The very word "heartland" is emblematic of the Orwellian double-speak that passes for political discourse these days, as is the word "values". Once, when we spoke of the heartland and its values, it was to connote bedrock verities more visible among small-town Americans than in the coastal metropolises, with their veneer of sophisticated urbanity. Such verities included a genuine respect for truth and an impatience and anger with pretension and duplicity; a sense of fundamental fairness and equality, and a concern for the hard-working "little guy", along with a belief that people (and America) were fundamentally good. There was a kind of hardy, homespun common sense that seemed to encapsulate all of these values.

No more. Now, when we look at that cancerous blot on the map we define as "Heartland America", we see a conglomeration of nay-sayers, united only by their resistance to "the liberal elite" and a desire to turn back the clock to some imagined paradise of tranquility and homogeneity. No to "liberal" values (i.e., the values this country was founded on, and the values of Western civilization itself). No to New York, and No to Washington, D.C. (two places Al Quaida was apparently mistaken in selecting as symbols of America). No to "Taxachusetts". No to the United Nations, No to the Kyoto Pact, No to "socialized medicine", No to France.

And, No to common sense.

Thomas Frank's perceptive book, What's the Matter with Kansas?, describes how "conservatives" have subverted the heartland and its values over the past 30 years, to the point where red state Americans now routinely vote against their own self interests (by supporting the Bush tax cuts, for example, or the plans to privatize Social Security). Yet the subversion of common sense runs even deeper, and has produced an almost surreal denial of events and facts the other 48% of us—in blue state America—seem to see clearly.

Abu Ghraib and the summary execution of wounded combatants? Wrong focus: freedom is on the march, and elections are coming up. Osama bin Laden still at large? Hey, he hoped Kerry would win. (Actually, we believe bin Laden was rooting for a Bush victory, and helped to obtain it with his calculated, last-minute pre-election message to America.) Inadequate safeguards for our borders and ports? We're working on it, and meanwhile we're keeping tabs on all the East Coast media—even tiny little outlets like this one. So watch what you say.

In the heartland, boosterism and slogans now pass for informed opinion. And patriotism, for many, has become a team sport.

Bush and the heartland, with their 51% of the popular vote, now have a mandate. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! Bush gloats that he has "political capital" and intends to spend it. Condoleezza Rice is the new Secretary of State. Con-di! Con-di! Con-di!

Enough. For those of us who grew up in a different America, the place where reason was occasionally brought to bear and ideals were occasionally realized, there are decisions to be made. The first decision should be to stay. And the second decision should be to continue the fight for our country's future. This is a dark and dangerous time, but all is not yet lost. Remember: this was a close election; we got 48% of the vote. So don't let them push you around. Blue America remains the true America, and can yet prevail.

(November 20, 2004)