We have all experienced it…and we didn’t like it one bit. I’m referring to those times when we have been forced to deal in some form or fashion with elitism. The synonyms of elitism are many. Exclusive, discriminatory, selective, restricted, limited, superior and just plain snobby head the list in the Thesaurus. But, for most of us, we just “know” elitism when we see it displayed.
When it comes around to looking at the world of politics we notice a very interesting paradox. Though the Democrats view themselves as the Party of the Working Man, they consistently attempt to portray Republicans as being dumb hicks, out of touch, uneducated and in general really not capable of understanding the truth of the political arena. They view that vast region of the United States between the two coastlines as “fly over country” and really not in touch with reality. The GOP is filled with cowboys, Hill Billies and country bumpkins. Democrats devoted eight years and longer attempting to paint George W. Bush, a Harvard and Yale graduate, as stupid. The working man’s party, then and now, tries to do two things at the same time…define Republicans as the Party favoring the rich and at the same time the Party filled with knuckle dragging rubes.
Those counter productive belittling efforts of the Democrat leadership have really had a reverse effect. They have managed to convince much of America that Republicans are far from being elitists and more in tune with the common man. People such as the elder President Bush may go to Kennebunkport on vacation, but he is still a very old man who jumps out of airplanes and he is OK. President Bush, the younger, may have that Ivy League education and come from a moneyed background, but he still cuts brush on his ranch and meets the troops when they come home from war.
There are also just plain folks like John McCain, Sara Palin, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Kashich and others who are approachable and seen in touch with that huge audience in “fly over country”.
When the topic of elitism is defined, it is usually as “the belief some people have that they are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment or higher rewards because of their superiority.” Since most people feel they are just as good or just as equal as the person next to them, the elitist, the person who tilts his head upward and talks to you while looking down off the tip of his nose, doesn’t fare well in opinion polls. Since there are far more “folks” than there are those who make up the ranks of the elite, the odds of those viewing themselves as worthy of preferential treatment might find it very difficult to obtain. There are even reporters who have said in print that to be branded as an elitist is just as bad, or perhaps worse, than being labeled a racist.
For most of us, we will leave the John Kerrys of the world to their wind surfing, the Nancy Palosis to their San Francisco wine tasting, the Harry Reids to uttering offending remarks and the Barack Obamas to speaking down their noses off the end to the teleprompter.
As for most of us, like Diogenes of Sinope, we will keep holding our lanterns high and looking for those politicians who have learned to speak in plain, truthful language and perhaps have become persons who always honor their word.
