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Seriously. I mean, I know they exist. I see them, talk to them, resist the urge to throw up when I hear them on a daily basis. Of course, when I was in New York recently, I was subjected to some rather spectacular nutjobs spouting similar garbage as well. But, specifically, where are these people trying to gage the mind of "Real Murika" going, and what is their methodology? What are they really trying to find, or perhaps more importantly, display?
I was interviewed at length once by someone ostensibly doing a study of people who had developed popular websites exploring controversial historical figures and events of the American Civil War. When I saw the final product of the research, I realized what this person had actually been doing was gathering quotes and even some long expositions from individuals who used their interest in those historical people or events to advance an extremist viewpoint, or as stated, to "expose the racist underbelly of the Civil War enthusiast community." Without going into too much detail, I realized I was targeted specifically because the website I developed dealt with an individual who is to many observers a mass of contradiction. I was asked a lot of what I eventually realized were leading questions, but it didn't matter because as it turned out my interest was genuinely a scholarly interest and not one intended to hide some deeper ideological crusade. So, I didn't give the "right" answers.
And nothing I had said appeared in the study itself. My website wasn't even mentioned. A lot of people like myself who have a genuine, scholarly interest in the war and have been using the Internet since the development of the WWW for mass consumption to try to open avenues of education to people who might not otherwise be aware of these people and events in such detail were a little hurt by the findings. It basically presented a model of those who study the war and related subjects and present their findings free of charge for anyone as nothing but a pile of loons not to be trusted with sharp objects. Thankfully, the commercial website that published this document closed rather quickly not long after several people realized parts of their published work had been lifted wholesale from their own sites and placed on that site with a charge attached for access. You can draw your own conclusions about what this person was actually trying to accomplish. But I digress...
Every time I see something like this, I think of that experience. Am I not a part of "Real America"? Because my opinion and knowledge of events is not obviously ignorant and, let's just admit it, on some level funny to those with working brains, would an interview with me make it into this book? Perhaps so; I honestly don't know. I just find it interesting that this is what's highlighted.
There are a lot of Americans just like this person, and I realize that. There are also a lot of Americans just like those of us who frequent DU. At least half the voters in this country didn't think like this in either 2000 or 2004, and if current polls are to be believed, far less than half think this way now as it pertains to Bush and the war in Iraq. Is the minority, or at best a mere half the population "Real America," while the rest of us are just dumb slobs? Is this study going to show both of us in addition to the varied people of all walks of life to paint its picture of "Real Murika," or is this book just a long joke with a tragic punch-line?
After writing this, I realize this does not fit with the topic of the forum itself, but I think its a valid observation/question nonetheless given the context of the interviewees remarks.
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