My home state, Wisconsin, has lived through some interesting times lately in terms of politics. You may have heard about some of the controversy. And today, Sarah Palin decided to come to Wisconsin in an effort to make what was already a dreary, cold and blustery day just a little bit worse.
Of course, Palin's mere presence wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was that she, in much the same manner that manure draws flies, managed to attract a crowd, some of whom actually supported her vision of....ummmm...what does she support, anyway? We know what she doesn't like: any effort by any government to make life better for citizens, because that's socialism. And we ALL know that socialism is EVIL.
Anyway, the crowd of supporters she attracted were, of course, typical tea party people: a coalition of the hopelessly deluded, the semi-literate, the racists, and the obscenely affluent. It's the latter whose grotesque, "I got mine, screw you and yours" villainy I'd like to address today.
There were several different accounts of today's tea party event. My daughter sent me some info she had seen on Facebook, there were a handful of good diaries here on Daily Kos, and there was a very intriguing AP article which I first saw on Huffington Post. That AP article is where I found the money quote proving the tea party's hypocrisy, from a guy with the nerve or stupidity or both to say exactly the wrong thing and be from exactly the wrong place.
Here's the article I read. Palin: Wis. gov doing the right thing
The article itself isn't too bad. It's a reasonably good account of the anti-Palin protests and a quick summary of what Sarah Palin said, and, most notably, a couple of quotes from bystanders. One quote was an absolutely priceless bit of pure, unadulterated, weapons-grade bullcrap from a Palin supporter. It definitely caught my attention, and it will have caught the attention of everyone who's familiar with the Milwaukee metro area and who lives where.
The quote is from one Jeff Kuhn, age 62, from Chenequa, Wisconsin. Kuhn carried a sign that said "Walker Rocks", and said Palin's speech galvanized him.
Okay, Jeff, fine, so far you're just a garden variety idiot. But do go on.
Kuhn also said "We're not giving up. The government union workers shouldn't be entitled to more benefits than us".
Really, Jeff? Us? Who is us? You're from Chenequa, which is, according to Wikipedia, the second most affluent incorporated area in Wisconsin, with an average per capita income of over $86,000.
Chenequa, Wisconsin
For what it's worth, Chenequa happens to be where Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, lifelong plutocrat and (R-WI) lives. It's the kind of place where BMW's outnumber GM cars, and where Mercedes limos outnumber BMW's.
It gets worse. Jeff Kuhn has a listed phone number and address, which makes it really easy to find his house using Google Maps and Google Earth. I don't want to show it in detail, since even lying jerkweeds have privacy rights, but here's the satellite photo of Jeff Kuhn's 'hood.
Chenequa from outer space
Notice the tree-covered splendor, the proximity to pristine lakes which are ideal for water-skiing, fishing and of course, yachting. Notice how far apart the homes are, which naturally is directly related to the size of the estates in that area. Notice the tennis courts and swimming pools. Notice that, although this is rural Wisconsin, there are no barns, silos or dairy cows. These people aren't farmers; they are literally the ruling class.
For those of you who are intrigued by this area, and who might be looking to buy some Wisconsin real estate, it turns out that the house, er...sorry, mansion right across the road, literally right across the road from Jeff Kuhn, has recently gone on the market. Five bedrooms, five full baths and a half bath, two gourmet kitchens, four stone fireplaces, eight garage spaces on two gorgeous acres, according to the realtor, at the bargain price of just 2.5 million bucks. I'd post the listing itself, but again, I'm trying to be circumspect about the privacy rights of a guy who clearly doesn't give a hoot in hell about anyone else's very existence, let alone anyone else's rights.
Anyway, 2.5 million for the house across the road. I'm going to just go ahead and assume that Jeff doesn't live in a double-wide with a rusty pick-up truck out back, and that none of his neighbors do either.
But maybe there's a reason Jeff loathes public employees so much. Maybe there are "benefits" that Jeff Kuhn can't get because he isn't "entitled" to them. Maybe he really is envious of those teachers who make $40,000 a year doing an extraordinarily difficult and incredibly important job. Maybe he really is jealous of nurses and firefighters who keep the public safe and make annual wages that wouldn't cover Jeff Kuhn's country club membership for a month. Maybe Jeff envies them because deep down, he knows that those people are doing something useful and important, whereas he himself is just a blood-sucking leech. Maybe there's a tiny little shred of humanity that causes Jeff to realize that he's vermin, sucking the life-blood from the common good and giving nothing in return.
Or maybe Jeff Kuhn is just a lying hypocrite, a rich slimeball who has no clue how the world works, what makes this country tick, or what's required to maintain a functional and decent society. I think that's probably what it is. After all, it's a long way from Chenequa to middle-class America, and Jeff Kuhn clearly has no interest in leaving his tree-covered comfort zone to find out how the other 99% of us live.