Pennsylvania, The Grumpy State

In Pennsylvania, we have Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love and potential 2016 Olympic host. We have the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. We have Kennywood Park. But we're still grumpy, according to a new IssuesPA/Pew poll. How could this be?

• We have high gas prices, which would make anybody grumpy, but so does everyone else.
• We have Governor Ed Rendell, whose entire agenda for the state involves our gambling away our hard-earned rust belt wages.
• We have Gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann, who is going deep for a pass to Harrisburg, but can't be bothered to run downfield to the polls to vote.
• And we have a state legislature which approved a pay raise, only to rescind it after the predictable voter outrage. When the poll asked people for a one-word description describing the legislature, the top-ranking word was "greedy." They'd probably prefer that the representatives and senators hitchhike back and forth between their districts and Harrisburg.

This level of grumpiness requires strong medicine. I'm thinking that chocolate is involved at some point. Or beer.


There, now isn't that better?