Do you know the definition of Bigot? : a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

Don't you find that most who post here fit that definition?

It seems to me that whether or not one is an elitist is a very subjective determination. Webster references 'perceived' superiority. So, whose perception? GWB still think's he is the best to lead this country. He seems to perceive he is superior. He's demonstrated that in his failure to listen to others who clearly have more knowledge than he has (about almost everything). There are some who believe George will go down in history as one of the best presidents... "I'm the decider". Did that make him the best? Usually, it is the elite themselves who decide they are elite. I think that just means that elitists think too highly of themselves. I disagree with Jon Stewart. We don't need an elitist as president. We don't need someone who thinks he/she is better than everyone else. We do need someone who is capable and competent. That will be such a stark contrast to our current situation.

Would I call GWB an elitist? At times I would. That would not be a good thing. Would I call you, Lionel an elitist? At times I would. Those are the times when you are somewhat of a pain. I like you. I think you're smart. I like the way you think. And, at times I think you are a little too impressed with yourself. Maybe that's a problem we all have.

There is something wrong with looking down on folks because they do not keep the same company, or run in the same circles as one may. There is nothing wrong with going to good schools or being intellectual. What is wrong with the remarks from Senator Obama, was the implication that people are not only bitter about their economic situation, but that somehow because of this bitterness they "cling to religion, guns etc". Obama essentially called these folks religious fanatics, gun-totin, bigots. Obama did not make these comments to regular folks in small town America. Obama made these comments far away in one of the most wealthy counties in California to an audience of very wealthy folks.

While it may be true that some folks are bitter and angry because of the economy, it is not true that this bitterness is what drives these folks to become narrow minded and hateful of those that they perceive to be different from themselves. Instead, these folks are proud and resilient survivors. They are hardworking and find great comfort and strength in their faith. Their faith gets them through the good and bad times.

I could go on, but I wont. The point is, if you have to ask what is wrong with being an elitist, then you probably are one and do see what is so wrong with it.

I would qualify that definition with the words: THAT THINK THEY ARE A PERSON WHO IS............................

What's wrong with being an elitist? This is not the message I took away from this week's dust up. What I saw was two elite, privileged, born into affluence politicians attack a man who was born into a family with nothing, who lived with the help of food stamps as a child, who went to school on scholarship, and who worked his a** off for everything he ever got. And they attacked him for being elitist. What Orwellian crap.

And the press echo chamber just couldn't recognize the hypocrisy of these charges, and instead entertained conversations about whether Barack Obama was a Marxist, or sociologist, or out of touch.

And the real aggravation is that all this controversy was the result of a resentful blogger who, feeling insulted because she wasn't listening to what Barack Obama was saying, chose to write a distorted misrepresentation of his remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser.

What's wrong with being an elitist? Look at our current press corps and you'll have the answer.

repubs should use public financing.

but apparently obama is not going to use it.

Here you go again, trying to "spin" the meaning of ELITIST". Why not just try 'for once' to accept the fact that Barak Obama is an "ELITIST", and he cuddles to to that class of people.

Don't spin, just try (for one in your puny lives) to be honest.

He does not deserve to be president, in that fact neither does Hillary.

.

who knew that Rush & Bill's fans knew how to use a computer and actually take time to register on a progressive website ... YIKES!!!

Thanks Lionel - you post is smart, succinct, and right on target.

1 a: of, relating to, or characterized by progress b: making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities c: of, relating to, or constituting an educational theory marked by emphasis on the individual child, informality of classroom procedure, and encouragement of self-expression
2: of, relating to, or characterized by progression
3: moving forward or onward : advancing

With a somewhat Democratic, inclusive, open minded "bent".

Who's doing the hating?

Signing off for the day .....

An elitist and one who stands among the elite are two different things.
An elitist is not someone who excels in a profession he is one who refuse to comingle with those of a more common nature.
I would suggest Obama's friendship with Rev. Wright must be an exception although he may be esteemed as elite among black nationalists but his association with Kerry and Kennedy and the billionaires in San Francisco speak against him.
An elitist is about not getting your hands dirty. Excelling at what you do is about hard work and integrity.

He must be elitist. LOL

The following scenario would qualify as "elitist"

1. Authorize torture to be used and pass it down the chain of command.

2. Watch as those that followed your command go to jail for torture.

3. Sit back and have a brew.

An elitist is someone who believes in elitism. That doesn't make them an elite, it simply associates them with a philosophy of governance. Elitism as relates to the current discussion is a belief / philosophy that governance and power is best distributed to individuals with the greatest intelligence, knowledge, and competence for the job. It's a top-down, heirarchical approach, in some ways very similar to a large corporation.

This is in contrast to populism, where the values and sensibilities of all persons is of equal merit in deciding the power, substance, and direction of government. Everyone has an equal say, and the less power acruing to individuals, the better. It's more of a bottom-up approach, with grass-roots movements such as environmentalism being a good example

Representative democracy, which is the form of government we have, attempts to do the necessary thing, which is to balance these two poles of approach. We want a smart, honest, hardworking President, but we also want him or her to take into account each and every day that we deserve to know what's going on and to be a vital part of the decision-making process, to be our servant, not our master.

With this said, then, it's obvious that elitism has nothing to do directly with relative wealth, education, etc. A rich person can be a populist, and a beggar an elitist. If you don't believe me, do a bit of study of Indian society, with its hereditary caste system. The reason elitism and wealth are so often mished together is that by definition there are fewer wealthy in any given society, and generally they themselves believe that their wealth and priviledge should give them more power, particularly if they helped earn their wealth themselves.

This sort of confusion can lead to the assumption that because Bill Gates became really wealthy building a software company he's automatically better prepared to figure out what to do about the health care crisis than someone's who middle class, even someone with more education and experience in healthcare than him. This, of course, is nonsense, but many folks, both rich and poor, believe it, and vote that belief.