It has long been the supreme fantasy of establishment guardians in general, and David Brooks in particular, that American politics would be dominated by an incestuous, culturally homogeneous, superior elite "who live in [Washington] and who have often known each other since prep school." And while these establishment guardians love to endlessly masquerade as spokespeople for the Ordinary American, what they most loathe is the interference by the dirty rabble in what should be their exclusive, harmonious club of political stewardship, where conflicts are amicably resolved by ladies and gentlemen of the highest breeding without any messy public conflict.Yup, that is pretty much the way I see it.
I am not really pushing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for the Republican nomination for president next year, but the distain with which she was treated in 2008 is indicative of this kind of clubbiness on the part of many establishment politicians and the media.
One of the reasons I like the Tea Party Movement is that, in my experience, it is small groups of citizens willing to stand up to their "betters" and demand to be heard. There is an awful lot of this kind of droit de seigneur like behavior going on, be it DSK or the Fairfax County School District rolling over the little town of Clifton, VA (Full disclosure—one of my Daughters-in-Law has parents living in Clifton).
Kudos to Mr Glenn Greenwald for connecting the dots.
The comments at the Althouse Blog can be found here.
1 comment:
PERFECTLY stated!! It is my own belief that this band of entitled elite protect their "empires" by deflecting attention to "those rich people" who in many cases are simply not the bad guys (or gals), but rather, plain folk who worked very hard and got lucky. Of course, the great unwashed are angry because we know we are being manipulated NOT for our own good, so we are looking for a donkey that needs a tail (in
THIS case, the symbolism DOES refer to the DNC....reserving the elephant in a china shop metaphor for the hapless Reps).
This is a "class" of folks who have no issue with lecturing their imagined lessers about sucking it up and making do with less because in their view it is really more. And yet, when we see them in action, they insist on private conveyances and live in only the most lavish accommodations. The current "man of the people" needs an entire, palatial hotel for his travels to India, a trip that has yet to produce even an equal ROI for the people of America. And how many trips in AF One has he taken? Why did he find it necessary to journey to Ireland? Or humiliate America with his stop in London....I think he has managed to upstage his nemesis Bush with his abject ineptitude in front of the Queen.....even to having The Beast get high centered trying to leave the AMERICAN Embassy......unbelievable.
I am not certain that I could have more disdain for these powdered elitists, but I'm going to try. It brings to mind one of my favorite stories in which a common day laborer saves money for years to join and exclusive gentleman's club. Applying via the mail and getting his membership, he shows up in "work clothes" for a quick drink in the club bar. Seated on fine leather sipping a very expensive single malt, he is informed condescendingly by a crusty and proper lion of the community, "Cleanliness is next to godliness, Sir Frances Bacon". Without glancing his way, the common man drains his drink and as he places the empty glass on the bar, he turns to the gentleman and says, "^$#% Y$&, Tennessee Williams."
My sentiments exactly.
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