Politico's Smith And Martin Just Don't Get It

I generally enjoy the work of The Politico's Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin, unfortunately their guffawing over Lynn Forester de Rothschild's bashing of Obama for his elitism demonstrates that they don't at all understand the term in a political context. Their take suggests something of a Leftist bias in that they seem to define the word in terms of wealth, or where one chooses to live. It has nothing to do with those factors at all.

elitism: 1: leadership or rule by an elite 2: the selectivity of the elite ; especially : snobbery <elitism in choosing new members> 3: consciousness of being or belonging to an elite

Sam Walton wasn't an elitist although he was incredibly wealthy. Ernest Hemingway wasn't an elitist because he lived some portion of his life as an ex-pat. Socialists define elitism in terms of wealth and genuine xenophobes define it in terms of geography. Conservatives and perhaps in de Rothschild's case moderates don't define elitism in those terms at all.

Evidently de Rothchild appreciates her good fortune in life and never allowed it to fool her into thinking she was or is actually better than anyone else. Imagine that. Call it elitism if you wish, some of us simply call it class. But is that true of Obama?

Witness what Obama said just last night, it absolutely reveals his elitist view.

Standing in the courtyard of the palatial estate, he said his campaign was dedicated to people who need jobs and health care and worry about their pensions and sending children to college.

"It's about those who will never see the inside of a building like this," Obama said.

Really? Why is that, Senator Obama? I thought your entire journey, such as you created it in two non-factual autobiographies was supposed to be the story and road map of precisely how one of the poor have nots might lift themselves up and join you - now up there basking in the apparently too thin air?

Did you pull the trap door closed behind you after you scampered up? Or have you been deluding yourself your entire life that you were somehow entitled to and qualified for something above and beyond what some average American might be entitled to enjoy? That's elitism in its purest form and clearly de Rothchild has figured it out.

See populist for another take then apply it to the Palin phenomenon and maybe you'll understand the point. If individuals in the media actually understood this they might stop laughing at or attempting to smear the Alaska Governor long enough to understand what a  genuine force she is and the greater one she might eventually become. That, so long as she doesn't forget where she came from, as Jr. Ill. Senator Obama seems to have done.

a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people

And yes, the Right has its elitists, too. Witness this exchange involving Laura Ingraham and David Brooks.

THE CONSERVATIVE ELITES ATTACK!

In today's New York Times, David Brooks launches a critique of Sarah Palin, essentially concluding that her populist appeal is dangerous and ill-conceived. He yearns for the day when "conservatism was once a frankly elitist movement," one that stressed "classical education, hard-earned knowledge, experience, and prudence." Brooks, like a handful of other conservative intellectuals, believes Palin "compensates for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness."

Comments

[jaime]

John McCain inventor of the blackberry and defender of the common man...

He dusts off his $600 italian shoes, with wife (Cindy the heiress, not the crippled ex) in her $300,000 ensemble in tow, jets between their 11 houses working to reform the 20 years of market deregulation he fought to establish.

The Lady Forester de Rothschild is JUST the endorsement McCain needed to prove he's just like you and me.

[Tom Hilton]

Their take suggests something of a Leftist bias in that they seem to define the word in terms of wealth, or where one chooses to live. It has nothing to do with those factors at all.
In other words, any standard of 'elitist' that is related to objectively verifiable facts, as opposed to purely subjective perceptions, has a 'Leftist bias'.

Ever wonder where the phrase 'reality-based community' comes from?

[SpaceCat]

God, you wingers are a bunch of unserious clowns. The country is headed toward another Depression and you're debating the finer points of just what "elitism" means. You score a bonus point for your Democrat-esque belaboring of the importance of the NUANCE behind your definition of "elitist." The conservative movement really has entered the end of days, hasn't it? The funniest part is that you don't even recognize it.
Pass the popcorn!

[Mister Snitch!]

Sam Walton was as far from 'elitist' as it gets.

[ElcubanitoKC]

I think Obama was referring to his plan of converting these public places in retreat and leisure places for his ruling elite once he gets to power. It's not really a gaffe in that sense...

[Diggs]

"The conservative movement really has entered the end of days, hasn't it?"

Can it really only be 45 or so days before these people writhe in agony and despair when Obama loses? Not soon enough for me, but still...
and
"Ever wonder where the phrase 'reality-based community' comes from?"
No, but I would like to know where the reality based community is going to go to on November 5th.

[neelynzus]

Hey, Jaime and SpaceCat. Here are the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac contributions according to the FEC (2008): Obama: $126,000 in four years; McCain: $22,000 in nineteen years.

See if you can nuance that! They were wise to who could be bought and who could not!

You might also want to check out the FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005, co-sponsored by McCain, before you run off at the mouth about deregulation.

[edh]

FAULT?

BARNEY FRANK, Democrat Chair (Now) of the House Banking Committee. NYT 9/11/03: "These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis," said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

FRANK WAS SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION TO: The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

[Mike K]

They really don't understand. The Clinton people got Fannie Mae as a sandbox to play in when he left office. McCain has been trying to rein in the abuses for the past three years. The Wall Street Journal has been warning for years. Raines was forced out after the books were found to be cooked in 2004. The people who created this crisis are all Obama advisors. Sheesh !

[Wildmonk]

Folks like Jaime just crack me up: brutishly condescending, filled to the brim with class-warfare anger and pseudofacts to justify it that just aren't so.

Pardon me, Jaime, but the facts are right on the table (thanks edh!): Democrats have not only stopped all the Republicans' efforts at mortgage market reform but have actively aided, abetted and profited from the corruption that was occurring.

[Lala]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvG-s_Ssb0

Explosive CEO calling Obama, Dems "Family" of Fannie Mae

[Cory]

Dan- Politico is and has always been a far left website. The only difference between what JMart and Ben post and what's over at dKos or HuffPo is manners. You would think if they had a leftist shill reporting on the Dems they could put up a right-leaning "reporter"? to post on the Republicans. Not so at Politico. I don't even go over there anymore unless I see a link at a conservative site with a title for the post that I just can't pass up seeing for myself. They're pretty consistently in the tank for Obama.

[Donna B.]

Obama hasn't forgotten where he comes from, he hasn't yet figured out where that might be.

Sarah Palin's most insightful line: "the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of "personal discovery"."

[Math_Mage]

"In other words, any standard of 'elitist' that is related to objectively verifiable facts, as opposed to purely subjective perceptions, has a 'Leftist bias'.

Ever wonder where the phrase 'reality-based community' comes from?"

Try again. The correctness of a definition has nothing to do with its subjectivity or objectivity. Just because one definition uses only facts does not make it better. For example, connotations are not objectively verifiable by definition - would you rather connotation meant "dictionary definition," as denotation does? No, because that's inaccurate even though the criteria would be solely factual.

Second, you're not REALLY trying to argue that all wealthy people are "elitist"...right? Because that would be the result of taking the definition you claim is "related to objectively verifiable facts" and therefore better (not).

Third, your inductive reasoning is unsound. Not that you care, as long as you get to call your side the "reality-based community."

[bc]

I've been waiting for it to be revealed who is financially behind the Obama phenomenon. Now we learn his campaign heads took down hundreds of millions from FNMA. If this doesn't destroy B.O. there is no hope of truth prevailing over lies in this campaign. With rich friends like these, Obama can buy a lot of "truth" as it suits him.

[nick]

as someone who had used food stamps like his momma,
i will tell you moronic bastards

we did not feel like elites!

or hide my email like YOU elites nwerle at yahoo

[Lysander Spooner]

The Obama attack on Lynn Forester is another attempt at character assassination of a woman, this time on the basis of her name. Yes, Lynn Forester married a Rothschild, and proudly appended her husband's name -- to her own. Because the reality is that Lynn Forester was an accomplished attorney and then successful entrepreneur before she ever met Rothschild (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/10/16/289606/index.htm). The hideous Obama and media reaction is par for the course: attack and destroy the messenger, not the message -- and make sure you are as nasty, classist, and/or elitist as possible.

[Dexter Westbrook]

Forget elitism, Obama's statement was literally wrong. Millions of people have seen the inside of the Greystone Mansion. It's been used as a set in more than two dozen movies, including "There Will Be Blood" last year, and it's open to the public.

[jaime]

"The Obama attack on Lynn Forester is another attempt at character assassination of a woman"

Please provide a link to any attack?

Anything?

Anywhere.

I thought not.

[Jamie]

jaime, is your point that Barack Obama is one of the common folk? Because, if so, it would've been a helpful move on his part to send his kids to, if not a public school in his area (I understand as a parent how he might have objections to that, given how bad the public schools are in his area in spite of what we assume are his best efforts to improve them), but perhaps a less wildly expensive and exclusive private one. It might've helped him if he hadn't made that Euro-victory lap. It could have been useful to him, in demonstrating his populist credibility, if he'd chosen to serve the people who elected him to the Senate for a little while before deciding that he was just perfectly right for the Presidency right now, or, barring that, it could've helped him in his effort to be viewed as a man of the people if so much of what he talked about didn't focus on telling "the people" how they should live.

[Larry]

Lady Lynn Forester D'Rothschild (call me Liz) was on Fox & Friends this morning and is a charming and gracious woman. The most important thing she pointed out is the difference between "privilege" and "elite". Obama may have lacked privilege as he grew up but he is definitely an elitist. He for sure believes that he's better than most Americans and we would all be saved if we just do what he wants.

[Steven Brockerman]

And some of us don't define elitism, because, like extremism, it's not a concept at all but simply oral noise--the noise of smearing; the noise that seeks to silence reasoned analysis & genuine debate.

"What do you think about what he said?"
"Ah, he's an elitist (extremist)."

In technical terms, both are ad hominems.

[nick]

let me get this straight - a Baroness, a banking dynasty, says a man, who grew up with food stamps, is elitist,

while she gamed the system to make 100,000,000.000 off of licenses?