Here is the least surprising lede to any story I have ever read:

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s favorability among likely New York voters has cratered, and former President Trump is viewed more favorably by voters in the historically blue state in a new poll.

The fact that this is news drives home something I have discovered since relocating from California to Tennessee – people in red places don’t necessarily get it. I tell stories here in TN about life in CA and people look at me as if to say, “That’s not possible!” No, it is distinctly possible, and very real and everyone needs to understand it because a Harris administration will drive the nation in the same direction as the blue places.

So, I guess I’ll tell some stories.

Covid – people in Tennessee cannot imagine what life was like in California during that unfortunate event. It was like jail. Though we did not move to TN until 2023, we purchased our house here in the Volunteer State in 2020, very early in the covid event – putting our offer down in June of 2020 – just three months after everyone in California was shackled in their homes. We moved back and forth many times in the subsequent period and coming to Tennessee was simply and joyfully a taste of freedom – there was no need to check the latest regulations before stepping out the door – you could go to the store any time you wanted without concern, and best of all you could physically attend church. I could go on for hours about the differences. With the levels of regulation in blue places comes an attitude in the populace, and therein laid the biggest difference. But I think I will turn to a more concrete story.

I provided consulting and engineering services to many, many organizations – among them were local government and governmental agencies – including the equipment yard of a suburban Los Angeles city. This was a small $750 job. However, this particular city required I obtain a business license in that city to get the work – at a cost of $1250. But before We go there, they also required that, since I was a “contractor,” I have a very specific liability insurance policy for $5M. Now, I did have an Errors and Omissions policy more than adequate for the job at hand, but I did not have a contractor’s liability policy because I was not a contractor. So, I did not want to do the job under these circumstances, but the yard guy I was dealing with had no place else to turn, so, I got a contractor friend to bid the job for me, thus marking up the work. But he too was required to get the business license. So, we were $2500 into business licenses alone, plus the contractor’s mark-up, plus the extra 5-10 hours in related paperwork. We ended up billing a little less than $5K for a $750 job.

Do you understand where inflation comes from now? I am not making this up, but I won’t name names because I want the people that now operate the business to be able to retain the work.

This is life in a blue place. This could be life for everybody, even in deep red places like Tennessee, under a Harris administration.

ADDENDUM: Yesterday we looked at examples of left-wing hysteria. One of the more interesting aspects of hysteria is it completely warps one’s perceptions of reality. Obviously, this has happened to Nancy Pelosi. It is not at all helpful when you try and disguise reality.

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