"Rural identity has come to be largely defined as an us vs. them mentality, with the them being people who live in cities."

As a side note, this is the 1,250th post of the year at NAC. This is a new world record, at least for this blog. Can someone out there suggest how I might earn a few farthings for all this pro bono work? Now to the point ...

So it goes: Fire and brimstone evangelicals vote for a crass libertine, the poor for a paragon of wealth, and resentful anti-urban rural cadres for the ultimate city dweller.

Is there racism, xenophobia and homophobia in these expressions? Of course, but to focus on these to the exclusion of other economic and class factors steadily building up steam since America first met Archie Bunker in 1971 is to avert one's eye from the ball that matters, if not one more so than the other, then equally.

Call me a Marxist if you wish. I remain convinced that economic considerations play a huge part in these instances, and understanding what just happens is crucial. I'm not there yet. It has taken us time to arrive at this juncture.

Listen up, folks: As for this rural resentment described below, whence I came. I may not have physically moved very far away from my roots, but psychologically, I've spent the past 35 years stuffing these developmental markers into a trunk and throwing it into a mine shaft, from where it has now emerged, gloriously intact, ascendant.

We may be past the point where thinking and facts even matter, and probably my insistence that we all go find a mirror for necessary introspection is the stuff of childlike escapist fantasy – and lest we forget, to echo my pal Ignatius, veneration of Walt Disney is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.

It's simple. Leaving aside the inadequacies of the Democratic "opposition," it should be obvious that I wouldn't vote for Donald Trump in a million years, and probably a clear majority of my high school classmates just did. Understanding why they did might help me understand why I didn't. It won't change the world to learn the answer, though it might change me.

The Reality of Rural Resentment, by Sommer Mathis (City Lab)

One of the biggest themes to emerge so far from the 2016 U.S. presidential election is a widening rural vs. urban divide.

... (Professor Kathy) Cramer's new book, The Politics of Resentment, traces the rise of conservative Governor Scott Walker and the political evolution of Wisconsin. What Cramer says she found is that a strong sense of rural identity in the communities she visited has become a key driver of political motivation in Wisconsin. And over time, that sense of rural identity has come to be largely defined as an us vs. them mentality, with the them being people who live in cities ...

To the GTMW: Sunday, August 11, and the amazing New Glarus Brewing Company.

Sunday began with brunch at the Great Dane's Fitchburg location (libations above), which lies conveniently on the route back to New Glarus. This time we aimed straight for the New Glarus Brewing Company, and as always when visiting this shining craft beer facility on the hill, I felt admiration and envy in equal measure. NABC isn't New Glarus Brewing, and New Albany isn't Wisconsin, but I'd still like to think that some day ...

The biggest changes since my last visit two years ago are big new fermenter buildings to the left of the main entrance, and a beer garden expanded out onto the hillside, featuring mock ruins constructed from scratch; ironically, it's the same idea I had for the Bank Street Brewhouse outdoor area, given that whenever we get around to removing the asphalt, there's likely to be the foundation of a house underneath.

Localists, pay heed: The most important central facts about New Glarus Brewing are that the brewery's overall distribution is limited to Wisconsin, while at the same time, visitors coming to see this architectural marvel buy cases of beer to take home (think: like Coors was in the bad old days) likely totaling more in yearly volume than our entire turnover at BSB.

Admiration. Envy. Equal measure. Grrr.

To the GTMW: Friday, August 9 and time spent in the countryside.

The Shoe Box was an unplanned diversion, because the initial goal on Friday was the town of Spring Green and the nearby Taliesin acreage devoted to architect Frank Lloyd Wright, as opposed to the early Deep Purple album called The Book of Taliesyn. Time constraints (read: valuable wine sampling time was going to waste) precluded a tour of the house, but the visitor center was quite informative, and we'll devote a day to Wright in the future.

For the second time in recent years, the historic Wollersheim winery near Sauk City (above) provided a relaxed opportunity to enjoy a drier-then-usual Reisling. After a stop in Mt. Horeb and a tasting at the Fisher King winery, it was time for a short drive to New Glarus, and after a sampling at the town's winery, a much anticipated meal at the Glarner Stube (below).

The Glarner Stube's take on Swiss-style German cuisine is stupendous and caloric. In the view above, my Wiener Schnitzel (pan fried veal cutlet) is before me, with butter- and cheese-laden Roesti potatoes separating my dish from Graham's Geschnetzelets, which is described as "veal slices sauteed with white wine, cream and mushrooms." Diana's choice is out of view, and the sauerkraut has yet to arrive; it was a mound s big as the Roesti, with a cream sauce. The feast was washed down with New Glarus Brewing Company beers, which take up most of the eatery's taps.

However, we had come into town too late to visit the brewery, and slated Sunday for the occasion.

Bier Garten, as performed by Capital Brewery.

Capital Brewery's marvelous Bier Garten, in Middleton (by Madison), Wisconsin.

Guardian on the recall: "If progressives are looking for political support they should look down to the grassroots, not up to the Democratic party."

Insightful words from another country, not an uncommon experience in America.

Wisconsin Democrats get dealt a bitter blow in courageous battle

Organized labour took a risk in mounting a challenge to Scott Walker and lost. But they shouldn't look back with regret

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• • Gary Younge in Milwaukee
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 June 2012 23.52 EDT
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 ... In the words of Alexis Tsipiras, the leader of the Greek party Syrzia, which is leading the battle against austerity in that country: "Defeat is the battle that isn't waged, and when someone fights there is the big chance of winning; and we are fighting this to win. Lost battles are battles that are not fought." And while that does not transform defeat into victory it does provide for useful lessons that could not have been learned in the absence of the struggle itself.

We need it in Indiana, too.

http://rocknetroots.blogspot.com/2011/02/stand-in-solidarity-wisconsin.html