Reply #50: Well, despite this bullshit, I will stay and call myself a Missourian

[MadHound]

Though my pride in the state will not recover for a long while.

This vote simply confirmed my worst thoughts about a large portion of my fellow Missourian, that they are religious, insecure nutjobs who lack both brains and education to discern bullshit and fundie brainwashing when they see it. Having lived in state all of my life, and in different parts of the state, I've seen both the best and the worst that our state has to offer. And it saddens me to admit that the worse is winning.

At one time, there was a solid progressive block consisting of St. Louis, KC and Columbia that could force the state into the twentieth century, no matter what manner of fight the rest of the state put up. But over the past ten years, that coalition has changed for the worse. Part of it is population growth and change. Good ol' fundie heaven, Springfield, has grown radically, and the people moving into the area down there are just as bad, if not worse, than the natives. Somewhere along the line people started taking pride in the fact that Flush Limpballs is from our state, and started accepting his word as gospel. And the three big liberal/urban areas have become progressively more conservative, as those with little or know job prospects out in the rural areas stream into the cities, bringing their fundie religion and morals with them.

I love this state, and will not be driven from it. I will stay here and fight back the tide, as I've been doing for the past thirty years. Joe, I understand your rage and frustration, but please, channel that energy into helping us take our state, not abandoning it to the radical right. Besides, wherever you go, this kind of conservative crap is going to follow, if not already be there waiting for you. Better to stay and fight on ground that you already know than move and have to fight on ground that favors your foes. Even California is no longer a safe haven, for it too is swinging right.

But there is one last hope on this issue. I have it on good authority that this amendment will be challenged in the court system. And generally they have more sense that the population at large, especially in these times.