Salt Of The Bare Unmarbled Earth
by digby
Think Progress reports on the latest Nikki Haley news the South Carolina Governor’s race. Evidently, despite the fact that Haley has gone out of here way to separate herself from her Sikh upbringing and emphasize her Christian faith, some of her lovely fellows in the Republican party aren’t convinced:
This evening in an interview with Pub Politics, state Sen. Jake Knotts (R-SC) — who is supporting a different candidate — slammed Haley by using a racial slur:
We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion.
I can’t help but be reminded of Kathleen Parker’s recent paean to the good ole boys of South Carolina. Remember this?
It is probably safe to say that this is not Obama country, even though plenty of Cantey’s clients and friends voted for the president. These days, most think Washington doesn’t have a clue. They think the Tea Partyers might.
The evening’s conversation circled recent events — health care, spending, etc. — which may be summarized as follows:
“Do they have any idea up there what’s going on out here?” one fellow asked me.
“Nope.”
“Wasn’t Scott Brown a hint?”
“Shoulda been.”
Heads shake.
Then it was my turn: “Do you guys see the November election as a big turnout day?”
“You better believe it.”
There’s something grounding and instructive about sitting in the woods on a cool spring night, away from the green rooms and talk shows. It is important to touch the bare, unmarbled earth now and then, something too few inside Washington do often enough.
At the risk of sounding patronizing, the camo-boys at Canteyville are the “ordinary Americans” whom pundits and politicians love to invoke while utterly ignoring them. The resulting anger recently on display is not only political theater. And the conversation at Joe’s pavilion isn’t rare.
No doubt. And I’ll bet Senator Jake Knotts’ conversation isn’t rare either.
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