I grew up in Maine, and I used to be proud to tell people that.

For more than 300 years, Mainers were considered down-to-earth, no-nonsense, hardy souls. They were loggers and mariners and practiced environmentalism and recycling before either had a name, out of necessity. Because Maine is a beautiful but unforgiving place.

The beautiful part is why it became a tourist destination. The unforgiving part is why the tourists didn’t stay. Winter in Maine is not for the faint of heart.

But somewhere in the new millenium, the Ma**holes that everyone put up with in the summer, started staying. They winterized their summer homes and put out their lawyer and doctor shingles. Pretty soon the cost of real estate put locals out of the market, and the subsequent taxes made more than half the state a paycheck away from homelessness.

Apparently that bothered no one. Remember, Mainers themselves are hardy folk. And homelessness in Maine is different than a lot of places. Those “shacks” along the rural roads were paid for in the 1900s, and all you’ve got to do to stay in your great grandpa’s old place is get on the dole and save up for taxes. You can forage for edibles, shoot deer to eat, and heat with the woodstove.

And Maine makes it very easy to be on the dole. It is the most social serviced state in the country. Just ask the 50,000+ Somalis, who found their way to Lewiston/Auburn. Other states didn’t live up to their “family values,” so they packed their bejeweled wives in the Cadillacs and left Atlanta, and Ohio, and Ilhan Omar’s district for the hinterlands. Because, the social services.

Fast forward to the plandemic of 2020, when Massachusetts went full commie. Even more of them stayed in Maine that fall. And, therefore, communism weaseled even deeper into the Maine way of life. So far in that parents of girls who were competing against boys in GIRLS sports were ridiculed for protesting that. So far into communism that the fancy folks in Portland, who entertain the foodies and upscale tourons, can’t afford the taxes they’re paying to care for the illegal immigrants being hoisted on them by the marxist maven in Augusta.

You know the one. The one who told our President that she would “see him in court.” The one whose own university system distanced themselves from her, and said, “It’s okay. We can drop the DEI. We need federal money more.” The only more disgusting person in Maine than its DEI governor, is its RINO state senator, a woman who patterns herself after Margaret Chase Smith, who would likely look down her nose at the pandering grifter.

So, where are those Mainers who were known for their independent spirit and stiff backbones? They’re still there, but they are up in “The County,” growing your potatoes and blueberries. They’re out in their lobsterboats, trying to feed their families with skills their own governor doesn’t honor. The OG Mainers came out in huge numbers to greet President Trump last summer. But they are overwhelmed at the ballot box by the invaders on the coast, the ones who have driven all the prices through the roof, turned Portland into a crime-ridden immigrant haven, and put actual natives into the poorhouse.

Harsh? Honestly, we don’t hate these marxists enough.

Quick illustration. I’ve lived in the South for 57 years (with a decade to sail the seas and live in Europe.) My southern daughters are both bringing up their families in their own homes, on the incomes of licensed skills and hard work. My Maine nieces are college-educated professionals with 6 figure salaries who “may never own their own home,” because of the cost of living in Maine. And what do they get out of the social services state? Nothing. Because they have good jobs and are not illegals.

So, when that one woke innkeeper in a cheesy little beach town tells CNN that his business is bust because the Canadians aren’t coming this year because of tariffs – keep in mind that southern Maine, the tourist part, is a crime-ridden craphole thanks to the commies he keeps voting for. The Canadians will be back. Just like they came back when currency exchanges kept them away.

But Maine will still be broken.