BBC NEWS | US Election 08 | Jon Kelly's Talking America

Faraway, so close

Jon Kelly
11 Sep 08, 11:01 PM GMT

Baker, California, is 2,614 miles by road from New York. In terms of size, culture and landscape, this community of 914 souls in the heart of the Mojave desert couldn't be further from the bustling streets of Manhattan or Washington DC.

But the terrorist atrocities seven years ago on the distant east coast were taken by people here as an assault on them, too.

It's a very different California from the one I encountered on Venice Beach. This is small-town USA as I'd always imagined it: dusty sidewalks, a truck stop, and wide, empty horizons.

I jumped off the bus. Everyone I passed nodded or wished me good morning. The main attraction here was the world's largest thermometer. For the first time, it hit me: this is it. I'm really in America.

Here are Jennifer's impressions of Baker:

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In terms of outlook and political attitudes, I suspected that Baker might have more in common with battleground states like Nevada and New Mexico than Los Angeles or San Francisco.

I wanted to find out how people felt about the legacy of 9/11 on its grim anniversary. So I wandered into Bob's Big Boy burger bar and pulled up a chair.

Everyone I spoke to - supporters and opponents of the invasion of Iraq - recalled how personally they took the 2001 attacks, regardless of their distance from the targets.

Take Mark Isaak, 47, a salesman, who still remembered the shock he felt when his wife told him that a plane had flown into the World Trade Centre. "I was just so stunned and horrified," he recalled. "Why had all those innocent people died? I knew it was an attack on every American."

A Republican and evangelical Christian, Mark supported the invasion of Afghanistan. But by the time US troops were preparing to enter Iraq, he had his doubts.

Mark Isaak "I had my misgivings from the start. And we got ourselves into an awful mess over there.

"So many people have been killed. And it meant a lot of money that could have gone into things like education went into the war instead."

Across the bar, Kelly McDonald, 31, a pharmaceuticals sales rep, was tucking into her burger. She, too, said she felt the attacks were an assault on communities like Baker as much as on the centres of the nation's power.

I asked her why she felt this way. "It wouldn't have mattered if it were Des Moines, Iowa, or Los Angeles," she replied. "We're all Americans. This was aimed at all of us."

Unlike Mark, though, she was an enthusiastic backer of invading Iraq from the start.

"I don't think Saddam was responsible," she said. "But I think he could have been connected. You know, I'm not sure that the WMDs were never there. We know what he was capable of.

"Sure, I've got my criticisms of the war. The surge should have started earlier. But Saddam was a bad guy.

"No-one's successfully managed to attack us since. What does that tell you?"

However remote Mark and Kelly might have been from the actual events of 9/11, it says much about the resilience of their collective identity that recollections of that day remain so vivid.

I can't see those memories fading any time soon. At the same time, however, I suspect that arguments over the government's reaction to the attacks are going to divide communities like Baker for a long time yet.

Comments

1. At 04:40am on 12 Sep 2008, ysbytynewsjunkie wrote:
No doubt in 50 years we will learn the truth about 9/11. I know that it had a profound effect on all of us that travel and continues to this day. Enjoy your travels Jon. By the way do you have more than one driver on the bus?

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2. At 05:17am on 12 Sep 2008, tucsonmike wrote:
I watched the Trade Towers be hit from a New Jersey cliffside. I have friends who escaped the Trade Center Towers. For me, the attack was up close and personal, but your posting about Baker, California showed we are ALL Americans. We may not agree on the seven years since the attack however, it was still an attack on our people.

Still hope you will make a stop in Tucson.

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3. At 07:24am on 12 Sep 2008, OldSouth wrote:
After the shock of the attack, and the horror felt at the loss of life, I remember two small events with clarity.

1. Sitting in a small restaurant in my little Tennessee town, it struck me that the people who planned, funded and carried out the attack hated us for just being us! And, given the opportunity, they would harm the people of this bucolic little town, many of whom who have never set foot outside the state, and have not one grudge against anyone in the Middle East. I was incredulous.

2. Sitting in a concert a few days later, listening to Perlman perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto, it hit me again: If they could, these people would kill this man who plays Beethoven like an angel, because (1) he's Jewish, and (2) he's accomplished, famous, prosperous, generous and joyful, and (3) he plays music!

They would have happily killed me, my child, the friends in the row of seats with me, just because we were there listening to Perlman play the violin.

Beethoven had never sounded so sweet to my ears, because I finally realized what was at stake.

Enjoy your travels!

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4. At 11:24am on 12 Sep 2008, WashingtonBrit wrote:
Nice piece overall. The deep divisions in this country on a relative handful of political matters oftens obscures the tremendous sense of community in this vast, amazingly diverse land. The sentiments expressed by these ordinary, obviously very decent, thougtful people in "small town Ameirca" are absolutely no surprise to me as a longtime observer of what Churchill called "The Great Republic."

I take issue with one, typically British snide aside: getting off the bus in a town whose claim to fame is something dumb like "the world's biggest thermometer" makes the author feel that he is "finally in America." The world class museums, symphonies, ballets and Universities in America's several world class cities is not "America." That would be like me getting beaten up by some gang of bald-headed, drunken, tatoo-ed yabos at a football pitch in a post-industrial Dickensian horror like Manchester or Leeds and saying "I am finally in England!"

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5. At 1:46pm on 12 Sep 2008, stephen_h222 wrote:
It's annoying that guys like Mark think that Iraq was still something to do with terroism, and it shows how effective the Republican fear machine really is. Doesn't matter that the men who were responsible for 9/11 were Suadi-Arabian, doesn't matter that Bin Laden is in Afganistan, doesn't matter that a Senate report said that there was no link between Saddam and terrorism, doesn't matter that he was no threat to the US, doesn't matter that the case for WMDs was weak. No, what matters is that he was a bad guy, which of course justifies anything.

If you believe in the rule of law, you believe that you must be punished for your crime. Saying that you're going after Saddam because of WMDs and terrorism, then finding out that he had nothing to do with either, then backtracking your justification to "well he was a bit nasty, wasn't he" just shows you have no real interest in justice at all, just revenge.

And of course, if being a "bad guy" is enough to justify invasion, occupation and death, then why not Mugabe? Kim Jong Il? Burmese leaders? The US doesn't give a damn about "bad guys", in fact it loves them if they support the US cause, just look at Pinochet. You can be as nasty as you like to your people and the US will love you. The only problem is if you oppose the US, then the only way to be safe is to have some Nukes. You don't see rumblings of a US invasion of North Korea, do you. WOnder why that is.

And to all those who say "mistakes were made in Iraq", try telling that to a mother of a murdered whild, tens or hundreds of thousands of times over. Imagine standing in front of them and saying "oops, got that a bit wrong didn't we". Puts the "crisis" of negative equity in perspective somewhat, doesn't it.

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6. At 3:59pm on 12 Sep 2008, shurahbeel1 wrote:
What can one say, the Americans complain and as always, did they ever realise that it was their government's dirty policies that started everything, let them stop dictating other nations and people and see, everything will stop. I say again the American Government is the biggest dictator in the world.

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7. At 6:04pm on 12 Sep 2008, JamieHeaney wrote:
We don't have t.v. When 9/11 took place though, we had our radios and internet. And once again, Jon, as a reporter you've bumped into a section of society who mindlessly repeat everything I heard and read that day. People don't all 'feel' the same. They 'listen' and 'repeat' the same. Faithful ditto heads.

When will people see that the same politicians who claim to be protecting them, are sending them off to die so that we can all have our burgers just a little cheaper than before.

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8. At 6:46pm on 12 Sep 2008, iceph03nix wrote:
"When will people see that the same politicians who claim to be protecting them, are sending them off to die so that we can all have our burgers just a little cheaper than before."

huh?

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9. At 7:06pm on 12 Sep 2008, Agent00Soul wrote:
I don't know if I buy the whole "we are all Americans" thing. If I go by what my passport says, then yes, I am American. But aside from citizenship I don't really know what being "American" means - certainly not enough to feel like I have anything in common with the people in Baker, CA!

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10. At 9:38pm on 12 Sep 2008, Corinini wrote:
This reaction, the feeling of "really being in America" is exactly what Europeans get wrong about America.

Yes, Baker CA is "really America", but guess what, so is Manhattan, Hollywood, Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago, and all those other places that are nothing like Baker, CA

There is no single identity that is "America"

Giong to another state is in a lot of ways like going to another country, different climate, different laws, different culture, different dialects.

Yes, Sept 11th brought us all together in our moment of pain, but we quickly split up again in terms of how to deal with the situation.

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11. At 02:32am on 13 Sep 2008, jonkellyusa wrote:
ysbytynewsjunkie, we've just the one driver. He's called Bo and he's from Tennessee. Really nice bloke. I'm starting to think I should have taken HGV driving lessons so I could help him out.

tucsonmike, really sorry that we're not coming to Tucson. It sounds great. I'm visiting Kingman and Phoenix soon, though, any advice?

Corinini, you're absolutely right that all these places are the real America. But Baker was unmistakably America. Venice, although I liked it, was basically Camden Town-by-the-sea.

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12. At 5:06pm on 13 Sep 2008, tucsonmike wrote:
Kingman is a good base for the Grand Canyon and other nature spots. It is known as the home of Actor Andy Devine. Otherwise, I was going to ask, "why Kingman?"

Phoenix is actually a huge Metropolitan area. In Tempe, you have the ASU campus. My favorite place is the downtown in the city of Chandler. There is a large Square with a bunch of businesses and the San Marcos hotel, where I have stayed. There is the Heard Museum, which has Native American artifacts. There is also Old Town Scottsdale.
I know a bunch of writers in the Phoenix area and could introduce you to some of them.

BTW, you have to drive through Tucson to get to Tombstone. I would be willing to meet the bus in Tombstone. That is a nice drive on the backroads.

If you have not read it yet I am going to give you a reading assignment. Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant. It is about much of what goes on in Middle America. If you want to figure out why John McCain chose Sarah Palin, read the book.
Also take a look @ his website.
http://www.joebageant.com/

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13. At 6:09pm on 13 Sep 2008, tucsonmike wrote:
Also take a look at Arizona Highways
http://www.arizonahighways.com/

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14. At 2:01pm on 14 Sep 2008, Abiquiu wrote:
If you want to see some real Hell's Angels go to Florence, AZ on February 18th or thereabouts. They gather for the day and ride around the State prison to commemorate the death of one of their own who was in prison.

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15. At 7:57pm on 15 Sep 2008, quotheTheAmerican wrote:
I know someone who is the same way and I live in a large(not too huge) city. She says Saddam was a Bad Guy and that the UN gave their permission to invade Iraq. Anyone who thinks starting a war and killing innocent Iraqi's in their own country is a good idea has lost their minds. If you really felt that bad about 9/11 you wouldn't want anymore bloodshed In The Name Of it. Not in YOUR name. Not in any Iraqi's name. Bush is the ONLY reason they're fighting in Iraq. Not because of Saddam/WMD, not because of bin Laden, not because of whoever else their Villain du Jour is. It's FOR Bush and no one else.
And PLEASE stop acting like armchair quarterbacks. You have NO idea if there's going to be another attack. How could you know what any terrorist is going to do? I don't. The Japanese only attacked us once and look where they are now. Good friends with us. Stop acting like everyone in an Islamic country is out for American blood.
If the US really wanted to protect Iraqi's from the Bad Man, dropping bombs on them makes about as much sense as dropping bombs on a concentration camp in WW2.
You want to protect them, get out of Iraq. Then maybe the REAL villains will leave too.
They weren't there before we invaded, but they sure are there now. Thanks, America!

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16. At 04:13am on 16 Sep 2008, Goingright wrote:
I couldn't agre more with Old South's comment and I commend Jon Kelly on his fair handling of the issues in this and other articles while on tour.

As to the war in Iraq, I was against it from the beginning but for different reason that are unimportant at this point in time. But to say that Saddam wasn't a terrorist is just plain ignorance gone to seed. He killed thousands with nerve gas, tortured thousands of his own people, invaded Kuwait, fired missles into Israel without provocation, and payed out cash rewards to families that managed to get one of their kids to strap a bomb to their chest and kill innocent civilians. What more do you have to do before you can qualify for the label?

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Hello, I’m Jon Kelly and this is my blog. I’m on the BBC election bus, travelling across the US asking where Americans want their country to go.

You can read our full coverage of the US elections here.