> I haven't read Frank's article, but this looks like a
> good assessment of contemporary American
> conservatism to me. Contemporary American
> conservatism is motivated and driven by fluffy
> cultural issues, not bedrock fiscal issues.
As I tried to make clear in my blog entry, this is where I differ with Frank. It's not driven by "fluffy cultural issues," but by something much more profound and much more evil: racism. This is the way it's always been in the US, and it's still like that. When -- as Frank discusses -- the right-wing pundits talk about the difference between red states and blue states (I wish our side was the red states -- *sigh*), they're talking about the difference between places where white people live and places where black and brown people live. A great number of issues break down to white supremacy, the great faultline of the US political economy: guns ("WE need guns to protect ourselves from black people"), taxes ("BIG GOVERNMENT is taking OUR money and giving it to black people"), crime (too obvious to require comment), and so on.
In the paragraph I critiqued, Frank described busing as an issue on a par with "un-Christian art." It's not. It really is only a small subset of the population that is going to get bent out of shape about the NEA funding Piss Christ (though more will get upset about Chris Ofili paintings -- because he's black). Not enough for a majority. An issue like busing, or maintaining the evil pattern of school funding in general in this country which is in turn based upon racist patterns of homeownership -- now those are issues that win majorities for reaction. The MAJORITY of white voters -- including a majority of white women (despite the "gender gap") and a majority of white workers -- voted for Bush. The reason for that is complicated and simple and obvious, all at the same time, and it can be summed up in one word: racism.
- - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
People of the US, unite and defeat the Bush regime and all its running dogs!