I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the same species of class bias that Mrs. Palin provokes in her enemies and her admirers is at work among the conservative intellectuals who are so embarrassed by her.
***
Note, too, that Malcolm Gladwell types make scads of dough telling companies to save money just by changing the size of their file folders — money gleefully handed over by literally the same people who still call Reagan a “moron.” (Or “moran” as it now seems to be spelled, by lefties on Twitter…)
That said, I am so sick of Buckley’s “phone book” line.
What kinds of people lived in Boston in those days, anyhow? Did he mean these people?
From its commanders to its foot soldiers, the anti-busing movement was dominated by women. They were mostly stay-at-home moms who wanted to regain control over their children’s lives. These women had long taken for granted that their children could attend the schools in their community, that they had choices concerning their children’s education. Busing was a gross assault on their “natural authority.” When asked why she was resisting busing, Charlestown anti-busing leader Peg Smith declared, “I want my freedom back. They took my freedom. They tell me where my kids have to go to school. This is like living in Russia. Next they’ll tell you where to shop.” (…)
One day in fall 1975, about 400 Charlestown mothers marched up Bunker Hill Street, clutching rosary beads and reciting the “Hail Mary.” They knelt in prayer for several minutes on the pavement between Charlestown High and the Bunker Hill Monument. And then they stood up and walked toward the police line, still in prayer, handbags held high to shield their faces. Soon a scuffle broke out between the mothers and the police. Some women were tossed to the ground.
Although the women’s movement was on the rise, the feminist establishment had no interest in the working-class woman’s struggle against forced busing. They were indifferent to the wailing mothers who where throwing themselves down in front of delivery trucks owned by the Boston Globe (the pro-busing newspaper) or fleeing from the dogs that police used to enforce curfews. The same people who celebrated when the Supreme Court recognized a woman’s “right to choose” to have an abortion were unmoved when a federal court revoked a mother’s right to choose where her children could go to school.
***
If so, cool. If Buckley meant his friends, then maybe not.
Who make up that cohort today…? I suspect most of the people who fought busing gave up and left. “White flight” and all.
On the subject of busing, I’d be remiss in not sharing probably James Lilek’s greatest effort, here. Still some class stuff, eh?
In case you don’t have time, you may still be asking yourself: Whatever happened to Ted Landsmark, pictured right, below:
Well, last year he wrote this op-ed…
