Thank God for Joe The Plumber

Otherwise, everyone would be talking about the Palin rally at Johnstown, PA. I grew up in a mining town 20-minutes from Johnstown.

I moved away 24 years ago, and a lot has changed. On the other hand, so much hasn't. It was once, and may still be, the metropolitan area with the highest percentage of individuals who have lived in the same house since 1959. As much as one quarter of the residents. The Carter and Reagan years were it's toughest time, and it has been on life support ever since.

I didn't recognize it so much growing up, but there are pockets of the culture there that remain quite racist. I've heard it over and over. And I've heard everything about Obama (he's a Muslim, he's a terrorist, doesn't pledge to the US flag, and on and on). Attitudes toward people of color, especially African-American, are unmoving and unfavorable. These attitudes remain entrenched in some pockets, but they are dying out.

It's not typical of residents there. They're good people. They will give you the shirt off their back.

My sister went to the Palin rally, where the ugliness happened. She set off the metal detector. No, she wasn't packing [pervs]. She had a knee replacement 10 years ago.

BTW, 50% of my six-person family has lived in the same house since 1959. My parents (both 79) and my brother (51) live in the house. Both my sisters live in the same town, within walking distance of my parents house. I'm the troubled middle-child who left.