Who stole my strawberries? “The unteachable ignorance of the red states” — by someone named Jane Smiley
Novelist nutjob Smiley has a really funny analysis of Republicans, this correspondent, and all of our fellow travelers:
The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them because lots of Americans, even those who don’t share those same qualities, don’t know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?
Captain Queeg wondered who stole the strawberries. It is humorous, and I hope not revealing, that Slate published this paranoid epilectic seizure by Smiley.