There is class distinction apparent in the media coverage of the explosions last week in two American cities....marathon runners are a whole different bunch of people compared to fertilizer plant workers. The Cardinal in his cathedral has a whole different audience and voice than the lay preacher standing in front of a burned out home. The vast power of the national security state comes to find and prosecute the Boston bombers but the shredded OSHA budget calls for...what? The plant hadn't been inspected since 1985. Politicians local, state, and Federal in Mass. are making big promises, but in little West, Texas, their only representation is a governor who hates the Federal government and regards OSHA is an enemy of his oil industry. Today the "Atlantic (magazine) Cities" web mailing had several stories about Boston but there isn't any "Atlantic Rural" to help us here to have a voice. What powerful senators will help West, Texas in the future? What media giant will tell their story, and the back story of de-regulation, Texas legislative intransigence, and ferocious class-ism? As we say in this Texas desert here, "It ain't right".
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