Newsweek and the Palin Problem: Part II

Swift, unbiased action has been taken against the Newsweek cover and the article I cited in the post below. Once again the meme of elitism rears its ugly, bespectacled head (from a book by Marx, no doubt):

"Granted that the liberal bookworms at Newsweek may think “She’s One of the Folks” is a slight in itself. Main stream media academics, like Barack Obama himself, do not seem to get middle-America. Liberal idealogues see “us” as clinging to guns and bibles, not quite smart enough to understand the important issues. Never mind that Democrat voters are the ones having trouble with ballots and hanging chads, and graduate from high school at a much lower rate than Republican voters.

“She’s One of the Folks” is an inside joke to a handful of liberal elitists that nobody else in the country will get. And they know it, which is why the Sarah Palin Newsweek cover went a bridge too far on the joke, like salting quiche at an Obama wine party."

Bookworms. Liberal elitists. Obama wine party. Truly, this article pigeonholes the left much more than anything Meacham said in the original article. Whenever elitism comes up, I wonder how people have forgotten Obama's roots so quickly; or, even John McCain's. McCain was a child of privilege, and a spoiled brat who pulled strings to get his way in the Navy. Yet, somehow, he's managed to run an entire campaign (nay, career) on being an Average American whose life was changed by his experience as a POW.

If you get a chance, read the comments on the the aforementioned article. Take this snippet for example:

"Lisa, you’ve obviously never heard of or met a flim flam man.
Hes the guy who buys a stick of gum with 10.00 bill and gets change from a twenty.
Thats what Obama is.
You want to talk about basic math ?
Tell me , please, with all the money being put out right now how does he plan to pay for all the sh*t hes been promising ? [...]
After 7 years of war and now this meltdown its no surprise that people are reaching for something, anything, out of desparation.
But your all missing the point.
The last 7 1/2 years has been pretty good to most people, otherwise there would of nothing to fall from."

The article directly following The Palin Problem in the print version of Newsweek is Palin, McCain and the Weeks Ahead, a well-formed counterargument by Karl Rove. I didn't find it as convincing as the cover story, but Karl Rove certainly knows how to play to a candidates strengths. The more I hear about Palin, the less I trust her and the McCain campaign. Using a female candidate as a publicity stunt is not only disingenuous, but dangerous. Female politicians shouldn't be a novelty.