A vote to make me poor: Part II

My first exposure to Thomas Frank came through his wonderful article, Lie Down for America, How the Republican Party Sows Ruin on the Great Plains, which appeared in April's issue of Harper's magazine. that article and some stupid conservative urban myth formed the inspiration for my June entry, If I vote for you, will you make me poor?.

Thomas is at it again. He has a new book out, What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. He has also penned a recent editorial dealing with the absurd spectacle of senator after senator speaking in support of amending the constitution to ban gay marriage. If you have wondered like I have why this folly moved forward when it had absolutely no chance to win, read this article. Frank reminds us that winning aint everything. Sometimes, keeping alive the idea that conservative values are under attack by an imaginary cabal of "ultra-liberals" is worth the price of defeat. The op-ed originally appeared in the New York Times. If you don't want to pay for the reprint, read it here.

Frank relentlessly researches the economic model that leads to the wealth divide in this country as well as what is perhaps the most amazing and unlikely fact of the US political landscape: Republicans are supported wholeheartedly by the very people for whom its policies are economically disasterous. Eric Alterman comments on Frank's observations in his pithy column,Think Again, which he writes for the Center for American Progress.