The problem is that when the tea baggers talk about their America, they mean
> their WHITE America.
>
Sure, but is this really such an alien phenomenon? I can't count the number of white liberals of the Manhattanite sort who define New York in their own image - and, in fact, often seem woefully ignorant that anyone else lives here. The other day, a friend I generally respect, who works for one of our more left-leaning state legislators, told me, in all seriousness, that she didn't think that many religious people lived in the city! One can only guess how many time's she's ventured into any of the other four boroughs. Or into Harlem, Washington Heights, Midwood, the Lower East Side ...
Anyway, the question I'm awkwardly driving at here is this: Should we use such myopia, with all its implications of race and class, as an excuse to avoid meaningfully engaging with the people who are mired in it? And if we do so, in a consistent way across the board, what can we really expect to be left with?
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."