Republicans and Farmers and Palin

The Australian reprinted what looks like a Wall Street Journal article, Palin's appeal masks a cruel lie:

"Richard Nixon's agriculture secretary Earl Butz put the conservative attitude towards small farmers most bluntly back in the 1970s when he warned: 'Get big or get out.'

A few days ago I talked politics with Donn Teske, the president of the Kansas Farmers Union and a former Republican. Barack Obama may come from a big city, he admits, but the Farmers Union gives him a 100 per cent rating for his votes in Congress.

John McCain gets a zero.

'If any farmer in the plains states looked at McCain's voting record on ag issues, no one would vote for him,' he says.

Senator McCain is known for his straight talk with industrial workers, telling them their jobs are never coming back, and that retraining is their only hope.

But he seems to think small-town people can be easily played. Just choose a running mate who knows how to skin a moose and all will be forgiven. Drive them off the land, shutter their towns, toss their life chances into the grinders of big agriculture ... and praise their values."

I admit not having much time to keep with these details but I swear this is the first time I have heard any of this. Ok, so I should read The Wall Street Journal. Who would known the WSJ would report something so damning for the Republicans?