Southern Senators
What a sight these old crackers make. One almost has the impression with someone like Senator Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr., the Republican Minority Leader, that he's from another planet. And he might as well be. The white southern base of the Republican Party is poor and poorly educated: as we move into the twenty first century the differences between them and the rest of the country are becoming extremely pronounced. What plays in Alabama or Kentucky makes little sense outside the South, where people are more experienced about choosing the lesser of two evils when it comes to the influence of corporate interests. In modern America corporate solidarity hiding behind the face of white solidarity just won't cut it anymore. But the old crackers can't adapt. My guess is that their political clout will continue to shrink for a long time.
Posted by George Kenney on July 15, 2009 6:12 AM 
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Comments
WWJB do? Or say? Joe Bageant, that is.
I think that you are correct in your assessment as it applies to players like Sessions, McConnell and their ilk. But the base of the Southern wing of the Republican party is, for one thing, not limited to the South at all. There is a proud sort of "dunderhead elite" that is spread all over the country. Folk who didn't get a chance for a good education, didn't absorb the education they sat through, or weren't sufficiently challenged and inspired to take advantage of what's left of our public educational opportunity.
I, for one, could have done much, much more with what I was offered. I see people who end up scrappily making it in business for themselves or exploiting their gifts to make a decent living if there is still paying work wherever they may be. That's me, to an extent. I'm lucky that there is still a trickle-down economy.
Most of the dunderhead elite are not curious about politics and government beyond what they catch on the radio while cleaning the trap under your sink. And if it is their radio, it might be tuned to Rush. So, they think Sotomayor is a crazed Puerto Rican from the Bronx who wants to get rid of all the white firefighters. Even the white volunteer firefighters will be on her list. There is a level of foolishness and stupidity that should not be underestimated and it is absolutely not limited to the geographic South. I live two thirds of the way up the Appalachian trail. This is New England. And man-oh-man am I ever witnessing the Great American Horror Show. Only when I go out, though.
The South votes dependably against their own interests and the greater good, but it happens elsewhere too. Misleading this component of the voting public is easier than it ought to be. But lying to the electorate is tradition around here.
What do we do?
[Indeed. g.]
Posted by: Peter | July 15, 2009 10:58 AM
Mmmm...say...as compared to California? And where does Al Sharpton fit in to to all this? Not that I disagree with the gist of you posting. I do worry about your use of the term "cracker." Do we have a license now to use the terms nigger, kike, fag, etc.? Just asking.
[Coming from a farming family in southern Illinois, yeah, I have the license. As far as I know, however, it only applies to one's own group. g.]
Posted by: Hammersmith | July 23, 2009 10:21 AM