A Blue Andy Griffith

Who knew? Watching two vintage 1963 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show on TV Land, the truth struck me. Andy and his town of Mayberry were a vanguard of liberal progressivism in an area that most of us would call politically bright red.

In one short hour we witnessed the following:

School teacher Helen Crump proclaiming that she could not cook and did not like to cook. Furthermore she would not learn to cook even for any future husband.

Crump also declared that she would not be a stay at home wife and would keep working in the educational field. And golly, Andy not only agreed with this sentiment, but chose Helen as his steady girl friend over dozens of other hot young Mayberrian beauties.

Andy seemed to enjoy his role as single dad. He felt very secure in bringing up Opie and was in no rush to turn to a woman to help in his parenting. It was only after constant badgering from Barney that Andy decided to go on a long long engagement with Ms. Crump.

Town drunk Otis was reassured by the Sheriff and Deputy Barney that he would always have a warm prison cell (complete with food service from Aunt Bee's kitchen)when he went on a drinking binge and could not go home to his long suffering wife. The law enforcement officers never put any guilt trip on Otis and saw his alcoholism more as a disease than something he was doing wrong (i.e. sinful).

Barney favored the involvement of state government over any private fund raising. The police department needed building funds and Barney wrote to the state commission to get the needed money. Even though Andy and himself were held in such high esteem by the Mayberry citizenry, the thought of holding a local charity drive never entered their mind. No free enterprise for those two!

Finally, one stands in awe that Sheriff Andy Taylor would patrol the dangerous environs of Mayberry without a trusted gun by his side. Yes, there was a rifle rack in the police HQ, but Andy almost never used the rifles or packed a pistol. In fact he would later become famous as the "Sheriff Without A Gun". Imagine what the NRA would do to Andy today. He would not stand a prayer of a chance to be reelected with his anti-gun stance.