Great Opinion Piece: The Party of Yesterday

[Trajan]

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26egan.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

October 26, 2008

Op-Extra Columnist

The Party of Yesterday

By TIMOTHY EGAN

SEATTLE

Two years ago, a list of the nation’s brainiest cities was put together from Census Bureau reports — that is, cities with the highest percentage of college graduates, which is not the same as smart, of course.

These are vibrant, prosperous places where a knowledge economy and cool things to do after hours attract people from all over the country. Among the top 10, only two of those metro areas — Raleigh, N.C., and Lexington, Ky. — voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election. This year, all 10 are likely to go Democratic. What’s more, with Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia now trending blue, Republicans stand to lose the nation’s 10 best-educated states as well.

It would be easy to say these places are not the real America, in the peculiar us-and-them parlance of Sarah Palin. It’s easy to say because Republicans have been insinuating for years now that some of the brightest, most productive communities in the United States are fake American — a tactic that dates to Newt Gingrich’s reign in the capitol.

Brainy cities have low divorce rates, low crime, high job creation, ethnic diversity and creative capitalism. They’re places like Pittsburgh, with its top-notch universities; Albuquerque, with its surging Latino middle class; and Denver, with its outdoor-loving young people. They grow good people in the smart cities.

But in the politically suicidal greenhouse that Republicans have constructed for themselves, these cities are not welcome. They are disparaged as nests of latte-sipping weenies, alt-lifestyle types and “other” Americans, somehow inauthentic.


-snip-


This is a spot-on description of the current predicament the GOP finds itself in .... They keep shrinking their tent, until hardly anyone is going to be able to fit inside ....

[TomInTib]

1. KnR from Marin.

Now, back to the hot tub while the brie holds out.

[Trajan]

3. LMFAO ....

Methinks a trip to Trader Joe's is in order ....

Some wine and Brie, with some Italian bread sounds really good ....

[polichick]

2. I've always thought Republicans are intimidated by vibrant smart people...

...who are independent thinkers, unafraid of life and "others" ~ so they demonize them. Started with the hippies ~ who were brave enough to embrace peace, love, life ~ and, oh yeah, each other! Hippies intimidated the hell out of them. :hippie:

[Trajan]

4. It seems like projected self loathing ...

I grew up in the Hippy era ... I was slightly young (age 14 when Woodstock happened), but I grew up with the mindset, and learned to appreciate many aspects of that lifestyle ...

The same righties were egging Nixon on to bash heads during the sit-ins and love fests .... It didnt make sense to me, but I guess it made 'sense' to the haters ....

[polichick]

5. I was just behind you, also grew up with the mindset and raised my kids with similar ideas...

It always seemed to me that the haters were just too afraid to let themselves go to the places "hippies" went ~ places both inside and outside themselves. They still seem petrified to me.

I had forgotten about the head bashing stuff ~ it's amazing that we are seeing similar things now. The good news is that the number of petrified people is smaller ~ this seems like a desperate last hurrah.

In many ways the ideas of the 60s and 70s are new again, only now our own children have helped to create the critical mass it takes!

[catzies]

6. Yes, exactly! And they've been bitter & pissed off ever since

They're still mad at the hippies.

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Here's the GOP's "big tent" ...

http://www.wikiality.com/Big_tent

Add your own jokes as you see fit.

[Trajan]

8. Yeah ... BIG tent ....

[ColbertWatcher]

9. And everything under it gets poisoned. n/t