Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Children, It's Time To Pull Out Our Dictionaries

I can’t count how many times this week I have seen and heard liberals whipping out their dictionaries to read their special, make-believe definition of the word “elitist.” The dictionary readers have ranged from radio talk show host Ed Schultz to Joy Behar from The View, and everything in between. To have so many liberals quoting the same wrong thing is laughable.

What has sparked this sudden mania for dictionaries? Barack Obama made a comment last weekend while speaking at a function where his audience consisted of wealthy California donors. If you haven’t already heard or read the comment a million times, here it is:

“Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not.

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Cue the fury of his opponents--mostly in his own party—who started bandying about the “E” word. Then cue his supporters to drag out their dictionaries to help them shout the wrong definition of “elitist” to anyone within earshot.The Obama supporters certainly seem to have gotten the memo. It probably reads something like this:

Dear Supporters of Senator Obama:

When people who are part of the Clinton cabal or the Bush-Cheny-McCain-Coleman regime call Senator Barack Obama an "elitist" (because of his recent remarks about Americans clinging to their guns, god, etc.), refer to the dictionary definition of "elite,” which is:

e·lite or é·lite: A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status. The best or most skilled members of a group.

Our talking point is: what is wrong with being elite? Of course Obama is elite. He was educated at Harvard. He is a Senator. He is the first African American man to run for president. He is one of "the best or most skilled members of a group." We should have our best and brightest running for president. Therefore, being elitist isn't a bad thing.

Keep repeating this point at every opportunity. If you can, take out your reading glasses for effect because it makes you look smarter. We know people won't notice that you're using the definition of "elite," which no one called Obama, rather than the definition of "elitist," which is what they actually called him, and the definition of that word makes Obama look really bad.

For your information only, the following is the definition of “elitist.” Do not under any circumstances use this definition, because it doesn’t help us sell our point.

e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

e·lit'ist adj. & n. elit·ism :1: leadership or rule by an elite 2: the selectivity of the elite; especially : snobbery

We think that by getting the public to buy our own definition of “elitist,” instead of the real one above, they will begin to believe it is the true definition. Also, by concentrating on deflecting the accusation of Senator Obama's being "elitist," we can distract the public from the fact that his comments could be construed by many as offensive, no matter what they are labeled. After all, we are using dictionaries to prove our point, which makes us look intelligent and superior, and who could argue with that?

Sincerely,

Your Leaders

What makes the tactic so insulting is the very elitism behind exchanging the word “elitist” for the word “elite.” It’s as if they think we won’t notice, or open a dictionary ourselves to learn and judge for ourselves whether or not we think Obama’s comment was elitist.

I, and many likeminded people, have long felt that the Democratic party as a whole is very elitist. They seem to function on the idea that they know better how to spend our money than we do. Conservatives have watched as the “tolerance party” repeatedly shows its intolerance of people who won’t mindlessly go along with its every thought. We’ve seen it play out with our own Senator Coleman, who, when his life’s journey led him to become pro life, was cruelly rejected by the Democratic party because he didn’t hold the same belief they did. Liberals do this because they think their group has the right to rule over everyone else because they perceive themselves to be superior. Sound familiar?

So, was Obama’s comment elitist? He was assuming to know that small town America's faith in God or position on gun control, etc. stems solely from government's failure to provide them with all of their needs. In my opinion, his comment was not as much elitist as it was snobbish, but that is included in the definition of elitist, so I suppose the answer is yes. At the very least, it was insulting.

Is the dumbed-down-for-the-little-people reaction of his supporters elitist? I’m certain of it.

Has the Democratic party long fit the definition of elitist?

Absolutely.

ab·so·lute·ly
–adverb
1. without exception, completely; wholly, entirely.
2. positively; certainly.
3. (of a transitive verb) without an object.
4. used emphatically to express complete agreement or unqualified assent.



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