What in the world were you thinking,Rob, when you posted this nonsense? Firstly I noted that you didnt engage these people in any dialogue but determined their entire political philosophy by their attire and the amount of makeup on their wives faces. Is this , by any reasonable standard, a political judgement? Is this a way to effect change in our nation? Is this a way to reach out to the voting public? This makes you sound like an intellectual snob and a demagogue , sorry to say. I hunted most of my life, Rob, and I still fish more than a little. The heartland of America is filled with people just like the ones you saw at this ski lodge, though most of my hunting and fishing buddies would think skiing an effete and ridiculous waste of time, but I doubt that many would project an entire political philosophy on those they saw engaging in that activity. I never flew down a hill on two pieces of wood, or fiberglass, whatever, to be honest, in part because I think the clothes ridiculous and the prices outrageous. Unlike you though, I do not judge those who do engage in such behaviors, nor do I insult an entire group because of tee shirts or makeup. This is so beneath you. The worst thing about this piece, Rob, is that it further divides us at a time when we need to come together. Like it or not these people that you so snobbishly condemn are the voting public, and, as we still live in a nation that has the vote, are important to us if we wish to gain a majority in our government. We do not need total agreement with everything we believe, only a partial acknowledgment of points we raise. We only need to sow the seeds of doubt in some of their minds in order to make them think in the voting booth. I fish with folks who farm, with people who live in rural America, I used to hunt with these very same people and I tell you with absolute certainty that they are very good people. They are family oriented, they work damn hard for their money and they want the best for themselves, their children and their nation. if they do not follow the dialogue , if they support Bush and his heinous policies, it is because they are not being exposed to other choices, nor have they been so exposed for far too many years now. I have long engaged these people in political dialogue, after first wining their trust. I tell you emphatically that they listen carefully and admit to surprise at things I tell them that they never knew. They are simply not unthinking stupid robots as you portray them, shame on you. Perhaps because of folks like you who so carelessly dismiss so many of our fellow citizens they will remain unreachable, I certainly hope not. The fault, Horatio, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.

by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 8:24:48 AM

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Bravo, bravo, bravo for having the chutzpah to call these kool-aid drinking, non-thinking people what they are.

by Sassy1 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 10:32:46 AM

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Dear Rob: This piece strikes me as pure desperation. We have also felt this way and do on a daily basis, regarding the demise of this Democracy. We are even at the point where we think the dismantling is intentional. We are also semi-conspiracy theorists, now, regarding 9/11. But we have also evolved to the point where statements from the surface of things don't work. We just spent 3 days here in the "redneck" foothills of California where we live, with co-graduates of U.C.Berkeley who voted for Bush. They dress as we do. They are genial, warm, caring grandparents, etc. We tried making statements, but realized you can only ask questions. We came to no obvious agreement. We'll never understand why they voted for Bush & Co. Shall we drop them like hot rocks? The county we live in is the 2nd most conservative in California. We are still shocked about their voting records, but also starting to see some disagreements with the "powers that be." What do we do about ignorance? They probably all watch Fox News and read the Washington Times. What Robert Fisk stated in his LinkTV presentation yesterday (from his book--The Great War for Civilization) is that bin Laden didn't set Muslims against Americans so much as he set innocents against innocents. Grieving for us all----And rarely blogging but always reading your columns, regards, A.Davis

by A Davis (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 11:48:40 AM

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I agree with you about 50%. Just because a guy who fits the "redneck" stereotype and happens to be wearing a patriotic shirt, doesn't necessarily mean that he supports Bush or that he's a Bush fanatic. *You can invest nothing of yourself and judge only by appearance or you can invest a little of yourself and you might be pleasently suprised by the person you find under the t-shirt.* But I understand where you're coming from. Think how I feel living in Georgia, the REAL Redneckville! Probably about 95% of the people at my high school are all Bush supporters!

by Elyse Gittens (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 1:33:24 PM

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Hey, Rob, I usually agree with you, but I think there's a danger in stereotyping too much. I work in a library in a small blue collar town and I'll tell you, not too many people here have good things to say about the man in the White House. I think liberals are as much to blame for any disconnect as the Republicans are, if I can take a page from Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter with Kansas (my home state). We need to learn how to fight back, but not with namecalling. Molly Ivins says people like Limbaugh "give Bubba someone to blame" and we who hold freedom and liberty dear should not resort to the same tactics as the blowhards. I'd like to know what you think. Sure, Larry the Cable Guy might support fascism, from what I've seen from his comedy routine concerning Natalie Maines, but let's not paint rednecks with the same brush. I think our enemies are the rich officials in Washington like my senator Grassley who never saw a tax cut for millionaires that he didn't like, or a social program he didn't want to gut, not the Nascar crowd, if you ask me. Which you didn't.

by Anne Johnson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 3:19:40 PM

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While I do admit a good chunk of the redneck/Nascar bunch are a bunch of dim bulbs, I can say I have witnessed up close a sort of eye opening among the more educated of the lot. My Dad, a former Republican judge/educated son of a Miner began to see things for what they was in the Ray gun era. Not all Appalachians are capable of that feat, though..

by Brenda Walters (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 59 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 4:56:59 PM

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Thanks for the lesson Rob and satire. Goes to prove that Bush has no right to stereotype Muslims as terrorists, nor to have the right to spy on Americans who he stereotypes as a terrorist by not even seeing them. Your piece is brilliant and brought out the typical redneck response, although I think Arkansas and Texas have the majority of backward thinking. At least you Rob talk about this, unlike Bush who refuses to talk and unleashes the War Machine killing anything that stands in the way. The Taliban is a good example. He bombed them to hell because they were stopping Opium traffic by questioning whoever is behind that veiled headscarf, calling them women haters. Rob you are right on. Hope that the people come see how Bush is a discriminate individual, who has stopped investigations into 911, lied about a false War and continues to spread the flames of hate in his campaign for stealing future elections for his party of violence

by Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments) on Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 9:15:25 PM

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Holy mother of Maalox! What a rant! Judge 1 – 4.5 Judge 2 – 4.3 Judge 3 – 4.8 Judge 4 – 4.5 Judge 5 – 4.8 Now then, could you please address the sale of control of US ports to the Arabs with the same fervor? I assure you that this poses a much more immediate hazard than a gaggle of snot nosed bigots in some snowed-in, whitebread yankee Bugtussle burg in Pennsylvania. I’ll be checking back to see if you were up to the challenge…

by Redoubt (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 6 comments) on Monday, Feb 20, 2006 at 4:38:19 PM

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