Being a frequent traveler to the East Coast -- NY and DC in particular -- I'm always struck by the parochial views held by our fellow Americans...specifically those in power.
Among the more prevalent provincial notions: If you didn't attend one of the Ivys (and God help you if it wasn't one of the elite Ivys), your ideas are worth a little less, your politics are a bit less important, and your experiences are not quite as valid as someone who exists in the upper strata.
A league of their own.
So when an ordinary folk like a Reagan or Palin comes along -- someone who wasn't tapped at birth for Skull & Bones or doesn't stop for drinks at the Hawk 'n' Dove after a floor vote -- there's a resentment among the elite...even if they're on the same side.
I'm not saying Gov. Sarah Palin is the best there is...heck, like everyone else I'm still trying to figure her out. But when David Brooks writes about how much better it would be if the rubes went back to Backwater, Alaska, and leave the governing to The Smart Guys, it makes me cringe.
If you haven't noticed, Brooks and a host of other well-educated and well-heeled sophisticates haven't exactly taken us to the Promised Land. Sure, the last eight years have been a disaster due to some incompetent leadership, but there's a lot of blame to be shared all around. The politicians, the pundits, the policy wonks...the list goes on. It's a list, by the way, heavily populated with The Smart Guys.
This isn't a screed calling for the total abandonment of the East Coast Establishment. I'm just wondering if The Smart Guys back east might consider the fact that people who graduated from state schools, whose parents aren't in the social register, or who aren't fixated on rubbing elbows with other elites might have something to say -- something good -- about how this nation should be governed.
Extra: The current financial crisis...? Hmm, let's see...created by boring, naive folks from Flyover Country who "cling to their guns, religion and xenophobia," or The Smart Guys who know better than the rest of us bumpkins?
No comments:
Post a Comment