Gov. Palin: where is the 'real America?'

Where is the real America? Can it be found between the clean sidewalks and culs-de-sac of the suburbs? Is it in the towering glass skyscrapers of the big cities? Or is it in the sweeping cornfields of the rural Midwest?

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska seems to think it is in the small towns of swing states where she stumps. At a fund raiser last week in North Carolina, Palin said: "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the "real America," being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation."

So what are the rest of us Gov. Palin, faux Americans?

Nothing in politics is more disrespectful than attempting to divide a common people into factions, especially by manipulating voters in rural areas with the ideas of patriotism.

Why is it that the people who agree with the republican agenda are patriotic, "real" Americans, and those who have different ideas are anti-American and thus not "real?"

By this reasoning, are the eight million inhabitants residing in New York City not real Americans? Or does simply living in a big bad city disqualify them from true patriotism?

Are the scary city folk anti-American because they choose to live in an urban area? Must one be a citizen of a small town to be pro-American? Is not every city and every town across America represented in our military?

We must be careful how we use divisive tactics in the current political climate. America has already begun to split into two opposing cultures over social policies and those who take advantage of this fact by extorting it do the American public a disservice.

It is upside-down thinking to claim that highly-populated areas are less American than those in rural areas. Quite obviously, the majority populations live in these urban areas, thus by disqualifying them from the ranks of the "real" America we deport the majority of the population.

There is an inherent contempt in measuring American's patriotism by judging them solely by their place of residence. Rural folk do not have a monopoly on being American nor one on being patriotic.

Everywhere in America is "real" Gov. Palin and everyone is a patriot who seeks to better this country, even if they happen to disagree with you.

A "real" leader does not divide his or her people into factions for personal political gain. A "real" leader does not discredit and disrespect over half of the population based on geography. A "real" leader does in fact, place country first and not themselves, something you could learn by reading your campaign's own propaganda.

Aaron Cammarn is a junior liberal arts major.