Now I understand that not everyone from my home state is like this. I wasn’t; my family wasn’t; and my good friends weren’t, and over the years I met many many people that felt like we did, but we all had the same stories to tell of small town small-mindedness (we literally battled the Nazi skinheads that would come up north from Wichita).

After living out of state for several years, I had forgotten how prevalent these attitudes were here. Maybe I had even thought that viewpoints had widened a little in my absence. But after three and half years back (and living in a large city no less), I’ve been reminded far too many times of the racism and bigotry that still permeates this part of the country. Though it doesn’t often manifest itself publicly, it still rears its head in hushed asides, “well, I’m not racist, but you know what the real problem is…?” These encounters have all been with random strangers at a party, a concert, wherever. They are usually male, and apparently presume that because I, too, am a white male, I will, you know, “understand”. Of course, racism exists everywhere, but no stranger ever made racist comments to me in 11 years of living on the west coast. If people harbored such sentiments, they were at least smart and cautious enough to keep it to themselves.

So, yes, there is something very the matter with Kansas. And no, it’s not just Kansas, either, but the title of the movie (and the book) are what’s called a metaphor. Don’t take it so personally.

I haven’t seen the film in question, but I’ve read about it, I’ve heard an interview with the filmmakers, and I will see it next week. I think what the filmmakers are trying to do is exactly what we need more of: trying to get Americans with differing political opinions to listen to each other.

I have been so discouraged at all the mindless sloganeering and hate-mongering we’ve seen lately. It’s like we’ve forgotten how to disagree about issues. People we disagree with are not just wrong: they are routinely, even casually portrayed as threats to the very existence of our nation. If America is so fragile it can’t take a little disagreement, how are we going to work together to solve the problems that face us, as a nation?

I am familiar with the work of Paul Ibbetson, and his rhetoric is consistently divisive. He can’t seem to see anything at all, except through the lens of “liberal” v. “conservative”. These labels are clumsy and of questionable use in general, but in the hands of reductive thinkers like Ibbetson, they always do more harm than good.

I look forward to seeing the film precisely because I would like to hear from and better understand genuine people with conservative beliefs — as opposed to the would-be professional conservatives, like Ibbetson, who elect themselves the sole representatives of all that is good and true and then seek to demonize all who disagree, making real political dialogue virtually impossible.

We have the best The United States of Ameria has to offer!

So – Untill, you have personally lived in Kansas, embracing it’s rich, cultural, and lengthly heritage.

You need to SHUT UP!. AND KEEP OUT OF MY STATE! cuz we canzunz dunt tak 2 kynly 2 yuns makn funny at US, or da USA!

God Bless

They praised us, in front of an auditorium of hundreds of Kansans at last year’s Tallgrass Film Festival, for our fair treatment of Kansans, allowing them to tell their own stories.

We await with interest Mr. Ibbetson’s review of the film, as opposed to Mr. Frank’s book, once he has seen it.