Gaily bedight,A gallant night
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of El Dorado.
Edgar Allan Poe, "El Dorado"
In the week’s time my internet connection was down, it allowed me to catch up in my reading. After much teeth-gnashing, I was able to finish Thomas Frank’s "What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America"
a best-selling book from 2004. I have the paperback edition that includes his 2005 afterword.Quite obviously the reading of this book, along with William Least Heat-Moon’s superior PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country
--I read that one many years ago--tied into my still continuing Kansas Kronikles series.Frank is a Kansas native, from the Kansas City suburbs. Until July, I hadn't traveled to the Sunflower State.
I came there with an open, but generally positive opinion of Kansas
But has the author soured on his state?
In the book, Frank talks about his visit to El Dorado, Kansas, which is between the Flint Hills region and Kansas’ largest city, Wichita.
Frank was there for a Kansas Vietnam Veterans reunion and to watch Phill Kline, who was then running for Kansas' attorney general, give a speech. Frank lumps Kline into the "Con," that is, the non-moderate side of the state Republican Party.
Kline won that election by the way, but was defeated in his re-election bid.
Anyway, take a look at what the author writes as he sets the mood for his segment on the rally:
El Dorado, Kansas, Deepest July, 2002. I am here to witness the interaction between opportunist and believer firsthand, and to see what makes the Kansas equation work. There are no clouds in the vast Kansas sky, and the temperature hovers around one-hundred degrees, as it has for a week. The town’s nineteenth century main street is of course, empty. (My comments: I traveled through El Dorado during my journey to Kansas five Julys later, and I found downtown El Dorado to be charming and not-so-empty. Also, like many Kansas county seats, El Dorado is blessed with a beautiful courthouse, which is pictured above.) The only going concern appears to be the obligatory secondhand store, and I appear to be the only customer. Not a welcome one, either. The scowling proprietor will have no small talk. She keeps an eye on me as I walk up and down the aisles. She can plainly see that I’m up to no good.
Man, who woke up on the wrong side of Kansas? Perhaps the proprietor of the store Frank entered was a jerk, and the business deservedly shut down years ago. On the other hand, most retail stores are run by people who are appreciative of any shopper who enters through their front doors. If you're not friendly to potential customers, people shop elsewhere. It’s common sense to operate that way.
My interpretation of Frank’s trip to El Dorado and that store? He views his state in such a negative fashion, that even when he walks through the doors of a second-hand shop, his contempt for Kansans can’t be separated from his psyche.
My interactions with Kansans were all enjoyable. As I wrote last month, "Kansans are incredibly nice people. When you've met a Kansan, you've met a friend." Although I've made a few negative posts on the Sunflower State--no place is perfect--my opinion is that Kansas is an under-visited state, and yes, there are things to do there besides getting scowled at in El Dorado.
My Kansas Kronikles will continue, scroll down for my Monunment Rocks post, now that my internet problems are fixed.
Related post: Marathon Pundit Exclusive: "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Debunked on Page One: UPDATED AGAIN
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William Least Heat-Moon
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