… both seem to think there’s something wrong with urban America. Whereas Palin sees them simply as not part of “real America”, Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, sees urban America as lacking in it’s value system. Urban America, he argues, does not have the same value system as rural America; they lack the patriotism, to them country is not as important, service is not as important. I would pen a lengthy riposte to all of this nonsense, but there’s no need to, since Ezra Klein already laid the smackdown of 2011 on Vilsack, and to his face to boot.

I’ll copy one good excerpt below, but you really really should read the whole thing, it’s a great time:

Tom Vilsack: …Rural America is a unique and interesting place that I don’t think a lot of folks fully appreciate and understand. They don’t understand that that while it represents 16 percent of America’s population, 44 percent of the military comes from rural America. It’s the source of our food, fiber and feed, and 88 percent of our renewable water resources. One of every 12 jobs in the American economy is connected in some way to what happens in rural America. It’s one of the few parts of our economy that still has a trade surplus. And sometimes people don’t realize that 90 percent of the persistent poverty counties are located in rural America.

EK: Let me stop you there for a moment. Are 90 percent of the people in persistent poverty in rural America? Or just 90 percent of the counties?

TV: Well, I’m sure that more people live in cities who are below the poverty level. In terms of abject poverty and significant poverty, there’s a lot of it in rural America…

Cheers to Ezra for the whole fantastic interview. Sign up to Wonkbook to show your appreciation (strange suggestion, I know, but it’s the only currency we have to offer him).

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