"And That's The Way It Is"...

In the early days of network television a number of shows originated from the Midwest.  Chicago and Kansas City were considered to be part of America and not merely "fly over country" by web executives.  Today, as you no doubt have noticed, broadcasting bigwigs consider anything that happens more than fifty miles outside the city limits of New York or Los Angeles to be the province of the "foreign" desk.

The Camel News Caravan with Midwesterner John Cameran Swayze

"Big explosion in Minneapolis?"  "Don't we have an affiliate there?" "Let's get some footage from them and we'll do the story from here in New York."

It's hard to find a network willing to send a reporter to an outpost in the Central time zone or even one willing to ask a local how to pronounce a place name.  How many times have you seen a news story on  ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or FOX where they got the name of a town or important person wrong?  Didn't you wonder about the accuracy of other "facts" in the report? 

Dave Garroway and J. Fred Muggs

Every four years this smacks us in the face as we watch the television cameras and reporters wend their way to Iowa and the caucuses.  Their reports are handled not unlike a trip to the zoo.  They may not verbalize it but their eyes and demeanor hint of amusement as they interview the corn fed rubes of a state most of them probably heretofore had confused with Ohio.  Condescension is in the air courtesy of the good looking dim bulbs who were hired for their coif rather than credentials and the reports they file wink "these Iowans are atypical; pay little attention to what they think". 

To a degree, they have a point.  Iowans really are more white, religious, educated, and (truth be told) fatter than most of the rest of the country.  However, and it is important to note, they are loaded with the now UNcommon commodity of COMMON SENSE.  To dismiss what the denizens of the tall corn state have to say about the state of our nation is an error of major proportions.   They know the country is dangerously off track and in need of adjustment.  A politician who fails to heed the message does so at his peril.  

New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and other early primary states too have lots to say about our country and the direction we're headed.  Like Iowa those states are home to people who believe in a future far different from the one imagined by a bi-coastal media and political elite.  The latter are the true "provincials".

You want a sense of what is truly important to most Americans and the course the majority hope to steer?  Head for the heart of America where the smiles are a little broader, the handshakes linger and the love of a great county is alive, well and looking for new leadership.