Confessions of an Elitist
I'm an unrepentant elitist. I must report that I even read the New York Review of Books and the London Times Literary Supplement. No kidding. I enjoy them. Not bragging, just confessing. I should have been out more playing in the fresh air when I was a kid. And most of all I deeply admire literacy and rationality in others. See, I have enough guts to start a sentence with an and? Only an elitist would do that. It's the confidence that allows us (or is it we?) elitists to toss out the rules and live by our own notion of what makes a good life or a good sentence. But what I don't have this week is patience with those who have come down hard on Barack Obama by calling him an elitist (read: snob) for making a clumsy but rational and compassionate statement about those people who cannot escape the crushing misfortune of unemployment with its debt and despair; a statement of concern for people who lack health care, and who are forced to live by the first rule of George Bush's America which states, "get rich quick or get out of sight and die quietly."
If you don't believe that small-town America is suffering from despair take a drive through some of those quaint old New England villages with their iconic white churches and their moribund Main Streets that were killed years ago by some massive Kmart mall a few miles away, a mall in which almost nothing is sold with a "made in the USA" label. It's hard to find a town without a storefront that carries the ubiquitous sign "Drug Rehab Center." It's a sign more frequently seen than "Fresh Apple Cider and Maple Syrup sold here." Small-town America is hurting. And when Obama pointed that out it was a humane judgment about the cramped and desperate lives of so many people who live far from the more prosperous cities and their opportunities. His rivals, Clinton and McCain, have tried to turn his somewhat awkward observation into a fatal political blunder. And they are doing a good job of it, word twisting is a highly competitive Olympic sport in which Republicans excel, but a gal like Hillary can easily compete. The rip snortin' gun totin', beer guzzlin' Hillary Hell Raiser, trained to shoot straight during her heroic counter-insurgency exploits in Bosnia, also knows best what the poor feel and need. Didn't she go to Wellesley College and take Miss Witherspoon's Compassion 101 course? This elitist charge about Obama has been picked up and treated with the usual intellectual shabbiness by a mainstream press, and its right wing pundits. The conservative press really wants us to believe that the world is made up of the caring rich (Bush, and McCain) and the happy poor, so that nobody does anything to alter the way things are.
John McCain -- no elitist he -- but a world class opportunist -- has picked up Hillary's song and is singing it loud for all the world to hear. He once did a lousy imitation of Barbra Streisand, but his attempt to impersonate Hillary is far better, he gets the scolding, self-congratulating tone just right. Listen to his new commercial which attacks Obama for his elitism, so filled with the glee of gotcha politics, with the bully boy chuckle scarcely concealed underneath. McCain, who succeeded in financing his ambitions by divorcing one wife and marrying upwards to his rich Cindy doesn't think that Obama has a clue about the white, rural poor. After all, how can a poor black kid ever know what poor white people feel? Hunger, fear, and desperation obviously have different DNA in black and white folks.
Yes, I've had my own problem with Obama's cool demeanor in the past but I see it now for what it is; the careful manner of a man who occasionally puts up a protective shield between himself and the world. And well he should. Let's cut to the chase, as they used to say in Hollywood. What the elite-mongers are actually doing is calling Obama an uppity ni**er and he knows it. What they are saying is "How dare this black man who was raised by a single mother on food stamps and managed to make his way through Harvard pass judgment on those poor whites who didn't have his good fortune in being born black and poor?" Why can't he be more like that decent Colin Powell who took his orders from Bush and spread his lies before the United Nations and then went home to choke on them? Or more like Condi who does a little tap dance with the truth every time she is called before Congress to testify about her egregious failures of judgment? That's the way decent black folks are supposed to behave in government these days.
If elitist means that you were against the Iraq war from the start because you were informed enough to see the horror ahead, then I am an elitist, as were so many in this country, particularly Barack Obama. For me being elitist means making intelligent judgments and rational distinctions and trying to understand the dilemma and the concerns of those who haven't gotten the breaks. Okay, I'm an elitist. But I'll sock anyone in the nose who dares to call me a snob.
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Apparently the elitism charge against Obama is nothing new:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/obama/000317/
Unfortunately it may have worked in that election as well...
He lost that but won the senate two years later. I was at one of his fund-raisers. Rush is by the way very well connected within the community.
It is easy to paint a candidate with an excellent education as "elite" but difficult to ensure that he or she appears out of touch. "Unfortunately" for Hillary, it is not working this time...
What bothers me the most about talking about the people in the way Obama did was the complete lack of empathy for people that came through. He recently had to defend his faith. I was amazed when, in turn, he's put people in the position of having to defend their faith as more than a panacea for their economic woes. I like to think of campaigning as a kind of heavy-handed dialogue. The candidate gets to have most of the air time, but then the voters communicate back how THEY see it, too. Usually, with their feet headed to vote.
Elitists often discuss people as though they were not present and will never learn of their remarks. LOL* It's actually pretty ridiculous to assume that in today's world of instant communication and u-tube. It really doesn't matter what the content is: the fact is that none of us likes to be "typical white women" or "bitter people clinging to guns and religion." It could be true, but try telling a middle-aged person that he's acting as though he's having a mid-life crisis and see, then, if that guy still wants you to go to lunch with him.
I don't understand how a comment that was driven by his saying that they have been treated badly & cynically by politicians who are only interested in exploiting them, and so have good reason to be bitter, is "lack of empathy." If you read his statements more carefully (instead of listening to how they are spun), you can see that he is in fact sympathizing with the plight and the political cynicism of these people. So many people seem to completely twist what he was saying- are you thinking, or just getting your buttons pushed by what might feel like politically incorrect words?
While the talking points of your candidate, as well as McCain's now, may include "elitism," the actual comments by Barack did not. His rather simple statement is in my mind accurate. Yellen simply brings these talking points back to reality with real issues.
The war, the economy, the issues of trade, are things that the current candidates have had an opportunity to discuss and act upon. Clinton voted for the war. Clinton didn't do anything striking for the economy. Clinton apparently has much of her campaign, including Bill, working for the Columbian trade agreement.
Perhaps they'll want to have lunch with him as we head into the election, after Hillary recognizes reality.
AnninCA, I feel as if the roof is caving in because I'm pretty sure that I agree with you on this (who knew that was even possible). Obama absolutely should have a)reworded this message to say that Republican elites are using the sincerely held religious beliefs of many Americans (not just in small towns and not just whites) to pull them along for a ride that works against their interests as workers, consumers, and citizens. And b)he should have been addressed this remark to working class whites rather than acting as chief anthropologist to wealthy fundraisers trying to explain poor and working class whites to them.
Rational thinking is an acquired taste. Nothing in popular culture is intended to cultivate critical thought. Au contraire, in a consumption driven economy we are constantly programmed to consume based on the most primitive emotional appeals. No wonder the political process has not moved beyond the "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" level of name-calling of the late 19th century. Political campaigns are sales campaigns. They do not prosper if they raise the bar. Moreover, negativism breeds cynicism, which paralyzes marginal voters, ceding the election to special interest groups that show up to vote their issue (guns, abortion, gay marriage, etc).
The Willie Horton smear on Dukakis was a classic emotional appeal as crude as those of yore. (Dukakis had nothing to do with his release--but what if he had?) GHWB shamelessly dragged out a blatant racist message and voila! his 19 point gap vanished. In the Atwater/Rove era there are lies, damned lies and politics. I can hardly wait to see what the repugs throw at Obama (or Hillary) in the fall. It will go well beyond the Muslim, unpatriotic, elitism crap we've sampled so far.
Mr. Yellin, you have become my favorite blogger with this - as you refer to it - cutting to the chase blog. You couldn't have gotten it righter if you tried....in the words of the late James Stewart. Barack Obama is one of the most amazing people to come on the political scene of any race, creed or gender. He can change the face of American diplomacy among other things if we have the good sense to elect him.
"If elitist means that you were against the Iraq war from the start because you were informed enough to see the horror ahead..."
Well no, I don't think that's it. I suspect it's more like...
... thinking that other Americans are too stupid and pathetic to handle their lives on their own, and that the only way they can survive is to have Momma Government step in to make everything "fair" and "even" for them.
... looking down on Americans who prefer NASCAR & beer to art exhibits & cabernet, or looking down on Americans who prefer to work with their hands than in an office.
... thinking that anyone who disagrees with you politically is ignorant, stupid and/or easily led, an attitude that may have worked in a grade school playground, but not in the adult world.
... being convinced that having more "education" makes someone more qualified to voice their opinion than someone who spends more time producing in the real world.
... imagining that taking part in "the finer things in life" somehow makes you a "better" or "happier" person, when in fact it does neither. I suspect it's more likely, in fact, that enjoying the "simpler" things in life is a more accurate indication of true contentment.
Just a guess there. But I think that's what they're talking about.
Well, Mac, if that's true ... if that's really what they are accusing Obama of based on this one small sound bite ... and most important, if they want us to believe he is somehow MORE guilty of these sentiiments than Clinton or McCain, then they are even more deluded than I thought they were.
Politicians? Deluded?
NO WAY! LOL
Yep, those are what it means to be elitist, but HRC and JSM have hijacked the word to mean exactly what the OP is said in the quote you have in your post. Exactly like how she has hijacked the word 'misspoke' to mean bare-faced lies.
"[T]he only way they can survive is to have Momma Government step in to make everything "fair" and "even" for them."
Do you mean like the banking industry?
Personally, I like racing and art, as well as beer and wine. You can't call me exclusive! "Unpatriotic" is sometimes equivalent to stupid no? Though the eduction that shines is one where communicating with and learning to understand people unlike ourselves is most important.
I "guess" that it is nearly impossible to ascribe happiness. It is hard enough to achieve it, although the best things in life are free, and they live everywhere including cities and rural areas.
My vote is one held since the beginning of the war. I said that I will not vote for anybody who has voted for this war. Barack didn't even have a chance. Tis luck I guess.
You have to be kidding me! What a stupid statement to make.
This "elitist" guff is just more nonsense that passes for news from the talkocracy. In my 61 years, this election has been absolutely the worst in terms of information related to actual issues that we've received from those who write and or blather for a living, either in the press, on radio or TV or, today, on the Internet. It's a real conspiracy of nonsense.
Brilliant. Actually there are some mixed metaphors here. Elitism is tactically stupid. It tends to provoke reactions among the good old boys. Rationalism as distinct from elitism leads one to the truth. Reading, analysis, thoughtful deliberation, intellectual curiosity are all considered inferior to faith in the mind of many Evangelicals. Those with true faith, it is believed, have no need to resort to such potentially fallible human endeavors. Faith is what saves you. So whenever the conclusions of rationalism conflict with those of faith, they are viewed with suspicion and mistrust.
As you know, GB was not known for his orthodoxy. The problem with mixing faith with politics is that it leads to arbitrary and frequently wrong thinking in the name of prevailing wisdom and orthodoxy. I think Barack handled all of this brilliantly. And I believe he is a Rationalist not an Elitist. Elitists are frequently more impressed with themselves than with rationalism. Barack Obama does not fit the mold. Ironically Evangelicals are the worst kind of elitists if you think about it, something they rarely see in themselves, mostly because they mistakenly blame the rationalists "elitism" for their avoidance of the movement in the first place. Actually it isn't elitism that lead them to drinking lattes instead of Joe, or driving Volvos instead of GMC pick up trucks. It was rationalism. Had any Folgers recently?
Giordy
Fortunately, our founding fathers were in the majority - "elitists" and that was surely a temporal requirement for our birth. The problem and the inherent hypocrisy is that Elitist Obama wants to be viewed as having a populist and pluralistic message. It's not the elitism that is objectionable, it's the condescension heard within his message and the incongruity of presenting himself as both; elitist and populist.
Elitist and populist? Hmm. Kind of like FDR? Eh?
FDR was not a populist but he was responsible for public programs that fit a populist mode. He was not, however, a duplicitous contradiction nor was he a condescending hypocrite. To place Obama on the same page as FDR is a stretch only his one minded converts can make.
If that is really what you deduced, fine. I only hope you didn't arrive with an agenda and is now pouncing on a gaffe to try and justify your prejudice. What i deduced from his comments, and what Mr Goldman who was there when he said it deduced, was that Obama was trying to understand and empathise with the people of Pennsylvania a little, by hypothesizing why and how they come about making their decision to vote.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-coleman/i-was-there-what-obama-re_b_96553.html
Why is it always necessary to defer to "these salt of the earth" types, or the average American in the midwest, etc? Have you ever been to some of these small towns, etc? It isn't all that awe inspiring. In fact, it can be down right scary. Republicans play to this crowd year after year. They don't LIVE with this crowd. They just exploit them. And the reason they're able to get away with this is because most of these people haven't been 6 feet out of there little towns. They are ignorant to the outside world and as a result, they have contempt for it. God, Guns and Gays will trump nuance, detail and critical thinking all of the time. And yes, I'm bitter!
Unlike bitter and resentful conservatives I admire literacy too. I encourage those who are educated to come out of the closet. We do not have to pretend to be stupid to be liked anymore.
Thank you Mr. Yellen,
Clinton whose ethics are no different than neo-cons is attempting to change the issue for substance to distraction... she is arguing people should vote against their own real and essential interest because she and McCain argue that Obama is elitist...the real issues for this country are good judgment and decision making and he has demonstrated this repeated, particularly opposing the Iraq War. She want people to think she is a survivor of sniper fire, a duck hunter, a shot and beer kinod of girl.... and these lies are so important that people should vote against their own interests including the possibilities of their sons and daughters dodging real sniper fire and other experiences of wars which are unnecessary, or further loss of jobs due to trade deals pushed by her husband....against their interests people are suppose to look at a poorly chosen word or two, and make that override all else... there are those that will be foolish enough to do this, but rational people should not care about this distractions and vote for their future well being and the well being of their children... something the Bushs and Clinton have a long history of selling out to foreign interests, corporations, and special interests... the 100M$ was not for nothing, and where is the 2007 tax return, and the 500M$ for the foundation was not for nothing either, where is the donor list, WH papers, the earmarks... this is really where elitism resides.
I was always against this war and I am not an elitist, not in the sense of looking down my nose at small town people who have religion and hunt, or are afraid of illegals taking their jobs, etc. I am right there with them, except that I don't own a gun. I feel this election is making our nation insane--with various groups accusing others of vile things. This is like group therapy gone wrong, on steroids. Phooey to the whole thing. But we're hooked on watching the meltdown, aren't we? The majority of people are on some drug to make them feel a certain way or not a certain way, from Prozac to Viagra. We are on a thin line here. And all of our candidates are encourging these nutty hateful feelings for other groups. To say that small town people turn to religion because they are bitter about their lives--so? Isn't that why people always turned to God, for help in times of deep distress? Can Obama fix the deep distress which turns folks to God? He is NOT God. Not anytime I looked recently anyway.
Well, the first step to "fixing" anything is to diagnose it, correct? So, he may not be able to fix things, since it is a terrible mess - but he can make a start.
That's a heads up on the other two, who seem to feel that if they pat the poor people on the back and have a shot, everyone can pretend to be "optimistic" and "roll their sleeves up" and no one does anything.
OK, I'll come out of the closet. I think many Americans are not so bright yahoos. I haven't decided if they are born stupid, or just undereducated, but some people do not seem to be able to think rationally, or for themselves. They hang onto religion in order to believe they won't become decayed matter when they die, and they think that God especially created America just for them. You know, God Blessed America, not any other country. So am I elitist? That would be hysterical because while I am reasonably well educated, I have no connections, and live just around the poverty level. I keep most of this inside, most of the time, but I secretly wonder what the heck is wrong with people.
So, yes, I do agree with what Barack Obama says, but think his statements at the fundraiser were probably politically inexpedient. Elite, elitist, cool, protective -- it doesn't matter -- just get me an intelligent, rational thinker in the White House. Gettin tired of the Bubbas.
Potentally bright people could become deluded in all the confusion propagated during the last two administrations. My theory is that their minds are no longer free to believe what they know is the truth before them. We are fortunate that we don't carry the shackles they do.
Well, Kat, I agree with you that we've lost touch with the fine art of thinking in our society. But, I also find it sad that this so often gets subsumed into conversations about "hanging on to religion," as if, somehow, having a reasonable faith is an oxymoron.
Candidates say the American public want "someone they can relate to to be their president." Well, I don't care if my president is someone I might want to have a beer with or who'll hunt with me. I don't care about their bowling skills. I want someone who is intelligent, thoughtful, idealistic, hopeful, and able to take into account global realities that this administration has purposefully ignored.
I've had enough of the tripe that flows out of the Beltway into the MSM and out onto my dinner table (or, more often, TV tray). I've been pandered to, lied to, bs'd, and confused by the barrage of little political dingleberries posing as delicate M&Ms. But I'm through.
I just want someone smart enough to see through the smoke and mirrors that is our current reality and to cut through the fog long enough to restore America's respect and honor before a world that is waiting for a voice of reason to rise up and bring out our best and brightest.
And, as a Christian, I believe it's my duty to pray that such a person will be elected, but also to cast my vote in such a way that it happens.
Cute, but not too clever.
All this talk about Obama being crucified for "telling the truth," for saying things "we all know are true." All of that may be so, but the fact is that when he did so he made the small town people of Pennsylvania sound like a tribe of ignorant primitives living in the Amazon jungle. You know, like they use simple stone tools, wear animal skins and palm fronds for clothing, and think the planes flying overhead are giant shiny birds.
He spoke about them like they weren't even in the room, when everyone know that in today's world everyone is always in the room.
Well you be sure to be offended the next time your boss discusses your work performance to his peers or superiors while you aren't in the room. How patronizing!
Your comment is a real head-scratcher. So you're saying that when Obama was making these comments to his wealthy San Francisco donors in Pac Heights, he was speaking to the superiors of the Pennsylvanians he was insulting? You need to go look up patronizing in the dictionary, or if vocabulary difficulties aren't the problem, only post at the HP when you're lucid.
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