Posted on 04/29/2013 5:53:31 AM PDT by Kaslin
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the far left, far right or somewhere in the middle, there is absolutely no denying the rise of the tea party has altered America’s political landscape. And the elite media is making clear, in no uncertain terms, they despise this type of change.
Last week, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted against the Schumer-Toomey gun bill because her constituents were opposed to the bill. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, former lawmaker Joe Scarborough and his sidekick Mika Brzezinski lit into her:
MIKA: She is defending her vote saying her office was flooded with calls from constituents who opposed background checks by a 7-1 ratio.
JOE: You can’t handle that?
The implication is that Heitkamp, who is not conservative, is supposed to ignore the citizens of her state because the elite media in New York City say the “overwhelming majority of people want to go the other way.”
In fact, a Pew Research-Washington Post poll found 47 percent of those closely following the gun debate were “happy” or “relieved” the bill failed. It would be logical to conclude folks in North Dakota, the state with the 8th highest gun ownership in the country, were even more relieved.
The cascade of righteous indignation continued, though:
JOE: Heidi Heitkamp wants to be a United States Senator but she is not tough enough to handle 4% of her constituents calling into her office a lot. She’s not even taking the phone calls!
MIKA: That’s what they do.
JOE: … This is one of the saddest most pathetic votes I think I’ve ever seen in Washington, DC. What Heidi Heitkamp has done. Cowarding [sic] in the corner because 4% maybe 5% of the people in her state were making phone calls that her staff had to answer.
MIKA: What about her own opinion? Does she have one?
The coastal elites regularly dismiss people in fly over country. The difference with this tantrum is that the elites are dismissing a fundamental constitutional right. The 1st Amendment guarantees citizens the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
If it seems as though they’re advocating for a callous disregard of their constituents, you’re right:
JOE: They are really vocal. Oh, my gosh. When she has to walk past her staff and saying a lot people are calling. I’ve done that. They are calling! I said, “that’s great. I’ll be back.”
When you consider this for standard operating procedure for the political and media elites, it should come as no surprise the vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with Washington and the media.
It goes beyond just demeaning commentary, though.
The Washington Post reported this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner “will raise about $150,000 for journalism scholarships, according to the WHCA, a nonprofit group.” The piece then went on to report “some media organizations will drop as much as $200,000 each to entertain an elite list of guests” at after parties.
Ultimately, the money raised for scholarships is “small change.” The Post concludes “The real targets are a few hundred elite and influential guests. The parties help news organizations court would-be advertisers and reward existing ones by putting them in proximity to power and the Hollywood figures who will be transported and pampered at the media’s expense this weekend.”
Of all people, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw has the self-awareness to realize this type of display is just “another separation between what [journalists are] supposed to be doing and what the people expect us to be doing.”
Whether talking heads are dismissing the beliefs and opinions of one segment of the country or engaging in a schmooze-a-palooza with another, there is no doubt a massive disconnect exists between the elites and the rest of America. And politicians, elected by a ridiculed constituency, should remember who they represent.
I often wonder if they ever talk to anyone besides themselves. They speak in their own language and don’t seem to understand American at all.
From what I can tell they've spawned a couple of generations of superhippies.
Yeah sure... the 'charity' lie enables these blowhards to write off a big chunk of the ego trip on their taxes.
In short we - the TAXPAYERS are stuck with a big part of the party bill. Let them pay for their own damn party... The folks at the Washington Post weren't born yesterday - they should report the truth.
Journalists think they've been invited to the party - when in fact only their 'connection' as been invited. Big difference. Ask some former journalist how easy the doors open for them now... You 'former' guys from the New York Times and Washington Post... are you there?
Thoroughly sick of Scarborough.
He’s sold his soul.
Here, I have to call BS. I’ve known a bunch of hippies in my time, and most of the genuine hippies are anti-authority and pretty much want to be left alone to do “their thing.”
The MSM wouldn’t admit a hippy to their ranks if they were paid to do so. The MSM is controlled by the earnest, soft-shoe liberal elite who went to school, got good grades, sat up straight and behaved in class, shined their shoes and followed all the rules. They’re sycophants, brown-nosers and boot-licking toadies who have not had an independent thought in their heads since they quit filling their diapers.
What we have now is a tyranny of the over-educated, under-informed brown-noser, many of whom have graduated with very august sounding degrees from Ivy League schools, The branding and pretension of these schools has given their graduates a preening sense of intellectual entitlement that “they’re right because they’re smart, and they’re smart because they went to Harvard/Yale/Princeton/etc and those schools only admit ‘the best’ so you graduates are ‘the best and brightest’ “ and so on.
The “elite” media hates me?
Seems fair.
I guess some senators don’t realize they are supposed to represent the leftist media...
Read the Jan, 2010 Commentary story about Sarah Palin. It released an avalanche of despite and open hatred ..... check links and read David Frum's comment at his own blog on Commentary's piece, and be sure to read all the comments on both. Then wander over to Gawker.com and see what "Pareena" had to say about Frum et al., and the responses to same at both Gawker and Jewschool.com -- you'll see the bones of the whole thing laid bare.
Personally, I had no idea the contempt for Middle America that lives on the Atlantic Slope. But I got an education pretty damn fast, even including some of the newer "neocon" commentators who've made names for themselves in the last five years.
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