Proved My Point & Class Politics
A few weeks ago I wrote about income distribution and how people with money just don’t get it when it comes to what is middle class and how little some people in the country have in the way of wherewithal.
Here are two recent examples.
First is an article about how our next vice president will be “like the rest of us” when it comes to money. Yes Joe Biden and Sarah Palin would be the poorest vice presidents in recent history. They are paupers compared to the likes of Dick Cheney. Tim Middleton goes on to write:
In a political world usually divided between the rich and superrich, the Palins and Bidens are decidedly middle class. And their investments are on the same scale as yours and mine.
Forget it Tim. Yes their income is low compared to their political associates but they are still in the upper five percent of households when it comes to income. Hardly middle class in my opinion. The last paragraph reads:
But it’s refreshing to come across a pair of politicians who truly do understand our situation, because they share it. And it’s too bad one of them could be the only such person in Washington come next January.
Who is Tim referring to when he writes about “our situation”?
Second example is how Sarah Palin in the debate tried to say how she is like the rest of America and middle class.
Wrong!
Again as I pointed out before there is not a definition for middle class and the Palin family is in the top five percent(or darn close) for household income.
Unless saying “you betcha” makes you middle class. Actually her style might be better classified as low class.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:59 am
“Unless saying “you betcha” makes you middle class. Actually her style might be better classified as low class.” Amen-you nailed it! She is in her full glory with her recent attacks-that folksy style of hers without much substance has certainly gotten old!
And your analysis above above about lack of clarity and misuse about the term “middle class” is totally on target
October 6th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Is “folksy” some kind of new euphemism for “totally lacking in knowledge of English pronunciation and grammatical rules”?
Does that comment make me a snob?
Did anyone else almost barf when Palin called herself middle class?
Is there any hope for this country?
(Sigh.)
October 6th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I don’t have a problem with “foksy” in general. But it’s overuse by Palin to avoid hard questions and cover her ignorance gets old. Okay call me sexist when I say this but I couldn’t stomach the debate and I turned it off. I got so sick of her smirking and the beauty queen smile as her way to manipulate and avoid discussion just really aggravated me.
Interestingly I saw a story about those dial polls where they record actions of viewers in real time as they watch the debate. It was interesting that women had more negative reactions to Palin then men when she did this stuff. Does that mean she was and is using sex to manipulate and get her way? Another sexist comment there…lol
October 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Amy,
I am with you in that “folksy” is a trite term being used to camoflauge lack of proper usage of the language- I was being polite as I have to make a special effort on that when talking about Palin as I agree with Red, she had circumvented answering tough questions exactly as Red has pointed out. It really really makes me scared to think of someone like her being a heartbeat away from the Presidency should McCain win…
She reminded me of a programmed robot mouthing cliched campaign rhetoric regardless of whether it was applicable or not-one got the feeling that if she forgot one word or sentence, her whole act would fail.. All rhetoric and almost no substance…
October 6th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Sometimes I just wonder if she’s trying too hard and honestly sometimes woman are their own worst critics. Tragic but true.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Debateur;
I don’ t really think she is trying too hard. And I don’t think she is as dumb as some people would like to think. It is just her way.
I believe she is incapable of any sort of thoughtful consideration to an issue beyond her own position. We have had too much of that in the past 8 years, especially when it comes to our foreign policy. She is capable of calculated thinking but not analytical thinking.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I believe the term for Sarah Palin and her family is nouveau riche (not totally sure how to spell that). New money, no class.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
That said, I would probably feel more comfortable holding a conversation with her than the Cindy McCains or Laura Bushs of the world.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Sarah Palin is just so gosh darn adorable! We always say that we want politicians who identify with us, but when you think about it (at least in my case) it would be unwise to wish for a politician who is LIKE us. We found that out after we elected and reelected the last guy. I know a lot of people who will vote for Sarah Palin because they feel she is a lot like them (they are voting for Sarah Palin, not John McCain, go figure).
We criticize elite politicians for being rich… and, well… successful; but they got to the top somehow. Maybe they are out of touch, but I can at least respect someone who has double or triple the education that I have in a subject that counts, public service experience galore, and demonstratively sound reasoning capabilities.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Jay;
So true. People like her foksy ways. If we mention accomplishments like graduate of Harvard Law school and editor of Harvard Law review then we say the person is elitist.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Inger;
I don’t know about Cindy McCain but I think Laura Bush would be a more interesting conversationalist than Sarah Palin.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I’ve always liked Laura Bush. I would love to sit down and have a conversation with her. I think she’d more interesting than any of the above mentioned.