We have running water in Iowa, too

I really do find it sad that things have gotten to the point where what John Kerry ordered for breakfast two years ago makes the news, and that a reporter would be dumb enough to find Deep Meaning in it all. But it is a good thing that somebody is finally holding people like Candy Crowley accountable for stuff like this.

And about the Blue State-Red State thing, yes, there is something to it. Here is a thoughtful entry from another former Iowan about the realities and nuances of the whole thing. However, the differences are nowhere near as dramatic as Candy Crowley or most others like her seem to think, and, frankly, their attitude is really pretty condescending. You don't need to have been reared in Old World blueblood surroundings to know what green tea is. The very idea suggests that they think all Red Staters are the stereotypical guy kicking back on his dilapidated couch watching the Super Bowl with a cheeseburger in one hand and a gun in the other, and he's probably planning on using that gun on the first Democrat he sees. To be fair, there are indeed some people like that, and the Republicans do a great job of appealing to them, but this whole "The East Coast hates you 'cause you're real Americans" thing is insulting to both sides of the divide. Of course, I tend to believe anyone who falls for that tripe deserves to be condescended to.

By the way, the five states (+DC) I have lived in run the gamut from solid Red (Virginia, although I lived in the most liberal part of the state) to solid Blue (Connecticut and DC). And if you look hard enough, you can find rednecks in any of them. I also have it on good authority that you can get green tea without much trouble in Montana.