From the heartland:

When I think of isolated arrogant elitists, I think of NYC New Yorkers. They are the most sophisticated, diverse, intelligent, open-minded people in the world.... just ask them. They are all individually and collectively aware that New York is home to the best food, entertainment, sports, arts, and anything else you can think of "IN THE WORLD" and many of them know this without ever having ventured beyond the NYC borders.

When questioned what lies beyond the vast outer reaches of their beloved city, most would likely answer: NYC suburbs and New Jersey. When asked about the America that exists beyond this, some may tell you about the other major city's like LA, St. Louis, Chicago, D.C., and the minor cities like Miami, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, Boston, et al ad nauseum.

As for the rest of America, we are mostly uneducated, unsophisticated, racist, homophobic, close-minded, rednecks and hillbillies, according the the sophisticated, educated, open-minded denizens of the greatest city "IN THE WORLD." Take, for instance, the reaction of New Yorkers to Bush's re-election...

"Everybody seems to hate us these days," said Zito Joseph, a 63-year-old retired psychiatrist. "None of the people who are likely to be hit by a terrorist attack voted for Bush. But the heartland people seemed to be saying, 'We're not affected by it if there would be another terrorist attack.' "

...

"I'm saddened by what I feel is the obtuseness and shortsightedness of a good part of the country - the heartland," Dr. Joseph said. "This kind of redneck, shoot-from-the-hip mentality and a very concrete interpretation of religion is prevalent in Bush country - in the heartland."

...

"New Yorkers are more sophisticated and at a level of consciousness where we realize we have to think of globalization, of one mankind, that what's going to injure masses of people is not good for us," he said.

His friend, Ms. Cohn, a native of Wisconsin who deals in art, contended that New Yorkers were not as fooled by Mr. Bush's statements as other Americans might be. "New Yorkers are savvy," she said. "We have street smarts. Whereas people in the Midwest are more influenced by what their friends say."

"They're very 1950's," she said of Midwesterners. "When I go back there, I feel I'm in a time warp."

...

"People who are more competitive and proficient at what they do tend to gravitate toward cities," [Joseph] said.

...

Ms. Camhe explained the habits and beliefs of those dwelling in the heartland like an anthropologist. "What's different about New York City is it tends to bring people together and so we can't ignore each others' dreams and values and it creates a much more inclusive consciousness," she said. "When you're in a more isolated environment, you're more susceptible to some ideology that's imposed on you."
Source

I don't want to step on any toes, but the last time I visited NYC I had to cross a bridge. Once in the city I noticed that it was completely surrounded by water. Now I'm not about to say that the island was small, but there is unquestionably a sort of disconnect from the mainland. Last I checked, Ohio is part of the heartland and I can't say I've ever felt all that isolated here. You dont have to take a bridge or a tunnel to get out of Ohio, but I suppose this is probably just my lack of sophistication and education kicking in.

Camhe continued:

"If the heartland feels so alienated from us, then it behooves us to wrap our arms around the heartland," she said. "We need to bring our way of life, which is honoring diversity and having compassion for people with different lifestyles, on a trip around the country."

Boy... where to begin! Once again, this is probably just a product of my narrow-minded, unsophisticated, poorly educated, racist, homophobic, redneck, hillbilly upbringing, BUT, I don't particularly feel alienated from NYC.

I have visited NYC several times. It is a charming city, but I wouldn't want to live there. The food is over rated, the entertainment is over priced, and the people are obnoxious... and lets not even start talking about the traffic (though in my experiences, LA is much worse and DC would give NYC a run for it's money). For comparable entertainment and food at incredibly reasonable prices, I would put my money on Vegas over NYC any day. But I digress... to the close-minded, liberal elitists who reside in NYC I would like to inform you of a few things:

1) You can't see the forest for the trees, or in your case, you can't see America for the Sky Scrapers.

2) NYC is very small both in size and population when compared to the whole of the heartland.

3) Perhaps it is YOU on your tiny island that is isolated from the rest of the country and not the other way around.

4) The heartland does not want your "values," if you can even call them that...

5) In New York City, Bush pulled in over a half million votes from the 2million plus voters. He carried one of the 5 boroughs, Staten Island. Roughly 1 in 4 voters in NYC voted for Bush, 4 in 10 New Yorkers voted for Bush.

Would it be fair to say that 1 in 4 NYC voters were "not affected" by terrorism and are not likely to be hit by a terrorist attack? How fair would it be to say that one quarter of NYC residents are 'shortsighted, obtuse, shoot-from-the-hip' rednecks with a ‘very concrete interpretation of religion?’

Can we fairly conclude that 25% of NYC voters lack sophistication and a level of consciousness whereby they may think in terms of globalization? That 25% of NYC voters are unsavvy, lack street smarts, and are easily influenced by "what their friends say?" Is it fair to conclude that 1 in 4 NYC voters are 'very 1950's,' and act as if they are in a time warp?

See where this is going yet, or am I being obtuse?

6) The attacks of Sept 11^th hit ALL Americans, not just New Yorkers. The heartland poured out everything we had in the wake of the worse tragedy in American History. We stood in lines for hours to donate blood, we dug deep into our pockets, many of us giving money we couldn't really afford, for the victims and to help clean up of the city. We sent volunteer police, firemen, and construction workers, we held bake-sales, and fundraisers, and anything else we could think of to help NYC in your time of need. We bled for you, suffered and mourned with you, gave generously all that we could for you. We didn't stop coming to see you - we still came in to see a show, to see Rockefeller Plaza for Christmas, to eat in your world famous restaurants, to buy NYC merchandise... we bought "I love NY" merchandise by the truckload.

After all we in the heartland did for you, you still look down your nose at us?

7) We do things differently here in the heartland. We don't dismiss out of hand all who disagree with us as being "idiots" or uneducated, uncultured, close-minded rednecks. Instead, we listen. We look at the facts. We look to the merits of the opposing arguments, and then we make a decision.

8) NYC could learn a lot from the heartland.