THE STATE OF THE UNION – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:  Salena Zito has emerged as the best journalistic interpreter of the Trump revolution.  Based in Pittsburgh, not Washington or New York, she detected early the anger in the homes of American workers.  She deserves a Pulitzer Prize, but probably won't get it. 

She reviews today what has happened to our country.  From the New York Post:   

Populism is being invested in the concerns of “ordinary” people. But it can also be a sweeping rejection of all things big — institutions like government, or cultural entities like the NFL. And it can be a strong desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves, which is a distinctive American trait (especially given the diversity of our backgrounds and how parochial we can be about where we are from).

Hollywood has been mocking Middle America for 20 years; every awards show is a debutante ball of shame and scold directed at half of the country

I would argue that it is one of the things that was missed in the last presidential election, when the political class understood it to be that everyone who voted for Donald Trump was angry. But that was only a fraction of the situation.

In that sweeping diagnosis, they missed that the majority of his voters were inspired by his aspirational message, Make America Great Again.

I’m With Her? Not so much.

At the core of all of this is the sense that Americans don’t feel that they are part of each other because of the division via politics and culture — they don’t trust anyone to be authentic and sincere anymore.

Furthermore, most of the decision-and image-makers in this country — in culture, politics and power — live in the 10 wealthiest counties in the country.

While we have long been a country of city mice and country mice, the balance of power and influence between the two areas has never been this lopsided.

New York has always been the center of wealth; Washington, its own brand of power. But the heartland was where things were made; steel, iron, energy, lumber — which meant cars, buildings, bridges, homes. Not to mention the fuel needed to make all those things for everyone.

We were better at navigating our contributions because they were all equally important to our country. We were all part of something bigger than ourselves.

COMMENT:  I think she nails it.  We may be better connected to other Americans today electronically, but in no other sense.  The very fact that the coastal elites refer to those in our heartland as "the flyover people" tells the story.

Trump, no matter what you may think of him, sensed what was happening.  Sadly, he's a very flawed messenger.  But the message is true.

Please read Salena Zito's entire piece, and send it around.

October 29, 2017