Stupid but unequal
Walker’s refusal to implement health care reform brings to mind the Old South.
By
Joel McNally
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Joel, the reason why Governor Walker's behavior reminds you of the behavior of the southern states is that is exactly his mindset.
The underlying ideology of the current TEAPublican Party is that of the southern plantation society. Author Colin Woodward in his recent book "American Nation" traces the colonization of the south with the British landed gentry's plantation way of life and governance.
It is the privileged few (plantation owners) who rule over the underlings (slaves, workers, sharecroppers). The owners of the plantation provide for their own, but the underlings don't need much education, nor do they need good roads or medical care. That mentality still exists and is currently much of what guides the TEAPublicans.
Woodward explains that the history of the United States has been the history of the struggle between the planation and the industrial might of New England.
A close examination of the Koch Brothers will reveal much of that thought. Throw this together with the selfishness of libertarianism and the crackpot ideas of Ayn Rand and there we have it.
The generation of TEAPublican politicians like Walker, Kasich in Ohio, Snyder in Michigan, Jindahl in Louisiana have come of age in the Reagan era. For all of their adult lives they have heard the mantra of "gummint is bad", "taxes are bad", and "libruls" are bad.
To expect different behavior from these politicians is senseless, as they are who they are. Look no further than Wisconsin's own stable of selfishness: Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Ron Johnson, Eric Hovde, and Sean Duffy.
George Romoney is the epitome of this way of behavior. Though born in Michigan, the strongest influence on his life is his Mormonism, which is a religion which reflects the southern mentality in certain ways. Romoney may live in New England, but he does not reflect the values of that place.
What is playing out in this Presidential Election is the centuries old battle of the rich plantation owner against the much more egalitarian spirit of the New England Yankees.
It's not too difficult to comprehend why the TEAPublicans embrace the Gadsen "Don't tread on me" flag and the "Stars and Bars" of the Confederacy.
As Sinclair Lewis said about eighty years ago, "When fascism comes to the United States, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." That's how the TEAPublicans are using the "Stars and Stripes."
-Jim Kubiak | Hudson, WI | July 24, 2012
