The Curious Existence of the Conservative "HickLib" Political Pundit

Rural America's worst friend. Liberal media's greatest ally.

The framing of discussions centered on rural America and its issues by the liberal political pundit class are, by and large, unkind. The impression presented is that “fly-over” country should be relegated as an afterthought when considering which parts of America are the important ones. The unnecessary gristle and fat of an otherwise nice steak of a country, if you will. These areas of the country only seem to gain attention from coastal elite liberal media during natural disasters or in the recent decade, browbeat them for casting too many votes for the Orange Man.

People in the Midwest and especially the South, are long used to the derision of the usual stereotypes of being racist, backwards, and strung out on fentanyl. When these tropes aren’t being deployed against them, the ire directed turns to mocking tradition, loyalty to God and family, and having ties to ancestral lands. Other times, the heartland is described with never-ending images of patriotic Friday night football games, Sunday dinners after church, and a simplistic folksy charm in every holler. While this is a caricatured picture painted by the cosmopolitan class, it has been the norm to see for anyone who follows socio political commentary. These sentiments aren’t one-offs, and are amplified by major figures on the Left.

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations”

- Then presidential candidate Barack Obama at a 2008 San Francisco fundraiser

This perception is somewhat expected from those ensconced in a worldview that revolves around seeing the powerhouses of influence centered in coastal cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and of course, Washington D.C. Nurtured by academia and popular media, most Progressives in the sociocultural commentary field arrive with an entrenched stereotype of fly-over country as nothing more than a cultural backwater.

What raises one’s curiosity is when this mindset presents itself from conservative pundits who are raised in small-town America. Those with real-world experience and knowledge of rural life. Many of these writers and public intellectuals attempt to differentiate themselves by showing more vitriol and scorn for the hometown than displayed from a big city New York or Los Angeles writer covering the same issues.

An apt moniker to describe this type is the “HickLib.”

What is a HickLib?

The HickLib description has some fluidity for a term that can have several meanings. Urban dictionary describes a HickLib as someone from a rural area with Progressive sensibilities and beliefs. This Substack essay ‘The HickLib Phenomena “mentions the cosmopolitan migration to the heartland, especially during the Covid era, of Progressives from major cities who adopt some characteristics of country life, yet deem it necessary to “instruct” the plebs on how things should be done in accordance to liberal dogma.

I have expanded the HickLib definition to include a type of writer or public intellectual whose roots and ancestry are from small-town America, mainly in the Midwest and South, but also from other rural areas in states not within that sphere of the heartland. Generally, those in this category go out of their way to denigrate and demean the people affected by whatever issue or problem they are giving commentary about — and much further than how most liberal-leaning pundit would do.

Ironically, despite the connection of Hick and Liberal in the name, HickLib attitudes aren’t relegated to Progressive-Liberal ideology. Some of the biggest HickLibs can be found in Conservative Inc.™️ outlets such as National Review.

Take Kevin Williamson, for example. Originally from Amarillo, Texas, he is famous for punching down at the rural working class. Here is a well-known article excerpt on his thoughts regarding what should happen to small communities beset by the forces of globalism and rust-belt deindustrialization:

“If you spend time in hardscrabble, white upstate New York, or eastern Kentucky, or my own native West Texas, and you take an honest look at the welfare dependency, the drug and alcohol addiction, the family anarchy — which is to say, the whelping of human children with all the respect and wisdom of a stray dog — you will come to an awful realization. It wasn’t Beijing. It wasn’t even Washington, as bad as Washington can be. It wasn’t immigrants from Mexico, excessive and problematic as our current immigration levels are. It wasn’t any of that.

Nothing happened to them…

The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible. Forget all your cheap theatrical Bruce Springsteen crap. Forget your sanctimony about struggling Rust Belt factory towns and your conspiracy theories about the wily Orientals stealing our jobs.” [Bold added for emphasis]

“They deserve to die,” “Negative Assets,” and “Dysfunctional” are the rhetorical phrases and descriptors Mr. Williamson used to sum up the worth of a community of fellow Americans struggling economically. If pressed on the harshness of the verbiage, he would surely give platitudes about tough love, or maybe explain how he’s offering concrete solutions according to conservative principles. A reasonable person reads this and recognizes these are just insults disguised as sophistry for the author’s true feelings for the ruralists he disdains.

Imagine a Progressive writing in this style on the plight of the working class in a blue state or city. It never happens, even in the most fevered dream would they dare castigate a part of their voting base in such a manner. Whatever the issue, be it educational attainment levels, economic conditions, or societal ills such as drug abuse or crime, would the affected group receive this level of scorn. No, a Progressive commentator finds 100 other factors at play for the resulting socioeconomic conditions. Familiar buzzwords like redlining, over-policing, legacy of slavery, lack of investing in the community — we know these tired phrases by heart at this point. Yet the Conservative HickLib will cheerfully pile judgment and condemnation squarely on the affected rural population, as if they rightfully deserve the situation they are in.

This isn’t to say problems in rural America should not or can never be addressed in a way that neither coddles harmful pathologies nor refrains from having a critical eye. A good example was Joe Bageant, a rural Progressive who accomplished this throughout his career. His observations in the book “Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War” , handled the struggles of rural life and economics without resorting to condemnation or vicious caricatures of the people living there. If a liberal can accomplish this, it shouldn’t be too much to expect this from conservative pundits as well.

The New York Times in-house “Conservative” writer David French (born in Alabama, raised in Kentucky) is an easy specimen to identify as a HickLib pundit who wraps his concern for rural Americans in a smarmy back-handed style of, “Oh look at these pitiful rubes.” With Harvard degree credentials he has built a career pretending to be the “Rural-Whisperer” for the cosmopolitan readers at NYT; thoughtfully explaining their plight as backwoods folks who just haven’t quite seen the Progressive light. That French is held up as an example of a Christian becomes farce when examining some of his viewpoints on morality.

“There are going to be Drag Queen Story Hours. They’re going to happen. And, by the way, the fact that a person can get a room in a library and hold a Drag Queen Story Hour and get people to come? That’s one of the blessings of liberty.”

- David French

These are just two examples of the Conservative HickLib pundit, yet the bigger questions are how one becomes a Conservative Inc.™️ HickLib, and what benefits are there to this style of observation.

Becoming a HickLib

The simplest way to explain what creates a HickLib comes down to one of the oldest human emotions: Resentment.

Growing up in rural America can be stifling to those who feel an innate disconnection to the customs and traditions. A sense of otherness can begin to develop for individuals who do not feel part of the culture. This usually starts in grade school, especially if one is considered different for being smarter than their peers.

This isn’t to say that educational aptitude should be viewed as an instant sign that someone will become resentful of their rural roots. Many intelligent students in rural areas go on to do great things in life, have good careers, and hold up their hometown or region as a place of pride and affection. But a subset carries bitterness for never having had a sense of belonging to these places long after they have left.

Obviously, not everyone holds endearment for where they come from, and this feeling extends beyond rural areas. Lots of people reinvent themselves after leaving home and going out into the world to make their mark. Unlike a HickLib, most do not parlay these experiences into a career of slander against the folks back home.

The Conservative HickLib commentator crowd utilizes this resentment to their benefit, especially when they conclude that it is advantageous to their professional standing. Ironically, they employ that sense of otherness they felt towards not being part of the rural communities they come from in a similar fashion when beginning a career as a political pundit.

Advantages in the corporate media world

The greatest advantage to being a Conservative HickLib figure working in liberal media is the access and quasi-acceptance that is gained. Claiming rural standing and bonafides with a peacocking stance of “From them, but not of them” grants status within Progressive media circles. This ensures the invitations to academic events, social affairs, and media appearances keep coming for whenever someone is needed who speaks fluent flyover language, but also doesn’t have too much affection and ties that would muddy the liberal narratives for these topics. This straddling of the line between liberal and conservative keeps them in demand.

Another edge this gives the HickLib is the ability to feign outrage when accused of not being a conservative. Any claim to the contrary is quickly met by them touting their credentials of being from rural areas and having traditional values as a shield of authenticity to deflect criticism. While holding Progressive viewpoints in every way except the title, this veil of conservative respectability provides cover to freely attack and criticize others on the Right.

Why this is harmful

Caricatures of rural culture and issues affecting flyover America are not helped by the Conservative HickLib pundit’s faux solidarity. This harm is compounded when Left-leaning media cheerfully point at the HickLib critiques of the heartland to justify whatever Progressive moral framing is required for the day. These Conservative Inc.™️ figures do more injury by reinforcing and amplifying disdainful attitudes towards rural America than any liberal outlet could imagine.

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