[pcwalton]

It's not a funded campaign against California or anything (although I suppose our current president's campaign rhetoric comes close to meeting that definition), but I agree that the constant California bashing is annoying. My guess is that it's simply a result of the fact that more people here have experiences with California than anywhere else, and people like to complain about where they live. So you see a lot of negative California rhetoric, because lots of people here can relate to it. Whereas if I complain about the intolerance, ugliness, weather, etc. of College Station, Texas (all reasons why I moved away and have no interest in moving back to that state) few know what I'm talking about.

I'm no California booster or anything, mind you. Some people like it here (I'm one of them), and some don't. That's fine. We certainly have our problems that we need to work on, and we have also done a lot of things right. (For example, SF tore down the Embarcadero Freeway permanently when it was damaged in the earthquake. Brilliant move. Wouldn't fly politically for a second in Dallas.)