Posted on 12/06/2004 11:15:14 AM PST by RWR8189
Not a thing, it turns out.
Kansas is a reliable "red" state; President Bush carried it by nearly 21% in 2000 and padded his margin to nearly 26% this year. The state's rock-solid support of Mr. Bush and other conservative candidates has sent at least one of its native sons, political commentator Thomas Frank, into paroxysms of rage. In his new book, "What's the Matter With Kansas?," Mr. Frank argues that all those Jayhawk State rubes have got things backward: They've continued to vote Republican as the state goes through economic hardship, even though, by doing so, they're voting against their own economic interests. The book is a big hit with left-leaning commentators and has sold very well, making the author something of a celebrity on the talk-show circuit.
In purple prose, Mr. Frank paints a grim picture of the state and its towns. Kansas is "pretty much in a free fall," he informs us, and as a result of its economic devastation, it's "a civilization in the early stages of irreversible decay." The cause of all this decline, he says, is modern capitalism, especially as practiced by all those businessmen-Republicans. Kansas is "burning on a free-market pyre," he writes. Things are especially bad in his old hometown of Shawnee, where, during his visits, he no longer sees anyone in the streets. Instead, "heaps of rusting junk and snarling rottweilers" blight the landscape.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Besides the fact that it's one of the four states that have "no issue" concealed carry laws?
Dem Credo: Don't let the facts get in the way!
They are both snotty, insufferable elitist snobs and dyed-in-the-wool Marxists - Frank openly so.
They're also both from Kansas, oddly enough.
According to friends of mine at Cessna, the Wichita area has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the nation. Low cost of living too, ideal for young families.
This Mr. Frank is scaring me, Toto.
(Looks apprehensively at ruby slippers.)
If you want a bad area, go just north of there into Wyandotte County, where the crime rate is high, the economy is depressed (except for the western part where the new race track is located). Only two counties in all of Kansas voted for Kerry. Want to bet whether Wyandotte County was one of them? :-)
Wait a second... I called him a leftie AND a lying sack of excrement... will y'all forgive me my redundancy?
Yeah but from pictures of seen Ana Cox is pretty hot, no?
I just gotta say something else...
I don't write for a paper, nor am I likely to write a book soon. But if I was to do either, I would research my facts to be sure I was right, not because I'm honest, but because if my facts are as wrong as his were, I would expect to loose creditability and my theories would be taken as wrong.
I suppose that if your theories are wrong to start with, why not back them up with untrue "facts"? Most people will not check up on the facts, so this would be effective propaganda...
Dorothy is no longer there...
The down side, of course, is that you're living in Wichita.
Wichita lives and dies with the aviation industry. Current unemploymnent is in the mid-5 percent range, not too high compared to the national average but higher than other areas in the state. For a while in 2002 the unemployment rate was pushing 9 percent.
She weighed about 30 pounds more in college than she does now, and I suspect that if you saw her up close - rather than made up for her NYT Magazine cover - you'd be less than impressed.
Well, the wind blows too hard.
It snows too damn much.
It's too cold.
It's too hot.
It's too flat.
It has too much wheat.
It has too many sunflowers.
It's too far between Missouri and Colorado.
It's too far between Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Just kidding.
I spent 4 wonderful years in Kansas and loved it.
Not as much as I do my current home, but Kansas was good.
Instead, "heaps of rusting junk and snarling rottweilers" blight the landscape.
Does a thirty's vintage tractor and a yappy mini schnauzer qualify? ;o)
In thirty minutes I can be in a tree stand hunting or have a line in the water. Hour and a half I can be at the theatre or at the Royals ballgame. Schools are good weather is liveable.
There is crime but the cops prefer it if you shoot back. (something about less paperwork) I've lived many many places, been damn near everywhere. This is what I like. I choose to live here. When I die, there will be no connecting flights, heaven can't be too far from this.
The point is, Kansas (whether Wichita or in the interior) is not some Dorothy Lange photograph of impoverished inbred hillbillies. Mr. Frank is an embarassment to the state.
The author of this WSJ screed is just another whiner who snipes at "red state" America from the towers of Manhattan.
Everyone in my department is agog over this book. It never occurs to them that if people like Frank didn't view others with such contempt and condensencion, then maybe they would be considered worth listening to.
The only thing Liberal in Kansas is the Town of Liberal and assorted college professors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
