Press Enterprise...Trading trash for trash...in the process, not helping the I.E. image!

While much of the nation falls head over heels for Joe the Plumber, we in the Empire are tripping over our reputation as a sanctuary for Josephine the Redneck.

News of that local Republican newsletter, featuring a likeness of Barack Obama amid a smorgasbord of fried chicken, ribs and watermelon, has infected the so-called blogosphere. Turns out this particular sphere -- chaotic though it may seem -- is governed by a strict law of cyberphysics:
For every act of mindless stereotyping there is an equal and opposite reaction of mindless stereotyping.

In technical terms, we are getting hammered.

Scores of Web sites quickly glommed onto the P-E story about the offensive October surprise spewed by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated. Some of these sites posted the entire P-E story and invited reader comment -- an offer they couldn't refuse.

Wonkette, a popular political site, primed its readers thusly:

Meanwhile, a racist Republican gal in the "Inland Empire" -- the poor white trash part of exurbian Los Angeles -- sent out her little newsletter to the local GOP ladies . . .

Has Wonkette even set foot on our trash heap? Doesn't matter, does it? The rules of engagement had already been established by President Diane Fedele, the Chaffey "Republican gal" who thought she was only talking about food.

Wonkette readers took it from there:

As a former resident of the O.C. (I got out as soon as I could, thank you), I'd like to state for the record that the "Inland Empire" is often fondly referred to as "The Dirt People." And you can see why.
Inland Empire is not White Trash. It's Sunbleached Godforsaken.
The people from the Inland Empire are also derisively referred to as 909-ers (the area code). The 909 is redneck for Southern California.

She's probably got a little lawn jockey in the front of her trailer, in the Inland Empire.

A different site, washington monthly.com, served up more of the same:

As if anyone needed a reason to stay closer to the water and out of all that smog!

As a Californian, I can attest to the stark culatural differences between the coastal urban centers and the rural valleys and mountain regions. Like most states, we have more than our fair share of racist whackos. Fortunately, there are a lot more people living on the coast.

Small consolation that this refined coast dweller found it difficult to spell "cultural."

Last time the Empire received such unwanted attention (1998), a claque of ignorants argued against naming a new Riverside high school for Martin Luther King Jr. One reason: Colleges would reject MLK students, believing they had graduated from an all-black school. (Later that year, when RPD officers shot and killed Tyisha Miller, a young black woman, the national spotlight grew even harsher.)

The "Obama Bucks" newsletter may seem tame when measured against our recent history, but it certainly drives home the point that perpetuating stereotypes only begets more stereotypes.

One of the saddest elements of this latest drama -- judging from the blogoblurbs -- is few seemed surprised that this October "surprise" was sprung right here in the Empire.