Visiting Red America for Swiss Radio
October 2, 2016
A couple of weeks ago, Swiss Radio sent me to rural and small-town West Virginia to illustrate the Blue-America/Red-America divide.
It is interesting to get their perspective on our perspective. Although the final result is in French, you can hear a lot of our debate in English. I’ll translate the French part in the comment below.
Below is the two-minute “teaser.”
And here’s a link to the two-part series (which I haven’t translated yet) with pictures and audio.
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bob weymon April 1, 2017 12:08 am
your small town person is his own worst enemy, and he doesn’t EVEN know it. On Aug 4, 1981, Ronald Reagan fired all air traffic controllers and declared war against unions. Then in the year of 2000, Bill Clinton gives China temporary favorite nation status, subsequent to that, in the year 2001, George W. Bush gives China permanent favorite nation status. Those three (3) things effectively lowered the living status for the low skilled American worker for a looooooooong time. Bob
Mark Levine October 2, 2016 12:24 pm
Here’s my translation of the two-minute “teaser” clip:
[Host of Radio show: (I’ve translated from the French)]
The United States and the candidates for the White House are now eagerly awaiting the first polls after the presidential debate on Monday. An election campaign that has already demonstrated the rejection of the Washington elite. But the gap also separates the cities and the countryside: the Blue Democratic America and the Red Republican America. Our correspondent in the United States, Philippe Revaz, invited an “insider” Democrat from Washington to come with him on the highways to meet the voters of Donald Trump in the Appalachian region. In this meeting, you’re going to hear a culture shock …
[Speaking in English]
WEST VIRGINIA DELEGATE GARY G. HOWELL: Now the more and more immigrants they let in this frigging country. They’re bringing an army in right now.
VIRGINIA DELEGATE MARK LEVINE: You know illegal immigration is down in America.
HOWELL: Excuse me?
[Reporter Phillippe Revaz (translated from French)]
The reactions are unpredictable when you collide two galaxies, light-years apart from one another. It’s Democrat Mark Levine who agreed to accompany us on the highways of “Virginie Occidentale”, West Virginia, poor state of the Appalachians, one of Donald Trump’s strongholds.
[My radio opener in English]
“Live from our nation’s capital, it’s the Inside Scoop with Mark Levine”
Mark Levine hosts a Democratic radio show, he graduated from Yale and Harvard, he collaborated with [Hillary] Clinton, worked in Congress. He reluctantly admits that he embodies this Washington elite that the USA loves to hate.
[Revaz speaking with me in French, translated]
LEVINE: I am a Delegate (“Parlementaire”) for the State of Virginia. I represent Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax. These are communities very close to Washington and are fairly liberal.
REVAZ (laughing): Even very liberal.
LEVINE: Even very liberal. Yes.
REVAZ: Very different from where we’re going.
LEVINE: Very, very different.
[Reporter Phillippe Revaz (translated from French)]
And in the course of our journey, we will quickly find a gun dealer, a defender of the Confederate Flag, a coal miner, and this President of a local tea-party group who affirms she holds evidence that proves Obama was born in Kenya.
[Speaking in English]
LOCAL TEA PARTY PRESIDENT MARY MILTENBERGER: I have all the evidence.
LEVINE: You have the evidence. What evidence do you have?
MILTENBERGER: I do have the evidence. It’s the truth.
[Reporter Phillippe Revaz (translated from French)]
The journey holds a lot of surprises for our Washington insider Mark Levine. Like the collision of two parallel universes, two Americas that do not speak to each other.
[Host of Radio show: (translated from French)]
And this journey into Trump America by Phillippe Revaz we can all discover in its premier episode in just over an hour from now.