in Texas is that the South is a cold, hard place that has a soft paper thin exterior.

The charm and niceties are cute, but all they hide is a population at home in a morality free, lawless, jealous, petty zone of RAMPANT UNCONTROLLED crime and vagrancy.

Am I being harsh?

Consider this. For most of my 32 years I lived right outside Hartford, Connecticut (one of the worst, most crime ridden cities in the country), that is when I wasn't living in deep dark Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (the part of NYC mentioned in that Billy Joel song about him being crazy for walking thru Bedford Stuy alone).

In those 32 years, I was a victim of crime exactly 3 times including two car break ins, took the battery and radio and some tapes (but not the school books).

Since moving to Texas nine years ago, I have been a victim of crime over a DOZEN times, not counting the OFFICIAL crimes committed by the police against me as well.

Herein is the list of crimes committed against me on average every nine months in Texas.

1. White kids took my wallet during a party, Austin

2. Car broken into, radio taken, San Antonio

3. Truck broken into, two laptops taken, Houston

3. Item taken from mailbox, San Antonio

4. Another item taken from mailbox, San Antonio

5. Wood columns, among other things, taken during my house construction, Austin

6. White room renter took all my CDs, pots, tools, and did not pay me rent for the last month. Oh, and he threatened me with physical violence.

7. White room renter took my TV

8. White trash room renter left without paying me the last month's rent. His white trash father, when confronted with my phone call seeking out AWOL white trash son, told me he hoped white trash son does not pay what he owes me, since (the local going rate for rents that I charge) is too much in his estimation.

..I cannot at the moment recall the remaining instances, but it is more of the same (and I HAVE been counting accurately so I KNOW 12 is a precise figure of the number of times I have been victimized living in Texas.)

Now for the list of official crimes.

1. Stopped and ticketed for going 72 in a 70 MPH zone on a clear sunny day in the middle of nowhere with no other cars for over a mile in either direction on a divided highway, in San Angelo

2. Arrested for driving with a suspended license (unknowingly). When I found out why I had a suspended license, it was because of a 'mistake' at the DOT, the DOT had sent a bill for $104 to an old address. EVEN THOUGH my driver's license had my new address for the past FOUR years, they sent the bill to an address I had not been at for four years. I do not know about you, but nobody forwards mail four years later from an old address. Conveniently, a local attorney earned $1500 from me to clear up my situation, and the towing company earned another $300. This was in Austin.

The so called hospitality of Southerners is a ruse and a cheat. It is designed to clear Southerners' consciences so they can run their lives lawlessly without regret and stab you in the back guiltlessly when it pleases them.

In summary, I have experienced a 15x increase in personal crime since moving to Texas.

Kind of puts in perspective their schpiel about how MORAL Southerners are compared to the Heathen Northerners.

You can guess I am sour on the whole situation and intend to move out soon to some place with REAL ACTUAL MORALITY rather than the pretend kind.

and we wonder why Texas bred Bush is in power and this country is going down the shitter?

pure evil, all of it.

Mr. Keillor,

You've done it again! By making what seems to be a perfectly coherent observation, you've unleashed a storm of controversy. Yes, it's true. Life in the southern U.S. is generally charcterized by those who've never spent any time there as dirty, bigoted, immoral and hypocritical to say nothing of the miserable climate. You know what though? We northerners and our cool arrogance beat the holy s_ _t out of them 150 years ago, when they tried to seceed. We said No! Racism and bigotry is wrong! The truth is that with few exceptions, the southern U.S. has never really gotten over that. Yes, there are sweet self-effacing folks there - just like there are in Minnesota, but watch out - they'll bag your carpet just as fast as they'll pat your knee and call you 'Honey'!

I would rather be listening to Amy Goodman on NPR than 'Wobegone' any day...

And who told you to sing that is want i want to know.... just kidding pop... since Dems have so few outspoken people I guess we should respect the few.

But the question you raised, "Why do Southern folks elect regressive, warmongering politicians but still call you 'sunshine' when they serve your coffee?" is an interesting one.

I suspect the answer has to do with the under appreciated power of repeating lies over and over till it destroys the listener's mind.

AND THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING... IN FACT IT IS NAKED EVIL.

As a 14th generation Southerner who lived for years in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California, I was intrigued by this article and the comments it generated.

To me, Minnesotans have always seemed the friendliest people on earth and the most straightforwardly (some would even say naively) open towards strangers. Years after my career took me away from Minnesota, I read Main Street and tried in vain to recall the sort of small-mindedness portrayed in Lewis' small-town characters. In fact, Main Street reminded me far more of my experience in the South.

Sourthern culture, like any other, is not always easy to characterize or evaluate. Perhaps like my understanding of Minnesotans, a Northern understanding of Southerners can be a very personal narrative.

I grew up in the south. I always thought it was funny when someone attributed dishonesty to being polite. When the figured you were being deceptive for holding your tongue. I believe that perhaps there is a better word for it: tact. Knowing when it would be appropriate to say something and when it would hurt another. It never hurt to be pleasent to one another.

And if someone wants to call you sunshine, well at least they're trying to be nice.