MEGAN MCARDLE ON COASTAL PRIVILEGE: “I’m surprised–though I shouldn’t be, of course–that any number of liberals who are (presumably) comfortable with concepts like unconscious discrimination and privilege when it comes to race, have not even stopped to consider that the same sort of thing might be operating here. . . . Maybe you don’t know you’re doing it. But I have quite brilliant friends who grew up in rural areas and went to state schools–not Michigan or UT, but ordinary state schools–who say that, indeed, when they mention where they went to school, there’s often a droop in the eyelids, a certain forced quality to the smile. Oh, Arizona State. Great weather out there. Don’t I need a drink or something? This person couldn’t possibly interest me.”

UPDATE: It’s all about fear of encroaching Dollywood Values.