... but who knows, since we don't know the end of the story, perhaps she actually liked it?

Armed Liberal tells of a conversation he heard at the next table. Besides the obvious stereotype middle-aged-yet-"hip" squeegieness of the male, what's interesting is that he typifies a type I'm becoming increasingly familliar with: the successful capitalist liberal.

The old political folklore goes that the political conservative is the rich man who loves things more than people, who grinds the bones of the poor into meal for his calcium-enriched daily bread. Instead, most the conservatives in my little corner of the universe are lower- to middle-class folks, often blue collar types, who seem to be quite charitable. In constrast, most white liberals* I know are from famillies of privilege, and are quite prosperous. Often, they espouse a political and economic policy at distinct odds with their outward deportment.

Think Hollywood. Think New York. Think wealthy Florida. Think Aspen. Think prosperous Boston. Wealth, luxury, priviledge. Liberalism.

Now think of the Appalachians or Wyoming. What kind of beliefs are present among these folks?

Sometime I'll do a more detailed piece on this...

* Applying the term "liberal" in the African-American community is a bit more difficult. While many blacks are hold conservative views on a wide array of issues (religion, abortion), there is nonetheless broad support for Democratic candidates. The previous scarcity of black political conservatives makes it difficult to consider how economic status might affect these differences.