Who are we

I saw this posted by someone who is proud to be a "Red State" voter:

We are the red states. We listen to talk shows and Fox News. We tear up when we hear the National Anthem. We drive SUVS and fly business class. We go through drive-thrus, have mortgages, and shop at Wal-Mart. We attend BBQs, football games, fire hall meetings, and places of faith. We believe life is precious and marriage is sacred. We believe there are some things worth dying for. We have the utmost respect for those who lay their life on the line defending our freedom and protecting our streets. We believe religion is not a philosophy but a way of life. We raise our children as best we can. We'll help anyone who really needs it, and not blame others for our own bad choices. We read our Holy Books. We pray because we know wisdom comes from God, not man. We go about our lives quietly as we care for our families. We might not have time to demonstrate, but we make time to vote. We expect the values we teach our children to be respected in our schools. We expect people to say what they mean and mean what they say. We expect to work hard and earn the just rewards of that labor. We expect to be able to watch a football game with our kids and not have to worry about the content of the half-time show. We expect terrorists and those who harm the innocent to be punished. We are farms, ranches, small businesses, and town squares. We are BBQs, baseball games, fishing holes, and civic clubs. We are little league games, piano recitals, Bible Studies, and car pools. We are grandfathers in Iwo Jima, fathers in Vietnam, and sons and daughters in Iraq. We are fly-over country. We are the red states.

I came up with my own list. I do not intend to speak for everyone in blue states, nor do I intend to speak for everyone who voted against Bush.

We are informed and educated about the rest of the world. We listen to Democracy Now! and the BBC. We write for and read our local newspapers. We know that talk radio listeners think they are more informed but are really less informed. We take public transportation and drive hybrids. We walk our children to school or to the bus stop. We shop at co-ops and corner stores and local merchants, while they brag about shopping at Wal-Mart despite the cost to their community and our society. We volunteer at food banks and thrift stores. We use our libraries and public schools. We believe in education and rehabilitation. We know that they believe in incarceration and execution. We believe that children should be allowed to pray in school--silently by themselves, not led by teachers. We know that in 2004 there have been 58 executions in the US, 57 of them in Red States. We know that since 1977 there have been 937 state executions, 889 of them in Red States. We know the top ten states in inmate incarceration rates are all red. While Red State voters talk about values, we act upon our values. We know they allow their neighbors to live in poverty, yet claim to be Christian and "moral". We read; and not only "holy books". We have passports and we have been to "Old Europe". We know that practicing religion is a right and a choice. We don't believe in writing our religious beliefs into law. We know that forcing our "values" on others is wrong. We know that the rights of the minority must be protected from the tyranny of the majority. We manned the Underground Railroad. We immigrated from Asia and Europe to build railroads and work in coal mines. We fought for workers' rights and against child labor. We refused to name names. We walked with Martin Luther King, Jr. We were the Stonewall Girls. We protested American agression in Vietnam and Cambodia. We were killed for exercising our First Amendment rights. We died for what we believed in. We are anti-globalists and eco-feminists. We are librarians and professors. We are business owners and artists. We are waitresses and teachers' aides. We are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. We are black and white, yellow and brown. We are Christian and Buddhist, Jew and Atheist. We are thinkers and laborers. We are Americans and citizens of the world.

And we are a lot more than that, but it's a start. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments. (And you red staters do not have to to add that we are godless commies, or that we are terrorist-loving tree huggers, or baby killers. We already know that you believe that.)