I came out of the Red Lion one fine February morning amd my hat took off almost straight up. Last time I saw it was climbing past the top of the nearest building heading straight south... no dummy that hat...

But the state does have an almost Demo senator...

We finally agree on something.

I might remind you that Bob Kerrey became a Dem after a brief stint as a Repuke.  I asked him why the switch and he said something to the effect that Repukes like to "own" politicians for their purposes, Dems actually want to make things better for the citizen.

The present thieves in charge of the Republican Party really aren't welcome in Omaha.  Kissinger will go speak at a business meeting but he is treated more like the fish-lady at the state fair.  Pat B. is better, more reflecting the values voter.  Wellstone was widely popular.

The state never struck me as caring whether someone was Rep or Dem.  The residents did (do?) care about honesty and hard work.  I think many are ready for change.

About the Huskers fans.  A few make jihadis look like pikers.

The Platte.  Every year some young Repuke tries to drive his usually tricked out eight wheel drive substitute for his smallish member across the seemingly shallow Platte.  and every year, a rather largish percent of those get to watch their symbollic macho-hood sink out of sight, never to be found again.

In the latter, you'll find that he got a whopping 25% ADA rating back in 2001, which is what you expect from a RINO who is so deceptive that his current liberal ratings are around the 10% level.

Of course, there are some who agree with PPJ, they're just more honest about their reasoning behind their opinion:

From the text itself: "Chuck Hagel never became a dove, but he became a bird that's nearly as rare in the Republican aviary. He became an internationalist, someone who's capable of feeling intensely about alliances, multilateral endeavors, the value of global institutions; a fellow traveler of the Council on Foreign Relations, a politician who actually reads Foreign Affairs. A singular Great Plains Republican, in other words, who cares about the rest of the world for reasons that don't begin and end with agricultural exports."

That could be seen in some quarters as strange praise for a senator who remains extremely critical of a war that liberated Iraqis from a dictatorship.

Left my building on a clear, sunny, winter day, thinking I would dash to my car for a quick warm up.

My eyes teared up as soon as I left the warmth of the building, then they, literally iced up.  Managed to "feel" my way back to the building.  Bundled up, head to toe.  Went several hundred yards to car, started up.  Fuel froze less than a block later, fortunately on a hill, coasted down to gas station where I took it inside to melt frozen parts of fuel.

Found out later that high of day was minus 25, wind chill, minus 85.  on a clear, sunny, day.

Used to run every day.  Winter, I would put on several layers of sweats, not for the temperature, but for the inevitable fall on ice.

However, it is hot and muggy in the summer.  An attached garage is a luxury.

Should New Yorkers relocate to Omaha they will be in for an unhealthy dose of true culture shock.  Omahans pride themselves on being white and don't accept minorities of any kind - not gays, not blacks, not jews, not asians, not indians (both).  Not nothing.  You must be pure, unadulturated WASP to thrive.  

Obviously, the residents of Omaha lack for cultural outlets and to fill the slack they spend most waking hours looking down their noses at anyone and everything that doesn't meet their preconceived notion of "normal."  That normal is NOT, of course, the normal that you or I would consider normal.

My family still lives in Omaha, and they are in some respects mainstream.  Mainstream is, however, defined as dittoheads, serial users of the "N" word and other racial slurs, philanderers, adulterers, cheats, and pedophiles.  (Recall the male juvenile prostitute scandal from the early eighties that almost brought down Reagan's administration originated in Omaha.)

Undercurrents course through Omaha, but you'd never know it by outward appearances.  Scratch the surface and you find judges who drink their lunch and return to the bench.  AGs who fall out of their cars, seriously, after stopping for a couple at the local hangout on the way home. Perhaps you recognize that man in the choir at church on Sunday morning as that "wasted" lecher who couldn't keep his wedding-ringed hands off you the night before.  (True story)

Jeralyn mentions that Omaha is just now converting warehouses into interesting restaurants and shops.  Oh Jeralyn, that experiment actually started in the early seventies; I kid you not.  When I was in Omaha for a funeral back in 2000, nothing in the Old Market had changed one iota.  The town and the people are stuck in a time warp.  Every day is Groundhog's Day in Omaha.

To paraphrase the page from the Foley scandal, Omaha is one sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick place.  Like the conniving vixen on a soap opera, it may seem "pretty" on the outside, but it is cruel and twisted and rotten to its very core.

none of them screamed out at me to go live there. i'll have to ask my brother about the new wal-mart, he lives in chicago.

frankly, i've spent a fair amount of time criss-crossing the country in the past few years, with stretches on both coasts and the midwest. call me a homer, but i found the coasts, almost regardless of where, the most amenable, economically and culturally.

I just cannot let all these falsehoods about Omaha pass without comment.

I've lived here for over 40 years and I obviously have not have the same experiences as many of you claim to have had especially SherAn.

Jazzcattgl says he spent 6 months at OFFUTT and was so bored he had to leave.  Six months is hardly a good representation of Omaha.  Obviously you don't get out much.

jimakaPPJ the Baptists are hardly a majority religion here and the Missouri River borders Omaha on the East, not the Platte.

Skyho claims attached garages are a luxury.  Where on earth did you get that idea?  Yes, Omaha isn't so backward that we don't have attached garages.  Believe it or not many people have three car attached garages.

Yes, we do have cold winters from mid-December to mid-March, but not as cold as New York.  I nearly froze to death from hypothermia in March in New York after an 8 inch snow storm.  Check the map, NY is farther North than Omaha.

We may not have an ocean or mountains, but we are certainly not lacking in cultural experiences if you but take advantage of them.  We have a ballet, a symphony, live theater, a world class zoo, the Joslyn Art Museum renowned for its western art, a children's museum, Western Heritage Museum, a botanical garden, and many other entertainment venues.

In addition, the sandhills are the largest formation of its kind except for the one in China.

We also have one of the largest underground aquifiers.

Yes, there are many wealthy people in Omaha and some not so wealthy.

I have no idea where SherAn required her viewpoints of Omaha, but I just don't see it.  We welcome diversity here.

People who are transferred here from other areas esp. the coasts are amazed at how much square footage they can buy for their money when buying a home.  

I've known people who came to OFFUTT thinking this was the worst place to be located in the world and left here in tears because they had grown to love Omaha and Bellevue and its welcoming people.  Bellevue really supports its military.  

Yes, Jeralyn we do have many fine restaurants but it appears you have confined yourself to the downtown and Old Market only probably from time constraints.

BUT you knock the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and we come out fightin'!  Omaha's is a world class zoo contending for honors with Columbus and San Diego.  It has exhibits that have been copied at other zoos (like the indoor rain forest --featured in Nat. Geographic) and its care for the animals is second to none.

Oh, and the Old Market has had lofts for at least 30 years.