# Dear Red states, a letter from the Blue. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754 "2005-07-23T02:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/21 "2005-07-24T04:14:06Z")
Well yeah, if you want to get all technical and bring “facts” into this. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/22 "2005-07-24T06:12:49Z")
Can we please divy up the state? I am from Nevada (a Red state by a slim margin) but Southern Nevada (Las Vegas area) was overwhelmingly Blue…and boy were we blue after the final tally. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/23 "2005-07-24T06:13:42Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > I think he has a point. After all, West Virginia seceded from Virginia, because it didn’t want to secede from the country. No no no! The Queen says the states stay whole. And your little imaginary ‘West Virginia’ seceeding from the actual Virginia gambit or strawman or golem or whatever doesn’t fool me. Pah! Next you’ll be saying there’s a ‘North’ and ‘South’ Carolina, too. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/24 "2005-07-24T07:48:05Z")
> [@Ruckinge](#): > > California’s beaches are all private. > [@Campion](#): > > The state owns all beaches in California, and they are not permitted to be private. The dispute arises over easements on private land needed to reach beaches. So, **Ruckinge** , would you prefer to admit to ignorance or lying? ---
**Author:** ![Ruckinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@Ruckinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruckinge)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/25 "2005-07-24T11:04:40Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Next you’ll be saying there’s a ‘North’ and ‘South’ Carolina, too. Well, North and South Carolina were formed under different circumstances. Both were named after King Charles 1 (_Carolinus_, which also gives Charlemagne or Charles the Great), and made into one single area although the southern portion was not settled. When his son, Charles II, regained power he changed the name of the southern area of Carolana and gave it to a group of noblemen who allowed several Barbadian colonists to settle there. So it’s kind of dissimilar. Mostly. > [@mhendo](#): > > So, **Ruckinge** , would you prefer to admit to ignorance or lying? I was going to post a good-spirited “it was ‘common knowledge’ in Texas, thanks for fighting my ignorance” but now I’m just offended. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/26 "2005-07-24T12:04:32Z")
I would personally love to see this happen. My ideal would be for the blue states to secede from the US and join Canada. From Michigan, I feel a thousand times closer to our neighbors in Ontario than I do the Bible belt loonies. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/27 "2005-07-24T12:41:29Z")
**Boblibdem** --I agree with you, but I wouldn’t put it quite that way. I have never understood just what it is that these Red states want-because they vote against their own interests. Is it clean air, water and a better future for their kids? No. Is it fair and decent education, housing and health care for all those who are citizens? No. Is it privacy in health care decisions, be they at the begining of life and at the end? No. Is it the freedom (oops, a Republican word-I’ll have to pay a fine for using it. 😉 ) to marry the person you love? No. Is it the ability to worship the religion (or not) of your choice? No-this is a “Christian nation”.\* The letter is a snarky, snide bit of “humor”. It feeds into popular prejudices about the South. The South is more than tired of being seen as redneck, incestous and backwards. That’s why they fly the Confederate flag, give the Rebel yell and are proud to have such crappy schools and a higher rate of divorce. I am on another bb which is mostly nurses. Do you know that of the 15 or so nurses from the South on the bb, only 2 of them could correctly identify all 50 states?(we did one of those quizzes so popular online) Don’t even think of Canada. These are intelligent professionals. I am still agog at that one. IOW, I’d be happy to cut the South a whole lot of slack, but they seem to cling to the very things that set them up for ridicule. Having lived there and having my share of southern relatives, from Kentucky to Virginia to Florida–I would be more of an advocate if the South would lose its superiority complex about Family and Gracious Living and Heritage at the same time it loses its inferiority complex as to “I’m jest a good ole country boy” and all that nonsense… But it is the strident emphasis on Christianity that is most ominous to me. The letter is just some hack who tastes sour grapes, but the he (she?) draws attention to more serious issues, IMO. \*only slightly exagerrated for effect. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/28 "2005-07-24T12:51:57Z")
Can Montana seceed as well? I know it’s a red state (51% Republican, 49% Democrat in 2004), but it’s just so pretty. Besides, my people (I was born and raised in MT) have enough nukes to make the new United “Blue” States the second largest nuclear power in the world (after the Russians). Let those bible belters threaten us now! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/29 "2005-07-24T19:44:12Z")
Dear Blue States: ``` In case you've forgotten, the Red States TRIED to leave the Union and go their own way a long time ago. So, the division you say you wanted was a reality. But it turned out you DIDN'T really want that division. You started a bloody war to force the red states back into the fold. NOW you say you want out? Please do us a favor- make up your feeble minds, and get back to us when you know just what it is you want. -The Reds ``` ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/30 "2005-07-24T20:48:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > You started a bloody war to force the red states back into the fold. And who fired the first shots? ---
**Author:** ![deadeyesdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@deadeyesdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadeyesdad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/31 "2005-07-24T22:12:27Z")
> [@](#): > > The only thing I envy about youse guys is your peace of mind in not actually being anywhere near anything a terrorist would ever target. > > Happy I am sure all those people in Oklahoma City agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/32 "2005-07-24T22:14:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > And who fired the first shots? But. . .but. . .they were rearming the fort! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/33 "2005-07-24T22:24:07Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > And who fired the first shots? Psst… in case you weren’t aware, I was born and raised in New York City- you might want to take my letter with a grain of salt. Regardless, do you REALLY think Lincoln would have acted any diffferently if shots had not been fired on Fort Sumter? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/34 "2005-07-24T22:34:28Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Psst… in case you weren’t aware, I was born and raised in New York City- you might want to take my letter with a grain of salt. > > Regardless, do you REALLY think Lincoln would have acted any diffferently if shots had not been fired on Fort Sumter? I don’t know. I think Lincoln really wanted the rebs to be the instigators of battle. It would have been interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/35 "2005-07-24T22:51:49Z")
You know, I think this whole Nuevo California thing is a bad idea, now. I just got out my copy of Charles Kuralt’s _America_. In it he writes about his 12 favorite states, spending a month in each state during which he considered their best time of the year. I defy anyone to give up even one of those states, after reading that book. I’ll bet he could have done the same for all fifty states if he’d lived long enough. So yeah, some states are like the crazy aunt you keep locked in the attic. But you’ve got to admit that the crazy aunt does make life a bit more interesting and you love her anyway because her endearing qualities outweigh her faults. Besides, a family is strongest when it sticks together-- granola without a few fruits and nuts just kind of falls apart into oaty blandness. Nope, Queen of the World says nobody’s leaving and taking their toys with them. > [@Ruckinge](#): > > Well, North and South Carolina were formed under different circumstances. Both were named after King Charles 1 (_Carolinus_, which also gives Charlemagne or Charles the Great), and made into one single area although the southern portion was not settled. When his son, Charles II, regained power he changed the name of the southern area of Carolana and gave it to a group of noblemen who allowed several Barbadian colonists to settle there. > So it’s kind of dissimilar. Mostly. . Oh my. Not just making up imaginary norths and souths, but inventing histories, too. If you want to be some sort of L. Ron Hubbard, you’re going to need a more believable vocabulary. Barbadian colonists, indeed. There is no such place as Barbadia. And your timeline is atrocious. Charles is still only _Prince_ Charles and he has no power to give _any_ part of America away to his buds. His sons’ names are Harry and William, by the way, not Charles II, and they wouldn’t be Charles II anyway because Charles’s dad’s name is Phillip. Who’s also just a prince and not a king of anything. But let’s say something happens in the future and somehow Charles gets his hands on some land here in the U.S. Why would he name it Carolina if his name is _Charles_? It would be named something like Charlesylvania more probably. Charles = Carolina doesn’t make any sense. Carolina is a girl’s name ya know. Really, you’ll never get a religion out of thinking like that **Ruckinge**. Also, you’ve completely ignored adding something to generate income by bilking your followers. You should look into that post haste. ---
**Author:** ![Ruckinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@Ruckinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruckinge)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/36 "2005-07-24T23:36:01Z")
:dubious: :rolleyes: :wally 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/37 "2005-07-25T01:56:10Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > **Boblibdem** --I agree with you, but I wouldn’t put it quite that way. > > I have never understood just what it is that these Red states want- For starters, I’d like to see the Democratic Party nominate someone who isn’t a buffoon or a traitor. I voted for Slick Willie twice, but since then, C’mon! :rolleyes: As for who started the Recent Unpleasantness, well, DUH! Of course the damnyankees started it. Why do you think the history books refer to it as “The War of Northern Aggression”? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/38 "2005-07-25T02:13:54Z")
It sure is funny how Bush gets a pass for dodging the draft by going into the Guard, then dodging the dodge by skipping out, then lying about dodging the dodge. Yet Kerry, who actually saw and felt enemy fire, is somehow a traitor. It was patriots in the 60’s that condemned the Vietnam War, and it’s patriots today that condemn Bush’s Iraqalypse. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/39 "2005-07-25T02:23:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It sure is funny how Bush gets a pass for…yada yada Who says Bush gets a pass? He didn’t, however, give aid and comfort to the enemy. > [@](#): > > It was patriots in the 60’s that condemned the Vietnam War… Your idea and mine of who the “patriots of the '60’s” are is very different. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754/40 "2005-07-25T02:50:49Z")
When I read the first few postings I thought “All right - I’m ready to join the Blue State Nation.” I live in Boston, where the owls say “whom”. (You can’t get “bluer” or more Yankee than that can you?) And as others have mentioned, the last time there was an all out brouhaha between the North and South … well, let’s just say I don’t have to post the conclusion of that conflict in a “spoiler box” do I? 😃 Still, despite my zeal to be a citizen of the New Blue State Nation, I felt that **Ashes, Ashes’** posting put things in perspective. If I might add a few more examples along that line - the family that gave us _Eric Roberts_ also gave us _Julia Roberts_. The _Gabor Sisters_ (in their youth) had beauty but were never renowned for their prowess in calculus. Yet another Gabor (I forget his precise relationship - but he is related) - _Dennis Gabor_ won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Admittedly, if I _had_ to make a choice, it would _definitely_ be for Blue State citizenship but it seems it takes all kinds to make this country what it is. (But we can say NOO-KLEE-ARR just fine 😃 ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-red-states-a-letter-from-the-blue/313754.md?page=3)