Mason, Meet Dixon

Michiganders are about as Northern as you get (next stop, Canada). Yet it's nice, in a strange way, to find that there are Southerners who share our problems and concerns.

Example Number One: Mike Rogers

As you know, there is another Mike Rogers in Congress -- from Alabama's Third District. While he doesn't have much of a physical resemblance to Michigan Mike, intellectually (ahem) they are two peas in a very conservative pod.

They even share their talking points, something of which Michigan Mike is very fond.

Alabama Mike also voted against overriding the Bush veto of SCHIP, and issued this statement:

The debate over SCHIP is serious business, which is why I find these types of political games so disappointing.

Compare this with Michigan Mike's statements:

As we look forward, it is crucial to end political gimmicks such as the veto override vote. [skip] I had hoped for an end to the political posturing when the flawed measure was vetoed

Those darn Democrats! Curse their posturing, gimmicks and game playing!

Here at MRN, we've spent a lot of time talking about Michigan Mike's anti-SCHIP votes, including a post earlier this week.

Just for fun, I poked around to see what the stout-hearted bloggers at Left in Alabama (the southern equivalent of Michigan Liberal) and found posts and comments like these:

I have beat this S-CHIP horse until my arms are tired, but I still believe it is the clearest example of the unfeeling, callous disregard these Congressmen (don't call them representatives) show every day. (normboyd40)

For more posts about Alabama Mike, visit Left in Alabama and check out Mooncat's diaries. The most recent, Mike Rogers: Fundraising Passes For Leadership in the Republican Party, could have been posted here with very few changes.

(Perhaps this calls for a blogger exchange! We frozen Michiganders would be more than happy to visit the land of camellias and Gulf breezes. In the summer, the Alabamans could come on up and enjoy our pleasant peninsula and lakes...)

In the meantime, we're still stuck with Congresscritters who live in their own Bush-centric universe. Keep on blogging, Mooncat -- I'm right beside you working for a Mike Rogers-free Congress in 2009!