More about the "elitism" accusation, since there still appears to be significant misunderstanding of what those who level the accusation mean by it:
--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Speaking as someone who grew up in a military > family, I can support Lawson's statement about > McCain's upbringing as the progeny of Admirals. > There is little on planet Earth more elitist > and with clearer demarcation lines between the > elite and the non-elite than officer and enlist- > ed man, and the children of officers and the > children of enlisted men. Basically, there was > such a strong and tangible boundary line that > the kids of officers rarely even talked to the > kids of enlisted men. Of course, the notion that I ever contested this is entirely Barry's fantasy (also Lawson's). I have no doubt it's true and never claimed otherwise. My point was that elitism *within* the military has nothing to do with the "elitist" charge against Obama, or whether McCain is *more* elitist. Apples and loquats. Which should really be obvious: the military is the *last* group of people who would be considered elitist by those making the charge, i.e., the Republicans, since the military itself--especially the higher echelons--is heavily Republican (although that is now beginning to change). Instead, the elitism charge is leveled against Democrats, who are portrayed by Republicans as unsupportive and even scornful of the military. And it's actually *true* that many Democrats look down their noses at the military as a less-worthy occupation, even as they noisily claim to be "supporting the troops." John Kerry got into terrible trouble during his presidential campaign for a botched joke in which he appeared to suggest that only stupid people joined the military: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." He had actually intended this to be a swipe at Bush for getting the military stuck in Iraq, not the military itself, as his prepared text documented, but he fouled it up in the delivery. In any case, it disastrously reinforced the picture the Republicans had been working so hard to paint of Kerry as an elitist. So the whole premise that McCain is more of an elitist than Obama because McCain belonged to the *military* elite is nonsense. One more time: the "elitist" charge leveled by Republicans against Democrats, including Obama, has to do with *attitude*, with looking down on groups of people, particularly the working class (in Obama's case) and the military. In terms of background, as opposed to current attitudes, the most important indicator of elitism is education. Attending an "elite" military institute such as Annapolis doesn't qualify as an "elite" educational background in this context; attending Harvard or Yale or any Ivy League school does. Whether Obama *is* an elitist in this sense is a different issue. Whether elitism in this sense is a silly charge or has some merit is a different issue. But if either of these are going to be discussed, we first have to understand what those who level the charge mean by it, otherwise we're tilting at straw men. Finally, going back to what started the discussion between Lawson and me, Obama's claim that he couldn't be an elitist because he was raised by a single mother on food stamps (even if the food stamps part was true) is also a straw-man argument. Growing up in straitened circumstances doesn't counter the charge, especially if one overcame those circumstances to attend an Ivy League school and become one of the occupational and intellectual elite. And growing up amid great wealth, or marrying into it, likewise does not in and of itself make one an elitist. What makes one an elitist, essentially, is whether one perceives oneself to be more worthy than the great unwashed. Obviously that a person perceives him/herself to be more worthy is itself a perception, which may or may not be accurate. But Obama is widely perceived to hold this attitude, and McCain is not. That's the bottom line here.
