"Pardon me, sorry if ma bit of local talk, or "sarcasm" made ya think less of li'l ol' me. Hate ta think you think less of ol' Jon Stewart and the prophet Stephen Colbert, or anyun else who uses sarcasm atall.

Also, so sorry about nominatin' GOPers to office. McCain was from the entrenched southern state of Arizona, and Palin was from the southern backwater of Alaska..."

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*cut* *paste*

Sarcasm is a sign of defensiveness.

It is, of course, slanderous to portray the South as a place populated exclusively by uneducated racists. But if you want to eradicate such slander, stop whining about it on an internet talk-back pages, and start shouting down that small minority of Southerners who have given your part of the country such a reputation in the first place.

"On behalf of the South, I jus' wanna say, thanks to all ya Northerners, who took a lotta time outta your daily work shedul to impart your wisdom on us southerners. First, I reckon, ya had to spend some time thinkin' up all them big words to put in yar article. etc etc etc etc etc"

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The author of this particular article happens to be from Texas.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lind)

Also, sarcasm is a sign of defensiveness.

It is, of course, slanderous to portray the South as a place populated exclusively by uneducated racists. But if you want to eradicate such slander, stop whining about it on an internet talk-back pages, and start shouting down that small minority of Southerners who have given your part of the country such a reputation in the first place.

"We are a purple nation. Look at counties, rather than states, and you'll see it. The population centers are blue, the rural areas are red."

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^ Not necessarily.

"Red" urban centers may be very rare. (Though there is Fort Worth.)

But in New England, and between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, even the rural areas tend to be "blue".

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/election/uscounties.html)

"Back to Europe. You extol the west Europeans for helping the east, and compare this to TVA type assistance for the south. But again, the relevant comparison here is to Mexico. The west Europeans are exploiting cheap labor in the east, just as we are doing south of our border. It's the exact same thing --except, and this is a separate criticism -- we are making no effort toward cultural integration with Mexico, which I think is a mistake. We treat Mexicans to our south the way the Europeans treat their Turkish guest workers -- like strangers."

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Lind's analogy between the American "South" (an imprecise shorthand, but then, without imprecise shorthands, every political column in history would be tripled in length) and eastern Europe is fine.

And you've actually indirectly identified the real European analogue to Mexico: Turkey. (And the rest of the Levant and the Maghreb.)

On the subject of "cultural integration with Mexico" - assuming you do indeed mean that the United States and Mexico should combine to form one culturally integrated entity - what an appalling idea.

Well and good, but our Democratic Party has the same problem.

Our dependence on a coalition of affluent, highly educated, socially liberal "professionals" on the one hand, and socially conservative working-class blacks and Latinos on the other, may be secure so long as blacks and Latinos continue to see themselves as embattled minorities. (Not exactly the kind of conditions you want to be necessary to ensure your party's continued success.)

But the fuss over whether the registration of new black voters this year helped carry Proposition 8 in California this year is telling. Eventually, the Democratic Party may be forced to choose: Continue to support such socially progressive policies as recognizing the right of gays to marry? (Thus alienating working-class voters, but perhaps picking up some libertarian voters - if, of course, the party throws out its economically progressive policies.) Or abandon such socially progressive policies? (Thus alienating professional voters, but perhaps picking up some working-class white voters.)

"...whites are comfortable with black people, but much more uneasy about certain aspects of black culture, those associated with the so-called black underclass. Being black is OK; acting black, in certain ways, isn't."

The fact that "acting black" is essentially shorthand for "certain aspects of black culture associated with the so-called black underclass" (i.e. crime, violence, black nationalism) more or less sums up "the real meaning of race in America" right there.