Periodically, The New York Times columnists David Brooks and Gail Collins have online conversation about a variety of topics, ranging from the legacy of George Steinbrenner to (this week) the politics of Montana.
Brooks just spent time vacationing in the northwest part of our state – fishing, biking and chatting with the locals. What he noticed, which if you live here is not at all surprising, is a general distaste that most Montanans in this area have for Washington D.C. Here’s an excerpt from the “The Conversation”:
David Brooks: There’s always some political chatter on these trips, as on any trip. But this year the talk was particularly insistent and strong. I mentioned to a bartender (I call this research) that I lived near Washington, and he said that he used to want to visit to see the museums, but these days the capital fills him with such disgust he has no interest in setting foot there.
A smart, prosperous-looking man came up to me in a general store and said he used to read The New York Times but then he realized the contents are entirely made up, and concocted for brainwashing purposes, so he no longer does. He said his life was much better now.
A young wrangler I went riding with observed that Washington must be a good place to be a journalist, since everybody there is so corrupt. Another had a shorter expletive, having to do with what comes out of a horse’s rear end.
Gail Collins: I think part of what you were experiencing is the great rift between the crowded places and the empty places. The folks who live in the empty parts of the country feel as if they’re taking care of themselves, and that Washington is a faraway place whose interference is always unwelcome. I get where they’re coming from, although I do need to point out that Montana gets $1.47 back for every dollar it sends to Washington, and that the the folks in Montana who feel they’re so powerless, each have 36 times the representation in the U.S. Senate as a resident of California.
David Brooks: You don’t go to northern Montana expecting to hear praise for Washington or East Coast institutions in general, but my perception is that the disgust was stronger than usual this year. Or maybe disgust is too strong a word. There was sort of a past tense quality in the way many people talked about the political class.