“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into”

Jonathan Swift
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"The Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital." - Bill Maher
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"The city is crowded my friends are away and I'm on my own
It's too hot to handle so I gotta get up and go

It's a cruel ... cruel summer"

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

with friends like these . . .

We've bashed Steve Holland in the past. He's shown himself to be a conservative of the accuse-liberals-of-your-own-sins school. And we never shy away from calling out such folks on their b.s.

Nevertheless, he was mostly right in his column Sunday in which he accurately described the "two Amarillos" (shades of John Edwards!) In his Amarillo, Holland says

Sidewalks are a rarity . . . Dogs (not just pit bulls) run loose, frequently in packs. Junk cars and trash are allowed to accumulate in yards and, in some cases, on the streets.
In fact, there's only one problem with Holland's column: he just can't bring himself to extrapolate a truly progressive understanding from his own experience. Although he can see the classist structure right in front of his face, he refuses to believe that one exists elsewhere:
Rarely can I buy the class envy argument, but in this particular case, this one particular time, I will.
So the only place in the entire country where rich white people use their money and power to exclude others is in Potter-Randall county? Bizarre.

In one sense, Holland's column is good news. If a "self-proclaimed partisan Republican" and say, me, can agree on this issue, than the at-large voting system is probably dead.

But, I'd like to ask Mr. Holland to apply his personal experience to the world at large and come over to the dark side with those of us who can see beyond the ends of our own noses.

spacedark