Yesterday, I was having a discussion with another fellow on a political blog. After I compared the media capitulation during the run-up to the Iraqi War with the Sarah Palin campaign blitz, He asserted that “Educated people did not vote for Bush on average, he would have lost by a landslide if poor white trash were not allowed to vote.”
My reply is the following:
Now, as you know, you and I certainly see this point differently. All American citizens should have the right to vote, even as you frame it "poor white trash"--your term, not mine. One can be poor and one can be white, but I certainly don't believe that God makes anybody "trash"......
But, unfortunately the ruling class has played this group of poor whites like a fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry. This group seems to be more disaffected, disgruntled, and manipulated than any other constituency. Even black folks aren't that gullible, no matter how ghetto. It's hard to get black folks together to do much of ANYTHING, let alone get off their duff and vote.
But, unfortunately the ruling class has played this group of poor whites like a fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry. This group seems to be more disaffected, disgruntled, and manipulated than any other constituency. Even black folks aren't that gullible, no matter how ghetto. It's hard to get black folks together to do much of ANYTHING, let alone get off their duff and vote.
Black folks are more distrustful of government, skeptical of politicians, and disengaged politically. Most black folks don't really believe what politicians say, and rarely benefit from anything that politicians do. It's hard to get black folks to the voting booth, regardless of socio-economic status. My nephew was registering voters in Florida and he was surprised how few black folks were even registered to vote. He said that he went to a sugar plantation, he called it a farm (but, we all know the truth) and the black folks on the plantation didn't even know they had the right to vote. He was blown away by the abject poverty that many black Floridians lived in, while surrounded by the gated opulence of the rich and affluent. The deep chasm between rich and poor was striking in Florida. Nevertheless his group managed to register over 100,000 new voters. Will they actually turnout on election day? Who the hell even knows.
Now, the poor whites on the other hand, actually seem to believe what the politicians say, although they rarely even do anything for this social class. The Republicans rely on the fears and bigotry to scapegoat and bully their way into power. Obviously, it works, the GOP elected George Bush & Co. twice* by manipulating this constituency. Joseph Goebbels Rove and the merry band of the riechwing are doing it again with Palin and McCain.
And they'll play the race/class/gender wedge issues to their advantage. Look at how McCain's campaign used Katie Couric's assessment of Hillary Clinton to buttress Sarah Palin; or the McCain sex ad to play on the old fears of the black man's penis; historically, the ruling class has used the disaffected white poor as a buffer for their power. They just scapegoat and play on xenophobia and negrophobia to the max. It's like we live in a version of political groundhog's day. Whereby every election it's the same negrophobic propaganda crap. Nixon had his Southern Strategy, Reagan his Welfare Queens, Poppa Bush had Willey Horton, Bill Clinton had Sista Soulja, etc., etc.. . . . it just goes on and on.
So, I know you and I differ, but let me make myself clear I think that poor whites should be able to vote just as ALL citizens of the USA should vote.
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