Regarding Ghouliani, what I always say about him is that I thought heroes were declared by others, not by themselves.
And Doug? You're wrong, there. The only "yankees" left are some people in NH, small villages in Maine and Vermont who are truly Goldwater conservatives, patriotic, and pro-2A. They have streets named for people like Daniel Webster, and have Declaration of Independence signers buried in their graveyards...and actually know that, and care about that fact.
Yankees are conservative, stubborn, private, and care about their personal liberties...and hate meddlers who come in and tell them how things should be. They want to be left alone. They'll say good morning to their neighbors with a smile, but cast a suspicious eye on newcomers for a bit. Yankee towns still have a white-steepled church in the middle that still rings its bells, not one that's been converted to an alternative-lifestyle coffeehouse.
I personally think we would use more of those. What you're talking about is what we call "M*ssholes", because so many of them seem to live in Massachusetts. They're mean, arrogant, hypocritical leftists who treat people from small villages as if they're some sort of museum exhibit...when not cutting them off on the road.