Elitism

Elitism -- something I hate. Maybe it's a part of my upbringing that stuck, I was taught to hate snobbery, and I do. People throw the term "elitism" around without even understanding what they are saying, but it sounds bad so they do it anyway.

MW- elitism
1: leadership or rule by an elite
2: the selectivity of the elite; especially : snobbery
3: consciousness of being or belonging to an elite

MW- elite
1
a: the choice part : cream
b: the best of a class
c: the socially superior part of society
d: a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence

Modern Republicans are almost by definition Elitist. They are proud of it. Neocons are the worst elitists of all. The rich and powerful have the right to plunder and control the assets of those who have not been selected or do not possess the merits to be rich and powerful, so those elements must move over and make way... or else.

I am not sure where that label is coming from now that it's been directed toward Obama. Makes no sense to me.

McCain = Elitist. Who's arguing against it?
Clinton... trying to win the nomination purely on the votes of the Superdelegates (is there anything about their stature and power that sound "elite" to anyone? see "elite d" above.) regardless of the way the American people vote.

As for Obama's remarks on bitterness, I agree with them. What's more, I think the Clintons agree with them too, at least in part. (and does anything feel that they are not both running?)

"If [Republicans] could cut funding for Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, middle-class Americans would see fewer benefits from their tax dollars, feel more resentful paying taxes, and become even more receptive to their appeals for tax cuts and their strategy of waging campaigns on divisive social and cultural issues like abortion, gay rights, and guns."

-- Bill Clinton, in his 2004 memoirs, My Life, making the same argument as Sen. Barack Obama. [Political Wire with H/T to AmericaBlog

"The reason (George H. W. Bush's tactic) works so well now is that you have all these economically insecure white people who are scared to death," -- (Bill) Clinton was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in September 1991. [via HuffPo]

She talks about how we've got to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, gang members, and people with mental problems, and I agree with her in what she says here. Trouble is, now she has done a turnaround. Does she think that (particularly) criminals and gang members aren't dealing with a certain amount of resentment... and yes... bitterness? Then she had to go and spout this line of bullshit hypocrisy:

"You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught be how to shoot when I was a little girl," she said. [Blueberry: my military dad taught me to shoot when I was about 7. It doesn't make me pro-gun. I hate guns.]

"You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their grandchildren. It's part of culture. It's part of a way of life. People enjoy hunting and shooting because it's an important part of who they are. Not because they are bitter."

Is she trying to suggest that Obama was talking about bitter people resorting to going hunting or doing target practice? Is anyone buying that? And she also reports that she shot a duck. Well whoop-de-frickin-do. More like she shot a fellow Democrat in the face. Cheney must be proud.

Tags: Clinton - Obama