Embrace Your Inner Elitist

He eats arugula. He looks great in a suit. He's not a good bowler. He asked for orange juice instead of coffee in that diner. He is educated, well-read, articulates himself brilliantly and doesn't lose his temper. What an arrogant prick this guy is.

If you're rejecting Obama because he's "an elitist," then I'd like to ask you to turn in your passport and leave the country immediately. The smart people would like it back.

If after seven years of the schmuck you want to have a beer with you've found yourself longing for the good old todays, you're just a retard. You heard me. Send me all the angry notes you want because you've had seven years of that neighborly fella who pretends to clear brush on his "ranch," seven years of that regular guy who praises the Pope by saying (and I'm not making this up), "Awesome speech, Your Holiness," seven years of that down-to-earth C-student who doesn't read the paper or use words with more than two syllables, and seven years of the kind of macho swagger that should be reserved for old John Wayne movies and the occasional aging porn star, and you still want more of that everyman horseshit. If that's true then you deserve everything you get. The problem is that the rest of us don't.

If after seven years of joining the rest of the world in ridiculing your own president (the one who promised to bring integrity back to the White House) and living with the results of regular guyness -- a swirling toilet of an economy and a war without end -- you still reject a candidate because he did well on his SAT score, you've just plain overstayed your welcome. Please. I beg you. Move to a country where mediocrity is applauded. Like Texas.

Comments

[russpix]

Boy, does Michael NAIL it. We allowed the last two elections to be grabbed by fear-mongering, selfish oilmen who pandered to the fear of the ignorant and the self-righteousness of the born-agains. Unbelievable. If for no other reason than a thirst for variety, this time I want a president who's actually got some brainwaves moving around. I have plenty of people with whom I can have a beer or a cup of coffee. What I DON'T have, and haven't had in more than seven years, is a leader.

I hope Barack Obama is our next president. And I hope he puts a Starbucks in the White House. In fact, I hope he spends time there every day, reading big, thick books and sipping lattes. With his pinky elevated.

[Zanti]

Elitists are necessarily smarter than anti-elitists? Good grief, man, don't you read the blog posts around this place?

[scottarino]

...but he's a washington insider who's more than happy with the status quo government. So how is he that much different than the last democrat president? None. NO vote from me for Obama, Clinton, or McCain. These are the same ol same ol we've been seeing since 1980. There is no real choice for change in DC except for Nader. Every liberal knows it in their heart. Think policy people, not the bullshit you're told to think on TV, radio.....­.....uuugg­g...cough .....hack.­...."Blogg­ers". Policy is ALL, I repeat, ALL THAT MATTERS. THINk POLICY.

[N8Ma]

Yeah and I happen to like Barack's approach to POLICY. That's why I'm voting for him:
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf

pg. 9: "No political appointees in an Obama administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administra­tion."

pg. 11: "Guaranteed Eligibility: No American will be turned away FROM ANY INSURANCE
PLAN because of illness or pre-existing conditions­."

pg. 16-17: "Invest in U.S. Manufacturing: The Obama comprehensive energy independence and climate change plan will invest in America’s highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. Obama will also provide assistance to the domestic auto industry to ensure that new fuel-efficient vehicles are built by American workers."

Go cry to Papa Nader about how every single business owner in this country is actually a Nazi and leave the running of the country to those capable of actually changing things.

[Adjective]

I agree with this completely. I don't want a drinking buddy to be my president. I want one that's way smarter than I am. (And by the way, I think shrub would make a horrible drinking companion, and not just because of his his born-again inspired sobriety.)

[nellie]

PC — not! LMAO!

[sareader]

Ouch! This Texan and a whole bunch of other Texans garnered Obama a bigger delegate win here than Clinton. We're actually pretty "awesome."

[WAstateliberal]

She wasn't talking about you and you know it. Obama Texans rock, and you know that too.

[apoyo]

Don't mess with Texas!

[mlaiuppa]

I love you, Michael Seitzman.

[kira181]

Anyone who's ever tried to stop smoking knows exactly why Obama asked for orange juice and didn't want to even go near the coffee.

These brilliant TV pundits -- always hearing zebras.

[apoyo]

It was incredible when idiot pundits tried to make an issue out of drinking orange juice! Just one of the reasons I no longer listen to these airheads.

[bigfated]

Who....I wonder....­could have said it better????

[sanang]

So Obama wanted orange juice instead of coffee? WHY IN THE HELL IS THIS IMPORTANT? I'll swear....t­he news media and political pundits can be so stupid in paying attention to all these damn trivial things that go on.

[splittingred]

Not to burst the media's bubble, but isn't coffee more expensive than orange juice?

[bbdmartin]

HEY...I LIVE IN TEXAS! :D

[suekzoo]

Hurry! Get out now! The END is coming!

[ArkieInCT]

Mr. Seitzman:

Can you point me to where Hillary is either a) and idiot, or b) selling herself as one? I think it is widely known that she graduated with honors from Yale Law School, the most exclusive JD credential in this country.

Your apparent concern that without Mr. Obama as president our poor country will languish under an ignorant incompetent are ill placed. Just as I intend to support Mr. Obama enthusiastically if he is the nominee of the Democratic Party, I likewise look forward to your sucking it up, bucking up and supporting Hillary full-throatedly if she gains our nomination.

The only way she will do so, by the way, is if Sen. Obama craters. If he does, it will be his fault. In either event, a Democratic president naming replacements for Justice Stevens, and possibly also Justices Ginsburg, Souter and Kennedy, is far to be preferred to a Republican doing the same, to say nothing of countless lower court judges. Let's keep our focus here, please.

Best,

an Arkie in Connecticut

[Roses]

Thank you for your sentiments, you sound like a good human being. However, I don't think that this article was downgrading Hillary, it was about George Bush. I think that what he was pointing out was how poisonous a furthering of Bush's policies (McCain) would be for our country and the thoughts that those with smarts would be a bad president. It is exactly that fact that will bring me in November to support and vote for the Democratic nominee whether it is Hillary or Obama, the most intelligent people. I trust that they would both be good presidents. Until that time (like you) I am supporting the person that I think would be best for our country. Despite the media's best efforts, when people really think about it, more people feel like us, then the other way
Obama '08

[WAstateliberal]

So true. Hillary supporters are starting to hallucinate. This article had nothing, NOTHING to do with Hillary. I guess that was what set Arkie off. Hillary and her supporters don't like to be ignored. Attention=relevancy (real or imaginged).

"I won't be IGNORED, Dan!"--Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction

[MizLiz]

Yes, Our Hillary is an elitist too. There's no way in God's green earth I'm going to believe she comes home, kicks off her shoes, downs a couple of shots with a beer chaser and turns on Wrestling. I hate politicians who do that phony shit.

[Lemeritus]

There's a scene in Tod Browning's disturbing "Freaks", where the circus sideshow performers chant: "We accept her! One of us! Gooble gobble! One of us!" In every election cycle, America seems to demand that candidates "act down" to some mythical common demoninator as a rite of passage. I've never understood why our country doesn;t reward acting "up" -- particularly when the candidates have risen to national prominence by dint of hard work and intelligence, as have both Clinton and Obama. I just don't understand how "elitist" got such a bad rap.

[DrToketee]

ArkieInCT. she flunked the Washington, D.C. bar exam. Also, she graduated with only departmental honors, not overall honors. And Yale is "cow college" compared to Harvard. I thought you would have known that. And she was FIRED from one of her early jobs, particularly with a House investigation committee at the age of 27. This is no intellectual all-star.

And it's pretty clear from this former college professor that she has severe deficiencies in making coherent reasoned arguments. Intellect is not education, it is the ability to use education effectively and successfully. Her intellect has failed her.

Take away her attacks and Obama would then skin her alive intellectually.

[missjabez]

I guess I'm naive enough to be impressed by degrees from Ivy League schools. However, I do agree Obama is smarter than Miz Hillary--and maybe that's one of the things that pisses her off about him. HIs arguments are grounded in logic and he expresses himself better.

[tc399]

"I likewise look forward to your sucking it up, bucking up and supporting Hillary full-throatedly if she gains our nomination­."

Then she'll be able to use all that experience she got dodging sniper fire in Bosnia when she tries to get into the White house.

Since when does a JD from Yale confer honesty, morality or ethics on anyone? Lying about something you know is on film is idiocy. So is running for President while you are married to Bill Clinton. So is condemning the War in Iraq after voting FOR it every time the matter was brought to a vote. So is having your chief campaign strategist as well as your husband in the pay of the Columbian government. You cannot even point out any part of her stump speech that is completely true.

[missjabez]

Hi Arkie:

I'm an Arkie, too--in SC!

Hillary is very well-educated and intelligent;nobody can deny that. Right now she's trying to sell herself as some female version of Archie Bunker for votes. For those who fall for her shtick, all I can say is let the buyer beware.

Obama doesn't try to hide the fact that he's intelligent and educated, not that this is anything to be ashamed of. After 7 years of His Dumbness, I think it would be a novelty to have a smart president. But then, I never had a problem with John Kerry, either.

[ckemp]

I think we're saddled with this problem for the same reasons that people like Barack Obama (and many of his supporters) never get to serve on a jury. Attorneys like to have a group of people easily swayed and pinned by a simple, compelling story, who aren't likely to mess up the delivery of this message to their fellow jurors. With these tight races, we are down to the population that is easily persuaded by, for example, fear or nativism or 'people-like-us' issues. We usually see this in general elections, with one party rather than another scooping up the fear vote. With a tight primary and one candidate willing to play this role, we're in front of the jury a little earlier than usual. Probably just what Edwards was thinking about his strengths as a candidate, by the way.

It would be interesting to do some polling about rate of actual jury (not grand jury) service differences between Obama and Clinton supporters, perhaps control for age/years eligible. Gallup has just done it for education, but this would also be a revealing set of numbers.

[WAstateliberal]

Speak for yourself. When I pick a jury I want them smart, smart, smart. I want doctors, teachers, managers, etc. Just no engineers, please, and for God's sake no other lawyers. Talk about elitist...­.:)

[scire]

yes, an elitist in the White House would be nice for a change. And I love that this guy actually uses big words. I love how he assumes we're all as intelligent as he is.

[tc399]

Son, that asshole isn't from Texas. His daddy bought some property so he could get tax breaks on his oil wells and the son could have Saudi Sheiks land on his personal airport and buy him off. But he is no more a Texan than Hillary Clinton is Mother Theresa. I realize the last few politicians out of Texas...or maybe all of them since LBJ were carpetbaggers. But Texans are trusting folks and carpetbaggers sometimes get into office. We can't hang 'em all anymore since we started having to give them fair trials first. No one is willing to sit in some courtroom for an hour for every trial. We're thinking about just having one trial and then come on up to Washington and clean out the Congress, all the Bush appointees and talk to the Supreme Court about reinstating the Constitution. We'll bring a Ranger with us just in case there's trouble.

[MizLiz]

tc399, it's nice to hear someone post the plain unvarnished truth. Dubya is a WASP blueblood, who coasted through life in an alcoholic haze, enabled by his daddy. GOD, what did this country do to deserve such a failure?

[tc399]

We kicked the Dems out of office as a clear signal we didn't want the President lying under oath, being disbarred while in office and selling pardons. When the Republicans came in, Dubya was appointed by the Supreme court his daddy had stacked...­although the supreme court isn't supposed to be involved in elections, they stole the Presidency. Then Bush did whatever he wanted because there weren't enough Dems left to override anything he wanted, so a lot of it didn't even have to go for a vote.

It's a good thing, because the Republicans were either having affairs with underage pages, playing footsie in public bathroom stalls, selling their influence, or taking free trips provided by companies they did favors for. Like the oil companies. Our economy in in the toilet, we are in a war with the citizens of a country we are illegally occupying, and we are a trillion dollars in debt. That trillion dollars WAS SUPPOSED to be my
Social Security and Medicare. Gas is almost $5 a gallon and will go to ten, but the oil companies made the largest profits EVER RECORDED in February, 2008 because Dubya is letting them. I can't afford food....it­'s beginning to be rationed anyway....­and Bush blames Congress. It's never him, it's always someone else's fault even though HE is THE DECIDER!