Breakfast in a blue state

Jerusalem Post ^ | 2-19-05 | EMANUELE OTTOLENGHI

[SJackson]

Weekends in New York can turn indigestible when politics dominate breakfast.

At an Upper West Side caf , my host greets me and my colleague, then orders a latte, the drink of choice for sophisticated young urban blue-state inhabitants. After an exchange of pleasantries, we both order the healthy choice.

Meet the Kerry-core: mid-30s, successful and glamorous, keeping in shape while meeting the demands of a successful professional life in the fast lane.

They keep up with the literary world on the metro and know which restaurant offers the newest version of California French-American fusion cuisine. No Hollywood movies for them: too commercial and superficial, the kind of culture that makes sophisticated Europeans loathe simpleton America for its shallowness. But they have seen the latest Broadway show and a Franco-Vietnamese film series playing in the nearby noncommercial movie theater.

My interlocutor is a thirtysomething TV journalist from a global network. With perfect nails, perfect hair and perfect command of her charm, she watches me eat my breakfast while her spoon hovers over her granola.

She could, no doubt, be a good professional contact. But my colleague spoils the moment by flagging my current affiliation (The American Enterprise Institute) and my sympathy for George W. Bush.

My colleague is a foreign correspondent for a European daily who eats eggs Benedict but thinks Michael Moore has "a lot to say": She is fine in New York. Me, I eat granola but cheer for Bush. It's worse than a crime; it's confusing to my host.

In her sophisticated understanding of the world, Ms. Latte thinks a PhD-holding, polyglot, granola-eating, urban-dwelling academic with spectacles from Europe (who, in addition, is Jewish) must be a liberal and must hate Bush. Anything different does not exist in her normative universe. It throws her off balance.

"You actually like Bush?" she says in disbelief. Here's a chance to exculpate myself. Instead, I gingerly respond, "I actually love Bush!"

With her lower lip trembling, my interlocutor goes for the jugular. "Bush is stupid. And whoever supports Bush is stupid." Which effectively makes this hopeful moment stillborn.

Not every breakfast must be with the like-minded, of course, but if all breakfasts were like this one, a swollen liver would be a distinct threat. Still, it offers useful anthropological insights on Democratic bitterness after the November defeat.

According to Ms. Latte, Bush is supported by duck-hunting, God-fearing rednecks who unreasonably hate foreigners and, religiously speaking, are still in the Middle Ages. Terrorism is a nuisance. Making it a top priority is a ruse to scare simpletons.

Why would I be on their side?

a) I am stupid.

b) I live in an ivory tower and am not aware of reality.

For help in revising my views, Ms. Latte advises that I drive down Route 66 and try to socialize with people I meet in rural post offices. I will inevitably discover their stupidity, their intolerance of foreigners and their religious fanaticism. And I will give up Bush.

Still, who your allies are is not always a good case for switching sides. After all, "campaigning" for Kerry were the MoveOn.Org crowd and Michael Moore. Toward the end, even Osama bin Laden advised Americans not to reelect Bush.

Ms. Latte feels comfortable in their company. I don't. I still prefer Christian fundamentalists to the Michael Moores, Gore Vidals and Noam Chomskys of the world. I might feel uncomfortable among duck hunters, but if they support this administration, let them shoot ducks. Foreign policy is what matters, not weekend hobbies or church prayers.

Ms. Latte decries Bush's failure to "promote dialogue and understanding" after 9/11: "War is not the answer!" she proclaims, explaining that Kerry, so much more sophisticated than those Midwest simpletons, paints the world in nuanced shades of gray, while Bush offers a black-and-white take on right and wrong. That's why he won: his supporters are as dumb as he is. They believe there is right and wrong in this world.

Which is why she lost her tranquillity in my presence. In her universe, someone like me is meant to be smart, not to support Bush.

These days a PhD is no guarantee of IQ. But unlike my sophisticated colleague, I know exactly how open to dialogue those who masterminded 9/11 are.

Bush did not start a war. He only chose not to surrender once that war started, because he could tell right from wrong. Ms Latte can't. She does not believe there's a truth out there. That's why her candidate lost.

Easier to call your opponents dumb for reelecting Bush than face the reasons Kerry lost. The November defeat becomes easier to digest.

Which I wish I could say of my breakfast. Next visit to New York, I'll wear a Kerry-Edwards T-shirt, go see the latest Franco-Vietnamese production, and most of all, avoid conversation.

The writer teaches Israel Studies at Oxford and is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

[guitarist]

Important to note that this author is himself probably a rather liberal guy on political/social issues. He is merely saying that Bush is the man for the survival of Western Civilization, and that the Michael Moore wing of the left--a big chunk of the Democrats and the Eastern elite--have really gone off their rocker. That leaves the center and the right to the Republicans; witness 55 Republican senators...

[guitarist]

It's a he
http://www.emanueleottolenghi.com/ONEAUTHORITY.html

[GVnana]

I think you're right. Few will admit they voted for Carter, or even McGovern.

[skimask]

"she feels invincible in her terribly self-centered world. "


That says it all...with liberals its nothing but me...me..me

[EDINVA]

but that's how insular the "lattes" of the world are .. they don't even understand when they are insulting others. They are far more black/white than any Republican or conservative I know.

[skimask]

I'll never understand what makes them (liberals) think they are so much smarter than everyone else

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I am enjoying the hysteria. These are the reactions of irrational people. They are pathetic because they don't realize how ignorant they really sound.

I once walked into the office of a newspaper editor and told him it was one thing to insult Ronald Reagan. It was quite another to insult everyone who voted for Reagan,(something he had just done on his editorial page) quite a number of whom subscribed to his newspaper.

He was shocked I called him on it, IN PERSON.

It's been years and I still remember the look on his face and the joy in my heart from putting the pinhead in his place.

[mewzilla]

There's more to NYS than NYC.

Thank God.

[Marano NYC]

I wish those were the only words that inspired the conflict. The problem is some of the radicals are unhinged and out of control.
I have had to walk away from the Neocon- Likud 9-11 conspiracy talk. This is not legitimate dissent and insults the memory of the victims. The problem is that since our side is passive this behavior is unchecked.
I wish someone other than Popular Mechanics would confront these cranks head on.I would also love to know who is funding this nonsense.

[Kozak]

With her lower lip trembling, my interlocutor goes for the jugular. "Bush is stupid. And whoever supports Bush is stupid." Which effectively makes this hopeful moment stillborn.

Wow. She must be a real genius. Such incisive debating technique. /sarcasm

All the intellectual development of a three year old.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

This article reminded me of the most excellent time I had strolling into the local Starbucks the morning after the election. I stood in line with the latte crew whistling "There's a bright golden haze on the meadow" from the musical "Oklahoma." The looks I got: they were tasty! It was a MegaGLOAT of epic proportions. The next morning in the same Starbucks I got to expound on the incomparable beauties of Canada to a fat, skanky, lesbian professoress with a straight face (mine, not the professoress'). Ahhhh . . . Golden Days.

[Woodworker]

If you'd like to see a similar far left view point, then smell the latte' on these discussion forums:

http://www.fourthturning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1206

http://www.fourthturning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1560

http://www.fourthturning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1598

http://www.fourthturning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1643

http://www.fourthturning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1206

[Katya]

I have this conversation weekly sometimes....I usually get the Bush is stupid AND evil. Then I have to explain you can't be both stupid AND evil....choose one. It stumps them.

[Axenolith]

I live in New York City and have discovered on many occasions the power of the simple words "I admire Bush" to inspire tirades, tears and temper tantrums.

Keep up the good work! Just remember, with those effects every time you say "I admire Bush" it's like purchasing a lottery ticket or putting a coin in a slot machine whose payoff could be one less democrat through a stroke or massive heart attack... ;-)

[Fiddlstix]

Snip---
According to Ms. Latte, Bush is supported by duck-hunting, God-fearing rednecks who unreasonably hate foreigners and, religiously speaking, are still in the Middle Ages. Terrorism is a nuisance. Making it a top priority is a ruse to scare simpletons.

Snip---
For help in revising my views, Ms. Latte advises that I drive down Route 66 and try to socialize with people I meet in rural post offices. I will inevitably discover their stupidity, their intolerance of foreigners and their religious fanaticism. And I will give up Bush.

Snip---
Ms. Latte feels comfortable in their company. I don't. I still prefer Christian fundamentalists to the Michael Moores, Gore Vidals and Noam Chomskys of the world. I might feel uncomfortable among duck hunters, but if they support this administration, let them shoot ducks. Foreign policy is what matters, not weekend hobbies or church prayers.

But...But......
Who was the candidate who was presented with a new shotgun at several "whistle stops" during the last presidential campaign?
Who was the candidate who was seen in more churches than even the Rev. Jesse Jackson during the last presidential campaign?
Who was the candidate who went on the great duck hunting expedition during the last presidential campaign?

That's Right Folks!
It was John Kerry!
The Greatest Duck Hunter of All Time...........

Click the Pic

[LibKill]

ROTFLOL! FReegards.

[dennisw]

They keep up with the literary world on the metro and know which restaurant offers the newest version of California French-American fusion cuisine.

It makes me sick to see that precious foo foo stuff on a plate. Add West-Asian fusion places too. Give me real food, real Chinese food and I'm not into junk food either. Funny article

[dennisw]

At an Upper West Side caf , my host greets me and my colleague, then orders a latte...

I've never had one in my life and never will

[SJackson]

There's more to NYS than NYC. Thank God.

And lots of them are duck hunters.

[SJackson]

John Kerry!...The Greatest Duck Hunter of All Time...........

And like Bill Clinton, duck hunter, we'll never know if he ate the duck.

Then again, there are New York duck hunters!