Journal #2

1.) "The outdoor guys are heavily accessorized, and their accessories are meant to show how hard they work, so they will often have a gigantic wad of keys hanging from a belt loop, a tape measure strapped to the belt, a pocket knife on a string tucked into the front pants pocket, and a pager or a cell phone affixed to the hip, presumably in case some power lines go down somewhere and need emergency repair."

I don't agree with this because I've met many people that are Red Americans and they don't dress like this at all. Yes, they're people out there that do dress like this but what is the big deal what they wear, if someone is comfortable with what they are wearing why does a person feel the need to talk down on them. I think the other side just makes the assumption that everyone is like that and it would be like someone from Red America saying everyone in Blue America only wear suits. I really hate that people have to think like that and can't just get along, because how someone dresses shouldn't make someone think differently about what they do with their life. I wish this author wasn't so bias about being in Blue America because he only seemed to write about what Red America is like and didn't explain the Blue side as much as I hoped he was going too. He said he was from Blue America too, but left out what his life was like and what he usually does on a daily basis.


2.) "And in a flash all the jokes about and seeming hostility toward New Yorkers vanished, to be replaced by an outpouring of respect, support, and love. The old hostility came to seem merely a sort of sibling rivalry, which means nothing when the family itself is under threat."

I like this statement he makes I think it really shows what Americans can really do when their country is on the line against terror. He makes a good reference to family which really reinforces his statement, because if your apart of a family you would or should do what you can to have each others back. The two pictures show two totally different people and one wouldn't think they would team up but they do, plus achieve a lot of work at a short amount of time.

3.) "People have come to understand that they will struggle financially. It's part of their identity. But the economy is not their god. That's the thing some others don't understand. People value a sense of community far more than they do their portfolio.

The author used this as a quote and was one of the parts of his writing I really liked. He did use sources that represented a good group of people instead of people thinking they're just close families who keep to themselves and dress funny. That takes a big person to be able to admit their is a good side to those Red America. Of course some people are bad but that's in either side I'm sure some Blue American people are bad as well that's just life you most deal with.

Red America is described as a person who wear's t-shirts with out sleeves, old ripped denim jeans that are washed twice a year. They are bigger people who do manual labor who car a lot of keys tape measure, pocket knife and with a Van Haleon hair style.

Blue America is described as a person who is very neat and clean, likes to wear a suit or nice outfits. Drive high end cars, Coastal living, independent, up to date in the world. nontraditional

I think they are just cracks in a whole, because a country under attack should be able to put aside all those differences  and realize what actually people should be doing. Once people choose to fight over the differences during a serious event instead of worrying for those who need help is when that crack becomes a chasm.