Over at the forum I used to hang out a lot at, and popped in today, Barkcloth clued me in to a hysterical (both ways) article screed at Slate (which Rush just mentioned, before I got a chance to post it): Edward McClelland -Â Does air conditioning make people vote Republican?
I blame A/C for the decline of the labor movement and for decimating the Midwest’s population. Mostly, I blame it for the election of George W. Bush.
When I moved into my apartment, in May, the first thing I did was tear out the air conditioners. I don’t need air conditioning: My front window is 50 yards from Lake Michigan, and, as any Chicago weatherperson will tell you, “It’s cooler by the lake.” I can’t afford it, either: Three window units can add serious dollars to one’s monthly electric bill. But those aren’t the real reasons I got rid of the A/C.
Air conditioning offends my sense of Northern pride. They have a saying in Maine: “If you can’t stand the winters, you don’t deserve the summers.” But the air conditioner allows Arizonans to enjoy a cool, lakelike breeze in the comfort of their living rooms, without ever having to buy snow tires. As one who has seen firsthand how the Sun Belt created a poor Yankee cousin called the Rust Belt, I blame the air conditioner for the decay of Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y. I blame it for the decline of the American labor movement. And I blame it for the election of George W. Bush, as well as the fact that we haven’t elected a Yankee president in nearly 50 years. Honestly, I don’t want something like that in my house. Especially if I have to pay for it.
Apparently, people in Blue areas do not have air conditioning or are not allowed to use it, if they want to be good Democrats. I’ll have to tell my Mom and all her Liberal friends in NJ, NY, other parts of the Northeast (Dad’s a Republican) that they can no longer use A/C.
We don’t call them folks like Edward McClelland Barking Moonbats and Nutroots for nuttin’! Cause it doesn’t look like it is sarcasm or silly.
I call BS. I’ve lived in New England all my life, and AC is everywhere. If you can’t afford it, that’s one thing, but it can get muggy here just like everywhere else. If it doesn’t happen to get as hot temperature-wise as more southern climes, that’s just the nature of the beast.
People from Maine… well, they do call them Mainiacs for a reason. ;)