MOsanthrope

Go figure,

I guess George came, he “showed” what he had…and now they don’t like it, (after voting for him twice). I would bet some of the democrats in Missouri are more conservative in many ways then many republicans in other parts of the country typically not associated with the “Heartland” . WTF does “Heartland” mean any how? ( I know the center, the stable bread basket and epicenter of the family farm with all the common sense and durability, etc etc…) BUT, the person with the biggest heart and most unrelenting attitude reflecting all that I think embodies American values I have ever met was in the Bronx…and I have lived just about everywhere in this country if even for just a short spell. As I recall, didn’t Missouri fence sit the Civil War? I am to lazy to Google, but I bet you know Chris. Let’s see what they do this November.

We’ll see. Many states have a bad case of voter’s remorse these days. (Ohio comes to mind.) The right’s flair for creating wedge issues which motivate voters to blindly sell themselves down the river is well documented. I think it just takes some people longer to see through the hype. Cape Girardeau, MO is Rush Limbaugh’s home town, so….

It doesn’t help that the DNC largely wrote off MO in 2004, to the great dismay of many MO Democrats. As it turned out, many races were much closer than anyone anticipated.

Having moved to STL from Michigan in the early nineties, I’m no MO historian. It’s an interesting state politically — sort of a microcosm of the national “red-blue” map pudits love so much these days, with blue areas on the coasts (St. Louis and Kansas City) and a few purplish areas in between.

MO did ride the fence during the civil war (despite attempts at secession, the state remained in the Union but experienced considerable internal conflict as a result). Much of the state has always been suspicious of STL, and that’s created some strange politics. For example, the MO Supreme Court ruled last year that the STL city police board is an agency of the State (not St. Louis city) and lawsuits against STL police officers must be defended by the MO Attorney General, rather than the city (historically, the city defended these cases). The decision was largely based on civil-war era legislation enacted, some suspicious types might suggest, to keep north-leaning St. Louisans under the control of Jefferson City.

Truthfully, if you look at STL, you will notice that we are a very internalized, suspicious, and independant group. St Louis City is technically it’s own country, rather than have a county surrounding it (St Louis County, and St Louis City are two seperate counties, though if yo ulive here, you already know that). Perhaps if you look hard enough, you will see that there are things that are prevalent in other ‘large’ cities, and considered common, but can’t be found here. For instance, the largest 3 theater chains are (in order) Regal, AMC, and National (National being the parent company of Viacom) Yet in STL, AMC is a small player, and Regal only has one theater, and only in the last 4 years or so. However, Wehrenberg is a HUGE influence in the STL/MO area, but doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Also, take into account stores like Fry’s, Basha’s, Safeway, etc. Places that are often considered common place elsewhere don’t even exist here. I haven’t seen a Krogers anywhere within 50 miles of STL city, whereas Dierbergs, shop and save, and Schnucks still rule. STL is a notoriously hard market to crack into, and that trends seems to continue. The easiest way for someone to crack into our market, really, is to pretty much buy another local company that is already here, or possibly have something we don’t already have, that we want. As stated above, it seems that STL has often been paranoid, and somewhat isolationist from the civil war, and I suppose that continues on today.

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