Judging by the number of op-eds by (ironically) elite (i.e., very rich, very educated, very isolated from the unwashed masses) writers, there’s a consensus forming around the notion of elitism: it’s bad. Some argue that elitism is insulting; some argue that it could seem insulting; some use it to explain the Gore having "lost" the 2000 election. By contrast, folksyism–the "wanna have a beer with" seems to be the true test of a presidential candidate. The only people, oddly, who think this kind of nonsense are the members of the "elite" media. <\/p>\n
Today George Will<\/a>, who makes untold thousands to give lectures to prominent law firms (Dear law firms: I’ll do it for one eighth of the price and I promise most of what I say will be true, coherent, and well established by argument) finds this elitism–I mean, liberal elitism, a bad thing.<\/p>\n \nBarack Obama<\/a> may be exactly what his supporters suppose him to be. Not, however, for reasons most Americans will celebrate.\n<\/p>\n \nObama may be the fulfillment of modern liberalism<\/strong>. Explaining why many \nBy so speaking, Obama does fulfill liberalism’s transformation since Franklin Roosevelt<\/a>. "His implication" is a bit of a stretch, but let’s grant that some may reasonably be taken aback by those words. That kind of stuff happens–and after nearly eight years of President Bush (and VP Cheney) Americans ought to be used to being offended. But hey, we’re not going to draw any large, unjustified inferences from Bush’s malapropisms or Cheney’s meanness. But George Will won’t can’t help himself:<\/p>\n \nThe iconic public intellectual of liberal condescension was Columbia University<\/a> historian Richard Hofstadter, who died in 1970 but whose spirit still permeated that school when Obama matriculated the<\/em>re You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s exactly what Will is up to hear. <\/p>\n Obama’s dismissal is: Americans, especially working-class Hofstadter dismissed conservatives as victims of character flaws and \nObama voiced such liberalism with his "bitterness" remarks to an audience of affluent San Franciscans. Perfect.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Here is what Will is trying to say: Liberals (spit spit) dismiss people as crazy rather than as merely being in the wrong. Here’s what Will ends up saying: I dismiss liberals because they’re effete snobs (San Francicso, San Francisco) who look down on other people. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Judging by the number of op-eds by (ironically) elite (i.e., very rich, very educated, very isolated from the unwashed masses) writers, there’s a consensus forming around the notion of elitism: it’s bad. Some argue that elitism is insulting; some argue that it could seem insulting; some use it to explain the Gore having "lost" the … Continue reading Elitism<\/span> \n
\nworking-class voters are "bitter," he said they "cling" to guns,
\nreligion and "antipathy to people who aren’t like them" because of
\n"frustrations." His implication was that their primitivism,
\nsuperstition and bigotry are balm for resentments they feel because of
\nAmerica’s grinding injustice.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
\nWhat had been under FDR a celebration of America and the values of its
\nworking people has become a doctrine of condescension toward those
\npeople and the supposedly coarse and vulgar country that pleases them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nin 1981. Hofstadter pioneered the rhetorical tactic that Obama has
\nrevived with his diagnosis of working-class Democrats as victims — the
\nindispensable category in liberal theory. The tactic is to dismiss
\nrather than refute those with whom you disagree.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nconservatives, are unable, because of their false consciousness, to
\ndeconstruct their social context and embrace the liberal program. Today
\nthat program is to elect Obama, thereby making his wife at long last
\nproud of America.\n<\/p>\n
\npsychological disorders — a "paranoid style" of politics rooted in
\n"status anxiety," etc. Conservatism rose on a tide of votes cast by
\npeople irritated by the liberalism of condescension.\n<\/p>\n