The Hill, Opinion: "America Held Hostage By Flyover States"

As @BookofTamara said, "It's now week 5 [post-election] and their commitment to Not Getting It has not weakened one bit."

A special word from the Adult Babies:

The predominant narrative coming out of the 2016 presidential post-election analysis is: The flyover states have spoken.

A flyover state is the huge region between the coasts. As opposed to the eastern seaboard, northern post-industrial states and Pacific Ocean states. They’re overwhelmingly Republican, stanchly conservative, regressive right wing, evangelical Christian and working class, well, the loudest, most ill-informed of them are. The term wasn't commonly used in a political manner until recently with the emergence of the Tea Party and the election of Obama.

A visit to Wichita, Kan., isn't on the bucket list of many Americans. Whereas most travelers fly over Fayetteville, Ark., and Springfield, Mo. They’re not destination spots. The flyover state gripe has nothing to do with the tourist industry of Oklahoma or Nebraska or Iowa. This is about their perceived feelings of abandonment and disrespect from their government. Never mind they've elected local, state and national representatives that should reflect their values and interests.

Forsetti's Justice writes:

"Government has not done enough to help them in many cases but their local and state governments are almost completely Republican and so too are their Representatives and Senators. Instead of holding them accountable, they vote them in over and over and over again."

Now they've elected Donald Trump, the ultimate coastal elite. Trump pandered to their bigotry, and anger at Washington, D.C.

The more entrenched the flyover voting bloc becomes in their voting habits, the further they fall behind economically, by voting against their own interests, the more they blame Washington, D.C. and coastal "liberal elites" for their issues.

This is a voter demographic fond of describing themselves as hard-working middle-class Americans. Which they are. They’re overwhelmingly middle-aged to senior, white, semi-rural, increasingly suburban and indignant. They seem to be perpetually enraged every election cycle, and after, according to the results.

Takes some balls for a Social Justice Warrior to accuse someone else of being "indignant" or "enraged."

These babies are still shrieking, but they think their opponents are "enraged"?

They either want their country back or they’re tired of being ignored. They regularly blurt the latter as justification for electing right-wing theocrat/closed minds, austerity minded, cultural fascists to office. These are people that use more government subsidy than any segment of the country, but they hate "handouts" to anyone else. They are the largest consumers of SNAP benefits, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Note this unhinged screed appears proudly in The Hill, an ostensibly neutral, sensible publication.

Since the inception of the term silent majority almost 50 years ago, and all of its iterations since, this block of voters was hardly a majority and never silent. This group has been exceedingly adept at dominating the narrative in virtually every election cycle. They’re proficient at dog-whistle propaganda, and since the mid-1980s, they've created their own media echo-chamber which exponentially multiplies the sound of their own voices, with no interference from outside sources.

Again: the Balls.

This was accomplished mainly with coast to coast a.m. radio stations broadcasting 24/7 right-wing indoctrination, to conservative patriot and alt-right conspiracy theory websites of the last 15 years which disseminate tragic half-truths and whole fake news.

This guy isn't going to win any points for original thinking.

This post is so devoid of anything original or factual -- it's just pure regurgitation of well-known leftist lore and emotion, specifically, hatred and racism -- that one wonders why any journal would bother publishing it.

Here's my idea: because this turgid, empty pile of hatred and racism represents the view of The Hill's editorial staff, and they want this Primal Scream out there, even if it makes no sense.

The alleged silent majority is deafening and easily provoked. They reside in their own echo-chamber bubble of indignation about everything from "New York values" (urban, ethnic rights, LGBT, social justice), to the war on Christmas and Black Lives Matter.

Balls.

They mocked and derided all people's protests from Occupy to #NoDAPL. Their old standbys are opposing a woman’s right to choose, reinstituting school prayer and eradicating "big government." They hate progress. Their idea of American values is straight from circa 1870.

It's a Grand Canyon of absent self-awareness. Check this out:

...

They're delusional in their belief that their views are more important, more valid, more ethical, and more patriotic than any other groups. They claim American Christian values, home, God and country. White values. Any dissenting viewpoints are taken as literal acts of war.

Funny, I know a group that answers precisely to that description.

It's clear cultural fascism.

Like hounding and purging everyone for dissenting from the leftist line?

By the way, you may be wondering, what position does this obvious lunatic hold that would spur The Hill to publish his spittle-drenched hateful rant?

Well, the answer is: None at all. Apparently his credential is that he is a "resident" and "observer:"

Duane Townsend is life-long resident of Detroit, Mich., and an experienced observer of the American social/political landscape.

posted by Ace at 02:05 PM

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