And Eye Guy writes in post 15: Yeah, but she doesn’t have an Ivy League law degree and doesn’t know anyone in Washington.....
Yep. Had a run-in with the dictionary definition of what Rush calls a "Republican elitist" over the holidays, a long-time friend of the family. I don't know who he supported in the primaries, but I'd bet it was Romney or maybe Giuliani. This friend is the type of guy who's deeply impressed by Ivy Leage degrees, business "acumen," and proper social decorum.
We talked a bit about Palin, and he said with dripping condesension: "I like her, but she's certainly not qualified to be president." And I was thinking: as Alaska's governor, she has dealt internationally with Russia, Canada, and also had to work with oil companies, not to mention corrupt old-boy network Republicans. She's no elitist, but has happily lived hard-scrabble among other people who've happily lived hard-scrabble. Self-sufficient, independent, self-directed, live-and-let-live producers of things people need ...
... unlike my elitist Republican friend, who has never actually started with nothing and through his own effort produced something with his hands and smarts that someone else needs or wants and will buy from him; no, like most elitists and execs (he's a business exec), he oversees things to make sure people do things the correct way, which is synonymous with his way. He's all for Nanny Government as long as he's the Nanny. He's a "compassionate" liberal who is a registered Republican with full arrogant claim to supervising, for their own good, those who aren't as smart, responsible, or "qualified" as he is. The older I get, the more I think that he's more damaging to America as a Republican than he would be if he was a Democrat.
His low opinion of Sarah has raised her higher in my own estimation.
The double standard on requisite “experience” and “qualifications” when it comes to the redoubtable Governor Palin is appalling, particularly amongst “conservatives” who, by definition, ought to know better.
Yes, as a society we are plagued by an army of overseers; inspectors, regulators, journalists, “educators” and bureaucrats, many of whom could be eliminated outright without adverse effects. We need more actual producers of work as opposed to those watching and commenting from the sidelines, and getting paid for it, often with the unending bounty of taxpayer largesse.