Thomas Frank: How Kansans (and others) screw themselves by voting GOP

[BurtWorm]

As excerpted in George Scialabba's Nation review of "What's the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America.

http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20040614&s=scialabba
The trick never ages; the illusion never wears off. Vote to stop abortion; receive a rollback in capital gains taxes. Vote to make our country strong again; receive deindustrialization. Vote to screw those politically correct college professors; receive electricity deregulation. Vote to get government off our backs; receive conglomeration and monopoly everywhere from media to meat-packing. Vote to stand tall against terrorists; receive Social Security privatization. Vote to strike a blow against elitism; receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our lifetimes, in which workers have been stripped of power and CEOs are rewarded in a manner beyond imagining.

[greymattermom]

1. Kansas

Yes, but the right wing can go too far. We have a woman Democratic governor and, in my district, a Democratic representative because the Republican candidates were too "conservative".

[BurtWorm]

2. Which district are you from?

Welcome to DU! :toast:

[greymattermom]

5. what district

The eastern one, a stone's throw from KCMO. I'm in Kansas for the school districts. I've been here 17 years and still don't get it. The people here are so weird. Polite but not friendly. I'm used to the east coast. Friendly but not polite.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Are you taling about Dennis Moore? Better than a Republican!

By the way, Thomas Frank grew up in Mission Hills. Someone I know in the area checked and found this out.

He is WONDERFUL. Hearing about him now, rather than later is just fine with me! He's giving us a lot of extra reading to work into our schedules, should we accept the assignment......

[greymattermom]

4. what district

The small city that starts with L pressed up against the state line. Don't you think Dennis Moore is better than Adam Taff? I'm from the east coast and still haven't gotten used to Kansas after 17 years here.