Garrison Keillor's 'Homegrown Democrat'
With all
of the various things in life that seem to eat up my attention span,
sometimes a few things that I intended to read or pay attention to fall
through the cracks. This book is one of them.
If you
are searching for the answer to the modern question “Why do I care,
anyway?”, this book has your answers and a little reminder about just
who we are and where we come from.
Here's an excerpt:
This
is the difference between Democrats and Republicans in 2004, when it
comes right down to it. Republicans are all about Old Glory and school
prayer and the sanctity of marriage and the Fatherhood of
God but when it comes to actually needing help from them,
you shouldn’t get your hopes up. They might send an ambulance or
they might just send a Get Well card. In yellow-dog St. Paul, you
will be rescued by the St. Paul fire department and there is no
better emergency service anywhere in the civilized world. You may
be flat on the floor feeling as if an elephant stepped on your
chest, or your child may have swallowed a fistful of God
knows what medication, or your grandma may have slipped on
the ice and banged her noggin and she insists she’s okay but in
Swedish—whatever your dilemma, the St. Paul rescue squad will
deal with it in swift and professional fashion. Because we
Democrats feel that the people of St. Paul are entitled to the
best when it comes to what’s crucial. You can be a Christian,
atheist, Buddhist, nudist, and the rescue squad will be there for
you within four minutes. Republicans have perfectly nice
manners, normal hair, pleasant smiles, good deodorants, but when
it comes down to cases, you do not want them to be
monitoring your oxygen flow: they will set it to the minimum
required to sustain basic brain function, and then they will
recite a little prayer for you. They are a party that is all
about perceptions, the Christian party that conceals enormous
glittering malice and is led by brilliant bandits who are
dividing and conquering the sweet land I grew up in. I don’t
accept this. We Democrats are deciduous. We fade, lose heart, become
torpid, languish, then the sap rises again, and we are
passionate. This is a year for passion.
You can download a copy of the first four chapters here – and purchase the book from your local bookstore.
Blog For Iowa 