We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.
It's hard to decide whether I'm a real American or a not-real American. I was born in a town of 15,000 people (when the local college was out of session). My father lives in a town of 2,500 people and I spent much time during my formative years there. I moved to a city when I was twelve - Omaha, Nebraska now has a population of more than a half-million people, I believe. Shortly after I turned twenty four, I moved to Denver, Colorado. About three years ago, we purchased a home in Old Littleton, CO, a town that's been swallowed by Denver but retains much of its small town feel. I live in a neighborhood zoned for livestock and chickens, a half block from a monastery, a lake, and a living historical museum.
I'm terribly confused. Am I a real American? Or a not real American? Am I Pro-America? Or anti-America?
What about New York, love child of the GOP just 7 years ago -- that single place that would bring us all together under one unified American front? Why now is New York home of the liberal elite, the out-of-touch fake America that Sarah Palin so despises?
I honestly don't know. I do know this: I'm sick of the politics of derision, blanket dismissal of Academia, and the intentional splitting of America into its "real" and "fake" parts. Republicans and Democrats aren't enemies of each other or America. I feel certain that we act in ways that we personally believe is best for the nation, though we disagree on what those things are.
I find this heartening:
What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize.
I'll leave you, dear reader, to discover whose words those are. And, if anyone has any ideas for reuniting the real and fake Americas, let me know.
