War of the Cities

I had an interesting drive tonight up to Columbus. On my way through Cincinnati, I switched on the local talk radio station, 700 WLW, and heard of some calamity at the Ohio Fairgrounds in Columbus. I was a bit concerned at first, but soon I realized it was more or less an attempt to get the "War of the Worlds" reaction, as they said that Cleveland had gone bankrupt and evicted hundreds of thousands of Clevelanders from their homes.

As I listend on, I couldn't help but wondering if this was an adaptation of War of the Worlds, or Birth of a Nation. Now, I know there is a rivalry between the two cities, but damn, talking about hordes of "unwashed" "greasy" "smelly" masses coming down from the north to loot the tri-cities? Having helicopters play "Ride of the Valkyries" and say the Clevelanders were confused because all they knew was rap music? Having those helicopters drop "lily white snowflakes of soap" on the dirty crowd which caused them to run back up North?

Maybe I'm seeing race where I shouldn't, but damn, I was laughing my ass off at the blatant fear mongering going on, and when a caller later said that "this is what we have to worry about if Barack Obama gets elected," it just sort of reinforced those thoughts. Apparently a lot of people freaked out and started calling other news stations. And I can just picture a lot of Palin supporters polishing their guns to prepare for the onslaught.