Let's visit two Main Streets, just to make sure that we are all getting a little dose of reality.
First, a visit to Main Street in Wasilla, Alaska.
Now lets visit the main street of my hometown of Beaver, Pennsylvania. Oh, look who showed up to get in touch with a little reality on main street. We have big news in our little town of Beaver. That's my sister's blog. She still lives in our hometown. Yep, the main street of our hometown is a two lane road, a few traffic lights, lots of churches, and a park that has a lovely gazebo. The tallest buildings are 3-4 stories high and a few cars wide. There's also a historic revolutionary war fort, Ft. Macintosh, along River Road.
Beaver, PA, a real American small town with a real main street. 4,775 people. 96.44% White, 2.64% African American, 0.88% Hispanic or Latino, 0.27% Asian, 0.13% Native American, 0.27% from other races, 0.25% from two or more races. Median household income $42,113. Median family income $57,208. Males had a median income of $43,198 versus $26,709 for females. Per capita income $24,003. About 3.7% of families and 4.9% of the population live below the poverty line. Small town, predominantly white, working people. Fought in every American war beginning with the American Revolution.
Here's the whole speech, in our lovely main street gazebo, beginning with a dose of reality from some small town steelworkers.
Stumbling around the internet this morning I found this campaign ad for Obama. Virginia bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley has been around, knows what's what, and gets right to the point.
Which led me to some Stanley Brothers music. First, live with Alison Kraus singing O Angel Band. About the hard-to-understand-but-must-be-funny opening banter: Youtube commenters who were at the concert say that Stanley tells Kraus, "It's good to have you." She replies, "oh, it's good to be had."
And here's the Stanley Brothers doing It Takes a Worried Man on Rainbow Quest, Pete Seeger's 1965 tv show.
One more, here's the same song, same show, but with a young Johnny Cash and June Carter.
There's lots more of this show on youtube, including June telling the story of their trip to entertain the troops in Asia. In Korea, she did her usual trick of tossing out the mike and pulling it back to her. But this time... Well she tells it best right here. Then they sing their favorite Native American protest song.
Bein' country and supportin' the troops ain't necessarily bein' conservative. (Wink, smile.) And that's our history lesson for today.
Sarah Palin says Washington is full of elite insiders who need a touch of "main street Wasilla." Really? Guess what, Madame Governor. Members of Congress, the White House staff, lobbyists, and federal bureaucrats aren't city people from Washington. They come from big and small towns all over the country. Geesh. Duh. How dumb can... oh, never mind.
But if Sarah Palin says one more time that Washington (and New York, California, Boston, New England...) is out of touch with "real" America, I'm gonna scream. Oh wait, I don't have to! Thank you, Joe Biden, for saying that we are all tired, tired, tired of this crap. Just how much of America does she not like? How much of America does she not count as "real"? How exactly would that work as Vice President?
So here's a bit of Washington reality for Main Street. Washington residents are regular people, living in an American city. Politicians in Washington are elected legislators who work here and live somewhere else. Anne Applebaum wrote a nice response to Palin's anti-Washington talk in the Washington Post.
"Although there are plenty of native Washingtonians working as doctors or cabdrivers or bank managers, most of the people who actually control the city's most famous institutions -- Congress, the White House, the federal government -- weren't born in Washington. Like Sarah Palin, they are from "in the heartland," in places like Wasilla, and it is the values of the heartland and Wasilla that they must be therefore presumed to embody."read more...
What happens in Washington when there is a political shake up? Well, right now real Washingtonians are watching as a pack of visiting, elite, political insiders from Texas go back home.
Karl Rove the primary author of President Bush's two successful national campaigns and perhaps the most influential and controversial presidential strategist of his generation, became the latest Bush adviser to head for the door, announcing that he will resign Aug. 31.
Alberto Gonzalez' departure means that almost none of the Texans who came to town with Bush still hold influential positions in the administration. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, his education adviser in Texas and a former White House staffer, is the most prominent exception.
David Dunn will be leaving his position as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Department of Education effective October 3, 2008 to serve as Executive Director of the newly formed Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA)
Lawrence A. Warder will be leaving two positions he has held—acting chief operating officer of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and chief financial officer—effective October 10 and returning home to Texas.
