Comments on: Liberal Elitism

By: Elisha

Elisha — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:49:44 +0000

It is truly amazing to read how some of you view yourselves, as well as others. For those of you that consider yourself part of the elite group, I am truly sorry for you. For those of you that consider the “common working class” to be stupid or racist, you really don’t have a clue. There are no racial overtones at the tea parties, it isn’t about race. Maybe you should get off your pedelstals and find out what is really going on and who the working class people really are. They are doctors, nurses, attorneys, teachers, farmers, secretaries, labor workers, the list goes on and on. What they are not, is stupid. I also find it amazing for those who speak as if being an elitist is something of an achievement, or that being one means you are better than others. I did not know that being out of touch with reality was such a great achievement, or that money makes you wiser, or a better person.

By: Scholars and Rogues » Echoblowcation: Nota Bene #2009-41

Scholars and Rogues » Echoblowcation: Nota Bene #2009-41 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:27:44 +0000

[...] character you can glean lots of drama from” … “[T]hat’s why the Village destroyed Howard Dean” … “[W]hat we’re looking for are people with overwhelming personal problems [...]

By: Katie Corbet

Katie Corbet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:46:04 +0000

The fact is that there is very little differences between the parties. The debates we watch at CNN and other cable shows are done for show only- a mere brand. Many of these talking point strategists are actually good friends-they they get invited to each other’s homes, have dinner together (go to any 5 star restaurant in DC to see it), etc. The truth is that these people live in a different world that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. They are professional mind screwers and have all the knowledge of 100 years of advertising science. Of course there are some honorable people such as Kucinich, Grayson, Sanders and others, but these people are marginalized by their own very peers. Short of a major revolution, nothing will ever change.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:37:08 +0000

Hell, at one site today, this essay of yours had the liberal elite turning against you as a concern troll.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:36:33 +0000

I think Mike Elk’s take is accurate. I think many of our liberal elite hold an actual contempt for the people they claim to want to work for.

Look at what the teabaggers were originally upset with. A lot of liberals are very upset as well with what happened to the stimulus.

Quite often, the teabaggers will say X, and I’ll find liberal bloggers saying the exact same thing at the same time as dismissing the teabaggers as racist cavemen.

I don’t know Elk’s age, but Mike, I think in 20 years you’ll understand a bit more about the constant assault from LIBERALS that the working man and woman has had the past 20 years. From Free Trade to overpaying SS bailouts to out sourcing and offshoring and the liberal elite were there to back and justify free trade. Any call to make trade FAIR was met with derision of protectionism by many liberal economists.

Suddenly, global warming comes along, and the same liberal economists and elite suddenly want tarriffs again in the form of cap and trade.

When anyone who has worked for more than a decade brings this up, they are labeled angry, middle-aged, and if they are a man or white it’s even worse.

By: Larry G

Larry G — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:55:50 +0000

This was obvious from the beginning. When Obama first took office, he took the stage with a phalanx of economic “leaders” designed to impress us with his gravitas and commitment. There was Paul Volcker. There was, I don’t know, the head of this company and that company. There were bankers. There were economists. There were about 20 of them. Not a working person in the lot. It’s pathetic.

By: General Winfield Stuck

General Winfield Stuck — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:29:33 +0000

I grew up in a trailer park in east Kentucky, so I do have a clue. I wouldn’t disagree generally on some snobbery from some liberal corners. And not all tea bagger types come from such humble beginnings. But they are the people they are regardless of where they came from, and there is no way on earth to reach most with inclusion and brushing aside the racist overtones of their message. It is deeply tribal for them, not about ideas, and liberals don’t belong in their tribe, and a black one makes many of them see red.

Some fights are not honorable, and fighting to appease or even acknowledge these folks for anything other that what they represent, which is by and large cultural rage that is not thought out any further than the tips of their noses, is giving credit to those who don’t deserve it for the sake of a vote. And hopeless as well.

By: rickpetes

rickpetes — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:34:39 +0000

I agree with much of what is written above. If you want a pretty good discription of life for the working class, I’d recommend Joe Baegent’s “Deer Hunting with Jesus” as a great primer. And there does exist an elitist class in both parties. The difference in the past has been the republicans ability to message policies that were harmful to the working class in ways that appealed to them, eg. Clear skies, Healthy Forest Initiative, No Child Left Behind, etc. All “sound” good. In fact, they are very good at using sound bites and the media to manipulate the ‘masses’. Bush, truely an elitist in every sense of the word (he had the money and the Ivy League credentials, even if he didn’t earn it or them), was still able to put out an image that he was just like one of them.

I think if Obama had started the healcare debate with “Medicare for Everyone”, he could probabaly have gotten the comprimise to what his actual initial proposal was.

By: Madmatt

Madmatt — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:05:16 +0000

Hey Mike – maybe it’s white trash calling anybody with a high school diploma Liberal Elite! Swords cut both ways! We “elite’s” (lol) called Palin trash because of her words and actions…not because she is a snowbilly! And how exactly are the conservative elites any better?

By: pablito

pablito — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:02:40 +0000

I’m with you, Mike. Howard Dean was my guy in 2004 and at the time it seemed so brazenly obvious that the mainstream media and Dem establishment did a number on him with “the scream.” He’s been fantastic through the health care reform debate, but it’s no surprise that he hasn’t been successful. I suppose the fact that it’s gotten as far as it has is to some extent attributable to his efforts, but what the Senate and House are offering is seriously weak tea compared to what Dean and others like him (Grayson, et al) have been hammering on.