Same diff

Veteran New York Times columnist John Tierney argues paradoxically about the red-state/blue-state divide, or what he calls the "Democratic explanation" for how Mr Bush was re-elected, in his piece today. He explains the red-staters voted for the president because he is picked on by those Manhattan-Hollywood-types, just like they are. This Revenge of the Nerds story has obvious appeal, and he goes on to say that red-staters are not fundamentally different from blue-staters, because, well, we all watch TV.

So Mr Tierney asserts that red-staters have an image problem in the blue-states, and they have decided that the best way of dealing with this perception problem is to elect an exemplar (at least publicly) of the aforementioned stereotypes. Rather than attempting to debunk the red/blue divide, he apparently believes there was an organized and disciplined effort to attain the pinnacle of pettiness by releasing the "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" heard around the world. That'll show 'em.

Mr Tierney does make the important argument that people from across the country are not all that different, that is while he's not articulating the appeal of "more jobs, affordable houses and the lower taxes" in the Republican strongholds. As far as I can tell, he adamantly wants to dispel the myth that "red staters are hicks who have been blinded by righteousness." He leads into the piece with Laura Bush, the godly first lady, doing standup involving the president and "a horse's phallus," as well references to their frustratingly sexless marriage, to show that even devout Christians think about thumping something other than the bible.

While perhaps a good anecdote to support his case, he misreads Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas?" so wildly that he undermines his credibility with a single pop culture reference. Contrary to Tierney's assertion, Mr Frank works hard to eradicate the stereotype of the "righteous hick," by showing how this small minority of zealots are gaining influence at the expense of the mainstream, and the twisted coalition between the "cupcake" Republicans of mainstream suburbia and the conservative evangelical moral militia. Mr Frank's goal was to change the perception of the red stater, arguing, as Mr Tierney does, that their difference from blue staters is imagined and a product of cultures' chief representative, the media.

I agree Mr Tierney, we're all the same, except for our differences.