Severe LDL in the Heartland
By haystack Posted in The Parties — Comments (23) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I recently made two trips across what I consider part of America's heartland. I first drove from Austin to Laramie Wyoming, then, from Austin to Manchester New Hampshire. Along the way, I learned some amazing things; while the coasts squabble and scrape for attention and importance, the "heartland" just goes on with the business at hand. The problem with with us out here in middle America is clear: too much "rich food" is being fed to her people, and the LDL levels are dangerously high.
LDL, in this case, is "Liberal Dementia and Lies".
More below the fold...
The term "Conservative" is troublesome. On the one hand it means different things to different people in both notion and precept. On the other, it is a term bandied about in the name of political hostility and gamesmanship.
To argue the "Principles of Conservatism™", one would have to first agree on what that even MEANS...LONG before you could argue whether its tenets are superior to the alternatives of Liberalism. Therein lies the problem.
While successful arguments against Conservatism were waged in the run-up to the November 2006 elections, little was accomplished to draw clear lines of distinction between the two basic philosophies pitted against each other for the hearts and minds of America. Though victorious at the ballot box, the Liberals of America were only able to impute that my principles and beliefs were bad, and that theirs were less so. The idea that America has been brought down to such an un-challenging list of distinctions from which to draw in making electoral decisions that affect the lives of the masses is depressing indeed.
Even while the campaigns busied themselves with false prophets and blind visions for the way forward, "Heartland America" abstained, choosing instead to defer judgment to those more willing to lap up the "kool-aid" and nibble on the morsels brushed away from the "big table" under the banner of "change is good", Republicans are bad.
What accomplishments were made post-Reagan in the halls of Congress were squandered by the GOP in the wake of his Administrations. Where our political hacks had inspired and cajoled and helped define and build the "heartland", their successors (or those who stuck around long enough to dip into the kool-aid themselves) have subsequently torn it asunder. And the heartland went quiet. And the Nation is all the worse for it.
In a gas station in Abilene I heard a couple old codgers going at it about politicians. Clearly Republicans, they railed against the Dems taking the House back. One commented that he was going to be kissing goodbye any hopes of getting that equipment loan for the ranch given the anticipated tax increases. The other only nodding in agreement, you got the sense the world had slipped backwards a little bit. It struck me as odd that the campaign rhetoric of "New Way Forward" seemed to pass these old timers by.
In Denver, there was more enthusiasm. Getting coffee-to-go at a McDonald's, I was quite sure I was in a Liberal bastion. All the buzz was "Bush's war", and "Hastert was a bum anyway". I thought that was funny, given the newspaper on the counter was screaming a headline about Nancy ascending to the throne of iniquity (well, that's how I see things...obviously the headline was more "loving" in its excitement about a female Speaker).
It struck me throughout all these stops on the road how much the conversations I was able to overhear were somehow related to the headlines of the moment, whether on the tv in the lobby at the truck stop, or screaming from the little "50 cents Daily, $1.00 on Sundays" machines.
Laramie was interesting enough, given the remote and desolate nature of its geography. Rugged individualists live in places like Laramie Wyoming, and there was nothing but BAD to be heard about Dems if you took the time to talk to a cross-country truck driver.
The diesel prices are obscene, and the more the Liberals try to push air quality standards and road taxes down our throats, the higher the prices climb. Katrina, of course, and the Liberal railings about victims and handouts and dam construction still pervades truckers' debates about the prices remaining high for diesel while gas steadily returns to near pre-Katrina levels is not lost on them...and they don't blame Republicans for that.
The trip to New England was much different, as you can imagine. Going across the deep south, you could almost FEEL the transition from heartland conservatism to blue dog liberalism once you crossed from Tennessee to southwest Virginia. It seems to me there is a line from Canada to the Gulf somewhere down the middle of the Appalachians. On the right is the Left, and on the left is the Right. It seems, too, that this nexus defines American sentiment. To be sure, those of us who consider themselves Conservatives are looking back at '06 in wonder and bewilderment at how adept our political adversaries were at blurring these lines of distinction and convincing those who CHOSE to participate in the election to go left...even though they live on the right. I could reverse this for the left coast, but my head already hurts...you get the idea.
Where the coasts hold the greater densities of the American populace, those of us in the middle do a great deal of the life-blood-pumping that IS America. We live conservatively by and large, and while our political heroes keep us dazed and confused about policy and issues and beat us at the shell game of promises for a better life, much of the heart that pumps life into this country is damaged; severely blocked by the "cholesterol" that is political partisanship and plays for power for power's sake alone. There are a great many politicians that claim to be looking out for us, but they have forgotten their job descriptions.
They used to think being elected meant they were to do our bidding...to do in Washington what we told them we wanted doing. Now, sadly, they go there for their own self-aggrandizement, and they do what THEY think is good for us-like aristocratic parents of spoiled children. They couldn't be more wrong about the heartland. We are MUCH more like unruly teenagers than we are like Ivy league brats in dark blue blazers with cheesy patches on the breast or lapel. We wear carharts, cowboy hats, and scuffed boots with a little mud under the heels. And, while it takes a lot to get us worked up, we tend to over-react once forced to do so.
As long as there are two parties in this shell game, the heartland has but two choices to make. We chose (again, those that bothered to participate) to punish the ones that let us down. The Liberals like to believe we chose them because they are better...they are obviously quite misinformed, and it proves the theory that the best lie wins when enough apathy can be developed to keep the ones that matter away from the decision-making table.
Even though we are still getting over our '06 election hangover, it is already time to consider the next round. There are very few real Conservatives left in Washington; beaten down and in denial over their political and social philosophy, they are already talking like Liberals to shore up their re-election chances in '08 and beyond. They are too quick to abandon the principles they once espoused, and they will pay dearly for it if they don't turn themselves around.
We need to gear up for 2 years of (expletive removed in deference to the posting guidelines). It is going to be ugly. It is going to be nasty. The heartland likes a good fight, and the coasties better get ready for a brawl...that is, of course, if we can even FIND real Conservatives any more worth gloving up and putting in the ring.
[next up: haystack's "Principles of Conservatism™"]
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Severe LDL in the Heartland 23 Comments (0 topical, 23 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
This is great writing! I would question only one thing about your piece.
I don't believe that the Heartland, or any other part of America took a turn toward liberalism in th elast election. Most of those Dems who were elected positioned themselves as conservative. Those who analyze these things, told us that we actually have a more conservative house today than we had in 2006, based on rhetoric during the campaigns. The proof is still out as to whether the electorate was duped by the talkers, or the newly elected Dems see things closer to you and I than Nancy Pelosi.
even though they talked like conservatives, winning allows them to consider that the country is fraught with Democrats...liberal or not, they now can lay claim to the idea that America has woken up to, and finally rejected conservative principles...and as has been said in this thread, this will carry in the media and become true JUST because it has been said enough times...we need to change that.
What we do in life echoes in eternity.
-Maximus Decimus Meridius
I have been having similar experiences here is South Dakota and my parents and siblings living in Massachusetts.
I read a post, and for the life of me and can't even remember if it was here or Power Line, or wherever, but the main thought concerned the Republicans losing the information war here at home.
We are familiar with Nancy Pelosi and the Administration having a bit of a "war of words" the last couple of days over the troop surge and cutting off of funds.
Let me posit a thought about it, that I read in the forgotten post. The Democrats are all over the airwaves, on the Today Show, on Chris Matthews, on any show that will have them repeating their mantras about Bush.
Now let me ask a question: Have you seen any administration officials on any shows? I mean, I don't think they have been on any. The Republicans you do see are the Chuck Hagel's apposed to the surge. Is anyone seeing a message delivery pattern here?
The reason why Republicans have lost the debate, besides having the facts on their side, is they have lost the information war - TOTALLY!
There is no massage delivery mechanism to deliver it! The administration is always caught flat foot and by the time they respond, the "idea" of the Democrat message has taken hold and taken as gospel. The debate is over by the time the administration responds.
I fear it isn't going to get any better any time soon.
That is why the Heartland has LDL.
Wubbies World - The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you actually aim for it!
There is no massage delivery mechanism to deliver it! The administration is always caught flat foot and by the time they respond, the "idea" of the Democrat message has taken hold and taken as gospel. The debate is over by the time the administration responds.
In my experience, it is always this way. For some unknown and unknowable reason the Republicans are ALWAYS the stupid party.
(1) Republicans will always lay low when being attacked
(2) Republicans will always give feeble responses even when they have goo explanations
(3) Republicans will always show their hands when making deals with Democrats, and will always fold too quickly, even when they have the winning hand.
(4) Republicans will always turn against one of their own when he/she has a winning issue
(5) Republicans never seem to highlight, or campaign on controversial issues even when they have overwhelming public support.
(6) Republicans are never aggressive except when supporting things like earmarks and bridges to nowhere.
(7) Republicans are always quick to throw parts of their constituency under the bus.
That is why so damn many of us are sick and tired of the stupid party.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Sure, in Washington, an administration official has the same access to the MSM as does a congressional democrat...or does he?
The Dem TalkingPoint-o-Matic™ machine goes out and by 10:00 am every MSM is parroting the exact words from the Dems. "Gravitas" "re-arranging the Deck Chairs" and "stay the course" all come to mind. There is NO MSM hard look at the talking point to question its accuracy, it is merely parroted across the MSM.
Case in point, to return to yesteryear: Hillary and her "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" Did the MSM ask, "What VRWC? What do you mean by that remark? Does it really exist?"
NO! They ran right out to Republicans, and asked, "Are you a member of the VRWC?"
Preaching to the choir time: What we need is alternative access to the people...which we are attempting to accomplish!
Keep it up, you're gonna work your way onto a ticket for 08!
To start running themselves and displac those that let us (them) down...
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal comfort... has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
--John Stuart Mill
to a growing sickness in America, the LDL you post has described. The success really started in 1981 with President Reagan. America won and the Soviet Union collapsed. The GOP began winning seats in the Congress. The DNC took the losses in power so bitterly that a liberal dementia began to set in. Certain principles of behavior that had been practiced by previous generations of Democrats were abandoned. Perhaps they were abandoned years earlier with the Vietnam anti war protests.
I am old enough, however to remember when I lived in a country where the partisan politics ended at the water's edge. Even a liberal Democrat like Hubert Humphrey who fought like a tiger for socialist domestic policies did not travel abroad and criticize Republicans and Republican foreign policy. Even he knew that speeches and characterizations like that are unpatriotic. That kind of thought process has been gone from the Democrat party for a long time.
You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
partisan politics ended at the water's edge...
can I use that if I tm it?
What we do in life echoes in eternity.
-Maximus Decimus Meridius
that I am not the first one to use it. I think a GOP Congressman Vandenburg used it before me. ;)
You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Featured_Bio_...
You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
-------------
"I don't know." -- Helen Thomas, in response to the question, "Are we at war, Helen?" - posed by then-White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The Republican party has bigger problems than LDL in the eastern side of Kansas.
I live in Johnson County, which is a prosperous county on the west side of the Kansas City area. Here the biggest problem is that the moderates have lost control of the party to the hard right-wingers - and until the moderates get it back, moderate Republicsns will continue flipping to the Democratic party and the Republicans will continue losing.
Recently, we have been treated to another round of the hard right-wingers not getting the message that we don't like hard right-wingers (this is a fiscally conservative, libertarian kind of place, very friendly to moderate Republicans). After throwing out the right-wing state school board that has embarassed our state and throwing out Phil Kline from the state AG office for pretty much the same reason, the local GOP got together and selected Phil Kline to replace Paul Morrison (our formerly republican DA who defeated Kline for the state AG post). This was done at a special meeting of the GOP leadership (since Morrison was a Republican when elected DA, the GOP got to pick his replacement without an election).
Now, even though this is a conservative Republican-leaning area, we don't like Phil Kline. He was defeated 65% to 35% in this county for the state AG race. We dislike him so much that he couldn't be elected assistant dog-catcher here.
Also, Phil Kline doesn't live here. After his selection, he had to register in the county using an apartment address of another hard right-winger. But he doesn't live at the apartment. So he is a carpet-bagger.
On his first day in office, he tried to fire the professional lawyers in the DA office so that he could free up spots for his toadies (this is in litigation since he is firing them only because they aren't his toadies). And he had to be forced by a judge to show up at the hearing on the matter.
The fact that the Republican party selected Kline to be our DA is not a highly regarded move here. In fact, moderate Republicans here think this will have disastrous results in the next election here. It just shows how disconnected from reality the hard right-wingers are here.
So, to sum up, the Republican party is shoving a carpet-bagger down our throats even though we detest the guy - and we don't think he's a very good lawyer at that.
That is why high-profile moderate Republicans in Kansas are joining the Democratic party (and winning as Democrats).
And that, dear readers, is what is wrong with the Republican party in Kansas.
[In the interest of full disclosure, I am and have always been an independent that just happens to read Red State a lot but rarely posts. Also, I have Pinewood Derby duty today, so I may not be around to reply to replies, so my apologies - I'm not hiding - I'm just not here]
That was fantastic. I do, however, need to stick up for my hometown of Denver. You were not in "a bastion of liberalism." You were firmly in the heartland, enveloped by the timeless ethos of hard work, faith, and family.
The problem is not LDL in Colorado. It is a lack of ability to articulate the fine ideas of conservatism. Liberalism is a default position for most and if conservatives don't give them something else to believe in they will default to the Democrats. Colorado is a fully, wholly, and holy conservative place. So is Denver for that matter. But what you heard at McDonald's was the result of a vacuum of serious thinking. The Heartland--Denver, Colorado, and beyond--is ripe for a real conservative revolution. Let's hope it comes sooner than later.
and Haystack helps show how complicated the USA is and why the attempts to close areas into neat boxes is foolish.
"You were not in "a bastion of liberalism." You were firmly in the heartland, enveloped by the timeless ethos of hard work, faith, and family." Anything viewpoint can be found in large quantities in Denver. ...And most anywhere else.
'LDL, in this case, is "Liberal Dementia and Lies"' is a good phrase and is going to be more in evidence in the coming months.
Although I'm very much in the minority here in 'downstate' NY, I refuse to let the enemy run me off my land.
Nice job Haystack.
====
"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
As usual, clear precise and to the point (so much, I cited it my latest post).
Thanks for continuing to put the heart in heartland.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report
You absolutely can characterize certain geographical areas within the United States. It's true that red states have higher birth rates and marriage rate and church going rates, etc. than blue states. There's a reason for that and, at its heart, its cultural.
I consider Colorado to be fully a part of the Great Heartland. The idea of the "heartland" refers to the fact that it is the core of Americana--where traditional morals and values--like faith and family and hard work--are still the driving force of heartland culture.
Haystack pointed out the noticeable cultural shift when he left the south. America is so big it can accomodate these "pockets."
Of course in Colorado you can find bastions of blue. The point is that Colorado generally is a fundamentally conservative place and things that are acceptable in New Jersey, for example, would be quite unacceptable here. The question is, can we spread red state ethos into blue states? And can we keep blue tints in red states like Colorado marginalized? If we can, the Reagan revolution will hold and I'll have more hope for America. But now I see the country teetering on a see-saw between blue america and Jesusland.
I think that most liberal thinking is more emotional and conservative is more rational. A liberal will look at an issue only headline deep and draw a conclusion. That's why it is the liberals that do the verbal protesting about any subject. They draw conclusions fast and without looking at both sides. If the results are not the way they want them they then do the shouting, screaming, protesting, anything to get their way. How many conservative protest anything by going out on the streets and not only marching but basically getting into a small riot. I think that most conservatives can understand the liberal point of view regarding the Iraq situation. I also think from talking to various liberal friends that they can not and will not even consider a conservative point of view. They are right and that is it.
Re: While successful arguments against Conservatism were waged in the run-up to the November 2006 elections
I don't think the 2006 election was any sort of loss for or judgment against Conservatism. It was a loss for ther GOP and a judgment against its behavior and failures in office.
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"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle