Massachusetts: A state of self-indulgence?

[T_i_B]

Dunno why this one ended up with the grauniad instead of a US Publication but I thought it might be of some use to you here.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_kennedy/2007/09/state_of_selfindulgence.html

From John Adams to John Kennedy, Massachusetts has occupied a singular place in American presidential history. But for those of us who live here, the more recent past is a tale that's closer to tragicomedy than to stirring drama.

Twice, in 1988 (Michael Dukakis) and 2004 (John Kerry), Massachusetts political figures have won the Democratic nomination. Twice, they've blown huge leads to Republicans named Bush. Twice, the folks back home have been left to wonder why the rest of the country hates us so much. And that's without even considering the unsuccessful Democratic primary challenges mounted in 1980 by Ted Kennedy and in 1992 by the late Paul Tsongas.

Now comes Jon Keller, the political analyst for WBZ-TV (Channel 4), a Boston television station, to explain where it all went wrong - and why the Democratic candidates this time around would do well to stay far, far away from the Massachusetts brand of liberalism. In his just-released book, The Bluest State: How Democrats Created the Massachusetts Blueprint for American Political Disaster (St. Martin's), Keller diagnoses our ailments as "self-indulgence, unchecked egotism, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do hypocrisy, political correctness, and affectation." Not to mention baby boomer elitism, toenail fungus, and bad breath. (Okay, so I made up those last two.)

Ironically, Massachusetts's gift to presidential politics in 2008 is a Republican, former governor Mitt Romney. But even Romney is guilty of our state's signature Boomer selfishness, Keller argues, leaving the governorship and embracing conservative social positions he had once eschewed when he should have run for re-election and pushed for the reform of our corrupt, patronage-encrusted political culture.

[melody]

1. Cashill attacks California, then Keller takes aim at Massachusetts

It's the right-wing militia. The California and Massachusetts models can save the country, not destroy it. It's our straying away
from those ideals that is destroying us.

[bemildred]

2. These books are churned out like "Support the Troops" ribbons you know.

They are generally fully of shallow stereotyped "thinking" and name calling, they are read in the same spirit that people read their favorite cartoons, and they mean nothing politically.

[freethought]

3. Self indulgent bastion of liberalism? WTF!!

I don't see too much mention of the voters tendency in Massachusetts to elect repub governors. It tends to go beyond Mitt "The Shit". Take a look at Bill Weld and if you go back far enough John Volpe.
I'll be the first to admit that Mass. state political scene is not perfect. Can any state, red or blue, say that theirs is? For instance, right now there's a controversy involving Deval Patrick's point man on the biotech sector jumping ship and becoming a lobbyist for the industry, a job that could earn possibly $500K/year. Doing that so suddenly is violation of ethics rules as I understand it.
And the high taxes? Well look, police, fire, schools, public health, environmental protections,
roads, infrastructure, and the like don't come for free. If you want them you'll have to pay for them.
All in all, and if money was no object there is no place that I would rather live more than in the Bay State. If Mr. Keller doesn't like it there, he can leave. Screw him!