New England apparently not part of the United States

A friend of mine recently shared a story about the Republican Party's official website striking New England and its six states from the map of the United States on its "Republicans in Congress" contact page.  Fortunately, since that story was published and received over 2,000 comments, that Grand Ol' Party has put us back on the map.

The indecency.

This all smacks of the "real 'Merrkuh" versus "Northeast elites" nonsense we have all had to suffer, and I was hoping its boiling-over period would only consume the decade of the 2000's.  I guess not.

The 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections were all replete with politicians, television shows, commentators, and others pitting "real 'Murrkuh" against the "elites", "the East Coast", and and the "Northeast".  We are talking about election years, and they weren't even clever enough to use code or double speak!

I dealt with it in 2000, contributed to it personally on a local level for the Northeast side in 2004, and then grew simultaneously indignant and fatigued in 2008.  By then, it was already old news, and those claiming to be representatives of "real 'Merrkuh" had already reduced themselves to mere caricatures of themselves. 

I spent much of that election cycle and the time thereafter thinking to myself (and often saying aloud) who the hell is this woman from Alaska to proclaim herself a "real 'Murrkin" and declare us un-American?! 

If we are to take off the gloves, then let's have at it.

Alaska became a U.S. state just before my parents were born, which is to say, well within living memory.  I cannot delve into everything New England contributed to America in the 330 years before that date, but let's just do a brief re-cap for the state of my birth, Massachusetts: The Mayflower Compact, The Adams', The Kennedys, Lexington and Concord, - well, this could go on a while.  Secondly, and far more personally, here was a politician claiming to be a "real 'Murkin" who did not even know what happened at Lexington and Concord.  Disqualified!

The woman from Alaska was not alone.  In fact, she was in good company.  And if we are to be honest, it was the Bush family (no doubt with copious amounts of input from Rove & Co.) who, nearly a decade prior, ripped open the wounds of the Civil War and tore them westward across states not yet existent in 1861.  

Some Perspective: A Crude Timeline of American History

The simple fact of the matter is that the East Coast, and especially the Northeast, founded America.   This is not a political statement; it is historical fact.  The most succinct (and by far the most vulgar) appraisal of this can be found here, still online from the loss of 2004 (Warning: lots of F-bombs).

Now unlike the incendiary politicos who have stoked this fire, I am not writing this now to add fuel to the flames.  America, in its vast diversity of cities, peoples, climates, and geographies, cannot afford to be distilled to a monoculture.  There cannot forever be a dominant region or a capital and hinterland.  To continue down that road only breeds resentment, discontent, and a lack of national cohesion.

America is simply too vast, even in this modern era, to be reduced to a single feeling, sound, or flavor.  We are united by a shared philosophy and civic citizenship, not by a shared culture or way of life.

My America is one of hills, forests, colonial cemeteries and pre-Revolution farmhouses.  I have white Christmases, rainy springs, brightly-colored autumns and breezy, warm summers.  I have maple syrup, cheddar, and chowder, and I have a manner of speaking which some of my fellow Americans have informed me is exceedingly formal.

A Texan, Floridian, or Californian would find all of these elements of culture and climate foreign in their America.  Should any one of them spend a year in my life, they would often feel almost as homesick as if they had in fact crossed a border into another land.  The currency and television networks would all be the same, but the food, accents, and customs would all be quite different.

Whose America is more American?  I dare not say.  We cannot marginalize, nor can we homogenize any one of our states or regions.  To do so would not only cause further political polarization, but it would deprive us all of the unique constellation of regional cultures, cuisines, and accents that comprise this country.

And to the arms dealers and fuel suppliers of the culture wars, to the folks who still insist that somewhere south or west of here is the "real 'Murrkuh", I will close with this:

People in glass houses should not throw stones.