Rush Limbaugh has recently been telling his listeners that the elitists in the media and on the political left regard ordinary Americans as "hayseeds." As if to confirm the insight of El Rushbo, the Seattle Post—Intelligencer helpfully publishes a brief item on the Dixie Chicks and employs "hayseed" as an adjective of derision:

The Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way" gets little play on country radio, but the laugh's on them: The trio's album tops The Billboard 200 chart. Hayseed programmers have nixed the Chicks since Natalie Maines, center, said just before the Iraq war that she was ashamed President Bush was from her home state.

I have always thought that sneering at people who work in agriculture is among the most despicable prejudices imaginable. Not only do we depend on farmers for our survival, but people who work with plants and animals are literally in touch with nature, the earth, the seasons, life cycles, and other fundamental aspects our existence in ways denied to effete city—dwellers.

In this day of Gaia worship, such prejudices are particularly worthy of scorn, even on the allegedly sophisticated left.

The sneer of the Post—Intelligencer tells us much more about the intelligence and moral qualities of the writer than it does about the objects of his scorn.

Hat tip: Dave in Seattle

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