Reclaim the Media: Bring Back the Elites

MSNBC's Chris Matthews Friday suggested that Barack Obama is "elite" in part because Obama was wearing sunglasses:

"Can Barack Obama, a man of elite education if not elite background, break into the middle class and talk regular? Can he talk to regular people in their kitchens tonight, in their living rooms?

[...]

Everybody thinks Barack is too cool. In other words, there he is with the shades, getting on the plane. A little bit too elegant, a little bit too proud of his own bearing. Is that a problem, that he's just too cool for words. In other words, elite."

Chris Matthews is wrong.

America loves its elites -- we love our sports stars, our movie stars, our rock stars and even our political stars.

John Kennedy was an elite. He came from an elite family, had an elite education, and he had the calm demeanor and the good fashion of a man who knew he was part of the intellectual and political elite. Americans didn't just love him they lionized him calling his administration Camelot -- the story of an elite king in an elite time.

If George W Bush has taught us one lesson, it's that the god-awful consequences of having the guy you want to have beer with running the most complex, powerful, and massive institution in the world, the US Government, is a terrible mistake.

John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1958; he was fifth from the bottom, 894th out of 899. He has no training at law. Sarah Palin attended 5 schools before getting a degree from North Idaho College that qualified her to be a TV sportscaster. North Idaho College takes pride in its "open-door" admissions policy. She also has no training at law.

Most of our great presidents have been trained in law from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to Lincoln to FDR and Clinton. Bush and Cheney have no legal training and we were told how great the MBA presidency would be.

It's been a disaster.

Barack Obama got his BA from Columbia University in New York and his JD from Harvard. While at Harvard he was president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. He was a professor of constitutional low at the University of Chicago. Joe Biden similarly has a JD degree.

It's time for an Elite presidency. It's time for the best and the brightest to once again lead this nation.

Comments

[gretchenart]

Amen!

[Travellini]

Branding Obama as an "elitist" (with a sneer) demonstrates the low level consciousness of Rebublicans as they actually denigrate education in order to make political points. What SHAMEFUL tactic! Sarah Palin demeans education at every opportunity because her "credentials" rest in her "commoner" image.

Republicans are playing into that age-old reverse snobbery that I hear among my "redneck" friends, who scoff at what they don't understand in order to feel better about themselves. My argument is, "you are an expert in your field (oil field, construction, ranching, etc.) At this moment, would you trust me to put in your septic system/oil rig/utility ditch/castrate your calves?" That get a round of hell-nos, and rightly so, and I readily admit to having no understanding of those examples. I play it up - is it harder than it looks, did it take a long time to learn the little tricks, can just anyone do your job? "Then why wouldn't you want the person with the best skills, understanding and instincts to run our government." I generally don't get anywhere at the time, but the seeds are planted.

In actual fact, McCain is the "elite" from old money/military/prestige ACCUSING Obama of "elitism" when Obama is the quintessential America story of welfare to Harvard to Washington - ALL by the use of his education and drive. What a ponzi scheme! Both Bushes uses this scheme as well. Disgusting!

[sharri]

Thom if I weren't married, I'd propose to you. I have said these exact things myself. As a previous commenter writes, I don't want a president I can have a beer with. i want to know that the fate of the US and possibly the world is in the hands of the smartest people available. And I have a little secret for the Palin lemmings. Smart people know their limitations and get people who are experts in special fields to fill in their gaps.

[takenawalk]

Thom; there are several different classes of elitism, Obama qualifies as a true educational elite - he educated himself to lead... what I think - everyone is zealous about his resolve in knowing himself - and its very obvious he has never sold his soul to the devil (of lies) and has stood strongly by not engaging with those that have no morals (the selfish ones that think their better than others)...Obama has worked hard and stayed focused with his beliefs of caring for others that don't have the ability to achieve as others do..He is more of an exceptional human being to be open to allow others their opinions and not condemn them for it (at least not publicly)..Its a no brain er that he needs to be the next potus.............

[ihavenobias]

Amen Thom, well said.

[BillORights1776]

Actually, I do want a President I want to have a beer with.

I don't want a President who I _could_ have a beer with.

[KaAp]

I hope to be able to elect someone who is brighter and more capable than myself. I do not want to have a beer with my leader, I do not want to see how "macho" my president is, I want a president to think, reason, deliberate and have the depth and breadth of understanding to be able to do extraordinary things. I do not want someone who is ordinary ...
And I certainly do not want to hang out with someone who shoots moose or gambles or graduates at the bottom of the class ... I want someone extraordinary ....I want Obama

[jessblau]

Amen.

[TexMex69]

I think once Barack is elected we'll see a more "matter of fact"/everyman tone in his speeches and persona. Compared to the "elitist" persona which people bring up.

The fact is that Barack MUST "sound" better educated and "elitist" for many people in our society to "accept" him as intelligent.

Just look at the polls and the percentages of voters who indicate race is a factor, even though in most cases they are of mixed ancestry also. It's unfortunate but true.

Regardless come Nov 4 BARACK will be POTUS!!!

[poeface]

This "elite" thing is just another way the GOP talks down to us.
Conflating social elitism with all other kinds.

[3fingerbrown]

This post provides the opportunity for me to make a stunning public admission: My name is 3fingerbrown and I am an elitist.

I believe that some people are smarter, more talented, more driven, and better educated than others. And I believe that these people should lead us, even if they have committed the unpardonable sin of inheriting money or attending an Ivy League university or--O horror of horrors!--studying in Europe.

I don't care if the president is someone I'd like to have a beer with, or if his cabinet "looks more like America." All I want is for the shrewdest, smartest, most widely accomplished people to be in charge of this country.

This kind of unabashed elitism, in which high achievement is rewarded and mediocrity marginalized, worked very well for this country in the years before "elite" became a dirty word. Now, with the very best women, gays, and members of ethnic minorities enabled to participate in the system as never before, elitism should work better than ever because the pool of elites to choose from is that much deeper.

Yes, I am an elitist. It was a relief to finally admit it.

[drthauer]

Lincoln was no elitist. TR? Come on. Washington Jefferson? Seemed pretty well rounded. FDR, for all the glorious history about him, really did not get us back on track. As this site uses the stock market to gauge success, FDR was a failure. It never got close to recovery under his watch. Truman can get that credit, and was not that popular.

You can only be successful as an elite if you can connect with the great mass. Bush acts like one of the guys, but in the end, he wants to hang out with the elite fraternity brothers and staff his cabinet with buddies. Sadly, we will never know if JFK would have been a great success.

Like FDR, Bush failed more in response to the steroid economy that preceded him. Failure was baked in the cake. How can you compete with Stock PE's at 100?

I believe that the problem with elites permeates our culture. They are insulated from the reality of American life and its problems. They have no idea what public school is like because they don't go there. Do Barack's kids? They don't know what it is like to be middle class, paying taxes, struggling to save money for everything, and watching your industry get sold to asia or mexico or an illegal immigrant undercutting your wage. They don't have a clue.

[KeithCraker]

Raised by a single mom after his dad left them, went to college on scholarships and student loans, didn't make anything resembling "elite" money until after his first memoir less than ten years ago, and still is worth only a tenth of what the McCains are worth, and that's just Barack - Michelle comes from equally humble origins. The Obamas know exactly what it is to be middleclass 'cause until he started winning elections, that what they were and that's were they both came from. Hate the elite because they're insulated from the reality of American life, then hate the candidate with 9 homes and 13 cars who flies on his wife's corporate jet.

[grahamhgreen]

Elite, as in exceptional. Or brilliant.

http://thetorturermovie.com

[LiberalDemIda]

You're right, Thom, the word "elite" is a positive word, an inspiring word and should not have such a negative connotation as it does today.

But just like the word "liberal" (a fantastic word that should enlighten and encourage, not provoke fear through narrow-mindedness) has been bastardized by the right-wing and repeated in that light by the propaganda media eliTIST ad nauseam, the low-info voter (the majority of republicans and all of Independents) will see Obama and Biden in that less favorable light if the label "elite" sticks to them (so far it has failed).

I believe being an "elite" is something we should all aspire to be in whatever field we're in but with the neo-cons came a neo-lexicon where everything is turned upside down and inside out and the MSM helped solidify this style of propaganda for some time to come.

Obama/Biden '08/'12!! = for REAL Leadership in the WH.

[hopeless277]

Bush would be considered MUCH more elite than Obama. You see, you really have to be born elite to be elite. Obama, even if he was a gazillioniare, would be considered 'new money'. New money is obscene to the true elites. "Old mone" hates 'New money". The Bush's have "old money" from the Walkers, the Prescotts, and the Bush's. GW Bush is actually my exact definition of 'elite'. All the money and education on earth would not make him human. He simply lack humanity. Probably from his mother's side.