Wrestling with Truth and Ideology

From Thomas C. Goodhart

National Public Radio is doing a series they’ve titled “First and Main” visiting swing counties in swing states often near an intersection of First and Main Streets. Earlier this week on Morning Edition they were in Hillsborough County, Florida, an area comprised of rural and suburban communities as well as the city of Tampa. There they visited with Gregory Brown, an out of work glazier (installer of glass, as in windows). Attempting to sell his motorcycle, he’s hoping it will help him make it through the next couple of months as “now he's living on unemployment checks plus a disability check from the woman who lives with him” which isn’t enough to make ends meet. The intersection aspect of these reports however comes out more fully as the reporter segues from Mr. Brown’s economic predicament to his political perspectives.

"I've never been more broke in my life," Brown says.

In his free time, Brown has been following politics. He's been listening to Rush Limbaugh and says he intends to register to vote this fall. He blames President Obama for his economic trouble.

What really grabs my attention as I’m listening to Morning Edition is this:

As we talk, Brown brings up the president's onetime minister, Jeremiah Wright.

"I know what I believe in, and I believe that Jesus Christ spilled his blood for my soul, and Rev. Wright doesn't believe that," he says. "He believes that white people are evil, and so does our president and so does his wife."

When asked specifically if he thinks the president believes white people are evil, Brown says: "Yes. I believe that if you go to a church long enough and you hear that kind of rhetoric, after a while it gets into your soul."

I agree with Mr. Brown to an extent, for if you listen “long enough and you hear that kind of rhetoric, after a while it gets into your soul."

• Read more and respond