US, as in “us” as a nation, or as in “U.S.”

I’ve heard a lot about this book, and the premise, encapsulated in a couple of quotes below, seems to be relevant to the rest of the country. The obsession with “values” (I call it “obsession” becuase it ignores the value-laden “other” issues (of which there are thousands) that are left off of the table. Sojourners does the best job of any Christian publication I know of in exploring the “values” inherent in most of the rest of life, and also, how soem of these other issues like econmomics and socail “safety-net” structures so neglected, ignored, and even attacked by conservative Christians as unneccessary and even harmful, actually have a bigger impact on the trends of some of those very “moral issues” like abortion (see the Stassen study discussion)

It’s time that Christians used a little of their intelligence to make a broader sweep of the feasability of the President’s economic plans ,because they will find that an alarmingly growing number of economist, liberal and conservative alike, are VERY concerned about the irresponsible economic policies of the Bush administration. They all say that the Bush economy is playing Russian Roulette with our economic future, and if something is not done to pay attention to the debt, we’re in for VERY undesirrable results. And this is from an increasing number of conservative economists.

What’s the Matter with Kansas?, by Thomas Frank
From the above review:
Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where’s the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism — the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat — and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders’ “values” and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy.

From Amazon.com:
This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans’ actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically.