Listen to somepowers, otherwise known as Mrs. Begnet (but only to our landlords, who insist on leaving the rent receipts addressed as such even though this is not actually her name):
[W]hat is even more irritating, I think, is the way candidates have to parade around Pennsylvania waving their blue collar credentials, telling their own Horatio Alger stories as testaments to the American dream and evidence that despite their "elite" status, they're just regular folks. Op ed writers are jumping on this bandwagon, too, with my least-favorite ever, Maureen Dowd, writing this morning on Obama's supposed classism while conveniently mentioning that she grew up in a house with a gun. (Really, why did I even click on that link? Girlfriend just makes me angry.) Give it up, folks: none of you are actually "regular people," at least not in the sense that you can avoid the amazing privileges you enjoy due to your education, you access to powerbrokers (or status as one), or your ability to have a megaphone to broadcast your ideas. It strikes me as ridiculous and extremely paternalistic that we need photographs or video of candidates bowling or downing shots to vet their abilities to be Commander-in-Chief. This kind of working-class pornography is really no different than hipsters donning trucker hats and raising $2 cans of PBR in the air in time with the chorus of "Sweet Home Alabama" in a New York bar. Can we talk about class issues without everybody having to mention that they know what it's like to be poor?Hear, hear! More please ...
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