Posted 9:53 AM by Gene

This Page Six squib lodged in our head soon after we saw it:

TOM Wolfe says a jarring scene he recently witnessed in Tennessee convinced him that writers who live in New York and on the Left Coast are out of touch with the rest of the country. In the upcoming book, "Telling True Stories," the "Bonfire of the Vanities" novelist says he watched in amazement at a NASCAR race last month as a National Rifle Association honcho got a rousing standing ovation, and was followed by a minister who "asked the Lord to look out for these brave drivers and these loyal fans . . . in the name of Thy Only Son, Christ Jesus." Writes Wolfe: "Anyone who introduced an event that way in San Francisco or New York would risk arrest for a hate crime. New York writers really must cross the Hudson River, and writers in Los Angeles really must go as far as the San Joaquin Valley. Most of the meaning of America lies in between the coasts, I'm afraid."

Given this is the last century's most copious inventor of catch phrases there is still a truth to it. We can (and do) sneer at NASCAR and the NRA and can agree with it. Any time we skim PAPERofRE-CORD.com we think of it. When we read the ad-blurbists we think of it. Certain knee-jerk liberals view others' beliefs as hate crimes. This avoids hyperbole by being true. The media types among their number, happily, have a weapon at their disposal: they can commit hate crimes on US.