The Bay State and the State of Things

Remember this?

This is a new version of an old bumper sticker from the Watergate era when Massachusetts was the only state in the nation that went for McGovern. My parents never sported one, but they could have. My father took a kind of perverse delight in Nixon's corruption - he loved the whole "I am not a crook" thing. For the time, it was unheard of arrogance.

My father used to take a special route to drive by a house in Ipswich, MA, on the rare occasions when we would go get a special treat of fried clams at a place called White Cap. It has been all gussied up now but circa mid-70s, it was a Mom and Pop clam shack of which my biggest memories are the way salt crystals looked on the black formica tables, the availability of grape soda, and the stuffed swordfish hanging on the wall. The fried clams were good too. Anyhoo, there was a house in Ipswich that had painted "Nixon's the one" on the side of their garage. My father loved to drive by it and toot the car horn as if to say, "that's right! forget the facts and stand by your Republican man!" He loved that kind of thing.

I wonder what he would make of the situation today. Nixon looks downright quaint in his crimes.

Here is an article in today's NY Times by Charles Blow. In the article, Blow cites recent polls that reveal that nearly three-quarters of Republicans believe that Obama was not born in this country and/or is a Muslim (or they aren't sure, which amounts to the same thing if you ask me). I can't take any perverse delight in this most recent of Republican scams. This just makes me feel...sad.

And sadly, being from Massachusetts isn't an out this time.