Many years ago — and I’m talking back when “Miami Vice” was the most popular show on TV — the New York Times sent a team of highly qualified journalists to South Florida. Their report, compiled from weeks of interviews and studies of the thriving narcotics trade in the region, was presented under the stern headline, “Can Miami Save Itself?”

It was compelling reading, but not as compelling as what followed.

Dave Barry, one of the great newspaper humorists of all time, was working for the Miami Herald. He got on a plane with a ticket to the Big Apple. His report, “Can New York Save Itself?,” was written as a response. It became a classic. If you have time, search the Internet for “Dave Barry New York” and read the material. Twenty-three years have passed and it’s as great as when first printed.

The New York vs. Miami and Miami vs. New York exchange comes to mind every time “sectional slights” make the news.

Most recently, Matt Entenza, a Democrat wanting to become governor of Minnesota, has received more attention here in Mississippi than he has “up Nawth.”

One reason is this stock phrase he keeps working into his speeches: “If budget cuts were always the answer, then Mississippi would be a leader in this country.”

Another is that he reportedly has a TV commercial designed to convey the impression that disappearing public services are something common in the Magnolia State that he won’t let happen on his watch in Minnesota.

Of course, the truth is that Mississippi has been on a decades-long spurt of expanding public services. The state’s budget was growing, sometimes by double-digit percentages, until Hurricane Katrina and even grew for years after that. This year, allocations are down $500 million, but cuts have been the order of the day everywhere (except Alaska) and governors have had to deal with them — not wish them away.

Another truth is that we are, in fact, the poorest state with the fattest people. If it’s a “bad” list Mississippi is at the top. If it’s a “good” list Mississippi is often at the bottom.

If Entenza feels he needs to play to fears of what people who’ve never been south of Indianapolis in order to curry favor with Minnesotans, so be it. We’ve elected some goofs, but we never elected a professional wrestler governor. Remember Jesse “The Body” Ventura?

And it appears Entenza does need help. In January, a Rasmussen poll reported he was fourth among four candidates for his party’s nomination at 5 percent. “Don’t Know” and “Not Sure” finished ahead of him at 23 percent combined.

I can’t muster outrage over these geographic insults that crop up from time to time.

I have a feeling that we’re all a lot more alike than some like to admit. Witness another Minnesota poll last week. It concluded 92 percent agreed that, “State government spends too much time arguing and not enough time solving problems.” And, by 53 percent to 42 percent, a majority said they are starting to believe “the problem is not with one political party, but it is with all incumbents.”

Ask those same questions in Mississippi and I think we’ve got more than a river connecting us.

Dave Barry had it right. Don’t demand an apology. Just puncture pomposity any time you get a chance.

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Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail cmitchell@vicksburgpost.com