NTKG, Reporting

peterwknox:

mikehudack:soupsoup:ilikeyou:aco:amyyy:karion:

Americans have an unhealthy desire to see average people promoted to positions of great authority. No one wants an average neurosurgeon or even an average carpenter, but when it comes time to vest a man or woman with more power and responsibility than any person has held in human history, Americans say they want a regular guy, someone just like themselves. President Bush kept his edge on the “Who would you like to have a beer with?” poll question in 2004, and won reelection.

This is one of the many points at which narcissism becomes indistinguishable from masochism. Let me put it plainly: If you want someone just like you to be president of the United States, or even vice president, you deserve whatever dysfunctional society you get. You deserve to be poor, to see the environment despoiled, to watch your children receive a fourth-rate education and to suffer as this country wages — and loses — both necessary and unnecessary wars.

Sam Harris, LA Times

Jon Stewart said something similar a few weeks ago in response to the “elitist attacks” on Obama.

I disagree and find this somewhat offensive. I don’t think that Amurricans automatically want somebody like themselves to be President. Let’s face it, G-Dubbs wouldn’t be prez if it wasn’t for dynastic nepotism, which is something most Amurricans can’t really relate to. He just connected with Amurricans differently than Al Gore did. He was still educated at Yale (using “educated” loosely), has his MBA, and grew up in a wealthy family from Connecticut. His policies have nothing to do with what the average American is like. And also, by damn, if I was president, we wouldn’t be poor, have a horrible environment, and have uneducated children.

Sorry, but this is spot off.