A brief interruption

Jack Zaleski is the editor of my hometown paper, The Fargo Forum. I’ve never taken much stock in what he has written before, but I like this column on Sarah Palin, her faux-folkishness, and the general (and alarming) denigration of life on the mythical elite East Coast in favor of a somehow more American, more “authentic” (to use my favorite word from the world music survey class that I teach) small town value system. To flip around John Cougar Mellencamp, I got nothing against the small towns. But how are small towns more representative of the “real” America (whatever that is) than cities like New York, Philadelphia, or San Francisco?


Conceded: Sarah Palin and Joe Biden performed quite well in Thursday’s vice presidential debate in St. Louis. Gov. Palin did not self-destruct or look like a moose in the headlights, as she did a few days before in an interview with Katie Couric of CBS News. Sen. Biden was not condescending, and he dialed down his legendary go-on-forever rhetoric, which tends to put listeners off.

But there was this: While responding to something Biden said, Palin made a smarmy remark (embellished with an oh-so-phony smile) about “East Coast politicians.” It was yet another subtle jab at a part of the nation she and her fans apparently believe doesn’t measure up to their view of the “real” America. It’s become a drumbeat of insults that seems to be a tenet of the political gospel according to Palin.

Talk about condescension. She uses her tiresome “hockey mom” and “small-town mayor” references to suggest she’s somehow better than those millions of Americans who live in big cities, small cities or on the coasts. The last time I looked, the East Coast was part of the United States; one of those “East Coast politicians,” Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, was one of John McCain’s ardent supporters; McCain was trolling for votes on the East Coast, where millions of voters live, mostly in cities.

Maybe there’s political capital in identifying with the myth of small-town values. But anyone who’s lived in a small town (as I have) understands that small towns have no corner on the values market. A case could be made that small towns are insular hotbeds of family dysfunction, business back-biting, alcohol abuse and political corruption. In other words, no different from anyplace else, except the societal dramas are played out on small stages, which means everyone knows everyone else’s problems, failures, foibles, dalliances and family histories. (“Well, sure the kid’s in trouble. He’s just like his no-good ol’ man …”)

Coming from Alaska, Palin is standing on mushy permafrost when she gets glassy-eyed about her small-town values. Alaska has lots of small towns (even Anchorage isn’t large by national standards), but enjoys one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the nation. It’s right up there with divorce, rape and child abuse. Its remoteness tends to attract misfits, criminals and other assorted characters, many of whom embrace “values” that wouldn’t fit in Palin’s mythical small towns. The state has its own brand of oil-lubricated corruption. Can you say “Sen. Ted Stevens” or “Gov. Frank Murkowski”? And Palin concedes as much by touting her personal fight against the bad guys. Where did all that corruption come from? The awful East Coast? Or was it homegrown in small Alaskan towns, nourished by the values Palin celebrates?

Don’t be fooled by Palin’s image-making. When she does her “you betcha” and “by golly” shtick, remember, it’s rehearsed political spin, not the real thing you might hear at a lutefisk supper in Kindred or Barnesville.