Small Town America

Will small town America vote Democrat or republican? That all depends. I was born in a small town, raised in a small town, and spend most of my time in small towns across this country. I find that there are 2 predominant types of people here.

Small Town Type 1: the Democrat (or liberal)




The Democrat is usually the nice, soft spoken neighbor, willing to help out whenever needed, never stirring up trouble, rational and cool headed, honest, non-judgemental, tolerant, and humble. They treat people the way they want to be treated. The democrat has a good, self-deprecating sense of humor and loves a good laugh, but rarely at the expense of someone else. Perhaps most importantly, they look inside and strive to become a better person each day and to make the world a better place.


Small Town Type 1: the Republican (or conservative)




The Republican is the grumpy, loud mouthed neighbor, helping themselves first and foremost, always stirring up trouble, irrational and hot headed, deceitful, quick to make snap judgements, intolerant, and conceited. They use people to get what they want. The republican has a wicked sense of humor, usually only finding humor at someone elses expense. They are selfish, mistrustful, suspicious, and greedy. They are not concerned with self improvement, but rather strike out at others to try to impose their way of thinking upon them.


Now riddle me this..how did small town America, MY America, end up being run by Type 2? It wasn't always like this, and I don't believe for one minute it will stay like this.

annual update

OK, so its been one hell of a long year without any updates. What can I say? Life gets busy, and reporting on things like this get sidetracked. That doesn't mean there isn't news or commentary, it just means I haven't been keeping up to date.

THE LAST YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE
One year ago today, there were a dozen candidates for both parties vying for their coveted nominations. The only news on the fascist (ie. republican) side was Ron Paul, who spoke his mind, got nothing but boo's during the debates, and almost made me a libertarian (a couple of times). On the democratic (ie. sane) side, a young upstart named Barack Obama was dueling with the innevitable Clinton dynasty, with my prefered candidate John Edwards running a close 3rd.

A year later, it may be a good thing Edwards didn't get the nod after the dirt came out about his affair. Not that anything should dilute his message, but that would have been disaster politically, as the rovian propagandists would have destroyed him publicly during the election. My predictions about the country not being mature enough to elect a woman or a half black man as president might still happen, but I as many others in the unspoken category of the silent majority are doing everything in our power to prevent a 3rd bush term. Obama led a very respectable grassroots campaign against Clinton, who despite her failings, would have made a formidable candidate none the less, and he earned a hard fought nomination.

McCain, who had my respect back in 2000, obviously sold out in '04. I went way out on a limb back then and predicted that he was bowing to the powers that be, the entrenched big business lobbyists that really run Washington, so that he would be the next nominee in the neocon party to be president. My prediction turned out to be true (hate to say I told you so). He is now indistinguishable from King george (bush that is), despite his propaganda about being a maverick.

My working white class voters may be the clincher in this close election. I am a working man, my father was a working man, and if there is one thing life has taught me, its that we cannot let ourselves be fooled or distracted by the corporate propaganda. Working men vote democratic, sell outs vote republican (like too many did during the horrible Reagan years).

McBush and his cohorts have done a fantastic job confusing the real issues with typical rovian style attack politics this election so far, managing to blunt Obamas momentum and keeping his team on the defensive. He hasn't been as sharp in his rebuttals as I had hoped, but I think the times have changed, and the public will come around by election day. Some groups like moveon.org and planned parenthood are trying help out, and everyone needs YOU to step up right now and publically declare your support to changing this country to the better. Now all we need is some debates to contrast the candidates. This time, lets not let the republican candidate get a radio feed from his handlers, and watch how the polls turn democratic.