You know, there was a time when I despised the notion of 'small town values' being somehow better, but at least I understood the argument, much as I might disagree with it.
But our small minded Republican VP nominee has extended that notion to mean that the only true, real Americans are from small towns. Maybe that's because that's the only place she relates, and is relating to her. Maybe it's some notion that that's her base and by pandering to it, she'll accomplish something.
Whatever the reason, I'm with Jon Stewart on this one:
Jon Stewart Clarifies Palin Remarks…
But our small minded Republican VP nominee has extended that notion to mean that the only true, real Americans are from small towns. Maybe that's because that's the only place she relates, and is relating to her. Maybe it's some notion that that's her base and by pandering to it, she'll accomplish something.
Whatever the reason, I'm with Jon Stewart on this one:
Jon Stewart Clarifies Palin Remarks…
Comments
Unfortunately, nowadays in this country (maybe just this election, but it seems like it's taken hold all the time) there is absolutely a culture riff.
Red state vs blue state, enlightened vs unenlightened, urban vs country, city vs small town, elitist vs joe 6-pack, progressive vs traditional. Call it what you want. It is disappointing to see it inflate to American or Patriotic vs Un-American or non-Patriotic. I guess political campaigns brush with broad strokes.
But, there's no denying it. There is part of the country that is embarrassed to be American. They think we may not be right or we may be bullies or our time is up. And, there is part of the country that disagrees.
I don't disagree with Stewart's outrage. But, as part of the 'elitist' opinion of the argument I think he makes the problem worse with the "all, y'all" jab.
Talk about painting with broad strokes! So, I can't disagree with the President and our foreign policy and be "a good American"? I'm 'embarrassed' to be American unless I kowtow to this Administration's policies on torture and preventative war? Pardon my French, but bullshit.
You may see it as "disappointing" to see this debate inflate to Patriotic vs. non-Patriotic… I find it infuriating and contemptible to call anyone's patriotism into question because they don't agree with your world view (that's the editorial "your", not you in particular).
The ESSENCE of the First Amendment, the reason the concept of Free Speech was written into the Constitution is because it was illegal to speak out against the Crown and the Government. Frankly, I believe it's our duty to question our Government and to speak out when we disagree with it. I may be WRONG (which I don't believe I am, historically speaking), but I do believe it's my right, and my DUTY, to speak up if I disagree. And I'll challenge anyone to call me un-patriotic for doing so.
I'll get down off my soapbox now.
*(Not to mention more than 50 years worth of demonizing liberals in general.)
First of all, I didn't say that the people who are embarrassed to be American are those that "kowtow to this Administration's policies on torture and preventative war". That's your definition, my friend. Not mine. And, no one can point to anytime Palin defined it as such either.
Do you deny there are Americans who feel it is America's fault we were attacked on 9/11? Do you deny that there are Americans who wanted us to lose MORE lives in Iraq so that we would leave the occupation?
If you do, you're in denial. There are and always will be people who demonize America and what we do no matter who is in charge. They're out there and they are typically intellectual snobs who think they 'know better', but they are also cornfield wackos. It takes all kinds to be Anti-American.
As for your repeated attempt to make this a 1st Amendment debate - spare me. I've heard it before, and I'll give you the same answer - the assholes who cry 'non-patriot' are equally covered by that 1st Amendment. Questioning the government is fine. Complaining is fine. But, realize there are those that will shit on you for saying it. It's all fair game, so if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Lastly, I must laugh at your last post that actually attempts to sound victimized by the big bad conservatives that have dared to insult or question the Hollywood or liberal elite. PUHLEASE!!! 50 years of demonizing liberals? Get out of that vacuum you're living in. It runs both ways - or do you not watch the news calling Palin a 'disney cartoon', striking at her for believing in creationism or dinosaurs walking the earth with humans, or movies like Religulous and Jesus Camp, etc etc. All demonizing Christians, conservatives, traditionalists, etc. There is more than enough shit on both sides.
To your point, no, of course I don't deny there are people that think these things. Are you naïve enough to tell me that we didn't make foreign policy errors in the Middle East in the past 20 years? Are you telling me that the attacks on New York had nothing to do with our foreign policy? That Osama Bin Laden attacked us for our FREEDOM, as Bush would have us believe? Now THAT'S naïve.
Do I think that makes it "our fault"? Hell no… No matter what our foreign policy, even if we somehow could have blown the curve and been flawless in our Middle East policy, we'd still have people that hate us and it's our misfortune that it's escalated to terrorist attacks on American territory. Believing it's our fault is just another form of guilt and it's useless and counterproductive to feel guilt over this sort of thing. What's done is done, find a way to do better and move on.
And I don't deny there are people that believe we should be out of Iraq now. I happen to disagree with them — not for the reasons the Pres would have us believe (the surge is working and other such pointless arguments). But now that we've destabilized the region, we need to make sure there's some hope that when we do leave it doesn't all collapse into something worse. Of course there are people that want out — Soldiers are dying and we're not the heroes we think we should be, so people want to run away. Human nature, but if we start talking about fear influencing your decision making, you'd better be very careful where you throw those "un-American" labels, lest if rebound back on you. (Once again, since I apparently need to reiterate this, I'm speaking in the editorial, not the specific. So "you" is not you in particular.)
Of course this is a First Amendment issue. If someone's calling me un-American for not agreeing with their political position (and being one of those godless liberals, I tend to take those attacks personally), they're calling into question my right to speak my mind — i.e. freedom of expression. I don't deny, for one instant, that they've got a right to say stupid shit like this. But don't tell me I don't have a right to tell them they're full of shit for saying it.
And, finally, I wasn't playing the victim. I just found your "seems like we've got a culture riff" comment a tad disingenuous, so I figured I'd point out one of the reasons for said culture riff. I would hope you'd find it hard to disagree that this has been a conservative talking point for years, but maybe you can make a case for that. As for the liberal comment, that's just my pet peeve, and the reason it was a footnote instead of part of the main argument. Silly me, I've always thought being liberal was a good thing, and can't understand the demonizing. But apparently we're still stuck with the obsolete definition of liberal. (See #3. then try 2, 5 and 6 on for size.) Damn conservatives.
But, I stand by my original point that there IS a rift and the "all, y'all" comments are part of the problem, not a solution (not that Stewart was or should be going for a solution - not his job).
I understand your disappointment over the altered meaning of the word liberal. Imagine my horror at the alteration of the word conservative! It used to mean less government and fiscal responsibility with strong national defense ideas. Nowadays it means pro-life, christian wackos. But, I blame the alteration of both terms on the culture riff.
Who created the riff? When? I don't have the time or inclination to find out.
Yeah, MUST be horrifying to see what 'conservative' has come to mean these days. I mean, look at who's on your side! (Sorry, couldn't resist).
But since you've given up the argument about the culture riff, I'll just continue to blame those pro-life wacko conservatives.
; )
It's really a chicken-and-the-egg discussion when you get right down to it, I think. Hoping to avoid the value judgments that bogged down the discussion last time I tried it, Hollywood is filled with a mix of artistic/creative and Type-A personalities (ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other). The creatives all want to 'say something' with their art (as you and I both well know) and the type A's like to inflict their will on the world (for better or worse). As has been pointed out countless times (most recently in a whiny series of articles concerning Hollywood Republicans), the overwhelming majority of these creative/Type-A's are liberal/Democrats. They believe in all those touchy-feely causes that drive conservatives nuts, from global warming to women's and gay rights and everything in between. Add to this the pressure from outside minority and public interest groups pushing for better representation of their demographic in TV and movies, and you get a lot of popular entertainment featuring characters and plotlines that drive conservatives nuts.
So Republican politicians and conservative talking heads jump on this and tell their base that "Hollywood's out of touch" and "doesn't care about American (insert 'Small Town' as needed) values". People conducive to this message realize the 'truth' of it, and get up in arms about it. This puts pressure on those creatives and Type A types to respond, but human nature being what it is, the reaction is more likely to be 'f you, you narrow-minded Neanderthal!" than any kind or reasoned reaction. Yell at me loud enough and I'm likely to yell back louder.
So as the conservative base accuses Hollywood of being out of touch with their values, Hollywood writers and producers are quite ready to get even farther out of touch with those values in order to make the case that their values (which we should remember are representative of the larger liberal/Democrat community nationwide) have just as much value. So to speak.
So around and around and around it goes.