A Bi-Polar Nation?Rednecks and BluenecksThe mainstream me...

A Bi-Polar Nation?
Rednecks and Bluenecks

The mainstream media are forever hyping the differences among people living in the United States. With a 24-hour news cycle to fill and a pressing need to persuade advertisers to pay for time, no wonder. If there isn't non-stop drama, why should anyone switch on the news?  And while they hype the divisions in the country, they also beat an endless drum over certain perceptions they obviously want their audiences to believe. These perceptions are derived from their own arbitrary opinions that they are cool, they are correct, they are superior.  But don't tell them that. In their minds, they don't have opinions - they have the truth. They don't create perceptions - they transmit reality. Somehow, subjective states only apply to those who disagree with them.

One of the perceptions drilled into the masses is the thought that the really intelligent, level-headed, realistic citizens are those who believe a certain way, dress a certain way, are without certain accents, and consume certain types of culture. Anyone who does not subscribe to the media's worldview or interpretation of events is castigated with many politically-charged, disparaging epithets, one of which is "redneck." This, of course, is intended as a derogatory slur (note, they don't see this as "hate speech" because, of course, only they get to define hate speech). When it is brought to their attention that plenty of "folks" (as President Obama says) take the "redneck" moniker as a compliment, we are treated to laugh tracks and smug smiles. "Ha Ha!" roar the anointed pundits of cool Jon Steward and Stephen Colbert. "These people are so dumb they don't even know when they're being insulted!" No interpretation is ever entertained that "these people" (only they get to lump people this way and not be bigoted) don't recognize the media as the arbiters of reality and don't listen to them seriously. If a clown calls you a dope, should you be shattered?

If one really believes the media's interpretation of the United States, the acceptable citizens who follow the media line live everywhere, they fill the great expanse of the country. They're not just in the urban Northeast and trendy parts of the West Coast. The media has to promulgate such a view, otherwise how could they make the claim that their perceptions are the norm and everyone else is the lunatic fringe? They have to beat the drum of universal acceptance of what they say. It can't be that only small pockets of sanity are sprinkled in the larger urban areas. It can't be because such sanity is everywhere on TV and that version of reality dominates the culture. 

Of course, as the narrative on the teleprompter tells us, there is a vast wasteland of fly-over states in the middle of the country populated by trailer-trash shit-kickin' bigoted morons who cling to their Bibles and guns. And, of course, anyone who doesn't follow the media's version of reality is lumped into this group. But don't worry, they aren't of any concern. Reality as prescribed by the media always prevails just like in the final five minutes of your favorite TV show when the character who follows the media line comes out victorious. 

Is it any wonder then that the media might be apoplectic and vomit-in-my-latte stunned over an election (or anything else) that doesn't follow their narrative? If realistic, serious citizens - those who are plugged into media and truly believe it portrays reality and culture with a factual worldview - if those citizens voted, shouldn't elections turn out the way it says on the teleprompter for the talking head pundit to announce as sanctioned by corporate or foreign money? How do they explain a detailed voting map (see above) that only shows dark blue in small sequestered pockets? Not even the blue states are mostly blue! How could this be when most people are not rednecks? Aren't rednecks a marginalized minority of interbred farmers and back-water fools? So say the pundits. And the media tells us that anyone who votes "red" is lumped into this deplorable group. This doesn't make any sense. It doesn't match the media's world view. There simply CAN'T be that many buck-toothed rednecks in the country! So how did the vote turn out this way?

Well, maybe the media's worldview is not as objective and accurate as they portray. Maybe people who differ in opinion with them are not all rednecks. Maybe people got sick of being ostracized or PC-shamed into going along with the media's view of things. If the country truly was bi-polar, split between only the correct and the deplorable, then outcomes should have been a snap to predict accurately. There's no way a straggly bunch of crotch-scratching shit-kickers could somehow hump their cousins enough to massively populate all of the blue states with enough foolish voters to make a difference in the enshrined world view. Maybe the media's view of the people they broadcast to is a delusional perception deception fostered by living too long in the corporatocracy bubble of paid-for propaganda. Maybe the media illusionists are really the Bluenecks.