TITLE: WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Author: Thomas Frank
Take note that the subtitle omits "minds" from its wording, that's germane --it appears that Kansas has the perfect soil for spawning ideologues. Thomas Frank reports that it is populated predominately by the "Mods" and "Cons when writing about the range of Republican reactivism and opinion prevalent in the red tide that has flooded the state. The citizens he encounters appear to be too angry with the "culture" ( one can accurately describe it as the 'pop' sort) to engage in reasonable thought or consideration of facts. They are doomed to only be reactive to whatever
BEE
happens to inhabit their personal bonnet.Returning to his roots, Frank who grew up and was educated through college there, finds them thoroughly rotted -- politically. One can glean this by examining the skeleton of the book, the chapter titles.
In Part I - there are five, sequentially called: The Two Nations, Deep in the Heart of Redness, God, Meet Mammon, Vern Then and Now, and Con Men and Mod Squad.
In Part II we have six more: Persecuted, Powerless, and Blind, RussiaIran Disco Suck, Happy Captives, Kansas Bleeds for Your Sins, Inherit the Whilwind, Antipopes Among Us and Performing Indignation.
Within these chapters, Frank describes the Great Cultural Divide, which has no geographic but only political significance. In fact he describes it to an excuriatingly repetitive degree throughout the book. I am going to spare you the a replay of the minutiae of his recital - the all too familiar templates of Repubicanism gone totally off the tracks are rampantly scoring in mainstream media since sensationalism sells, meaning raising those Nielsen ratings and brings in the $$$$$ from the advertising industry to which journalism has become captive.
So much detail is offered that by page 126 I was ready to stop, I had already had my fill, it reflects what we are served all the time in our political milieu of this neo-con era.
Frank generalizes about this politcal behavior being representative of a backlash engendered by the perceived immoralities of the sixties. I imagine it would better be labeled "Payback Time". It seems that the R's having been or perceived themselves to be, outside the power structure of the nation for so long, lost any skill at the judicious use of it when the worm turned. Is it fear of losing out again that enabled this reckless extremist element to have scuttled the party? That may turn out to be the undoing of it.
One can only hope.
The scary thing about it is that too many politicans will do anything for votes, so we see the kissing up to this pack of voters that are the 3 to 4 million that constitute the tipping faction. They were "used" by the named and acclaimed architect of W's taking the election of 2004.The book serves to particularize the conversion of this particular state of Kansas into the antithesis of Eisenhower republicanism. In fact, Dwight is mentioned once in the book on page 89. Much of what has occured in the rust belt states has been inflicted too on Kansas but the sectors affected are indigenous to the state. The fallout from the conglomerating of the meat packing and farming interest are equivalent to what also happened to the aeronautical related businesses. The problem is where the perceived "blame" is assigned. Same for that pop culture that the fringe right rails so vociferously against. They need training in employing the off button plus continuing education courses in art, literature, history and music appreciation might be helpful
No one needs to be a willing victim to the lowest denominator of political or cultural life. They seem caught in a rip tide and only know fear. That is where the origination of anger is. You can read the pitiful details of one of the most delusional of the books puedo-religionist characters on pages 219-223. It is real but seems surreal, a local little theater production of what is appearing on the national stage since the bizarre decision in 2000 that GWB would be awarded the starring role.
Whoever in the politcal scene figures out how to temper this rage, decoding all the framed messaging used by those manipulating this tipping faction - so that feelings will be replaced with truth, and thought, should be rewarded with some singular honor, otherwise I fear the ship of state is going to encounter a Titanic future.
The publishers are Metropolitan Books division of Henry Holt & Co.
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