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Opinion L.A.

Opinion: Home is where the heartland isn’t

By Michael McGough
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Sarah Palin is getting some heat for coining the word ‘refudiate’ in her attack on an Islamic center to be built near Ground Zero in New York. But she used another term, not of her own making, that is also problematic. ‘Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland?’ Palin tweeted.

The first time I bristled at the word ‘heartland’ was during the Oklahoma City bombings, when TV commentators emphasized that a terrorist had struck not in New York or Los Angeles but in the HL. The implication was that there was something especially shocking about the Midwest/South being the locus of politically inspired mayhem. We know they’re just regular folks -- aka real Americans.

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It’s silly to pretend that a huge nation like the United States doesn’t comprise regions with different demographics and mores. But ‘heartland’ is more than a geographical signifier; it’s a value judgment. It ought to be retired.

-- Michael McGough

Opinion L.A.
Michael McGough

Michael McGough is the Los Angeles Times’ former senior editorial writer, based in Washington, D.C. He wrote editorials for The Times from 2006 to 2021. Before that, McGough worked for 30 years for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a reporter, editorial writer, editorial page editor and Washington correspondent. He wrote about law, national security, politics, foreign policy and religion. McGough is a graduate of Allegheny College and also attended the University of Kent at Canterbury in England and Yale Law School, where he received a master of studies in law degree.

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