Introducing the "New" Politics From The Heartland
I want to take a few minutes to introduce the “new” Politics From the Heartland weekly column of commentary and analysis of American politics and foreign policy.
The purpose of the new weekly column is to offer commentary and analysis that seeks to debunk the “groupthink” and “inside the Beltway” mentality that seems to drive much of what is being said and written about contemporary American politics and foreign policy.
I believe that contemporary commentary and analysis of American politics and foreign policy has become an echo chamber that doesn’t serve the public interest. Many of the same “talking heads” are saying and writing the same things, at the same time, on the same media platforms, from inside the same media bubble.
Instead of offering objective analysis, many of those who are part of the professional political media class in New York and Washington, DC have become “infotainers” who are more concerned about their own access to politics and power, their professional relevancy, and their media and social media footprints than they are about being honest and objective arbiters of the political and policy debate. They care more about their face time on cable news, their social media footprint, and their book deals than they do about objective reporting.
Many have become trapped in their “Beltway bubbles” and ideological silos, insecure in their “groupthink” and isolated from the real world reality of life and politics in the United States outside of DC and New York. Those who write about foreign policy parrot the viewpoints of the traditional east coast foreign policy establishment, rarely questioning the salon conversations and viewpoints of the foreign policy heads who drive that conversation.
Politics From the Heartland challenges this status quo in three ways.
First, I am not part of the “Beltway Bubble.” I live in and work out of Louisiana, Missouri, a small town located along the Mississippi River in northeast Missouri. I am a veteran of the United States Army and attended the University of Missouri/St. Louis on the GI Bill, earning a BA, MA, and completing my coursework (didn’t write the dissertation) for the PhD in political science, with specializations in international relations and American politics. During my time at the University of Missouri/St. Louis (1977-1982), the political science department was considered one of the top small school departments in the country.
Second, I have been involved in politics, in different capacities, for over 50 years. I’ve seen a lot of political water go under the bridge and I’ve been around the political block a few thousand times. I’ve gained a lot of experience, insight, and wisdom that is relevant as we try to understand the mess that passes for politics in this country right now. I’ve worked on two presidential campaigns and have worked on and managed campaigns at the state and local level. I’ve done work as an election analyst on local media. I have taught American government, international relations, and history at the high school and college/university level. Recently, I came out of semi-retirement to teach American government and world history at the local high school.
I’ve got the dirt under my fingernails from working in the political vineyard.
Third, I’m out here living in the country and I see how the current chaos in American politics shapes perceptions about our country and the world around us. I see, up close and personal, how the chaos impacts the everyday lives of the people I live with in my community. Everyday, I’m in the classroom with high school kids who don’t have optimism about the future or their place in society. I see them really, really concerned about how their lives are going to unfold. I see a small town in a struggle for economic survival and a city leadership (government and business) that either doesn’t give a damn or doesn’t know what to do or how to stop the bleeding.
I’m not like the DC and New York reporters who once, every four years, come out of the bubble for a couple of days to interview old and pissed off retired guys eating lukewarm biscuits and gravy and drinking cold coffee at the local diner, and then using those interviews to create misconceptions and negative stereotypes about what’s going on and who people are as they flee back to their safe space in the bubble.
I’m out here living this on a day to day basis and this adds perspective to what I write about.
So, every Monday, I will be writing about American politics and/or international affairs from my perspective. You won’t hear “groupthink” or the “conventional wisdom” unless I think it is right and true. I’m not partisan (I think Democrats and Republicans, to varying degrees, are both morally bankrupt political parties that are more concerned about acquiring power, winning elections, and raising money than they are about doing the “people’s business.”) so I don’t have a dog in the fight.
Yes, like all of us, I have a world view and that will come through in my writing, but this isn’t about me, its about the truth, as I see it. You can disagree with me. I don’t care. You can dislike or hate me because of what I say. I don’t care.
What I do care about is the future of our country and the world. What I do care about is my belief that politics, if done well, can be a force for good and positive change that makes all of our lives better. I believe that domestic politics and foreign policy are interconnected and one impacts the other. I will offer commentary and analysis from that perspective. I will also write about politics at the state and local level as the political world doesn’t start and end in Washington, DC.
I hop[e you will find what I have to say interesting and informative, and if so, I ask that you subscribe. Right now, it is a free subscription, but in the future, I will be charging a small monthly fee that will include access to some other formats that are in the idea stage right now. Nothing definite yet, but I will keep you informed as the ideas evolve.
Thanks for reading!