I would prefer living in a blue state, but at least thank goodness, I live in a blue city

Ok, I would love, just one time in my life, to live in a solidly blue state. That state would be comprised of a diverse group of people. It would be open to the LGBTQ community as well as those from all nationalities. I love the ability to drop in for lunch at a Palestinian-owned restaurant and have Lamb Shank. I love going to a Chinese restaurant and having all the food that that wonderful culture includes. I would be even more ecstatic if I could visit a Chinatown like the ones in San Francisco and Philly.

However, I don’t live in a Blue state. I live in a Red state where we are represented by anti-equality people in the Senate who actually questioned a person recommended for an office whether they believed in Jesus like that has anything whatsoever to do with governing the country. I chuckle at the question in part because I got rid of a woman going door to door with religious talk as saying I believed in the Bible. I do, if only that it exists, but I didn’t clarify. I doubt very much I believe what she did about the Bible. Such idiocy makes me cringe every time that man appears on TV or computer screens. Yes, it is the man named John Kennedy that I speak of. He makes my skin crawl with his Foghorn sounding country twang, which is put off because the man has a good education but sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth, so he is obviously doing that to appeal to the “rednecks” and “white nationalists” that find that lack of intellect favorable.

The only other Senator is actually a bit of an improvement because at least he had the moral fiber to vote for trump’s impeachment after he inspired the insurrection on Jan 6th. I say that not because I like Cassidy, I don’t. However, it is a modicum better than Kennedy.

The good thing is that I live in New Orleans. In fact when I moved here, and people asked why I was moving to Louisiana, indicating that it was as bad politically as Tennessee, I responded that I wasn’t moving to Louisiana, I was moving to New Orleans. New Orleans is a nice shade of blue. We have a huge African American (or Black if you prefer that term) population. In fact, it is over half Black. In addition, there are Mexicans, French, Spanish and every other nationality. In addition, the LGBTQ population is substantial and we have our own newspaper and radio, and TV broadcasts that call New Orleans home.

To go further toward emphasizing the blueness of New Orleans, it is not at all odd to have an LGBTQ parade in the city and have young couples bring their children and watch the parade go by. For the major part, whoever you are, or love, you are welcome and appreciated in Crescent City. And looking back at the top, where I write about restaurants, I can go to a Palestinian-owned restaurant, a Chinese restaurant. I don’t have a Chinatown here, but we have a large area that far from me that could be labeled an Arab Town. I go there and look around frequently.

And then let’s talk about the Covid virus. New Orleans had a bad start with Madri Gras of 2020 causing us to be on the front line of that horrible pandemic. I still think a lot of that had to do with all the tourists that came from that event, but nevertheless, that was bad. However, thanks to our Democratically lead city, we have cracked. I was just walking today around in a mall parking, and signs in many of the stores indicated that masks MUST be worn on entry. Our governor understands enough to know that New Orleans has a lot of visitors and therefore the Mayor needed to do what was right for the people of our city and allowed her to take stronger measures than the state-wide ones, in order to protect the health of those who live here.

So, don’t hate everybody in a red state, there are those of us, sometimes entire cities that fight against the callousness of the politics normally found in the red states. If I ever move again, however, I would prefer to move to a blue state. Unfortunately, so many of the southern states right around me are so red a bull would be in constant charge mode and I don’t like the cold of the north anymore. Never did really like it, but now I don’t think I could tolerate it. So, if I want a blue state, that about only leaves California, and the cities I would prefer in California are the bigger ones like San Francisco, and the cost of living is higher there.

However, if things get worse in red states, I might consider moving. Can someone give me a good state and city within that state that is both warm, diverse, and welcoming, and with a decently low cost of living? I would like to have an idea of a decent alternative although I still love the culture of New Orleans.