Throw the Bums Out!

It has long been my belief that our elected politicians have displayed an extrememly arrogant attitude toward their constituents. They demonstrate this in their refusal to "listen" to anything that does not conform to their idea of where the country should move, be it Health care, abortion, security, or whatever. We have "representing" us, a class of politcos who represent, almost exclusively, the "intelligentsia".

David Brooks in his very eloquent exposition in the NY Times OpEd column of January 4, maintains the country is in a "sour" mood generally. People in poll after poll express their dissatisfaction with the direction the Obama administration and Congress are taking the country. The term he uses is "educated class" where I substitute "intelligentsia". I believe it is a valid comparison to the language of the proletariat in the Russian (or Bolshevik) Revolution of 1917. In some cases you could substitute the word Tsar Nicolas II for President Obama. I think you'll get the idea.

Let me quote just a few paragraphs from Brooks' article:

"The public is not only shifting from left to right. Every single idea associated with the educated class has grown more unpopular over the past year.

The educated class believes in global warming, so public skepticism about global warming is on the rise. The educated class supports abortion rights, so public opinion is shifting against them. The educated class supports gun control, so opposition to gun control is mounting.

The story is the same in foreign affairs. The educated class is internationalist, so isolationist sentiment is now at an all-time high, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The educated class believes in multilateral action, so the number of Americans who believe we should “go our own way” has risen sharply."

President Obama, himself, reflects the arrogance of the intelligentsia. He is cool, urbane and intellectual and bears the arrogance within his persona. It is obvious to all but the totally blind (politically). He surrounds himself with the same types.

Now, there is nothing wrong with education (I purport to be well educated myself), but the arrogance of it is wrong.

As Brooks says in his article, "...don’t underestimate the deep reservoirs of public disgust. If there is a double-dip recession, a long period of stagnation, a fiscal crisis, a terrorist attack or some other major scandal or event, the country could demand total change, creating a vacuum that only the tea party movement and its inheritors would be in a position to fill."

As more of a Teddy Roosevelt Populist myself, I am disgusted with the current group of politicos occupying our government today. Re previous proclamations of mine, I feel we should "throw the bums out" and start all over with term limits and "citizen" representatives.

Have a good day!