Sarah Palin did a good job last night. She came out swinging and, as a liberal, that makes me nervous. She’s a surprisingly good speaker, considering that her usual audience is much smaller. I’m liberal, but I try to stay open-minded. A lot of what Palin addresses, I’m just not decided on yet…take Alaskan oil drilling. I think Palin and the Republican party might have something there…there is something to be said for using our own resources, rather than expecting developing nations to ruin their ecosystems and deplete their resources.
But there was something else that Palin said that shocked and angered me…
Said Sarah Palin:
“A writer observed: ‘We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.’ I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.
I grew up with those people.
They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America … who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.
They love their country, in good times and bad, and they’re always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.”
I grew up in a small town too. But I don’t live in one now…and for very good reasons. The kind of small town that Harry Truman came from is very different today, and even very different than the one I grew up in in the mid-80’s, during the Reagan years.
It may be true that many small-town Americans grow our food, and even some run our factories…but people who live in the city fight our wars too. People who live in the city work hard too. It IS a privilege to live in a small town. Many people who live in the city can’t afford to live in those rural communities. That’s why they are in the city…for the jobs. Many live in cramped quarters because they can’t make a living in those rural towns. There are factories in small towns and in big cities. Big cities are where those products made in factories are sold and distributed to the world. Big cities are where you can see the ingenuity, the ambition, the hard work and the industry that America is famous for demonstrated in the daily comings and goings of every resident. We are a busy, industrious country and there’s no better place to witness that than in the city.
Palin would have us believe that people who don’t live in small towns aren’t patriotic, don’t work hard, and don’t fight our wars. She’d have us believe that small-town people are somehow morally better than “city folk,” as if all small-town residents spend their entire lives in small towns, as if “city folk” didn’t come from small towns, as if living in the city taints you and makes you a bad person. Well, there is more crime in the city, isn’t there? I mean, don’t people in the city do bad things?
In the small town that I grew up in, a man was murdered during a drug deal, there was prostitution, there was drug smuggling, there were gangs. There were also class divides and corruption of city officials. There were illegal immigrants, and just about every farm employed them, along with the restaurants and businesses in town. Not everyone was religious, but the good people who went to church were often at cultural war with those who didn’t share their brand of faith. There were also many wonderful things about that small town…it was beautiful, many people truly were hard-working and up-right people. (Then again, that small town was in rural California, and according to many conservatives in other states, California isn’t really in America, or on this planet.)
When I moved to the city to go to college, I met the love of my life and we stayed. It just seemed right that we settle where we fell in love. It felt like home to us. I’ve lived in the city now for about ten years, and I find that many of the hard-working and up-right people I knew in my small hometown are here in the city with me too. My neighbors love our country just as much as the Americans who live in those little towns in Alaska and the Heartland. On holidays the American flag flies proudly from our lawns and flag holders. We have families and jobs. We get married and go to church. Young men and women straight out of high school enlist in the military. City people even pray.
Cities are a part of America. Cities provide our military with enlisted men and women. Cities facilitate industry. Cities provide jobs for millions of people. American cities are part of what make this country great. I’m sorry, Sarah Palin, but small-town America isn’t the only America. Think of the Big Apple. Think of the port of Los Angeles, shipping and bringing in all those goods from the coast to the center of America. Think of the gorgeous majesty of San Francisco. Think of the rich history and legacy of cities like Chicago and Detroit. Think of the home of our president, Washington D.C. Sure, there are downsides to these places, but I think Palin is overlooking some of the reasons why cities are so attractive to millions of Americans. Small-towns aren’t without their share of problems. Oh, and one more thing…people vote in cities too.
Just an aside here… last night aaron and i watched bill maher, and several points were made regarding the RNC’s laughter at “community organizers,” as if they were stupid, their activities useless… and certainly not worth citing as “experience” (Rudy Guiliani and Sarah Palin count among those who made these crude, hypocritical and mean spirited comments). These are the same people who gave speeches about “a thousand points of light” (referring to those of us who give a damn and get involved), and McSame just gave a speech telling us to “do something, get involved.” Listen, folks, you can’t have it both ways. If community activism is worth doing and you urge people to do it….you can’t turn around and laugh at them, acting as if their efforts are stupid. What is wrong with the Republican Party? Please check out the context within which these comments are made! Incredible!