Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Know your place, you rabble-rousers!

Sometimes reading our local paper makes you feel unwashed. It often reminds us how we little people can forget our proper places and get all uppity. I guess that’s because we don’t get reminded often enough just what our role is. That, and our poor upbringing.

Blowback from the “leaders” involved in various “Town Hall” meetings around the country has reminded us that we are “uninformed,” that “we don’t know what’s good for us,” and has otherwise attempted to push us back into our boxes, where we are supposed to shut up and obey. Because we have the anointed, the aristocracy, the beautiful people, the elites to look after us.

And we need look no further than the pages of the Times Record for assurance.

Just yesterday, this statement appeared in an item by Richard Chapin, a former assistant dean of the Harvard Business School and president of Emerson College in Boston.

“The increase in the enrollment of independents is especially remarkable because it is happening with virtually no leadership. Traditionally, independent enrollment has been drawn mainly from intellectuals, people less willing to follow and who are not dependent on leadership. Here lies a great opportunity to challenge the incumbent president.”


Lest we mistake Chapin's inclinations, he adds:

"To be a force on the national scene, however, an out-of-office party must find a new inspiring leadership and a program that is more flexible, open-minded and progressive..."

Did I mention that Chapin is a former assistant dean of the Harvard Business School and president of Emerson College in Boston? I take from this that he’s an “intellectual,” “less willing to follow,” and “not dependent on leadership.” Even if his household did give $4300 to “Obama for America.” Hey, everyone makes mistakes, right?

Jeez, I miss Spiro Agnew.

We have others who remind us that having Government take over healthcare, after already taking over the auto and financial sectors, should not cause us worry.

“It is nonsense to suggest that health care or health insurance reform that gives government a role will make us a socialist country.”

Then there are those who kindly step up to make my point about using words like justice and equality to trump opposing arguments.

“I would like to see my state of Maine come into the future! It is time for all persons living in Maine to have the equality that has been promised to all Americans.”

“The God I know also supports justice, equity and compassion in human relations.”

I triple dog dare any of you to challenge those writers!

On the other hand, equity sounds like fun. How about if we each pay the same in property taxes? That sounds pretty just, fair, and compassionate to me.

I can’t close without mentioning the other “intellectuals” we are fortunate to have residing and opining in our midst.

Who can forget Harvard Law graduate and Boston law firm principle Weld Henshaw? In case you did forget him, he’s the one who said he’d never shop at Hannaford’s again after they put up that shameful flagpole, and added insult to injury by flying an American Flag on it for all to see. Jingoistic, he said.

And more recently, he reminded us that he is a peer and intimate of America’s (sorry for the jingoism, Weld) finest jurists, one of whom, if it was up to him, would be chosen instead of Sonja Sotomayor. Because he was there to shape and mold their perfection.

Did I mention he’s a Harvard Law graduate, and a onetime principle in a major Boston legal firm?

These displays of intellectual independence must make it tough for R. Bruce Stedman, a Harvard graduate and retired Assistant Secretary of the United Nations, to maintain his self-esteem. Stedman has written frequently of a “one world” solution to all our problems, which would be masterfully governed by the independent intellectual elites at Turtle Bay. What educated person could question the wisdom of that?

By the way, did I mention that Stedman is a Harvard graduate?

Let me close by reminding you all to stay where you belong; don’t you worry your little heads about what’s going on. That’s what I’m here for.

And thank goodness that those of us who aren’t qualified to purchase the New York Times have the poor man’s version readily available to us, Krugman and all.

How lucky can one guy get?

No comments:

Post a Comment