I've lived here for 14 of the last 20 years and still feel like a stranger. Pacific Northwesterners, while independent, seem mild-mannered on the whole. But for many of them near the cities, the irenic demeanor forms a facade for all sorts of violent ideas - in the name of the environment, in the name of anty-corporateism, in the name of the advancement of mankind, you name it. One guy I worked with even thought Bush was privately having dissenters shot!
Note to self: Spell checkers are good.