Just lately I am hearing the term, " The Real America", this is part of something repeated by former Senator George Allen from Virginia during his unsuccessful re election campaign in 2006.
We mostly remember his "Macaca" comment. That whole episode helped to shine the light on the Senator and is partially responsible for his loss. Allen was a leading candidate for the republican nomination, or was thought to be. As it turned out, waving the flag while intimating that some people of this nation are not really part of the "REAL AMERICA", while supporters of the candidate are part of "REAL AMERICA" as a campaign strategy failed with the voting public.
This is a case of Divide and Conquer politics. It has worked from time to time getting certain people into elected offices. It's an ugly strategy and perhaps worse it becomes a mantra that only serves to divide the citizens of this country.
Certain talking heads on TV are now using the term again. Look here people, The Real America is all of our people, all of our towns, cities, factories, and farms. North to South and Coast to Coast. We are an inclusive nation if we live up to our Constitution and Bill of Rights . We are an imperfect nation of people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. America is a wonderful land with good folks, working class hero's, people of different faiths and political leanings, and we also have a few bums and criminals. We are just a nation of people, as imperfect as we can be. We have a set of laws and a system of government that is based upon fairness and democracy. When we use the American system properly it's a pretty good system for people to enjoy their freedom and succeed. We are however only as good as we humans choose to strive to be. We are at our best when we are good neighbors, with a measure of fairness and compassion for our fellow man. So the REAL AMERICA is the totality of our human measure, all of it and all of us together, living in this great land we call America. United We Stand. Divided We Fail. This is the REAL AMERICA.
