Progressive
friend expressed absolute horror that Sarah Palin was on the Republican
ticket, I asked him to tell me why she was less qualified than Obama.
After all, unlike Obama, Palin had experience governing. With his back
against the wall, my friend uttered the worst indictment he could think
of, and it had nothing to do with Palin’s abilities: “She’s not one of
us.”
As someone who is by birth and upbringing “one of us,” I know exactly
what he meant. The “us” people have all attended prestigious schools,
whether public or private or large or small.
In
the 1990s, the “us” people all watched The West Wing and congratulated
themselves on being able to keep up with Aaron Sorkin’s coked-up,
rapid-fire dialogue — and, more importantly, they revered the president
and staff who tirelessly, week after week, in the vacuum of our TV
sets, advanced perfect Progressive policy.
The “us” people always laugh at the cartoons in The New Yorker, and
they often read the articles.
For news, the “us” people all go to the New York Times, where they read
the front page and the style section. They feel smug about the fact
that they’re entirely comfortable with the LGBTQI marriages now
announced on the wedding page. In the car (and they all wish they could
have a Tesla), they listen to NPR. In the evening, during or after
dinner, they watch
NBCCBSABCPBSCNN,
but not Fox. If they’re edgy, they watch MSNBC.
The “us” people always make sure to see the movies that “everyone” is
talking about. And when they say “everyone,” they don’t actually mean
that. They mean the reviewers at The New York Times, NPR, and other
select, sophisticated outlets. If those reviewers say a movie is
important, the “us” people will rave about it too, no matter that the
plot was unintelligible, the dialogue mumbled, and the message ugly.
“It’s important, don’t you know.”
Rather peculiarly, given their snobbery (especially about education),
the “us” people think that the opinions of Hollywood actors, many of
whom are minimally educated and all of whom live peculiar, cloistered
lives, surrounded by unimaginable wealth and unseemly yes-men, are
valuable advocates for the “us” crowd.
The “us” people believe passionately in climate change (never mind that
none of the predictions have borne fruit) and think it’s a brilliant
thing to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible. (After all,
they’re Tesla drivers.) The little people at home and abroad who depend
on fossil fuels for food, protection against temperature extremes, and
all other aspects of their basic livelihood will just have to adapt.
Mother Gaia is more important.
[
FULL
Hillary’s sheeple revel in their mindless ignorance]
Thomas
"MR" Mann