[JOHN ADAMS]

I live in Blue America and most of my friends and coworkers are like the people this article says live here. I hope the rest of the article is a lot less condescending about Red America. The part you've posted makes the people who live there sound like parochial, naive (if innocent and harmless) white trash. If you say it's a good article I'll believe you, but I'm eager to see what the rest of the piece says.

The Atlantic Monthly has a summary of the piece that might be useful to those who are curious, followed by some debate that will make you laugh between normal people who might fit in here at FreeRepublic and loonytunes who clearly come from blue regions and who have never visited a red one. Check out http://forum.theatlantic.com/WebX?.ee71cdc for amusement if you have a minute.

[anniegetyourgun]

Actually, I didn't post it - rface did. It is interesting and I probably would agree with you assessment of their assessment of Red zone folk.

[JOHN ADAMS]

Much if not all of the debate I mentioned is at the url posted by rface at #3.

[rface]

I don't think this report is condescending about Red America, I do think it kind-of pokes fun a Blue America because of their "Superior" attitudes towards their Red American cousins.....but I base this assumption on parts of the rest of the report.

[jofish]

I've lived in Blue America (NYC, Chicago, and LA) and have been surrounded by the sort of people who this article's author claims to be. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it, ends up in an argument between me and the other guests. It's hard work being a Freeper in a limosine-liberal world. Beyond the obliviousness shown by the sort of people described as Blues toward the rest of America, the fact that these urban liberals are oblivious to the circumstances in their own back-yard is even more disturbing. OK, so maybe somebody has never been to Iowa, but these people don't even know what is going on in their own back-yards. I routinely challenge people like this in arguments to tell me what "check-day" is and to tell me what their personal observations have been in parts of their own city further than walking distance from some muffin shop. They can't because they have never been to a "bad" neighboorhood, or even a working class one in their own cities, and talked to "normal" people, let alone the "wilds" of the Rest Of America. They just sit around and expound upon the nature of evil as they see it, alowing themselves the luxury of not basing any of their thoughts on the way the world really is. Their ignorance and obliviousness never ceases to amaze me.