What The Hell Happened To Pennsylvania?

I don't quite know how to put this. And I'm not even sure where to begin.

But even though I live a stone's throw from the state, I've never thought very much about Pennsylvania. Oh, sure -- I worked there for nearly 30 years. But that was in Philadelphia. And, 'ya gotta understand: Philadelphia is Philadelphia and Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania. Ditto the Philly suburbs. It's sorta like New York City and New York state and Long Island and the rest of the state. They're just different worlds. Vastly different.

I went to Pittsburgh -- once. I enjoyed it. Friendly town. Nice people. Lots of civic pride and an almost midwestern,  small-town spirit. I've traveled clear across Pennsylvania. Been to Happy Valley (Penn State University) too. Big state. Nice state capitol building. Lots of history. Some lovely, sprawling areas. 

But even with all that, I never thought about Pennsylvania very much. I was never a big sports fan, so the sports rivalries never interested me. Politicians and personalities? Well, Rendell was a good governor and I thought Santorum was a good senator. One was a Democrat and the other was a Republican. So what? Ridge was a good governor and the first Bob Casey (the original!) also did a good job. Again, different parties but I think each served the state well. For the most part, common sense prevailed.

But now? Now that they've gone and elected Fetterman? Well, I think they've tossed all that away. They've relinquished whatever good was there. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Pennsylvanians haven't served themselves very well. Put another way, what they did simply makes no sense!

Of course the guy should had never stayed in the race after he had his stroke  And, if he (and his wife) didn't have the good sense to withdraw, the people should have done it for him by not electing him. It would have been the right, sensible and yes, compassionate thing to do. They would have voted to put him on the road to a healthier life and they would have done democracy proud. But instead, they've acted ignorantly. They are now kind of complicit in an all too painful-to-watch sideshow. 

Hey, I'm from New Jersey. And we've elected some real scoundrels. We ain't no saints, that's for sure. But, to my knowledge, we've never elected anyone like this. We've never done anything quite so embarrassing or quite so -- dare I say -- grotesque!

Pennsylvania: This is a low, low, low point for you. In fact, it's probably even worse than electing a dead guy, which you also did in a separate contest on Tuesday.  Shame on ya, Penneylsvania!