hills and a forest. But...had I known what the last year and a half would be like - election - I never would have considered it. I moved from a west coast university town, and, I tell ya, what I wouldn't give for a few hippies. This town is prosperous enough, but the mood is dark because what most people listen to is Rush and Fox (including in the stores). Like others have mentioned, this area also relies heavily on social security, subsidies, medicare and medicaid. I want to ask some of these folks if they want Grandma and Grandpa sleeping in their living rooms. Without subsidized housing and Medicaid for the nursing homes that is where they would be. When I go to the store (which is a very nice one) one clerk (out of many) will casually mention that the price of something is going up because of something about the EPA doing this, or Obamacare doing that. The other day I actually got into an argument with some old guy when he started complaining about Obamacare and paying for birth control. Thanks to MSNBC, I did have answers he couldn't refute. Jaws dropped when I reminded him that we pay for Viagra. He generously gave me the point. Most of the people around here have never lived out of Nebraska for generations. There is NO music, the local bar is usually empty, and most of the books in the library are romances, mysteries, and right wing. I don't know when I'll have the money to leave, but somehow I gotta get back to the coast.
It's great to read all your stories.
Keep it up and it sounds like they'll gladly buy you a bus ticket....Preferable to a bullet and shallow grave.... Why did you go there if you don't like it?
Highest in 5 years and 300 lower than the highest in history (made in 2007).
13,930.01 Oct 01,2007 highest in history (1 month before crash).
Dow Jones Industrial Average - New World Record !
13,649.70 +53.68 +0.39% Jan 18, 2013
Has anyone noticed in spite of Washington the economy is taking off like a rocket ?
Excuse me, the economy is NOT taking off like a rocket - Wall Street is taking off like a rocket - there is a BIG difference between Wall Street and the nation's economy.
Main Street is still NOT doing all that well, we still have an unemployment rate at about 7.8%, the Federal Reserve is still pumping cheap money into the economy, and the Republicans are playing games with the debt ceiling and sequestration.
Wall Street only serves the extremely wealthy and the big corporations so Wall Street doing "well" NEVER helps the economy of the United States. And, oh, BTW, when Wall Street hits records, a VERY BAD economic crash is never far away - go read the history of Wall Street!
During the Presidential election, my front yard had the only Obama/Biden sign in Wabash, Indiana. Some folks say people are afraid to show their blueness in such a Red & White-owned State. I say Occupy! (And loudly.)
I love Rachel Maddow. I am a 60 year old black granny in the great red state of Oklahoma. This great red state is proud of the fact that President Barack Obama lost in all of the 77 counties. When I first read about the idea of the "blue dots", it took a minute, but then I laughed....."that's me"!!!!!! I enjoyed reading all of the comments, i can identify with them all. Yes, FOX is the station in all of the public places. Yes, as of 1 Nov 2012, people legally WEAR guns so you know they now feel threathened by the "common sense" gun control efforts. The point I want to share: the Republican governor Mary Fallon, chose to "ignore" the health care requirements....one of the folks waiting on "obamacare" (respectfully I use that term) to be repealed. I was surprised to see in the Daily Oklahoman that we now have close to 50,000 individuals who do not have insurance...they would have qualified for expanded Medicare...but Fallon chose to "refuse" the federal assistance....waiting with other republicans for the repeal. I was surprised because the Daily Oklahoman has NOTHING good to say about President Obama. the day after the article hit the paper, governor Fallon is shown pointing to the "decayed" walls of the state capitol bldg.....not one word about the 50,000 without healthcare because of her NONE action. How can people in read states not see this. The article pointed out that 60% of the 50,000 were white men....AND I KNOW THEY DID NOT VOTE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA...go figure. Thanks to all. thanks again msnbc. thanks rachel. I loved the "trolling" clip!
Granny BJ,
Wished you lived near me in NE Oklahoma. I'm not from here & I don't belong here. Could use a smart person to talk to. Love Rachel & all the rest of the gang. I am 65, keep very busy, but look forward all day to watch MSNBC. If I have to listen to Rush L. & Fox News in the shops anymore, I'll scream.How can anyone follow them!!!??????? Guns & beer & chew! And don't forget hypocrites. I have an Obama sticker on my car but my kids worry about that. I'm proud of it! I'm not staying here much longer....can't take it.
It is funny that I came across this blue dot thing today as my husband and I were saying just a couple of days ago that maybe we would be happier and have more friends if we moved to a blue state. We are live in reddest part of Indianapolis because it is where we grew up, but even having our roots here is not enough anymore. Here is just an example of living in our area. I hold the obligation of voting to be a very serious and think it is disrespectful to those who have died and fought for my privilege to vote not to participate in the process. However, being a registered democrat in the last 3 presidential elections when I have arrived at the voting polls (this year with 2 my children who were also casting their votes for the first time) we were told we were at the wrong place. We go to the polling location that we were told to go, and get there and are told were are at the wrong place and should go back. It would have been so easy to just give up, but we didn't which is exactly what was wanted. I could understand this happening once (maybe) but not with every presidential election.