On the intellectual front: I live in the heartland you talk about and your characterization grossly overgeneralizes a variety of views here that can also be found in urban areas. Some of the views, here, are actaully rather progressive and radical among the group you describe below.
[lbo-talk] Minuteman Founder Jim Gilchrist Storms Off Democracy Now! Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu Thu Oct 12 07:52:00 PDT 2006
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Michael: "He's a coward. He is very tough when he has a shotgun and he's in the middle of a desert intimidating defenseless immigrant families, but when it comes to being challenged by peaceful protesters and by people who understand this man and his organization for what they are, he runs away, and I think that was evident right now."
[WS:] Personal invective against this guy does not quite cut it. He is not just a despicable human being who happened to get into the lime light. He is the quintessential product and embodiment of what passes for "activism" in the "heart of America" and the paranoid style that permeates it - an ex-Marine, a small town journalist turned CPA turned politico, a "concerned citizen" and a self-righteous defender of the "homeland" against "foreign hordes." Such "little guys," small town lawyers or businessmen and assorted petit bourgeoisie have always been the main tenor in the US politics - even though very different background voices could also be heard from time to time.
Wojtek