Cheney says what he really thinks of West Virginia

As much as the media raises a stink about Barack Obama's remark that rural voters are "bitter", the media has hardly uttered a peep about what Dick Cheney said about West Virginia.

At a Press Club (funny word alert) luncheon, Cheney said something about how there were folks named Cheney on both his father's side and his mother's side of the family. He chortled, "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia."

Making incest jokes about a whole state, Dicky?

If the media was on this remark (which shows what the Republicans really think about West Virginia and rural America) as much as they're still on the "bitter" flap, that's a lot of electoral votes gone for the GOP.

Conservatives really do look down upon some of America's rural regions. If you're a rural populist, don't be fooled by Republicans' deceptive self-marketing where they try to paint themselves as a bunch of down-home folks. Remarks like Cheney's incest comment are quite common in right-wing circles, but they usually don't slip out in public. I know this, because I've heard the things they say. They've had the nerve to say it to my face, no less. (Nonsuburban Kentucky is another target of their wrath.)

When you talk about elite suburban areas the way Cheney talks about rural states like West Virginia, it's edgy, because nobody expects it. And because the affluent suburbs have never had to worry about getting picked on. But what Cheney said isn't edgy. It's trite and stupid.

You expect stupidity and triteness from a chickenhawk like Dick Cheney who got 5 draft deferments to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, which he strongly supported.

A writer for the Washington Post is already speculating that Cheney's little quip may have cost his party West Virginia in the upcoming election. (That's one state where the GOP was actually far ahead!) But probably not, because the media won't cover it.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/02/cheney-makes-incest-joke_n_104761.html)