Rhode Island has been insulted again. This time, it was done in a back-handed way by National Geographic Traveler. It listed Newport among the top 109 historic places to visit in the world, which is nice. But then it added:

“A disappointing hodge-podge.”

“Too much shopping.”

“Totally congested.”

At 78 on the list, Newport beat Deadwood, S.D., which came in at 103, but in turn was beaten by . . . Lowell, Mass., at 70. Lowell? You can never predict how Rhode Island will measure up.

I decided to see what others have to say about us and found a telling glimpse at a Web site called Rateitall.com where folks can review everything from dog food brands to religions by assigning them one to five stars. Christianity, with an average of 3.61 stars, edged out Judaism with 3.01, followed by Shinto, Taoism, Buddhism and 20 others with Scientology coming in last.

But the rating list that intrigued me most was U.S. states.

Rhode Island fared well.

Hawaii came in first with 4.02 stars, followed by Maine and Vermont. Coming in last with 2.03 was Mississippi. Rhode Island was 10th with 3.18.

Most comments were laudatory. Many gave five stars with rave descriptions.

Such as: “Rhode Island rocks. The beaches are awesome.”

Also: “Great New England feeling with an artistic twist.”

And: “Small in size, big in stature, has more going for it then states 30 times its size.”

I liked this one: “Lived there for over 50 years and now live down South with the rednecks, because of the better weather.” He longed for the folks back here, who aren’t as “crude.”

A few comments showed local defensiveness.

“Anybody who doesn’t like Rhode Island,” said one reviewer. “is defowling [sic] me and my family!!” I’m not sure what defowling means, but it doesn’t sound good.

Most of the 100-plus folks who weighed in liked Rhode Island’s size, but some didn’t.

“Small,” sniffed one. “I rode my bike across it in 1 hour.”

Many gave a good rating, but had to call out negatives.

“I will someday live in Rhode Island again,” said a reviewer who gave five stars. “It is beautiful. Well, except for a couple cities like Cranston.”

There were some unusual reasons for liking the state. One reviewer said he lived in Newport when stationed with the Navy. “Though I didn’t score a rich debutante, one crazy Rhodie Girl liked doing crazy stuff in the darndest places.” He gave the state four stars, deducting one because his eventual wife didn’t like it here, so they had to move, but he still misses it.

A surprising number brought up an old Providence image I thought we’d gotten rid of.

“Providence is enjoying an urban renaissance that Worcester, Hartford, and Springfield should be paying attention to,” wrote a reviewer, “but . . . ”

There’s always a “but”:

“. . . still has that creepy Mafia thing hanging over it.”

Another weighed in: “URI is a great beach party college and Newport has a great bar scene.” But: “Providence is the only major city left that has significant Mafia presence.” It is?

And this: “Besides being almost entirely Mafia run, Rhode Island is a neat little state.”

And this, too: “Like the Black Sabbath record . . . ‘The Mob Rules’. Hard to start a biz there . . . they’ll break your legs if you infringe on their turf.”

Even those folks rated it high, though. What dropped us to 10th were some mild-to-negative reviews.

The mild: “Rhode Island, pretty cool I guess.” Three stars.

And: “Providence is cleaning up.”

Then there was this: “There isn’t a lot to recommend here.”

But some only gave one or two stars.

“TOO SMALL!” said one. “Conn. and Mass should both split Rhode Island and take half each.”

We got the back of this one’s hand as well: “Are you serious? I mean it’s not horrible, but it certainly shouldn’t be # 10. It was a total dump that was losing population like crazy until the late ’90s, when it made a dramatic comeback. But other than that, it is an incredibly average state.”

Here’s another one-star review: “All they have is Newport. The rest of the state is corrupt with bad roads, ugly neighborhoods, high taxes and people who love the status quo.” Jeez.

At last, there was this assessment. ”Just never made it as a complete Island.”

But it could be worse.

I checked Mississippi: “Just a downright horrible place to exist.”

I checked North Dakota: “Boring, Freezing, Useless, & Ugly.”

Idaho: “Full of potatoes and guns.”

Oklahoma: “Avoid at all costs.”

Alabama: “Man oh man, I would hate to live there, let alone even visit.”

Makes you proud to be a Rhode Islander.

mpatinkin@projo.com