comment #1

Count Thread says ...

Go to the nearest Wal-Mart, line up 100 people and ask them whether they can relate to a man who attended Harvard Law, worked as a 'community organizer' living off of Federal government earmarks, who married another social worker living off the dole, and surrounded himself with 1960s terrorists and regards a racist pastor as his closest mentor, and has argued a straight liberal line every single day of his life until he chose to run for President.

The other guy? Oh, he just served in the Navy, then got elected to Congress one day.

It's not the biography, you dumb shits. It's who they *are*, and what they *believe*, and what they are capable of *doing* with the experience they have acquired.

To paraphrase William F. Buckley, I would rather live in a society governed by those first 100 people in Wal-Mart than in one governed by the Harvard faculty.

comment #2

EOTW says ...

The thing that this guy (and, by extension, the Jeff Wells of the country) doesn't seem to grasp is that the middle of the road Americans who DO NOT identify with either corrupt party ideology, but are independents like myself, are NOT happy with EITHER candidate. We don't like the choices that have been decided. We do not want to vote for either of these guys or see either of them in the White House. NO offense, but if you think either of these jokers are gonna get the job done, well, good luck with all that!

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

Count Thread: "To paraphrase William F. Buckley, I would rather live in a society governed by those first 100 people in Wal-Mart than in one governed by the Harvard faculty."

Bill Buckley made a business out of keeping black people down, so I wouldn't be using him as an example for your argument.

EOTW: If you're not happy with either candidate, then don't wait until it's up to you to vote.

comment #4

MDOC says ...

Out of 100 Walmart shoppers polled: 50 like Obama, 50 like McCain, 100 will ask if you can break a 5 for the Bait vending machine out front of the store.

comment #5

dangovich says ...

To paraphrase William F. Buckley, I would rather live in a society governed by those first 100 people in Wal-Mart than in one governed by the Harvard faculty.

...government of the morons, by the morons, for the morons?

comment #6

sutter kane says ...

You know, I can't help but feel like wanting to be governed by the denizens of Wal-Mart is how we wound up with this half-wit for a president that we have now. Leader of the free world? Making decisions that will have countless global effects on the lives of millions of people, world economies, the environment... parsing through some of the most complex geopolitical conflicts in history, managing a budget that runs into the trillions?

Can we try giving that job to the Harvard Law grad? Even if he is an out of touch elitist? Just for a change of pace.

comment #7

EOTW says ...

DZ: I should've clarified. I am registered to vote and do vote and I actually find things out about the candidates. Not just the presidential crap. Very active in my city and state, which is where it really matters the most.. I believe all that stuff starts where you live.

It gets under my skin that people seem to think that just because one is reluctant to vote for the new Messiah (meet the new boss/same as the old boss) means you are a rube or worse.

In the end, A LOT of the people who don't want to vote for Obama also don't want to vote for the old guy.

comment #8

Walter Sobchak says ...

But if they're Walmart shoppers then presumably they're low-thread-count morons...so they wouldn't be inclined to have the mental capacity to appreciate a nuanced, hip, progressive-thinking candidate like Obama.

So, by this theory, Obama wouldn't support himself.

And why did everyone have to make this a racial thing, anyway?

comment #9

redmond says ...

Way to quote a great post from HuffPo, Jeff, but it's BOB Cesca who just so happens to have a Goddamn Awesome Blog.

http://www.bobcesca.com

comment #10

madskrilla says ...

William F. Buckley was pro-segregation and thought black people were genetically dumber -- he called whites "the advanced race", quote unquote. Look it up.

He also wanted the government to brand the letters "AIDS" on the asses of the HIV positive.

He's probably not the man one wants to quote approvingly, unless one is, say, a John Bircher.

comment #11

Josh Massey says ...

Wow, that was the first thing that got me to think about voting McCain. Give me a choice of a President who has more or less in common with an average Wal-Mart shopper, and the choice is easy.

comment #12

Clark Perry says ...

Line up 100 people at Wal-Mart and ask 'em if they're better off than they were 8 years ago.

Chances are 80 of them will be Wal-Mart employees, forced to work fewer than 32 hours each week so they're not eligible for health care, at wages that are now lower due to an American dollar that's been tanked in no small part by the Chinese goods that Wal-Mart is now selling.

If they're dumb enough to want more of the same, they'll vote John McCain, and spend the next eight years drinking Wal-Mart beer and yelling at the TV in unison with Bill O'Reilly at them damn lib'ruls.

comment #13

pm123 says ...

The frustrating thing is that of those 100 Wal-Mart voters, probably only 20 will vote. Whether or not you agree with them is irrelevant. It's not a democracy when fewer than half the people who can vote do so.

comment #14

corey3rd says ...

"just served in the Navy, then got elected to Congress one day"

You really miss the middle part of McCain. He served in the Navy, realized he wasn't going to come close to matching rank his daddy and granddad, was attached to the Senate and got big time govt. dreams. Started screwing around with plenty of women. Middle aged guy boffs a 24 year old loaded beer gal. Realizes that with her cash and family connections he can make a run for Congress. Dumps his wife and kids. Gets a marriage license before he's even divorced because he can't let Ms. Bud escape. was barely in Arizona for a year when he ran for the house to represent a state he barely lived in - Arizona is not a big navy base station.

He's an opportunistic guy. Ask 100 people at Walmart how many would dump their wife and kids for a 24 year old beer bunny - and 75 will already be out the door looking for her in the parking lot.

Without Cindy McCain, John McCain is playing Poker at the VFW post in Florida.

comment #15

Griff says ...

You missed a lot more of the middle part of McCain. You know, when he was about 26 or 28, thepart where he was tortured by those upstanding members of the People's Army, had his legs broken and was starved. He was offered early release, but refused because as a leader, he knew his men should be released first.

It would be interesting to compare the hell that Barry experienced during the same period of his life...those Ivy League colleges can be pretty tough on a guy.

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

Griff: "You know, when he was about 26 or 28, thepart where he was tortured by those upstanding members of the People's Army, had his legs broken and was starved."

Then he changed, and believed doing the same thing to Arab prisoners was fine and dandy.

"He was offered early release, but refused because as a leader, he knew his men should be released first."

But then he supported the backdoor draft for wounded soldiers.

"It would be interesting to compare the hell that Barry experienced during the same period of his life...those Ivy League colleges can be pretty tough on a guy."

Yes, biracial people living in the 60s had it so easy.

comment #17

Richardson says ...

"He was offered early release, but refused because as a leader, he knew his men should be released first."

You know that when they offer early release, that's just psychological torture, right? He didn't turn down being actually released, he just didn't play their games...

until a few weeks later when he caved and let himself be videotaped saying he was a war criminal.

comment #18

Josh Massey says ...

I love how the Internet has turned everybody into experts on everything.

comment #19

EOTW says ...

Josh Massey, FTW!!!

comment #20

corey3rd says ...

So my dad should feel bad because during his tour of duty he didn't get captured and tortured? I guess all he did in that country is worthless because he didn't have McCain's sacrifice.

Maybe if McCain had tried harder in Annapolis he wouldn't have been shot down.

comment #21

vp19 says ...

Listen, I hate it as much as anybody that these days, it's virtually impossible for someone without the exalted Ivy League impramatur to reach national office. And part of me fears Barack and Michelle Obama could be Harvard Law's corporate equivalent of Bill and Hillary Clinton at Yale Law. (I initially backed Edwards, though had I known he'd been messing around on his wife, I'd have said no go. Why do populists always have to let us down?) But compared to John McCain, who talks a good game about being a maverick but is just the same old Republican conservative in moderate's clothing, I have to go with Barack Obama as the lesser of two evils.

comment #22

MDOC says ...

Corey,

Still bitter Huckabee didn't win the primary, huh?

comment #23

MPNeeb says ...

""Go to the nearest Wal-Mart, line up 100 people and ask them whether they can relate to a man who attended Harvard Law, worked as a 'community organizer' living off of Federal government earmarks, who married another social worker living off the dole, and surrounded himself with 1960s terrorists and regards a racist pastor as his closest mentor, and has argued a straight liberal line every single day of his life until he chose to run for President.""

Eh, John McCain was a Navy baby from Day One. Last time I checked, the Navy was funded by... the Federal Government. Is there something about military funding I may have missed by serving for four years?
John McCain has spent more time on the Federal tit than Barack Obama has been alive. And I'd hardly describe ANY of the service academies as 'down-home' as opposed to 'elite' some see the Ivy League as. But, that's my service time talking. I'm admittedly, not in touch with people who listen to Rush Limbaugh.
John McCain knows a lot of guys that could easily be described as terrorists: unless I'm missing something about dropping 1000 lbs bombs on civilians where it isn't terrifying.

""The other guy? Oh, he just served in the Navy, then got elected to Congress one day.""

He got elected in Arizona and never really had to look back. John McCain has never had to fight an election battle since his first election in 1982. He's had the Arizona political machine behind him for three decades.

""It's not the biography, you dumb shits. It's who they *are*, and what they *believe*, and what they are capable of *doing* with the experience they have acquired.""

Uh, if he reaches the presidency, his wife's money and connections ain't gonna help him out.
But hey, I was a member of one the biggest government welfare projects in history (US Army)- so obviously I'm too stupid to understand the blinding wisdom contained in your brilliant use of a word like 'dumbshit.'
Unless you're ordering dinner. Then I know EXACTLY what you want.

comment #24

JHS says ...

I honestly can't wrap my head around the attacks on Obama's education. He came from modest beginnings, clearly aspired to to great things from a young age, and managed to do well for himself. Yes, he went to a private high school (*on a scholarship*), and yes, he went to Columbia and Harvard, but have we reached the point where a young person who aims high and hits the mark via hard work and determination should somehow feel bad about doing so down the line? Obama didn't have his educational opportunities handed to him on a silver platter because of wealth or legacy status (*that* would be our current president).

If one looks at both candidates in this or any election in terms of their formative years and concludes that war hero necessarily and always trumps any non-war hero, regardless of context, it would seem to follow that we should just give up on this whole democracy thing and install a Putin-style militocracy or something.

comment #25

JHRussell says ...

I can't wait for the "can't relate to" essay on Al Gore - you know, the leader of the global warming hysteria with the Bigfoot sized carbon foot print who flies around in his private jet and has a 20,000 sf house with $4,000 monthly utility bills...I suppose there is no need for a similar essay on John Edwards now, but maybe we could see a rough draft on the populist who owns the largest private residence in the state of North Carolina?

And that dirty business of "barely living in" a state before getting elected to office should be written up...let's see, who could they write about?...perhaps Hillary in NY, or go back 40 years to Dem icon RFK who pulled the same stunt...

comment #26

corey3rd says ...

I'm more upset that Colbert was kept off the ballot

comment #27

Count Thread says ...

RE: the WFB quote, nice, attack the messenger, not the message. There are people far smarter than me (and thus all of you) who can defend him better than I, but as for his *quote*, the most consistent chuckle I get in American politics today is the overwhelming contempt and disgust at average Americans demonstrated by those who proudly claim to be the greatest champions of participatory democracy.

Seriously-- if you hate those 100 average Wal-Mart Americans so much, why do you profess your love of democracy? Why not just cut to the chase, and argue as Wells did, that they shouldn't have the right to vote, let alone lead-- or even have their voices heard, for that matter.

Obama and other Dems are all for "hearing the voice of the people". Yet when/if 50% of the people disagree with what he's saying, suddenly the people aren't so wise anymore-- they're rubes in flyover country who don't know a damn thing about politics other than "We're scared of black people."

RE: "dumbshits"-- hey, who said I was talking about HE commenters? Just the people who write dumbshit pieces like Wells linked. But if you wish to be identified with *that* particular brand of blinding wisdom. As an Air Force man, I'd expect nothing less from a puke too dumb to avoid the Army ;-).

comment #28

Bocephus says ...

"To paraphrase William F. Buckley, I would rather live in a society governed by those first 100 people in Wal-Mart than in one governed by the Harvard faculty."

Really!? Have you even been to a Wal Mart? You want to be governed by the 400 pound fat guy in a bath robe riding a scooter? Or the lady with 8 screaming kids running through the aisle knocking stuff over? Or the dude with no teeth, sweatpants, and a threadbare wifebeater with tobacco stains all over it?

comment #29

Three says ...

It is as sure as the sun rising: First, Wells posts an article or opinion piece noting a positive characteristic about Obama, and then the regulars write in, with Pavlovian forethought, like bitter old men who resent that the world has passed them by.

Really, already, for those of you regurgitating your stock, half-informed Obama cliches: we get that you hate that Obama is popular, that he went to Harvard, that he passed up Wall Street to perform social work, that he appears "elitist." Yes, we get the idea that you believe supply-side, "trickle-down" economics is a legitimate economic approach, and that anything else is socialist; that anyone who cares about the welfare of the poor and the elderly are "liberals" not worth your time.

But really, all the hatred, the bitter anger towards Obama for the most attenuated of rationales, it reads like the Goths in the back of the lunchroom throwing spitwads at the class valedictorian. Why should anyone take you seriously?

comment #30

Cadavra says ...

See, John Kerry's mistake was avoiding getting captured and tortured. Had that happened, he'd be a genuine war hero instead of a traitorous, effete coward.

comment #31

George Prager says ...

"Go to the nearest Wal-Mart, line up 100 people and ask them whether they can relate to a man who attended Harvard Law, worked as a 'community organizer' living off of Federal government earmarks, who married another social worker living off the dole, and surrounded himself with 1960s terrorists and regards a racist pastor as his closest mentor, and has argued a straight liberal line every single day of his life until he chose to run for President.

The other guy? Oh, he just served in the Navy, then got elected to Congress one day."

Duuuuhhhh. The real story is that hiis dad and Grandad were Navy Admirals. He left his wife for a beer heiress 18 years his junior who bought him a house and a seat in congress. He's a kept man. And speaking of "doles"... when has McCain collected a paycheck that wasn't signed by the government?

comment #32

Richardson says ...

"And speaking of "doles"... when has McCain collected a paycheck that wasn't signed by the government?"

When it came directly from a lobbyist.

Ba-dum-bum!

comment #33

Richardson says ...

"Obama and other Dems are all for "hearing the voice of the people". Yet when/if 50% of the people disagree with what he's saying, suddenly the people aren't so wise anymore"

Do you really want to limit that to Democrats? Because limiting a critique that broad to just one party is just flat out stupid. Are you stupid? Because you sound pretty stupid. Stupid.

comment #34

d manhattan says ...

As a european following this debate with great interest, maybe someone could explain to me: What is "elitist?

I don't get it - Is that when you can't argue that Obama is condenscending or has any other apparent character flaw, you just go for a word with negative connotations but without substance so you can just tag it to anyone just for refusing to disingenuously simplify his message??

Obama should be applauded for being an intellectual and nuanced, but instead american public discourse overwhelmingly prefers empty and provenly misleading talking points.

The whole narative of "intellectuals and others who concern themselves with maintaining logic and reason are aloof elitists who have lost touch with ordinary people" is getting real tiresome and I can't believe that ordinary americans stand for this. It's the kind of demagog tactics that needs to be opposed with force by those who knew better, or else the next Berlusconi or Putin will appear in America.

And the fact that the republicans are not being called out for being so disingenuous baffles the world, let me tell you. It's make us all lose a little bit more hope.

As a student and now in my career, I've met a lot of people from all over the world, and while we all shake our head in disbelief over what has happened to the US, I often sense a lot of sadness. Because if not even this so brightly shining light can't dispel this plague of demagog tactics and propaganda, what chance does the rest of the world stand? Russia and China and Italy are picking up pointers and being emboldened . And the momentum of hope, the momentum for truth, equality and progress that got going with the enlightenment is dying off a little more for every day.

Sorry for the rant, but you know..

comment #35

d manhattan says ...

(a lot of misspelling and typos now, but english is my second language..

and by "Russia and China and Italy", I really meant the governments of said countries. )

comment #36

Three says ...

Nice post, Dmanhattan. If English is not your first language, you're doing very well! As someone who grew up in Europe, I get a lot of the same vibe from my European friends as well - a great sense of disappointment.

My sense is that much of this demagoguery you describe has been driven by the growing insecurity of many people in the states who, sadly, have gotten fat and complacent. There is, I think, a broad swath of people in our society that appreciates self-improvement and who pursue education for its own sake. Then there are others who - either due to laziness, complacency, or lack of resources - will not, or cannot.

And so, for those who haven't followed the conventional path to "success" - i.e., college education followed by a professional career - there is a good deal of resentment towards those who have. And this is exacerbated by the fact that some of those who have followed the path to "success" are so smug and condescending that they turn everyone off.

So yes, while it is depressing that "intellectualism" and "nuance" have gotten a bum rap as of late, don't despair. The obnoxious, baseball-cap-wearing frat boys may make the most noise, but there are still plenty of people over here who appreciate nuance and complexity.

comment #37

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comment #38

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