THE DEVIL IN MASSACHUSETTS

One of the local tv stations ran the film 1776
today. It's a musical about the Declaration of Independence.

I'd forgotten how much I'd enjoyed it the first time
I saw it.

Anyway, there's a scene in the movie where the delegates
to the first Continental Congress are arguing over if
they should debate breaking off from England. John Adams
of Massachusetts has irritated the Pennsylvania delegate
and he has a line more or less wondering why Massachusetts
is the way it is and declares it's evil and that the
devil(Adams)is sitting in that room with them.

I had to laugh. Yep,that's Massachusetts alright. Back
then, you had men and women descended from Puritans and
many of whom were among the most educated colonists,
and even then political debate was an art form here.

And just when things were quieting down a bit, the first
big wave of Irish immigrants arrived. And everyone knows
about the Boston Irish and politics.

At any rate, Massachusetts has a long tradition of being
the fly in the ointment, the place where someone will
keep asking "Why?" until they get an answer they either
agree with, or one they will fight to change. Witness
the American Revolution and the Abolitionist Movement
later. It's not always a polite debate, but it was from
this state that the Revolution spread, and one of the
things they fought for was freedom of speech.

Which is why I often laugh at conservative talk hosts
doing their usual smear job on any politician from
Massachusetts, because if not for those crazy Boston
bastards of 1776, there might not be an America.

It's not treason to ask questions about or disagree
with government policies, nor is it unAmerican.

It's called democracy.

And damned if one of the places it started wasn't right
here in Massachusetts.