The Great Disconnect

American Conservative writer Rod Dreher: "Driving home from work one day, I listened to a news story on the radio, and it occurred to me that after a year of living in Philadelphia, I had had maybe two political conversations, period. I think it’s so easy for pundits and others who live in a bubble where conversation is driven by news and current events to forget that many, probably most, Americans don’t live their lives according to the daily news cycle. I know, I know, this is obvious, but it’s so obvious many of us commentators don’t notice it. Leaving the New York-Washington bubble for Dallas showed me how cut off the people who run our country and media are from the lives of most Americans. Leaving the newspaper bubble for a job that specifically ruled out writing about politics and current affairs compelled me to see the world in a different way — in a way that I think is more like the way most Americans see it, to be honest." Dreher is spot on. I try to keep this in mind as I pontificate. Also, the thought that most Americans wisely ignore the talking heads is comforting. Indeed, as Peachy Carnehan said in Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King, "It helps to keep my soul from flying off."