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**Presented without comment on Obama's actual comments.**
While eating a late lunch at a local restaurant, I was treated to the always lovely Fox News Channel.
Developing news? McCain and Clinton call Obama's "bitter" comments "elitist" and "divisive." And I got the little e-mails from the Clinton and Obama campaigns today, too, which both contained arguments about who could best relate.
Now, when I was preparing to talk about JFK to my post-45 class, I went of on all sorts of tangents, including reading about Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, readings which included details of the schools she attended, which sent me into looking up private, exclusive prep schools and their lists of notable alumni. (Yes that sentence is reflective of how my mind works).
Which invariably included "major" politicians and their children.
The point is, in looking at these people's careers, where and how they live, where they went to school, where their children go to school, etc., etc. , I've come to the unprecedented conclusion...
that they are all a bit elitist. Next episode of "developing" news, please.
**Okay, here's my point stated much more precisely.**
2 comments:
Same as it always was, far as I can tell. Funny thing is, we've had, among those incredibly elite folks, some presidents who really could relate to the needs of the common person, while the guy holding the office right now, the one who's pretended his butt off trying to convince people he's one of them, is about as elite as you can get and wouldn't spit on a common person if they were on fire.
Of-course they are all elitist! It cracks me up as they all fight for this "section" of working class white votes, they all try to prove how "down" they are. Clinton (forgive me Clintonites) has nerve pointing fingers at Obama, Gore and Kerry as if she REALLY grew up in the hood. I don't care if her grandfather taught her to shoot when she was a kid or that she can pretend to drink shots of crown royal with the working class guy in a bar (though she seemed surrounded by more suits than anything else), she is not the little man's candidate.
In all fairness, Obama's been playing the game too. The issue for me, is that Obama was speaking the truth. Many in the working class vote against their own economic interests to vote for candidates who pander to their no gun control, Christian nation, "patriotic" sensibilities. It worked in 2000 and even better in 2004. Putting gay marriage and abortion rights on many ballots in key states and pandering to those issues got a number of working class votes in the republican column (not to mention conservative Christian black votes).
Obama's problem is, it's very easy for him to get taken out of context because he has a tendency to speak high-mindedly (is that a word?? okay it's not, but bare with me). The mainstream media is so hungry for instant sound-bites and Obama is not the sound-bite kind of guy. He takes a while to get to his point. And far be it from the media to actually take the time to show context. It's easier to seize buzz words like "bitter" and "cling". Or like Rev Wright's "G** Damn America".
Far be it for the media to actually present things in context. It's not potent enough that way. And many in the public eat it up and really believe they are informed.
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