"Romney and Tea Party loonies dismissed half the country as chattel and
moochers who did not belong in their 'traditional' America. But the more
they insulted the president with birther cracks, the more they tried to
force chastity belts on women, and the more they made Hispanics, blacks
and gays feel like the help, the more these groups burned to prove
that, knitted together, they could give the dead-enders of white male
domination the boot. The election about the economy also sounded the
death knell for the Republican culture wars. Romney was still running in
an illusory country where husbands told
wives how to vote, and the wives who worked had better get home in time
to cook dinner. But in the real country, many wives were urging husbands
not to vote for a Brylcreemed boss out of a ’50s boardroom whose party
was helping to revive a 50-year-old debate over contraception. Just like
the Bushes before him, Romney tried to portray himself as more
American than his Democratic opponent. But America’s gallimaufry wasn’t
knuckling under to the gentry this time." - Maureen Dowd, writing for the New York Times.
Thich Nhat Hanh
