Palin's small-town snobbery is faulty

Tribune column number 3,285 against Sarah Palin. Isn't there ANYTHING about this woman that Mr. Chapman, Mr. Silva, Mr. Zorn, Ms. Trice, or all the others in the Trib writing stable find to be positive. Not enough for an American citizen to be herself, to be intelligent, to be accomplished, to be a positive family person, to run the largest state in the nation, and to be charming to boot. Come on Tribune, give the anti-Palin stuff a break. You only damage your own reputation of journalistic integrity.

What about Lunch Bucket Joe's blue collar snobbery?

Steve, I think you're being a bit oversensitive in Ms. Palin's 'small town' comments. Let's face it, she's trying to identify herself more with where she's from, with people she knows, and playing against what many view as the big city, elitist mentality.

Additionally, you've taken quite a leap in using her simple quote about small town life and spinning it into an essay about drugs and crime in metro vs rural areas.

I don't think Ms. Palin ever said that city dwellers are worse than rural folks. You did. That was your leap, not hers, and therefore, I think your article was really a cheap shot at her.

What is this small town b.s. Growing up Alaska was a place occupied by Eskimos. In every clip I see all I see are White people. Now was there "Eskimo flight" because White people start moving in or were Eskimos displaced. These small town values smell a lot like South Africa.

Tyler wrote:

Tribune column number 3,285 against Sarah Palin. Isn't there ANYTHING about this woman that Mr. Chapman, Mr. Silva, Mr. Zorn, Ms. Trice, or all the others in the Trib writing stable find to be positive. Not enough for an American citizen to be herself, to be intelligent, to be accomplished, to be a positive family person, to run the largest state in the nation, and to be charming to boot. Come on Tribune, give the anti-Palin stuff a break. You only damage your own reputation of journalistic integrity.

__________
Keep it up Trib. Your integrity is as intact as Plain's and mcBUSH's is shattered.

I thought it curious that half of Governor Palin's face was pictured but Mr. Chapman's so-called "article" had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with politics and everything to do with, as he called, "country kids" bashing. Instead of searching through the 738 page Monitoring the Future project report to find fragments of statistics showing higher drug and alcohol use in the rural areas (by the way, I am still looking for the staggering percentage point differences cited by Mr. Chapman), maybe he should have been searching for statistics favoring urban living instead of criticizing a way of life he most likely has never experienced. I grew up in those rural areas and have lived in the urban areas described by the report. I have come to the conclusion that there is good and bad everywhere and people should try to look for the good, but should not ignore the bad. Mr. Chapman, maybe your researchers can come up with some statistics to explain why almost every day that I open the Chicago Tribune, I find myself reading about kids getting shot dead in the street and in front of there homes for nothing more than their neighborhood, the color of their clothes, or their response to a rival gang shout out. I'm guessing that I won't be reading about that in my old hometown local newspaper.

Joe wrote:

What is this small town b.s. Growing up Alaska was a place occupied by Eskimos. In every clip I see all I see are White people. Now was there "Eskimo flight" because White people start moving in or were Eskimos displaced. These small town values smell a lot like South Africa.

joe, small town values in the United States of America have nothing to do with an oppressive regime in South Africa.

The 28% of Americans that think shrub is fine, and like to whine everytime things don' go exactly to their plan cll it a hate articl. The rest of us SANE AMericans recognize it for what it is - a rational article by a very bright man about real cliches constantly hurled by the haters on the right. As a matter of fact, this cliche about small town America is as lame as all the other cliches the right wing whack jobs like to hurl. Boo-hoo-hoo. Sorry you didn't get your way? Tougj. Now go to the corner for a time out, big baby.

"Excessive boozing among adults, it noted, appears to be no less widespread in Mayberry than in Metropolis."

That's some damn fine writing, Steve.

I lived in a small town in northern Michigan for 9 years. While it is a beautiful place (my family and I still love it there), it's nearly impossible to make a living in rural America unless your job allows you to telecommute heavily.

Small towns have many drawbacks. One being that it's very difficult to have an opinion that differs from the majority. On ANYthing.

Believer wrote:

Another Palin hate article. Liberal hysteria and treachery know no bounds and are infinite in their reach.

But...she makes it SO easy! She's as dumb as bricks. Let's face it, if she were male she'd have been run out of this election / off of the ticket within days of her being 'in' it to begin with. But, as a woman, it's been a tightrope to walk that would otherwise have been a canon to use to shoot her back to Alaska {or Idaho}. Just like the main export of her home state [Idaho], this spuds for you. Maybe if we stick a couple of electrodes in her at least we could get some electricity out of her, otherwise she's only good for pop'n out babies [all be the last one being defective and another made the 'choice' to get knocked up while an un-wed teenager - like mother like daughter] and to spout mindless religion. No education, training or experience to speak of as qualifications for the executive branch [and it IS the executive branch - no matter what Dick{'em} Cheney says] and, yet - she's on the ticket. Well, it's time to give this Barbie wannabe a new ticket - a ticket back to podunk'sville where she'd be in her element. America's not in the dark-ages - yet, but, give the McCain/Palin ticket a punch and we'll be headed directly forward into the past - where darkness ruled the earth. Of course, Mz. Palin's timelines will be rather skewed, since she believes {'knows'} that fossils are no more than 6,000 years old - from about the time of her running mate. Yee haw!

mike wrote:

<quoted text>
How in God's name can you call someone who feels it necessary to have a preacher brought in to pray to protect her from witchcraft intelligent?
This woman is nuts not intelligent.
Apparently neither are you

I agree with you! Why in the world have we set the bar so low? Palin clearly is out of her league and to try and defend it seems absurd to me. I don't want to elect someone because I identify with them. I am expecting more from the second in command than "Joe six pack". I would at least expect the person to be able to speak properly rather than sounding like a high schooler who flunked English. We've really dumbed down America!

tried and true American wrote:

The 28% of Americans that think shrub is fine, and like to whine everytime things don' go exactly to their plan cll it a hate articl. The rest of us SANE AMericans recognize it for what it is - a rational article by a very bright man about real cliches constantly hurled by the haters on the right. As a matter of fact, this cliche about small town America is as lame as all the other cliches the right wing whack jobs like to hurl. Boo-hoo-hoo. Sorry you didn't get your way? Tougj. Now go to the corner for a time out, big baby.

tried and true american,
I would like to respect your opinion on any matter, but your name calling diatribe made that impossible. Please think before you speak or type. Also, you might want to check your keyboard, I think some of your keys are out of order (or missing).

McCain and Palin, win!
Thats the headline we are waiting for.
Then OB can start 'changing' Il, the way he was suppose to, when he got hired.

Clever speeches, dont change nothing..2 books dont change nothing.

Change your spending habits of what you were doing as a jr. senator OB, the highest spender in all Il politics!
Check his record folks.
Change starts at the schools and reform, here in the land of Lincoln.
Nothing has been done at the local level, why start in the white house.

Affirmative action cultures of entitlement and the meritocracy culture of work.

The liberals have ingrained that sense of America since 1970s.

Congress is voting for operation CHAOS tonight, Take from the taxpayers and give to the RICH and Terminally Poor!- and stupid too!

Tyler wrote:

Not enough for an American citizen to be herself, to be intelligent, to be accomplished, to be a positive family person, to run the largest state in the nation, and to be charming to boot.

Let's pretend your description of Sarah Palin bears remote resemblance to reality. Even so, other than being governor of the "largest" state, that description fits quite a few people I know. What distinguishes Palin from any average Joe or Jane? Or are you satisfied with just any average Joe or Jane running this country?

As far as running the "largest" state, well, if bears, wolves, moose or square miles could vote, you might be right (in which case I doubt Palin would be governor of Alaska - I don't think her approval rating among wildlife is terribly high). But in fact, by population, which is the important measure of size, Alaska is smaller than Lake County, Illinois. So are you agreeing that the commissioner of Lake County is qualified to be VP?

You fail to recognize that the effete arrogance of liberals has always looked down on country folk. How Liberal of you. Palin is merely responding in kind as she should.

Go sip Merlot in your Lake Bluff mansion by the lake.

Chapman is an old WASPY FRAUD.

See how name calling gets you nowhere

A word of advice, Steve - just admit to yourself and then the rest of us that you HATE the woman. It's pretty obvious to everyone but you seem not to have come far enough in your therapy to admit it to yourself.

Then you can move on.

pun intended

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and have lived in both big cities (Chicago and New York) and small towns. Big cities do have the stores, cultural events and museums,and professional sports, and more job opportunities. But big cities also have over crowding and big time crime. Although small towns do have their own problems I bet you can walk down the streets of Sarah Palin's home town of Wasilla, Alaska at night without fear of being attacked. You cannot not say that about some areas of Chicago. We have had many senseless murders, some including innocent children, in Chicago this year. And many of those murders took place in Obama's own backyard on the South Side of Chicago. Chapman needs to put his liberal biases away, and wake up and smell the coffee.