GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Blue States = MiserableRed States = Satisfied & Improving

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I’m not sure the results of this survey come as any big surprise to any American with a brain and clear vision (corrected or not). (h/t – Drudge Report)

Happy Days Are Here Again – NY Post

A surprising 94 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with their lives – although far fewer in New York and other Eastern states think they’re better off than they were five years ago, according to a new survey.

The Harris Poll of more than 1,000 people reported the overall “satisfaction” level, defined as people who said they were either very or somewhat satisfied with their lot, was up 4 percentage points, from 90 percent two years ago.

But only 42 percent of people in the Eastern U.S. said things had improved since 2002. By contrast, 60 percent of Southerners and 62 percent of Westerners said their lives had improved.

How can Easterners think their lives are improving?  After all, their taxes are always going up… their roads are clogged… they are the main targets for al-Qaeda… and their Democrat politicians tell them there’s nothing they can do about it because everything is George W. Bush’s fault.  If we would just let the United Nations run everything…. it would all be great.

Oh those Blue Staters….. always “Glass Half Empty” kinda folk, ain’t they?  Yes, John Edwards there ARE “Two Americas” — one optimistic and happy, the other grumpy and conspiratorial.

I’m glad to be in Carolina, baby!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Comments

  1. Interesting site. Now you guy’s dont just hate Democrats but everyone in New England too. Wow, another pet peve to add to the very long list of things that bother conservatives.

  6. Vera lives in New England – and isn’t the least bit grumpy.

    Vera loves all of humanity – except for surly sales girls, impatient waiters, incompetent bartenders, ‘nosy-parker’s’ of all stripes, most politicians and all unsupervised children.

    So, lets just say Vera loves MOST of humanity – and leave it at that.

    By the way:

    When did Susan Estrich turn into Carol Channing? I saw her on FOX and thought ‘Hello Dolly’ had invaded Hannity & Colms.

    What’s next – Eleanor Cliff morphing into Bea Arthur?

    Just how many political divas can one nation put up with?

    Personally, I’d rather lick the lead paint off my GI John Kerry action figure than have to listen to any of them drone on.

    Cheers from New England, darlings….

  7. All this time I thought alienation as an art form was unique to us native Bostonians. I never realized it had become a regional pandemic. Though I do recall some sero-conversions in people from as far away as Ohio.

    You have reminded me of an old poem:

    Consider our fair town of Boston,
    home of the bean and the cod.
    Where Cabots speak only to Lodges,
    and the Lodges speak only to God.

    But now, in secular times, not even the Lodges have anyone to talk to.

    And, as the Athens of Attitude, we do have some self-made men in love with their creators.

    They’re very devout.

  9. Gene,
    Believe me. The leftists in this town are so up tight, if they smile their toes turn up. One would expect that in this Mecca of Liberalism, they’d stride with confidence.
    Oh no. They’re pensive as though they might miss an order from their mullahs. And the more ‘in’ they are (sitting at Jonathan Hyphen-Hyphen’s table for Senator Screwem) the more officious they are. (Now where have people acted like that before…USSR, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy….or now….Iran, Venezuela, Cuba…).
    At 66 years old, I expect to watch them die of ulcers. It pisses liberal neighbors off that my diet denies me misery. (And, I’ve been far better off in life than I am currently.)
    Well, with their policies, I’ll probably be condemned by the Boston Municipal Shura Council and they’ll wonder why they’re being herded to Friday Prayers.

  10. The last I checked, both conservatives and liberals reside in all the areas you talk about. Glad to see your promoting this fallacy that these areas are defined solely by their alleged political makeup.

    At least where I live, I have a rather good choice of airlines, unlike the US Air you always seem to be complaining about in your area.

  11. PS – Does the New York Post count as the evil “MSM” you’re always railing against? I notice people here complain up and down about the Main Stream Media, but you’re quite happy to quote them when it suits your needs. hypocrits.

  13. Basically, the liberal left are our Taliban. Their religion is socialism/environmentalism instead of Islam, but they are every bit as intent on imposing their belief system on everyone else. They seem to have very, very narrow ideals about what is acceptable to drive, what is acceptable to eat, what is acceptable speech, and what is acceptable to think. They adore Hugo Chavez, even as he sweeps aside the last constitutional formalities standing between him and dictator-for-life status. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors only wishes they could shut down opposition media as quickly and decisively as Chavez.

    It doesn’t have to be this way. I think most people are content to just live and let live. But there’s a tiny minority, on both left and right, that are convinced that they know what’s best for everybody. And it’s this tiny minority of busy-bodies that get drawn into political activism, and make life miserable for everybody else.

    My kids have a sticker on their downstairs fridge. It says, “Annoy a liberal, work hard and be happy.” We try to live by that.

  14. I, for one, am much happier with my quality of life since leaving a Red State (VA) and moving to a Blue State (NJ). But that has much more to do with where I lived in VA (and the cost of living associated with that area) as compared to where I live in NJ (and the C.O.L. here, being lower). I also have a far shorter commute – which has a HUGE impact on my quality of life.

    But that being said, I also was very happy with my quality of life in another Red State – Georgia – when I lived there. So for me it’s more about our individual priorities I suppose.

    Besides, what is it that they say about lies and statistics? 😛

  16. Sorry, but I’m not one of the pissed off blue staters. I live in a blue state (Maine). But my life is pretty good right now. Steady job, my credit card situation finally under control (yess!!) & going to the gym to really get myself in shape. I wouldn’t want to live in the South mainly because of the bugs (yuk), hurricanes, & people who call all soda “Coke”.

  17. I do wonder what intervening variables there are with regards to these opinions.

    I live in New England, and am fairly optimistic and content with how things are going.

    I wonder if there is something that makes people in the same region more optimistic or pessimistic, or if it may be worldview or something else.

  19. One of my older brothers once said, “Everybody’s where they want to be, otherwise, they’d be some place else.”

    I’m not thrilled with living in Maryland, but I chose a profession that’s concentrated in the DC area, and at a minimum, I have to spend my time in Rome before I can return to the provinces. Also, I’m waiting out the housing slump to maximize my equity.

    I’d live in Canada for the climate, but I couldn’t bear the socialism. I’d live in Texas for its government, but I couldn’t bear the climate. I think much unhappiness is caused by people who are spoiled enough to expect everything should be ideal unrealistically confronting the fact that life involves compromises.

  20. I just want to add, I’ve been watching Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel. Great show. But I notice that for every trucker on the job, there’s four or five guys from the Canadian government inspecting this, fining them for that, checking their paperwork, fussing over this and that. It’s like freakin’ Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.

    Libs may like the idea of a nanny state constantly fussing over every detail of a person’s life, but it gives me the creeps.

  21. #14
    Doesn’t NJ have more useless taxes and courruption than VA?

    #15 CLT has pretty much the same airlines, but my guess is that US has the most non-stop flights since it’s a hub.

    #16 Y’all don’t get Nor’easters in Maine? Besides, we get plenty of yanks down here in Florida. They don’t eat grits or drink sweet tea. They don’t tip and they drive around town with their left turn signal on. What’s more, they demand that we should be just as miserable as they are.

    My favorite (sarc.) are the people who come down to Florida, Charleston, Savannah, the Rio Grande Valley etc. and immediately set about to making it more like home with condos everywhere.

    I think you’d like Florida though. During the winter, you almost see more cars from Maine, NY, NJ, Michigan, PA and Ontario than you see cars from Florida. And they all love to change lanes without notice or hardly any room to do so.

    BTW, you know what to do with your Crap of Wheat and Farina. Not having grits or biscuits just ain’t right.

  24. TGC,

    More corruption, yes. It’s a New Jersey hallmark after all! 🙂

    More taxes, probably, if you count the unbelieveably high property taxes. But in VA I had to pay personal property tax on our cars. And where I lived in VA (outside DC) I couldn’t afford to buy a house, so I had no tax break from a mortgage. My rough math figures that it works out in my favor living in NJ. If I could not afford a house here, the VA tax burden would work in my favor.

    (I also figured in commuting costs. In VA I spent about $250 a month out of my pocket to commute. I don’t spend anywhere near that now.)

  27. 27: That’s a good analogy. If a man treated a shack-up honey like libs treat America, he’d be put in jail for domestic violence.

    Not to mention, the constant criticism. “You’re dumb. You’re too fact. Gawd, maybe if you were more like Europe, I wouldn’t have to smack you around so much.”

  28. Finally, a poll that explains it all…

    I live in a red state (for now anyway) & work with a bunch of liberals (love each & everyone of them too) & they know it, but man, this poll is RIGHT ON THE MONEY! Yes, I am an ex-liberal, that is how I got the job.

    LOLOLOL!

    Love those comments V the K, do you mind if I use your analysis in 13 at work.

    LOLOLOL!

  31. As a capitalist I now have a home in Florida and Pennsylvania. When fast Eddie Rendel our Governor in PA proposes more fees and taxes, I run to Florida for a break from socialism.

  32. #31

    Nice. Where in Florida?

    Speaking of taxes, my mom told me when they moved from MD in 1973, she had to pay some sort of de-registration (I think that’s what it was) to take her car out of the state. Do they still have that sort of thing up yonder?

  36. For starters, grits ain’t Cream of Wheat or farina. You don’t put sugar or cinnamon in ’em. Just a slap of butter and maybe (if you are in TX or LA) a squirt of Tabasco.

    Second, I can think of a better analogy: Libs treat America the way Michael Vick treated dogs. Now is that pithy, or what?

    Regards from the biggest Red State in the South,
    Peter H.

  37. #32 Ft Lauderdale FLA.
    We’ve so many tickey tack taxes and fees in Pennsylvania. My car windshield is covered with stickers. Our Governor wants to turn I-80 into a toll road. He says to get money to fix roads and bridges. My question was, what the hell they doing with the gas tax money that is suppose to be used for roads and bridges. duh Just like the state settlement with the tobacco companies. Have you followed that. The states pissed the money away and didn’t use it like they were suppose too. To educate young people about the dantgers of smoking. And childrens health care programs. Blue state baloney.

  39. Kevin, I’m starting to think you’re right — that the guys here are hypocrites. For example, when I recently encouraged them to join the Army and put action behind their support of the war, I was met with stony silence and then one asshole started to call me names. So, I guess what we learn here is that Gay Patriots are not so patriotic. They tell you they want war, war, war, but don’t want to do any fighting in any war. So, I guess you can add “chickenhawk” to the “hypocrite” classification.

    Sam

  41. I notice that the people screaming “chickenhawk” are also the ones who claim they support the fight against terrorists…..but who have all sorts of excuses for why they can’t volunteer and go fight in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    Either they’re being wholly inconsistent — or they really don’t support fighting terrorists.

    Which do we think it is?

  43. And you, 42, are the said hole. I ask you again: why don’t you join up and turn your hot rhetoric into at least 2 boots on the ground and support this valiant fight? When I first met you here, your language was such that I thought you might be active-duty, or at least a veteran. Turns out you’re a veteran of no offenses except those you commit in asdf fashion in your keyboard battles. Just as my momma always said…

  44. Samantha, are you against law enforcement? If not, you better become a cop, because if you don’t, your support for law enforcement is not legitimate.

    Do you support firefighters? Not if you don’t become one. If you’re not willing to become a firefighter, then you should support letting houses and forests burn. Because firefighting is not safe. And if you’re not willing to fight fires yourself, you can’t be in support of other people fighting them.

    Do you support public education? Are you a teacher? If not, then shut the hell up. Only teachers are allowed to have opinions about public education.

    Or, so it is according to your “reasoning.” (Reasoning, in this case, meaning chanting the same dumb slogan all the other idiots are chanting.)

  46. One of the things that we hear a lot of is the need to provide more ‘police on the streets’, ‘walking the beat’ etc. These measures cost money and that comes from taxes. That’s fine. So, do we want the glass half filled on the top or on the bottom?
    But, what do we want to cut?
    Less response cruisers for the rest of the precinct to respond? No body armour because there are gun laws? No report writing as it may lead to a violation of the city’s amnesty status or create a prejudice? Community policing is fine if the community approves of the personnel assigned. (See Oakland CA, Yusuf Bey et al.)
    The sensitivity training and the contracts ($) of those hired to administer it.
    Have you noticed how many prohibitions have been placed upon the police and the legal authorities from doing their job?

  47. Do not get me started, Shawmut.

    This week, the latest ejaculation from our supervisors here in SF was that we should take the $500k spent on several security cameras in high-crime areas and use it to “put more cops on the street”.

    Never mind the fact that that bought 70 cameras to cover 70 different high-crime street corners across the city….but might buy, if you’re lucky, about four more cops.

    They’d better be fast runners (the last supervisor “mandate” for the police department was to slash the number of motor patrols and demand more foot patrols instead).

  48. Just for the record – If “Samantha” in #39 refers to this discussion, then Samantha mis-represents it; no one called Samantha names there.

    I will say however, that Samantha did a good impression of a leftist in that thread. As again in this thread (only this time complete with foul language, and dropping the pretense of being Christian). Hence my comment at #45, and at the tail end of the earlier thread.