> These are states where people take pride in driving big gas guzzling trucks and the government supports them in that. Stereotypes like this are ridiculous.

> These are states where people take pride in driving big gas guzzling trucks and the government supports them in that. Stereotypes like this are ridiculous. Do these people exist in those states? Absolutely. Do they also exist in California too? Definitely. This type of blindness is so prevalent in California it's staggering. I had a friend who was (rightly) furious about North Carolina's homophobic legislation and declared "That kind of thing would never happen in California." We stood there blankly looking at each other for a moment until I mentioned "But California passed Prop 8." Of course he had a rationale. But how quickly we are to see the exception or nuance for "us" but never for "them." We need to remember the plural of annedoate is not data.