This is a brilliant piece about the gop, politics, and the American south. I challenge everyone to read it. The points made here can and will influence politics in the states for years, and define what is wrong with the GOP today.
the article is here at the Washington Post
Harold's Article sums up, in a few paragraphs most of what has gone wrong with both the GOP and with the country today. Rather than quote the article I feel that everyone of us should read it in its entirety at the original location
Some will see my statements as inflammatory. I think that people need to recognize the fundamental truth that Mr Meyerson expresses here, namely that the problem today with the GOP and with the GOP philosophy that has governed America, is that it is derivative of of attitudes and values that draw uniquely from the southern way of doing things. The snarky ' I am the decider ' mentality of our sad excuse for a president harkens back to the good ole boy mentality of Jim Crow. In fact the whole Karl Rove way of doing things is a direct appeal to this mentality.
Herein he mentions the Wal-Marting of America, which is an apt metaphor for a lot of what has occurred in this country for the last 20 years. The rise of thoughtless, anti intellectual, anti scientific attitudes can be directly traced to the American south and the religious attitudes that large quantities of these people hold. The value system that allows big corporations to treat their workers as slave labor comes directly from the Wal Mart experience.
The fundamental conclusion of the article is that the democrats can win and win big in 2008, by basically bypassing and ignoring the south. I think this would be a very good idea, and would contribute to getting politics back on track in America. Finally we could have real debattes about policy in this country again.
As always thoughtful comments are welcome.