Dear CapeTownDissentator,

Please don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm from California, and here we admire and seek to emulate you. From Deval Patrick to Barney Frank, from same-sex marriage to Henry David Thoreau, you have much to teach us. Yes, your former governor was an embarrassment (still is), but your current governor is an inspiration (espeicially to those of us governed by the Governator).

Believe me, it could be worse. You could live in Virginia. Then what would you have to be proud of?

"Well we also have a stellar line up of patriots: Benjamin Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau, Norman Rockwell (did you hear that. Norman friggen Rockwell. How much more American does it get?)".

They are from a different era, and are thoroughly writhing in their graves.

Nothing is wrong with Massachusetts?!! Obviously you have not attempted to purchase a house, pay taxes or other wise make ends meet. Name one improvement Deval Patrick has made since assuming office six months ago? His proposals sound great but come with no mention of how he intends to fund these programs.

Do you believe any of our top level elected officials actually send their kids to public schools? If they are not good enough for them then why should our children not be afforded the same opportunities?

Get real the Democrats in this state live off of the taxes we all pay. Sure this state has phenomonal universities which feed many of the industries that reside here. What you failed to mention is the majority of this states residence never graduated from those insitutions. Imagine trying to raise a family on what should be a strong salary yet not being able to afford a decent sized house beacuse real estate prices, property taxes, etc. are sky high. Figures you would get a compliment from CA. as if that state is a model to follow (again a state house dominated by Dems).

Rich -

I've often wondered why the most notable socialist cities like San Francisco and Boston are always the most expensive and prohibitive to live in for the average middle class citizens.

You would think that they would be models for socialist ideals and success, but they always turn into enclaves for rich leftists (what a contradiction) with a subsidized underclass of their servants.

I think I know the reasons but I'd like some input.

It's no good, CTD. You're up against brick-wall ideologues here.

Even if Heaven turned out to be Democrat-controlled, wouldn't make any difference. It's liberal, therefore it's Evil and Must Be Destroyed.

Mass. is OK with me. My brother settled in Wenham and I always enjoyed my visits there. The environment is beautiful, the coastline, woods and towns are wonderful and the people are excellent.

#1:
One thing we have to be proud of, Tom, is that you're not a Virginian.

You could live in Virginia. Then what would you have to be proud of?

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, William Henry Lee, James Madison, James Monroe, George Mason. That's not a bad start, is it?

And BTW, Franklin may have been born in Massachusets, but he did leave and live the majority of his life elsewhere.

That said, the state has a lot going for it. Barney Frank is one of the few Democrats I respect, and the countryside is nice. However, the point someone made earlier about the state having more than its share of socialists and elitists was dead on. And the level of taxation relative to services rendered is an embarassment.

dave

The bumperstickers we put on our cars after the 1972 election that said: Don't Blame Me--I'm from Massachusetts! (The only state McGovern won against Nixon was Massachusetts and there are folks out there who are still smarting from having been massively WRONG:)

Doc. My understanding of socialism is that wealth is to be redistributed for the common good of the people. Call me a brick-wall idealogue if you wish, but where is the idealism at work in the lighthouse cities of American socialism?

I don't want to see "Evil" socialism destroyed, I just want to see it work.

Jerry - And just how many of those people living in their million-dollar townhouses in Pacific Heights (or whatever the equivalent neighborhood in Boston is) do you think are actually socialists, rather than good old-fashioned capitalists?

That's even assuming we accept your contention that those cities are socialist in the first place.

This is the reality Doc:

You know what the prevailing political leanings are of these cities as well as all the others like them, and it would be fruitless to engage in such an argument.

American Leftist's and/or Socialist's are quite happy with the arrangement. They profit from and enjoy all the benefits of Capitalism, while soothing their conscience spouting all the feel good laws and policies they cherish.

My question remains unanswered. Why are such places always the most expensive to live in? And why aren't their ideals benefitting the middle class?

Jerry: American politics is skewed way to the right, so I appreciate that any kind of social and/or economic liberalism can seem socialistic from a certain viewpoint.

However, please understand that liberalism DOES NOT EQUAL socialism. I would imagine the major reason why cities like Boston are so expensive is market-driven: they're beautiful cities and uber-desirable locations, and those with the wherewithal are willing to pay top dollar to live there. (Incidentally San Fran, which is so often portrayed by right-wingers as the enfant terrible of liberalism, doesn't even make the top ten.)

I'm not sure what you mean by "their ideals benefitting the middle class". You can be middle class and live in these places if you want to: I know a number of professional people who live in San Francisco and do just fine, and would move there myself in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up. There is a thriving middle class there, I assure you: the style of living is just different. You can't have a five-bedroom detached house with a three-car garage because there's no space, and you can't drive a Hummer around because you probably wouldn't make it down most of the streets and wouldn't fit in the space most San Franciscans allow for parking. That doesn't signify a seething proletariat ground underfoot by a privileged elite. It's just the way the city is.

Massachusetts is like Califoricate. Liberals pass on their outdated can-good's to the homeless, pat themselves on the pack and tell all their friends how kind they are. Make's you feel good all over.

I think most of the world wishes the rest of the USA was as nice as Massachusetts. From where we sit too much of it seems like Texas. Argh!

SCFMH. Are you with Alice in Wonderland. Does yo moma know your smoking that stuff.

Yes, she smokes it too

Q: If you took all the dentures in America and piled them up in Boston, what would you have?

A: A Massachusetts.

Very good Doc. No wonder your a funny man. How about those Boston Beans. No wonder they call it fart town.

Doctor read the front page of today's Boston Globe to understand the problem the state of Massachusetts is having. Our housing costs are out of whack with the rest of the country and only the top portion of the state's residents can afford to live anywhere close to downtown.

A lot of young people are electing to move out of state simply due to the cost of living. States such as NC, AZ, etc. are aggressively courting our young profesionals and winning them over while our state government sits idly by watching the migration take place.

I love living in MA and consider it home but am horrified at the waste and corruption that takes place within our government agencies. We have 351 towns and cities each with their own infrastructre with many services being duplicated. This state is run by unions, lobbyists, etc. to the detriment of us all. I am not naive enough to think that this doesn't take place elsewhere but MA. is by the worst when it comes to managing itself.

We shall see what type of condition we are in after Gov. Patrick and his Democratic cohorts in the legislature go unchecked for a while.

I think whats's his name is a senator from Massschusetts. Remember the one who drove is car into the water and killed a young lady. Cant think of his name but he's fat with gray hair. Who is he. I cant remember.

Most of those defending this shithole have probably never even been there.

What's wrong with Massachusetts........

Ted Kennedy
John Kerry
Devall Patrick
the Big Dig
whitey bulger
jackbbooted thuggish unions....
matt amarello
rediculously overpriced real estate
tax happy liberal legislature
worst auto insurance laws in the nation

Massachusetts was the ONLY state in the nation to experience a net population loss in the last census. THE ONLY ONE OUT OF 50. Now that's saying something. The people that live in this shithole are too smug, smarmy, and arrogant to realize what a laughing stock the rest of the nation views them as.

However, please understand that liberalism DOES NOT EQUAL socialism.

Not only that, but socialism is inherently contrary to liberalism. But most people on the American left aren't actually liberal at all, despite people applying that term to them incorrectly.

Dave

My childhood American mate lives in Springfield, MA. He's a "liberal" but not a fuckwit (the two aren't mutually exclusive, I'm told).

BTW, Nice work on the dentures joke, DD - marvellous, as Richie Benaud would say, one of your best ever, that ... straight to the fence.

Arch #22:

I'm assuming you're not a Red Sox fan then.

I don't like baseball I like football and yes I'm a Patriots fan.

Unlike most of the people chiming in on here I have a great deal of first hand experience with Massachusetts. I was born there. I lived there for the first six years of my life. I attended college there. I have worked there. I am forced from time to time to have to go there for various reasons.

It's a shithole. The only other place that comes even remotely close to Massachuseets in terms of being a n undesireable place to live is Rhode Island.

Don't like baseball, eh? Well, we're making progress, you and I. That's twothings we agree on.

...The other one, of course, being our view of the wonderful Mr Phelps.

Have you ever been to Massachusetts Dreadful?

Nope, haven't made it over there thus far. Might have an opportunity to go to Boston this fall. It's either there or Chicago. I think there might be more to see in Boston but at the moment we're leaning towards the Windy City. If not, New England next year hopefully. I have a yen to be a leaf-peeper.

When in Boston you should go north for peeping, at least to NH, then Maine and Vermont. The brilliant colors are a threat to singe your rods and cones.

Doc, dont forget to vote. Just remember liberals vote the 2nd week after conservatives.

sr, unfortunately I can't vote as I am one of those evil immigrants who is taking your jobs. I tell a lie. I can vote, but only for the American Idol.

As a conservative Masshole myself, I have always comforted myself by thinking, "Well, at least Boston isn't quite as loopy as San Francisco," and I do think it's true to an extent.

But I agree with Arch Conservative. Although I drop my "r"s always wear my Red Sox cap proudly, Massachusetts is, admittedly, a shithole.

DD: "sr, unfortunately I can't vote as I am one of those evil immigrants who is taking your jobs. I tell a lie. I can vote, but only for the American Idol."

Doc, can you still vote in the Choom elections? Do they allow for postal voting in choom-land?

Hopefully, you haven't done anything drastic like give up your claim to live on the mothership.

Also, would you really want to vote in a US election? It's their business, not ours ... and I think, quite seriously, I'll never really understand US politics. I can't for the life of me work out who's really left, who's really right, where the far right is, what a liberal really is, and so on.

They don't make it simple, like: Labor/Labour, or conservative.

Also, I think sr does vote, as he is able to sign with a cross (X marks the spot in that there box).

I also developed the Boston accent during the formative years ofmy life and growing up only 30 miles north of Boston it stuck with me Mark.

Isn't it funny though how the people that have never been there stick up for it and think of it as some kind shang ri la where everything is perfect.

If they only knew.

STM inquired: "Doc, can you still vote in the Choom elections?"

Choom? Choom?

This word I am not knowing. However, not to worry. A Google search revealed that a choom is:

The traditional, circular reindeer-skin tent typical of the reindeer-herding peoples of the Arctic tundra of northwest Russia.

Since I do not hail from northwestern Russia, I have never felt the urge to vote on which tribe has the best chooms.

However, on the off-chance that "Choom" is also an obscure Australian simile for "Pom", I will respond thusly:

Britain does still have postal voting for expats, but one must register in good time. This is not a problem for local and European elections, which are held on a fixed schedule. However, since general elections are seldom announced more than a couple of months in advance, the requirements for timely registration (which apparently is defined as a decade or two) can be tricky to meet.

I don't even try to vote in local and European elections because I consider that the issues don't much concern me at 5,400 miles' distance.

As for US elections: no, I have not given up my allegiance to the Queen and have no intention of so doing. This means, alas, that I remain disenfranchised, unable to exercise a voice on issues of immediate political concern to me. Still, as I remarked to Clavos a while back on another thread, the silver lining is that I don't have to do jury service.

Yes, Doc, it does mean Pom, but actually means chum.

As in "welcome to Australia, new-chooms" (said with a northern accent, one would expect).

It's late and time to exit the sandbox. Doc you evil immigrant. Of course I voted for STM as the next American Idol. He cant sing worth a dam however he's great at licking toilet seats.

Bed-time at the psych hospital is it, sr?

I can't speak about the whole state or its political or sporting culture but I've been to Boston and Cambridge and had a great time!

I was born in Cambridge Christopher, but that's my cross to bear in life.

I imagine that if I put my mind to it I could enjoy a brief visit to just about any city in the world.

It's an entirely different thing to live somewhere and have to deal with all of the bullshit.

Lest everyone think I am unfairly picking on Massachusetts too much I will reiterate a fact that I stated earlier that some may have missed.

In 2004, when the last census was taken, Massachusetts was the ONLY state in the nation to experience a net population loss. Now to me that's saying a lot. There was not one single other state that eperienced this. So one would have to ask why Massachusetts. To answer that question all one would have to do is live in Massachusetts for a brief period of time, say six month. Then the answer becomes obvious as a hasty retreat is made back to where one came from.

MASSACHUSSETTS IS A HORRIBLE PLACE TO LIVE! THE WORST!

Yes, mass is the absolute shithole ever possible anywhere on the face of the Earth. I lived there for several years so I know for fact. Where do I start? Hmmm... How about Boston drivers? Stupid, rude, ignorant. Believe me, New York drivers are angels compared to Massachusetts idiots.
People here are generally unfriendly. Wherever you go.
Special comments for Massachusetts teenagers. Nowhere else have I seen such large gatherings of brainless morons who just roam around without a clear idea where there are going. Top colleges that happen to be in Boston get their students from other states and countries, they know better not to take in massholes.
Oh, and women. I have a coworker who served in Navy. He's traveled all over the globe, and lived in many places in the US. He once told me: "Pete, from all my experience, the worst females I've met are in Mass. The only things that matter to them is what car you drive, what town you live in, and how much money you make". Whores...
So, wherever you go, stay away from this shithole.

I enjoyed my trips to Mass., Rockport, Salem, Plum Island, etc. Only bad thing I noticed was they still have Blue Laws: can't buy beer on sunday.

(caveat: my info is dated - I haven't lived in Mass since the early 70s)

what's good - western Mass had some of the very best tasting water that I've found anywhere

what's bad - blue blood Brookline and black slum Roxburry are a stone's throw apart separated by a row of connected apartment buildings and a narrow long park yet getting from one area to the other by public transport required a 40 minute tram and bus ride...and if you chose to walk or drive you needed to know the very few alleys through the apartments

I was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts. I left when I joined the Air Force in 1961 at age of 18. My political views were very conservative; I voted for Barry Goldwater while still in service.

After getting out of service moved back to Springfield to work for IBM. That didn't last long and next move to Stamford Ct. After the company I was working for refused to promote me I quit and moved to San Diego, CA.

My politics were moving to the left, but not in MA. It started in the rural conservative south. Moving to CA pushed me further to the left. It was not that San Diego in 1967 was any hotbed of liberalism. It was my hero, Ronald Regan, from close-up, he was the governor then, turned out to be nothing more than a royal, hypocritical asshole.

I did not return to MA by choice. The company I was working for in San Diego tried to send me to Viet Nam. I gave my resume to a headhunter and only job offered was in Boston area.

I lived in the Boston area for the next 37 years. It's really a great place.

During that time there were some negatives, one was the elitism and know-it-all attitudes of the liberal middle class. It increasing grated on me.

I moved to Houston TX area in 2004. Comming from MA, I soon started calling it TaxUs.

More later,

Les