From a Newsweek column by Michael Hirsh:

[A] substantial portion of the new nation [the South and much of the West and Southern Midwest] developed, over many generations, a rather savage, unsophisticated set of mores. Traditionally, it has been balanced by a more diplomatic, communitarian Yankee sensibility from the Northeast and upper Midwest. But that latter sensibility has been losing ground in population numbers--and cultural weight. The coarsened sensibility that this now-dominant Southernism and frontierism has brought to our national dialogue is unmistakable.

So here's my question: It sounds like the author is trying to align himself with the "diplomatic" "Yankee sensibility," and against the "savage, unsophisticated set of mores" of various other states. But is that a "diplomatic" approach or a "coarse[]" one? The answer seems rather unmistakable to me.

Thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer.