Wednesday, August 13, 2008
America Is The New Balkans
Digby has it right; Cokie Roberts's Hawaiian nonsense is just endemic of a larger, more disturbing thread in American discourse. It seems that these days, you can just write off an entire person or political vein of thought because of where it comes from. Nancy Pelosi endorses "a San Francisco mentality" that is just completely alien. The idea that gay folks should serve in the military is one of the insane gibberings of the "San Francisco left." John Kerry's out of touch with this country partially because he's from Boston. If you're not from anywhere that grows corn or tobacco, you've apparently got three eyes and weird ideas about universal health care.
Now, it's not like I'm going to pretend this is totally alien to liberals as well. But it's usually limited to disgruntled bloggers and other Internet voices. It's not like Chuck Schumer is going on TV and saying, "Fuck Florida, they voted for Bush." It's not like Nancy Pelosi is going to refer to offshore drilling as "some Oklahoma City brain fart." But apparently, it's just fine to dismiss a politician or a set of ideals because they come from a more liberal city. Remember the days when we argued things based on facts and not invective?
