Road Trip - Woodstock

I'm home again. Four days, five states, and 800 miles. I crossed and recrossed the Susquehanna, Delaware, Hudson, and Lehigh. I suppose I accomplished what I set out to do.

Last Thursday Sarah Palin said:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation."

I'm not sure if I visited pockets of real America while I was away or not. It all seemed real to me. I've no doubt Palin believes Republican economic policies will help the people of Newburgh, Torrington, and Nazareth. But I kind of doubt it. Palin is a chatty Cathy who lacks the guile to conceal her vacuity, and she was McCain's first major decision as nominee. I hope the people of these places - immigrants, shabby innkeepers, guitar factory workers - can see through her and the galling condescension of the Republican Party.

I am sure Woodstock, Maryland, is not real America to Palin. We're too educated and make too much money. We rely on intellectual endeavor, not our hands, to earn our livings. We can be inside the Beltway in under 45 minutes. Palin would have you believe that pointy-headed intellectuals like us Woodstock Marylanders don't live in real America.

Real or not, authentic or not, it's good to be home.
K-