Shore Against the World

Bruce says that Michael Swartz's "Prince Baltgomery" lament stems less from a urban/rural tension and more from the peculiar culture of the Eastern Shore:

Bombast aside, the Shore is a somewhat distinct society and culture with special geographic and economic characteristics. That distinctiveness, more than its Republican voting patterns, justifies the geographic exemptions that the Shore enjoys from many Maryland laws. I would prefer that more such laws be written locally under home rule, but full charter home rule is somewhat unpopular on the Shore due to the extra tax burdens of fully-developed local government. It isn't just liberal or distant government, but government period, that many Shoresmen resent, and I respect that view.

Of course, this raises the question of why the Eastern Shore and the Baltimore-Washington corridor are even in the same state. Indeed, Maryland's current boundaries, and its machine-gun shape, are a relic of colonial-era border disputes, which culminated in the now-famous Mason-Dixon line. So maybe instead of the Shore seceding, as Bruce suggests, Maryland should annex Delaware, which used to belong to us. I'm sure we'll be greeted as liberators :-)