Keller @ Large: 'I'm From Massachusetts, And I'm Really Sorry'

BOSTON (CBS) - Uh-oh, it's déjà vu all over again.

The Environmental League of Massachusetts is trying to raise money by returning to one of the more unfortunate tropes in modern American political history. Donors can get themselves a bumper sticker that reads: "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts."

Get it?

Massachusetts was one of 20 states that voted for the loser in this year's presidential election.

In 1988, the last time this smug little slogan appeared, it was one of 10 states that voted for Michael Dukakis. And in 1972, our crowning achievment, we were the only state that chose McGovern over Nixon.

"[We] thought this might be a fun footnote to an unfun election," League President George Bachrach said in an email to the State House News Service. "With Washington moving in the wrong direction, we're committed to making Mass. a national role model."

Actually, a decent case can be made that Massachusetts deserves a significant share of the credit for the backlash that helped Donald Trump win.

As I pointed out a decade ago in my book "The Bluest State," we perfected the art of widening income inequality and the atrocious racial gap in educational achievement that drove so many working-class voters into Trump's arms.

We are the masters of the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do politics and oppressive political correctness that alienated so many Trump voters.

Over the years we've been perennial league leaders in wasteful spending, misplaced priorities, and unwarranted arrogance about it all.

Perhaps that bumper sticker ought to be changed to read: "Hi, I'm from Massachusetts, and I'm really, really sorry."

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