cokie roberts is a blessing in disguise. she really does make an asshat of herself, and on national television to boot. she also serves a deeper purpose, even if she doesn't know it: she makes me feel good to be a liberal. i'm so grateful to myself and the people who have influenced me that she and i aren't on the same political side. why the fuck myrtle beach instead of hawaii? who cares if he vacations in a place that seems "foreign and exotic"?!? that's what vacations are fucking for- going someplace really different from home. there was a time when vacations were supposed to teach you about how people could live differently, and learning this was considered good for you. not anymore. unless your vacation reinforces the sameness of your existence, you're.... what? elitist? unless you go where everyone else goes, and do what everyone else does, you're what? elitist?
"elitist" used to have an actual definition, until the republicans decided that the federal government actually deciding federal policy needed a word that would give it a negative connotation. "elitist" used to mean someone who not only thought he/she was in charge of everyone else, but that this was perfectly natural, and that it was all based on nature, so no one else could be in charge. elitism is not, and never was, the idea that studying biology and chemistry might make you more qualified to determine what acceptable levels of pollution on human health are. elitism is also not the idea that taxpayer-funded experts might be a little more biased towards public health than, say, experts funded by companies that pollute. the idea that taxpayers might want their guys/gals working on pollution policy instead of the corporations' guys/gals isn't elitism- it's applying the concept of dancin' with them what brung ya.
the republicans have milked the word elitism like it's a monsanto cow. you could be an elitist if you eat arugula, or even know what a whole foods store is (hint- the answer is cleverly hidden somewhere in the name). really? obama is talking above people's heads because he mentions whole foods? my mother living in a suburban wasteland either goes there or to wild oats, which republicans probably also can't identify. which leads me, at last, to a point. i think republicans are just flinging the term out at random these days. to say that mentioning arugula prices in a state where arugula is actually grown is elitist bespeaks a level of numbnuttery that rivals anything brittany spears has done- ever. okay, i exaggerate, but i am going to keep complaining. the way the republicans are defining elitism to include ever more things, it will eventually include anyone who doesn't eat with their fingers.
and while i'm at it, telling the truth isn't elitism (sorry, hillary, i love you, but you're wrong). i don't trust people with fixations on both guns and religion for a good reason- something's wrong with someone who insisits some invisible sky daddy created the world in six days, and that the government must let him buy something that can spit out the maximum bullets. most of the people who blasted obama the most for stereotyping rural and small-town people would never trust a muslim who loves his koran and his m-16. not every politician is going to act as if small-town america is the real america, and that everyone on the coasts should want to be just like them. and it might do our political system some fucking good if the "heartland" heard the truth about themselves, and maybe took a good hard look in a goddamned mirror. small-town americans have certainly never been shy about calling coastal city dwellers whatever they'd like.
we here on the coasts are the people who had the education, support, and (dare i say it?) initiative to get our asses here. the cities are centers of intense competition- whatever you do for a living, you better do it well, or move back to bumfuck, missouri. the cities are also the centers of intense culture. i can identify, even if i can't read, dozens of languages from each other. i've discovered fine art and performance artists i never would have even heard of back in the "heartland". i see documentaries most americans never get to see about topics the "heartland" could either give a fuck about, or is outright hostile to. i am exposed to people who have amazing life stories. it's certainly possible to live where i live and keep a closed mind- but you have to work at it. the coasts are for people who are not satisfied with conversations about gas prices and property taxes, and thank the people who first established the coastal cities and the people who have stuck with developing them. the coasts are for people who want to think both deeply and broadly. and small-town america doesn't like the fact that some people actually prefer the cities and the people in them to their apple pie/little league perfection. instead of telling yourselves that coastal city people are elitists who want to run your life, knock up your daughter, and steal your house, you could try listening to them. i know small-town america doesn't believe this, but the people of the coastal cities are just as american as they are.
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