Fight the power

This op-ed caught my attention. The writer says editorial writers always miss the reason why more and more people are buying SUVs. It's not for safety's sake or because they wish to "project ruggedness," but because "SUVs are practical, useful and particularly accommodating to lifestyles fueled by the vast prosperity that editorialists cannot bring themselves to recognize." And how does that "vast prosperity" express itself? People buy boats and snowmobiles, "not to mention ATVs, off-road motorcycles, and hunting, fishing and camping equipment." (This is from a Minnesota newspaper, by the way.)

Let's take that again: Liberal editorial writers "cannot bring themselves to recognize" how prosperous Minnesotans are, as shown by the number of recreational vehicles they purchase and thus need to haul. But the SUVs are not being acquired for any such recreational purposes; they are being bought for the purely "practical" purpose of hauling said recreational vehicles. As the writer says, "How do you think those boats get to the lake, behind a Geo Metro?" Then he sums up: "People buy SUVs because they are just the ticket for how they are living" -- buying all kinds of crap that is so large they must buy a giant vehicle to haul around their other giant vehicles.

Then he takes a swipe at John Kerry, who waffled on the SUV question. "Asked if he owned an SUV he said he didn't but his family did. What a wimp. He should have answered honestly: 'You're darn tootin' I own SUVs. Couldn't get along without them. Heck, we own four or five homes, and we're always hauling stuff.'"

All bluster aside, that last comment is worth listening to. The flatlanders love "straight talk." Even if a fellow "owns four or five homes," he can be accepted as a regular guy if he just gives a straight answer to a simple question.

That's how the Republicans win. Though they represent only the interests of the wealthy, they have adopted a manner of speaking that makes common people actually think they have something in common -- thus Bush's continued malaprops only endear him to his fans, while making the rest of us clutch our heads in pain. It's really a type of camoflage, as if a predatory insect had figured out a way to emit a smell like that of his prey, thus putting them at ease and making them easy pickings. So Bush can go around saying stuff, as he did today, like "I want America to be the best place in the world for people to find work or to raise their family or to get good health care." and "Justice ought to be fair." That's Mister Populist talking.