RED STATES.....

BLUE STATES.....

Think this was heard of in 1982? I've watched many motion pictures made during this time period, as well as interviews and shows. Watch some of these yourself. If you pay attention, you'll notice no one ever talks of the liberal left or conservative right, or bible thumpers. You only heard on single term... Americans. Maybe it's because we were so proud to be the United States in the face of communist nations. Maybe it's because we were thankful to not be a starving nation, unlike Ethiopia.

But today, we've become so hung up on selfish lawsuits and political correctness that we've forgotten honor and faith, and have given way to false open-mindedness. I am a very open-minded person, but common sense has to intervene. Some ideas don't work, and that's just the cold-hard truth.

This nation has just been slapped in the face by the recent national elections because the networks supported Kerry. They made their point by pushing the "red states" and "blue states", emphasizing where conservatives and liberals are. Saturday Night Live took it a step further. At first the show's cast pointed out that there are good things about both red and blue states. A member of the cast said "I was born and raised poor in a red state, now I'm rich and living in a blue state."
Thanks a freaking lot, media, for making things a lot more complicated and divided than they need to be. Our nation is fragile as it is, and the media has done nothing to mend our differences.

Oklahoma, often times, catches the brunt of what's frowned upon in this nation, and yet Californians and New Yorkers do not realize that Oklahoma is not a closed-minded red-neck state. Regardless, we do not get the respect we deserve, because we are Americans as well.

Rodney Carrington hosts a sitcom that is set in Tulsa. Because it was set in Tulsa, the networks fought it. However, because Rodney said "Take it or I'm walking", the networks agreed. Now, I am an Oklahoma Citian at heart, but what's wrong with a sitcom taking place in Tulsa? I didn't know a city in Oklahoma could make network execs blush. Now I know how the national media really feels about Oklahoma.

Think about this...

I am from Oklahoma, born and raised. If you're from New York, you're probably thinking I I live in a rural farm or trailer, I drive a pick-up truck and I am a mechanic that works on trucks and tractors, and I listen to Brooks and Dunn. I bet New Yorkers reading this are agreeing.

For those of you on the coast, here is your slap in the face. I live in an Oklahoma City apartment. I am a 26 year-old college student who is earning a computer science degree. I drive a Honda CRX, and I am a video gamer who listens to Pink Floyd. I voted for the lottery and casino gaming, because I am a believer in new ideas for Oklahoma. I've never worn cowboy boots, and I don't have an accent.

These are the prejudices we need to get past. Unforunately, this country is going in the wrong direction, and the national media is only making things worse.

Red states and blue states. We may as well start calling ourselves the Fifty States of America, instead of the United States of America. Then we can show the rest of the world how weak, exposed and fragmented we are.

There have been sitcoms set in Oklahoma before: NBC's The Torkelsons, before the producers got frantic and moved it to Seattle, was set in the town of Pyramid Corners, north of Vinita, and Fox briefly ran something called Rachel Gunn, R.N., which took place at the Little Innocence (ha!) Hospital in Oklahoma City. (For some reason, most of your online sources place Rachel in Nebraska; were that the case, there would have been no reason for the cast members to have lunch at Sonic and gripe about May Avenue traffic.)

As far as the red/blue divide goes, frankly, I don't much mind being separated from some of the wingnuts on the coasts, but that's just me. Then again, as an Oklahoma Democrat, I'm probably somewhere to the right of your average, say, Connecticut Republican.