Someone recently said to me that they always felt like Gore was talking down to them.

[jsamuel]

Like Gore was smarter than him. And I said, "I can see that." But then I started thinking about it a tad more and thought, "well, maybe he is smarter than you." And then I thought, "would it be such a bad thing to have a President that is smarter than you?" Then I remembered a long time ago when listening to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" that I decided that I wouldn't want to rule the world because you have to be so smart to do it. I thought "thank God I wasn't President." Not so much because I am not smart (I like to think I am) but because if I wasn't smart in some particular area REAL consequences could occur. Later I discovered that is why it is so important to have other smart people around you to fill in your gaps so that even if I wasn't very smart in a particular area, I would have someone close by to consult with that would tell me the truth even if I didn't like it.

Looking at Bush and the way things have turned out I see that he has done the exact opposite of what I outlined above. This somewhat applies to Bill Maher's piece about Elites. Are they really bad? I mean as long as they are elite because of their merits and not because of their birthright. For example, was MLK elite? Yes, but because of his merits, obviously not because of his birthright. MLK is probably not the best example of this, but he just popped into my head.

Now no one likes a boaster, but isn't that exactly what politicians on campaign trails are? If a boaster is correct and they are that good, then why would we let our pride get in the way of electing someone who is smarter than us?

[NormanYorkstein]

1. what is this new "elite" thing the Dems have going on?

Wasn't Bill Mahyer doing this recently? I thought the Democrats were the party of the "common person"?

[jsamuel]

3. I refered to Bill Maher in the OP

The point is that, in my view, the real elites ARE the common person who gains merits through their intelligence and who they are, not who they were born.

[GCP]

6. It's in reaction to dick-wads like O'Reilly and Limpballs

Trying to make out that liberals were "elite" - ie not regular guys like them - like they would be seen dead in their neighborhood bars - they probably never come out of their gated communities - and how come that's not elite?

That sounds a little incoherent, but I get sick of millionaires like them trying to tell everybody they're 'regular guys', and the liberals are the elite. As Maher said - if you need brain surgery, you want an elite surgeon, not some shit-for-brains hick. :grr:

[NormanYorkstein]

10. okay I get that

perhaps this is cynical, but most of the Democrats are millionaires too and I have yet to see any of them in my neighborhood bar, so...

[GCP]

14. "Most of the Democrats are millionaires"????

WTF?

[NormanYorkstein]

15. which candidate isn't?

?

[GCP]

17. The difference is - when they're talking about "the elites"

And "secular progressives" - they're talking about poeple like me, not a millionaire political candidate. They whip up hatred against people like me because I don't think like them.
Maybe that's OK with you, but it makes me mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

[NormanYorkstein]

18. I thought they were talking about Gore?

:shrug:

[GCP]

19. This is what Maher was saying

By now you've heard the constant right-wing attacks on the "elite," or as it's otherwise known, "hating." They've had it up to their red necks with the "elite media." The "liberal elite." Who may or may not be part of the "Washington elite." A subset of the "East Coast elite." Which is influenced by "the Hollywood elite." So basically, unless you're a shitkicker from Kansas, you're with the terrorists. If you played a drinking game in which you did a shot every time Rush Limbaugh attacked someone for being "elite" you'd almost be as wasted as Rush Limbaugh.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/04/13/pat_robertson/

It had nothing to do with Gore.

[NormanYorkstein]

25. Maher is wrong, Thomas Frank was way more insightful about this

What's the Matter with Kansas explains how and why the "liberal elite" thing works, and I don't think Maher has a clue, other then he likes to think of himself as "elite" since he's on TV. Eh.

It used to be that Republicans were seen as the "party of the elites" but since the Democrats started selling out the workers (in the 1970s) to become more in tune with the urban professional classes, the "limo liberal" slur stings, because it's partially true.

[marmar]

2. I heard that from a few people, and it made me want to gouge my eyeballs out...

When I got really frustrated I would respond: "So you went out and voted for the village idiot instead?"
:argh:

[Erika]

4. Yep. The bushbots elected the village idiot

And they'll back him all the way to killing our environment and assistance to the poor and needy. They are the "W" bushbots.

[Snotcicles]

21. Tell them he wasn't talking down, to them, he thought they were listening, up to him. nt

[marmar]

23. Teehee...

Their brains might explode.

[Fresh_Start]

5. ask them if they feel good about Bush calling them traitors

and defeatocrats because they disagree with him.

Doesn't that count at least as bad as snootiness, if any, that Gore might have had?

[Jonathan50]

7. It's damn near impossible to explain complex ideas to people

Without sounding like you're "talking down" to them.

I run into it all the time, so often I have to start at a grammar school level to explain some of the things I happen to know.

By the time you get to the point you wanted to make in the first place, the person you are trying to explain to has forgotten the background information that you had to give them in order that they might understand what you are getting at.

And then there's always the times that you forget your original point while trying to impart background information.

Republicans strong point is that they never try to explain complex issues, so they don't sound like they are "talking down" to people.

[GCP]

8. And doesn't Dim Son talk down to us every time he leans on that podium

And says "you see, what I'm saying is...." As if we have the same oatmeal between our ears that he does, and we need spoon feeding with his 'wisdom'. :banghead:

[flying_monkeys]

12. GASP! NO!!!!! That is him just "gettin' familiar" and bein' personable

How could you suggest that our dear leader is talking down to us! He is just being friendly like! GASP!



(Dim sum - - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe I will have to do dim sum tomorrow for brunch. Darn you for making me start craving Chinese this late in NC!)

[EST]

16. Boy! I'm glad you pointed that out.

It really fries me when he launches into "teacher" mode, giving some stupid explanation of something everybody already knows or doesn't believe, anyway.
You can tell he is copying someone, whether it be his mother or some hated teacher, when he starts "hissing."

He kind of hisses his words and talks between his teeth, with a lisp. I think he really does think other people are really, really stupid and that he is just about the smartest man around. Probably comes from all his sycophants telling him that, all these years.

[flying_monkeys]

22. I can not imagine anyone ever saying that to him, without busting up

into laughter.

Seriously, he is surrounded by brighter bears, his family has brighter bears, surely no one ever complimented him on his brain power because it.isn't.there. Sycophants or not, maybe they said he was amusing or funny or ummm "clever" - - but no one surely has ever suggested he is the smartest guy around.


He knows that would be Jeb, anyway ;)

[EST]

9. That is a problem that Gore has always had, or at least ever since

I first noticed him. Although he has tamed it a bit, even his absolute truth in inconvenient truth has a negative effect because he still comes across that way.
And yes, he is smarter than most people, but not smart enough to learn to he self-effacing without being subservient.

He has a tendency to leap to conclusions and then fill in the details, which also throws people off, even though his hits vs. misses ratio is a hell of a lot better than most.
He is a wonderful and great man, but I don't want him in the presidential fracas and, thankfully, he apparently doesn't want to be, either.

[flying_monkeys]

11. And having a President smarter than the average bear would be bad - -

exactly how?


Me? I sure as hell want the President smarter than I am - - I want a quick-on-his/her-feet thinker who reflects, ponders and isn't afraid to act OR change if conditions merit change....


Maybe ask your friend if he were to say join a fishing boat that might sail in rough seas, would he want a guy who KNOWS everything about the Sea, Weather, Fish, Probability, etc - - or some guy who had enough money to get a boat but is easy to drink with at night after the sun sets?


I don't have a problem with the elites with brains. As long as they have good grey matter, I don't care how much green they have in their pockets.


(Gore is brilliant. If only we could have harnassed that brainpower to leading our country...)

[MedleyMisty]

13. Advocates for gifted kids run into this all the time

For some reason people have no problem with others being better at sports than them but if someone is better at intellectual pursuits, then it's elitism.

I honestly don't understand why people seem to calculate the value of a life by IQ, project that on to people with high IQs, and say that smart people think they're better than others and get all into a tizzy if someone starts reading at four or if an adult has a decent vocabulary and is well-read or whatever.

[SharonAnn]

27. Yes, you're right. You want the fastest kids on the track team, the best shooters

and guards on the basketball team, etc. And you search for them, give them special coaches, lots of school financial and moral support, special awards, etc.

But for the gifted? Well, they should be humble.

Sigh, people don't get it. It's the same kind of thing. Some people have talent(s) and I think they should be encouraged to develop them and trained in how to use them. Doesn't matter if it's sports, music, or mental aptitude.

[KittyWampus]

20. Gore spoke to us on the level of a 7th grader. Most pols keep it down to 6th grade level

I am not joking or making this up.

[NormanYorkstein]

28. heh

I think you are completely right.

[nam78_two]

24. You know after 6 years of Chimp

I am amazed that people are still worried about mannerisms, posture etc.

The recent trend for strident anti-intellectualism is troubling in itself, but that apart seeing the mess this country is in under this train-wreck of an administration, I am stunned that people still care about that stuff.
It should be unambiguous, even to people who "want to have a beer" with their pretzelent, that a Gore presidency would have been infinitely superior to this disastrous clown and his cabal of looters :shrug:.

[WindRavenX]

26. Especially when dealing with complex science...here's what happens:

1)I explain, in full detail, the mechanisms for climate change.

Person gets a blank, glazed look in their eye and thinks I'm just an airbag academic.

2)I explain, in laymen's terms, the basis for climate change.

Person gets angry and thinks I'm "talking down" to them.

You can't win.