Thursday, September 04, 2008

That great Western tradition of small government!

David Gregory just referred to that on MSNBC. He said it's the tradition McCain shares with such Republican icons as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan (who was from Iowa, right?).

Yeah, right. The American West, where I've lived for almost 40 years, this land where men are men and horses are surprisingly rare, was built on government handouts and continues to depend on them for survival - from cavalry outposts and virtually free grazing on public lands and virtually free rights of way for the railroads to today's interstate highways and water projects. I don't feel like looking it up, so I'll just assert (because I'm pretty sure it's true) that Westerners receive more government support of various kinds per capita than people in any other region of the country.

I guess we're just better at posturing than those other people.

Yee haw.

8 comments:

Lahdeedah said...

The McCain commercials make me cry.

Have you seen the one slamming Obama... the imagery sort of makes him look like Prince Lucifer, straight from Hell, gathering his evil minions in public places with his oratory skills... all dark lighting and grays, and a sad white family lost in Obama's evil world... BUT THEN, McCain pops up, and the back of his head is lit up, supposedly from the rays of God as he shines down on McCain...because God is a Republican....

That's what the imagery reminds me of. It also reminds me of propaganda b.s. but that's what politics are these days... battle of the ads.

David said...

God, that sounds awful!

On the other hand, McCain gave part of his speech last night in front of a huge picture of the Walter Reed Middle School in California, presumably because someone was told to find a pic of Walter Reed Medical Center, and the person used Google carelessly. I think that typifies McCain.

TGirsch said...

By "small government" they don't mean funding. They mean lax taxes and regulation. Let those east-coast elitists pay for it all, and let us spend it however the hell we want it, and don't they dare tell us what to do.

David said...

Oh. Well, that is in keeping with the grand Western tradition, then.

In Denver, we also have a tradition of pretending to have a cowboy heritage. In reality, we have a mining heritage, but movie cowboys are more romantic figures.

Daniel Dvorkin said...

IIRC, the West is second in terms of sucking on the government teat to the South. You know, where they hate those eeevil interfering Yankees always sticking their noses in good honest God-fearing folks' business ... unless the Yankees come with some of that Union money, that is.

David said...

Interesting. Much of that might be because of the TVA, farm subsidies, and coastal stuff.

We know now that Alaska ranks high in terms of earmarks. The Southwest probably ranks high as a region because of dams and suchlike.

Wal, Ah think it's tahm to strap on mah chaps and waddle downstairs and pour mahself a shot a rum. Puts hair on your chest.

Daniel Dvorkin said...

Yeah, the TVA is a big part of it still. Most, I think, is military -- there has been a huge migration of military bases under successive Republican administrations from the rest of the country to the Confederate states.

Now, being the type of veteran and history buff that I am, I would think this a fine idea, if the bases were being built there for the right reason, by the right sort of Republicans. Hell, I'd probably sign back up again if it meant I'd be down there to keep the Secesh under control. But the fact that the installations tend to be named after notable CSA military figures offers a pretty good hint as to why they're actually there.

Rum? What kind of Westerner are you? That sounds like an America-hating terrorist drink to me!

David said...

Oh, of course, the military bases. I hadn't even thought of those.

Well, you know, you could say that rum played its own important part in the building of America. At least up to some time in, say, the first half of the 1860s.

Maybe I should switch to margaritas. Actually, I'd like to try some really good tequila some day; I'm sure it's different from the turpentiney stuff I've had before.