Arizona is a strange state, as the recent bizarre and bigoted legislation requiring gays to wear a scarlet letter in effect, attests. I remember just before I could vote, Barry Goldwater (remember him?) said something about cutting off the East Coast and letting it flow away. Here in New York we said, Where is Arizona anyway? I can’t find it on the map! The country as a whole has tended to agree with us, as elections and culture show.
I don’t know if it is the desert dust, the mesquite, or the ancient mescaline, but we rarely take Arizona seriously. We do like the great artists of course, but that is different. New York loves art no matter where it comes from.
John McCain is always given respect, not so much for his views, but because of what he went through. We don’t blame him for being born in Arizona, he seems to transcend his place of birth, at least some times.
It is hard to imagine why the good Lord put New York and Arizona in the same country, but the ways of the Lord, truly, are mysterious.
Perhaps that is one thing New York and Arizona can agree on.
