Klein has never met a liberal stereotype he didn’t like, such as the time he said GOP candidates with multiple marriages "live like liberals” (Ha! I get it! We don’t have any morals like those conservative Christian folks do!). Or how about the time he said that liberal Democrats hate America. That was great! Thank you, liberal media!
In this week’s column he asks, "Does Merle Haggard Speak for America?” The answer is obvious to anyone who’s not isolated in their ivory tower of punditry. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to Joe Klein or most of the other Beltway gas bags. So it’s time for Klein and the rest of these clowns to have a steaming cup of STFU and listen for a change, because Merle is talking:
"The folks don't have a say-so anymore. They're being force-fed — music, yeah, but every other darn thing too. I supported George W. I'm not exactly a liberal. But I know how that Texas thing works, who those oil folks are and what they wanted in Iraq... I'm a born-again Christian too, but the longer I live, the more afraid I get of some of these religious groups that have so much influence on the Republicans and want to tell us how to live our lives."
Indeed. Like those Chinese hogs force-fed wastewater before slaughter, we Americans are getting shit shoved down our gullets and Joke Line doesn’t understand why we won’t say thank you:
A vague populist annoyance with big stores and big shots is one of the themes that have led Haggard to "change labels," as he told me with a laugh.
"Vague, populist annoyance”? Are you kidding me? How about outrage at the crappy way Wal-mart treats its employees, or the way big box stores have transformed rural America into a series of ghost towns?
Merle goes on:
"This is America. We're proud. We're not afraid of a bunch of terrorists. But this government is all about terror alerts and scaring us at airports. We're changing the Constitution out of fear. We spend all our time looking up each other's dresses. Fear's the only issue the Republican Party has. Vote for them, or the terrorists will win. That's not what Reagan was about. I hate to think about our soldiers over in Iraq fighting for a country that's slipping away."
Klein wonders if there’s a Bubba backlash brewing; I suspect there might be, or at least the GOP is afraid there might be, otherwise they wouldn’t stoop to manufacturing phony controversies about NASCAR vaccinations. But I also think there’s a core group of Bubba voters who will never vote for a Democrat come hell or high water.
It’s worth mentioning that the last time I blogged about this, the TN GOP sent out a press release about it, which someone posted anonymously in comments:
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
In a Salon.com article by Thomas F. Schaller, the author states that the Democrat Party has lost a certain voter: "The 'NASCAR dad' -- that shirt-sleeved, straight-talkin', these-colors-don't-run fella who votes his cultural values above all else -- or 'Bubba.'"
Schaller wrote, "Start looking on milk cartons for Bubba because he has vanished, and not a moment too soon: The Democratic obsession with the down-home, blue-collar, white male voter, that heartbreaker who crossed the aisle to the Republicans many decades ago, may finally be coming to a merciful end."
More locally, a Nashville blogger, Southern Beale, analyzed the Salon.com article and went on to say, "I'd clarify this to say, have Democrats lost the rural white Southern vote, and should they care? Does anyone think Democrats can get this vote? Should they care if they can't?"
On behalf of those who get up everyday, put in a hard day's work, worry about their kids' education & safety, pay the bills, get your kids to ball practice, say your prayers knowing that God does hear you and, oh yeah, follow NASCAR, offer straight-talk and love our country and wave the flag, we are honored that you might join the Republican Party and stand beside us in keeping America, and especially Tennessee, the best place in the world to live and raise a family. We welcome each Tennessean and "we do care!"
Yikes, was that raw sewage going down my throat again?
Yep, sounds to me like they’re nervous. You know, once you’ve lost Merle,you’ve lost America.
