What an IDIOT!!!! I guess he never heard of Merle Haggard!

It'll be a while yet before folks remember Earl Warren came from here, too (though not born here).  Thanks, Ann.

I'd say the writer certainly nails the dynamics of the most backward and regressive county in California. If people don't want their county and city viewed as intolerant and ignorant they should demand better from their elected officials. A good start would be to remove from office immediately the elected person who obviously cannot honor the law, and who has forced by an act of intransigence, a deep hit to the pocket books for law abiding innocent people.

That last sentence says it all.

You know, I see a lot of potential in Kern County.  Many people here are extremely capable and intelligent - that's not the issue.   The biggest problem I see in this area is that people aren't willing to overcome the stereotypes put on them, and instead allow outsiders to make such comments based upon the little they do see.  If more Kern County residents were willing to speak up on the issues that they believe are important to them, I think we'd surprisingly see less "country bumpkin" mentality.

I tried several times to submit the following post to their comments section.  It wouldn't  acccept my post, or at least it didn't appear too.  Crummy Advocate technology!

And, you should get a load of their spam blockers.  Unreal!  Unreadable!

Yeah, we have lots of ultra conservative citizens who want to return to the 50's and drag the rest of us with them.   But,  we also have a growing community of stauch liberals who debate everything from abortion rights to gay rights, point by point with these conservatives every day on Bakersfield.com.

It's so easy for you to bash Bakersfield.  It's not exactly an unprecedented act
since it's been done for decades by people far more famous than you.  Call us hicks, you won't be the first or the last.  We're aware we come from common stock.   In fact it's been nationally celebrated by everyone from John Steinbeck to Huell Howser. 
In light of this, it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that our little city is often described as Nashville West.  That, of course, is due to the strong contingent of country western fans and musicians here.  These people grew up with that sound and brought it with them from  Oklahoma and Texas during the dust bowl.  

We have our dusty, cowboy side, but we also have a Bakersfield Philharmonic, several museums, art galleries, two colleges and a strong community spirit that is lacking in many cities of the same size who are "blessed" with a more sophisticated personna.

The next time you want to write a story about Bakersfield, I suggest you emulate Tim Russert and prepared yourself with actual knowledge of the subject so you can write an even handed piece.   Or, you can take the easier cheap shot.

Audrey, with all due respect. It is a travesty for the people in Kern County to allow the County Clerk to make a unilateral decision just because she dislikes a California Supreme Court decision. The fact that Steinbeck had his seminal novel, The Grapes of Wrath, banned here might be a reason why he thought this place was run by a bunch of knuckleheads. It is a sad reflection on the whole that one person can conjure up all the stereotypes with one selfish action, which Ann Barnett has done unequivocally.  Other counties in California did not allow this type of uncivil action to occur.    

I also believe that anyone passing through this town and listening to the continual rants of extreme right-wing punditry on every talk radio station would come away with a view that knuckleheadedness still prevails. The civic leaders refuse to deal with our housing crisis and equity loss by green lighting every development project without fail. We have become the poster child for inhumane treatment of pets for the nation with our understaffed and over run Animal Control department and facility. Civic leaders still refuse to do one thing, or to budget for improvement on the growing stray pet population epidemic. The city is incapable of effectively planning for any road project and having it done within budget or on time. Look at White Lane and Highway 99 or at the latest fiasco on Auburn and Fairfax at 178. I won't go into the health and education crisis this city lives under, because that might be considered piling on. The writer nailed the image Kern County and Bakersfield convey to the outside world. 

Adam, Butte County did the same thing.  Why are we the butt of every joke?

(OK, I'm really, REALLY sorry.  I just couldn't let that one go.)

I thought his article was pretty funny. I'm a little bit surprised that people would be mad about it. It is factually correct. Sure, there's more to Kern County than what he wrote, but with some of the comments I've heard from people that live here about LA and the Bay Area, why should you expect anything different from someone writing about you?

 (OK, I'm really, REALLY sorry.  I just couldn't let that one go.)

And it was a butte, Tom...

.

As regards the article, many years back there was a humorous piece written in Honeywell's corporate magazine about the vast wasteland that was Ridgecrest at the time.  Locals took umbrage because the article was merciless, denigrating, unsympathetic and dead-on accurate.

BTW, this guy lives in LA, the city where civilization went to die.

I'm with Audrey on this one. Harrison starts by using every stereotype that he can come up with in order to try to make the people of Kern County look like rejects from "The Hills Have Eyes".   I took a look at his myspace profile ( http://www.myspace.com/goha... ) and saw that he lives in WEHO.  That's all well and good, but the fact is that there are many gay people who want a quieter lifestyle.  

Let's take a look at some of the differences.

1. In WEHO you can rent a closet with bathroom privileges for $1000 a month. That much money in Bako gets you a small modest house.

2. It can take you the better part of an hour to get from Highland to San Vicente along Santa Monica Blvd. almost any afternoon. I can get from any part of Bako, to any other part in 20 minutes or so.  If you want to bike (and more and more are doing so), we have a great system of bike paths connecting all parts of the City.

3. If 2 people want to eat in WEHO, they'd better kiss that $100 bill goodbye.  You can eat like a king at the Woolgrowers for much less, and not have to eat again for 2 days.

4. I'll match our annual "Nutcracker" against any other city's.

5. We have a vibrant local theater comunity. (This reminds me, will someone, please, please picket Reefer Madness at the Empty Space. They really need the publicity.)  For $15 you can see a good show by a local talented cast. $15 won't pay for parking in WEHO.

6. This is my favorite.  On a clear night with a full moon, drive up the canyon and park at one of the turnouts. Lie on the ground, look at the sky and the moonlit landscape, and contemplate the wonder and beauty of it all in silence, except for the rushing of the water.   Lie down on a rooftop in WEHO, and all you'll hear is cars, cars, cars, in every direction.

Thats Bako. It the place you can't wait to leave when you're 18, and the place you long to return to when you're 40.

Adam, what Ann Barnett did wasn't illegal.. she didn't pick one set out and say "im not going to do it for you, but for YOU I will".. Their are a few counties in the state that the clerk's office doesn't do marriages..  If you don't like our mentality, or like the fact that you can't get married at the clerks office... get out of town.. Am I right to presume your one of the LA types that moved up here because you could ACTUALLY AFFORD a home?  
 

This town has been over ran by LA types.. it sucks..

His article appalls me.  He did not cite one person who was for gay marriage or who had gotten married today gay or straight.  The straight couple who got married today represents a large percentage of people in Bakersfield who just focus on themselves and don't care what anybody else does.  Although Bakersfield is conservate, there are many conservaties who are Libertarian who don't care what other people do. I went by the county building around three.  No county employee gave me the evil eye. There wasn't too much excitement.  The gay people in Kern County are not big partiers.  A happy and exhausted married couple I talked to did not see Barnett today. I don't mind that  the Advocate reporter said all that sh*t about Kern County, but he should have at least reported that progressives won today and congratulated the people in Kern County who got married.  

You know, I see a lot of potential in Kern County.  

The situation is not unlike a fighter with feather fists, a glass jaw, and zero stamina. He has to have some potential, since he really can't get any worse...

If you don't like our mentality, or like the fact that you can't get married at the clerks office... get out of town..

Love it or leave it? I have a better idea; love it or change it.

jbs - well said.

"Thats Bako. It the place you can't wait to leave when you're 18, and the place you long to return to when you're 40."

I couldn't agree more!

JB I like what you said but what are we going to change into?? LA?? its been done and if I wanted to live there Id pack up the family and head south...Im not saying we have the best town.. but considering the other options especially the ones those that are writting all their negativity from live in..Id say this is the better choice..we can still grow..still lots of room  ..while they are stuck  in their gang bangin hoods and homeless packed alley ways..

Change yes..but if its possible make it somewhere between 10 and 100 times better than the examples they have set and are so proud of...One HUGE problem is we have gotten alot of new people with their old ideas from those very towns moving in here..

 in away its kind of good the recession is hitting (hopefully not too long) because it gave the buliding boom a chance to settle and allow people to take a breath. Hopefully we can plan it all out a bit better and create a future we can all be proud of..

Sioux, I'm not talking about changing in size. I'm talking about changing in both attitude and educational level. Bako has a reputation not unlike Porterville: A bunch of Jesusy rubes who have to take their shoes off to count past ten. Only Bako is five times the size of the Porterville, which is unaffectionately known as "The Armpit of the San Joaquin Valley," and has its collective mind frozen in the sixteenth century.  

Backwood Bakersfiedians also can claim one of the world's great operatic singers, Laurence Tibbett.

Now there was an interesting rise to fame. I don't expect Doc to include him in any of his Bakersfield Sound tributes anytime soon though. ;)

Well look atthe bright side..all us ol back woods hicks will be turnin the place over to you folks within the next few years..then you can take the grief from the younger generation and their new ideas..its just gonna be history repeating its self..the younger generation has always had its ideas about how things should be run..we took the problems our elders left us and gave it a shot while we were here now its your turn..then your kids will do the same..

CBS says 7 out of 10 people are against gay marriage.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stor...

That's correct Nancy, but it seems the media wants to focus on my hometown as intolerant and backward. However, when five teenage monsters beat an elderly man to death and the gang graffiti is everywhere why don't the "elitists" focus on things like that? Rhetorical question.

 "Bakersfield, populated by the ancestors of Dust Bowl refugees who still make their living off the land, it feels closer in spirit and landscape to Oklahoma than California. No ocean breezes or redwood forests to be found here. No surfers or yoga junkies or war protesters either. What you will find is a bleak moonscape of oil fields; a chorus of radio-talk-show hosts ranting about illegal immigrants and welfare moms; a store called Second Amendment Sports, which does a brisk business; and, along the highway that leads into town, a billboard of a radiant Jesus that urges be an organ donor. give your heart to the lord. The downtown streets feel frozen in the 1950s: the family shoe stores, the swivel-stooled burger joint, the coffee shop where the waitresses call all their customers "hon." Merle Haggard was raised in a boxcar in a section of town called Oildale, where residents post beware of dog signs on their cracked windows, and Buck Owens made his mark here singing about thwarted love in honky-tonks with corrugated tin walls. Teen births and high school dropout rates around Bakersfield are among the highest in the state." -- Rolling Stone 2005

Makes ya wonder how we got to where we are today huh Nancy...just too many manipulative gays in high places that actually think that the hetros that oppose them will sit around and allow them to shove this down their throats..Arrogance in its highest form..but then how many gays do you know that dont fall into that category?

inaccurate reporting cat ,,I and my family came from northern New Mexico..Bakersfield's population has brought in many other people from all over the world You need to do more research before you put up such out dated trash,,this is exactly why we get a bad rap from people because of stupid crap like this,,yes its our history and if you want to report like that then give us a fair shot to do some research on your ancestry..Where are your people from????

Hey folks

Let them have their fun.  As long as it keeps them from staying here and messing things up - let them have their fun.  They come for a visit - stir the pot and leave.  Just so they leave! 

Chesire, That is exact spot on, What a wonderful piece of writing, everything in one small compact article...Thing is , all the folks have stagnated here thier whole life and do not see it as written, but the rest of the world does...

well we all know where you came from POO!!