One man’s view of small town America
One Presidential candidate’s view of parts of America, which seems an awful lot like the setting of a bad movie based on a draft of a novel that John Steinbeck threw in the trash (audio here):
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Perhaps the hicks in the sticks will return the compliment come election day. (And isn’t that bit about “clinging to religion” more than a little inappropriate for Senator Obama to be talking about in light of certain recent events?) HT: Ace
April 13th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
There’s only one way to settle this. Barack and Hillary should compete in a series of contests that a typical county fair might feature.
The obvious judge? Long-time farmer Victor Davis Hanson. Professor Hanson should have discretion to award bonus points for declaiming Hesiod while competing.
I trust that Farmer Vic will make allowances for the candidates’ limited agricultural experience. For example, if a contestant makes an improper maneuver during the Greased Pig Chase, don’t disqualify them from the event. Make them do it over until they get it right.