Actually, I've held back over the past few months, censoring myself for the sake of the Greater Good (when it comes to my fellow proles, that is). But no more. I've had it. How much slack are we to give proles who voted for Bush, support perpetual war, think Terri Schiavo spoke to dolphins, slap jingoistic bumperstickers on their gas-guzzling trucks & SUVs, and so on? If Carrol can't see a coarsening of American public life, then he's living in a far better place than me, and I live in a liberal college town!
I worked blue-collar jobs instead of going to college. Served in the military. Spent the past five years working at the lowest levels of manual labor, so I think I have some idea what "workers" are about. I'm not saying this to be "workerist," but to give the proper context for my remarks. Yeah, there are some nice Americans. Progressive Americans. Etc. And sometimes, as in the Schiavo carnival, the majority appear aware of who's fucking them and why. Still, there are masses of blue-collar Americans who take pride in their political and social ignorance and arrogance. I'd like to see Carrol attend a NASCAR event, or perhaps a Lee Greenwood or Charlie Daniels concert, then get his take. When I went to the Indy 500 last year, I was amazed by the slavish pro-war whooping I witnessed when some minister offered a "prayer" supporting our "efforts" in Iraq. And by the amount of pro-war t-shirts worn by spectators. There was an Ugly Spirit present, and that it came from my fellow workers didn't make it any less disgusting.
DP