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MSM: Democrats = elitists; Republicans = Average Joes?
Why are Democrats considered elitists for their education and successes
while Republicans are treated as the average Joe for theirs?
That’s one of the questions about our media Glenn Greenwald addresses
today in his article, The U.S. establishment media in a nutshell.
In short, he sums up the differences best like this:
…Barack Obama is an exotic elitist freak because he went to Harvard Law
School and made $1 million from his book. Hillary Clinton can't possibly have
any connection to the Regular Folk because her husband, who grew up dirt poor,
became quite wealthy after being President. John Kerry was completely removed
from the concerns of the Regular People because his second wife was rich.
By contrast, George W. Bush was a down-home, salt-of-the-earth Man of
the People despite being the grandson of a U.S. Senator, the son of a President
(who greatly magnified his riches in his post-presidency), and the by-product of
an extremely wealthy, coddled life. Ronald Reagan was pure Americana despite
spending most of his adult life as a very wealthy Hollywood actor (and
converting his post-presidency into far greater riches still). And John McCain
is as Regular a Guy as it gets, even though he dumped his first wife (the mother
of his three children) after she was disfigured and disabled by a near-fatal car
accident so that he could marry his much younger, much prettier, and extremely
wealthy heiress-mistress, whose family riches then launched his political career
and sustained a life of luxury for almost three decades (that's how "McCain's
Sedona ranch" -- i.e., his compound -- came to be).
It’s probably the same reason Glenn found these stunning discrepancies
in the priorities of our national media:
Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have
been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:
"Yoo and torture" - 102This, my friends, is what most our national media has been reduced to: A glorified Star Magazine. thejoshuablog
"Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73
"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16
"Obama and bowling" -- 1,043
"Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)
"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607
"Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079
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Comments (4)
ARGH. I hate the formatting on here.
April 5, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
talk about MSM and blogs here
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/blogging-as-part-of-the-media.php#comments
April 5, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have always felt that the Republican chant about Democrat elitism was so much bunk. Imagine, the people who jump to protect business interests at all costs - even the blatantly immoral - are average Joes.
If anyone saw the mortgage oversight hearing, or even the food poisoning or the beef recall hearings - you had to be impressed with the moral bankruptcy the Repub.s exhibited. Oh yeah - the most blatant example was when they first investigated charges of electrical problems at the complex in Iraq in the summer of last year.
I think it was Issa that kept wanting to diminish the repeated declarations and technical descriptions from one of the chief electrical inspectors that the mislabeled wiring was noted several times, yet continued to be used.
----
A SIMPLE EXPLANATION
I have a long history in many things technical and electricity is one of them. The problem amounted to the manufacturer deliberately mislabeling the insulation jacket to indicate a gauge greater than the actual wire inside. This can have devastating consequences. The inspector thought the wire was thinner than it should be and using ASTM and NEC guidelines, determined that the wire was in fact, a full gauge light. For those who are aware - this means a capacity of 5-10 amperes less than what was required. The problem comes when the wires are connected to a breaker/fuse box rated at the higher amperage and equipment that requires the higher amperage is operated.
Fire and electrocution hazards galore!
---
The inspector complained that he had repeatedly requested the wiring be changed out - Issa kept trying to infer that that was innocent oversight and not all that much of a big deal and that changing out would have been cost prohibitive. This from our 'support the troops guy.'
What an asshole!
Hope he can explain his views to those who have recently been electrocuted because he stymied these efforts. Oh wait - he'll have to tell the families of the survivors, too. Wonder if he has an automatic letter signing software like the one Rumsfeld used when signing letters of condolences. Remember, he couldn't be bothered with having to deal with the tragic reality of his bullshit management?
We could go back decades and cite countless examples of such 'All for us and to hell with you' statements and legislative actions made and brought by Repugnicans, far too many to list here.
I recent example of their elitist clubby crap was noted by Stephen Colbert when he made his half-hearted bid to run for the presidency. The Republicans in S Carolina required $35,000 non-refundable to even be considered for their ballot. On the other hand, the democrats only required something like 1500 and that could be substituted with a certain number of signatures on a petition for placement. No number of signatures would substitute for money on the GOP ballot.
April 5, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The other thing that they harp on is when a wealthy Democrat (like John Edwards) wants to help the less priviledge -- read poor -- the conclusion is that he is a hypocrite! They simply cannot conceive in their little pea-brains that it is possible to actually care about people less fortunate than oneself.
On the other hand, Repubs get a free pass with their selfishness because, if they are rich, why should they care about poor people? No hypocrisy there! The entitlement they feel when they talk about "personal responsiblity" never gets challenged as their inherited money is guarded with their tax policies and other general laws.
If George Bush ever had to depend on himself to make a living, he would be dirt poor and still in the gutter where he belongs (or better -- in prison)
April 5, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
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