Some of my best friends are …. lawyers
posted at 10:55 am on April 16, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
The Obamas are trying very hard to avoid the elitist tag that Barack Obama’s remarks about middle America has stuck to them. This week, both Obamas have tried very hard to emphasize their modest upbringing as the lens through which they see the world. Unfortunately, as Jim Geraghty points out, that’s leading to some rhetorical gymnastics:
Elsewhere, Jen Rubin notes that Obama is talking about his humble roots to dispel the charge of elitism and snobbery. (He apparently keeps referring to his three-bedroom condo as a one-bedroom.) But snobbery is less about income than it is about one’s attitude towards other people — most often expressed when one is among one’s own (say, while drinking wine among San Francisco’s elites).
Bill Gates is the wealthiest man in the country, but I don’t know if Americans think of him as a snob. A nerd, maybe, but not a snob. Professional athletes, musicians, and actors all make enormous sums of money, but the appeal of the latter groups depends on their ability to establish an emotional connection with the much less wealthy members of their audience. George W. Bush is enormously wealthy, but he, too, rarely gives off a snobbish vibe, and I’ll bet many Americans actually look down their nose at him as unsophisticated.
Precisely. And if that isn’t enough, this video juxtaposing two different Michelle Obama appearances should make the point even more obvious:
I have a few friends who are lawyers — John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson of Power Line, for instance, and a couple of cousins who practice at the bar as well. (I have a few more relatives who do other things at bars instead.) If I could say that “all of my friends are lawyers”, I don’t think that I could refute an elitist charge with a straight face.
What can be said is that the Obamas want to have it both ways. When hanging out with Middle America, they want to sell themselves as salt-of-the-earth, humble Americans. When hobnobbing with the elite on Billionaires Row, they want to join in with the elite at scorning the values of middle America. Maybe that isn’t elitism, but it certainly sounds like a heavy dose of phoniness. Which is worse?
Blowback
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Not allowing a black woman the freedom to be elitist is racist.
JiangxiDad on April 16, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Nothing is more annoying then when people who come from middle class home act like they were deprived in some way. They are damn lucky and should be thankful instead of using it to pander for votes. But, here’s the guy who through his grandma, who provided that good home and his exclusive education, under the bus.
Blake on April 16, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Jeez, she is so full of it.
I get the vibe from her that she would never settle…she gets her BMW serviced at the best dealership, her kitchen has the finest accoutrements, er, things and her clothes are very expensive.
IOW, your typical loudmouth hypocrite yuppie lib.
benrand on April 16, 2008 at 11:02 AM
They’re not phoney, they’re just pandering liars. They are total elitists who want to rule over the unwashed masses, and will talk like peons all the way to the Oval Office.
Class warfare. Down with the proletariat.
MadisonConservative on April 16, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Pass the port. Not our sort.
mymanpotsandpans on April 16, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Right on, JiangxiDad!
burt on April 16, 2008 at 11:08 AM
“There’s a lot a people talkin’ about…elitism…an all dat.”
Work it, girl. Your degrees in sociology and blackness are really starting to pay off now.
Jaibones on April 16, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Ya know….
I don’t know a single lawyer.
Mortis on April 16, 2008 at 11:12 AM
I detected a certain tone in her voice on the left panel. Kinda a reminds of Hillary speaking in the South. I guess that is one thing they have in common…..voice modulation depending on crowd economic/ethnic/etc. status.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on April 16, 2008 at 11:16 AM
I suppose Juan “I bought 8 houses with my wife’s money” McCain cares more about the “little” people?
His plan to help the Middle Class?
Cut taxes on corporations.
I was kinda indifferent between McCain and Obama, but if a Black First Lady scares the neocons this much…I just gotta vote for Barry.
alphie on April 16, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Good lord! That’s one angry woman.
RMR on April 16, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Jim’s right on the money. Most snobs don’t even understand why other people think of them that way. It has little to do with what kind of house you grew up in or how much money you have.
forest on April 16, 2008 at 11:20 AM
“Who me and Barack are…” “product of a working class upbringin’”
The affectation of poor grammar and working class syntax is a particularly ugly trait of populist politics. But, I’ll give her this– she’s better at it than Hillary.
morganfrost on April 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
If she acts like that, is it no wonder why white people would sort of push her away and not talk to her?
Man, what a self-centered loudmouth.
benrand on April 16, 2008 at 11:22 AM
My mother is a nurse.
My father is a retired GM factory employee.
My father-in-law is a retired businessman (dry cleaner and laundromat).
My mother-in-law is a teacher.
My sister-in-law works in marketing but will quit once her baby is born.
My brother-in-law is a comptroller for a building company.
My wife is a researcher at a big pharma company.
I am scientist at a dental school and instructor of microbiology at a community college.
The closest we come to knowing a lawyer is our brother-in-law’s brother.
Both my wife and I come from middle-class upbringings. We both went to state colleges for our education in Michigan. We have both worked extremely hard to get where we are today.
Although my wife and I have more technical jobs than either of our parents, we are extremely offended by the Obamas elitism.
I may have to plant some arugula in our garden so I can get a taste of what the Obama’s life is like.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on April 16, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Anything goes for the sake of being named the ‘First Black President’ and the ‘First First Lady.’
Hussein Banana O’Bamba is playing the Affirmative Action card which is a Race card to fool his stupid cheerleaders who are not just the ordinary, regular citizen but many “pundits.”
If you’re smart, why in the world do you want to listen, read and watch any political “pundit?”
Can’t you see that they’re idiots and can be fooled easily?
Indy Conservative on April 16, 2008 at 11:27 AM
“First First Black Lady” that is.
Indy Conservative on April 16, 2008 at 11:28 AM
I think her sudden patois is much more interesting than the lawyer comment. Is this something she does regularly, or is it something she’s just introduced in order to demonstrate that she and Barack are keepin it real?
Infidoll on April 16, 2008 at 11:31 AM
rplat on April 16, 2008 at 11:34 AM
I liked the part where she turned into “LaMichella*.
You go girl.
redrock on April 16, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Cutting U.S. corporate taxes (which are currently among the world’s highest) will help keep corporations — and the jobs they provide — in the U.S., which will help the middle class (and everybody else), by growing the economy.
Obama’s plan to help the “middle class” consists of imposing more taxes on people making more than $75k, and vastly increasing the size of our already bloated and incredibly inefficient federal government.
It’s not a tough choice, alphie, for anybody who thinks rationally. But something tells me that’s just not your thing.
AZCoyote on April 16, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Drive on . . . and while your at it, jump on over and join the Kos kids where you belong.
Had to repost this, the “quote” was incorrect on the first post.
rplat on April 16, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Breaking News! —– Pope to be crowned “Devine Super-delegate” by the DNC to decide outcome of democratic race.
Rumors are he’s leaning towards Mondale…….
Rovin on April 16, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Michelle is HIllary gone afro.
argos on April 16, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Clinging to their lies, their obfuscations, their prevarications and their pretenses.
profitsbeard on April 16, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Did she stop using makeup and fixining her hair and speaking like someone with advanced degrees in order to sound like us common folk? These are some foul human beings. If I hear another conservative commentator say “they seem like very nice people but” I’m going to puke.
peacenprosperity on April 16, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I am so sick of this woman. That’s it, I’m buying a dart board tonight just for her.
Geronimo on April 16, 2008 at 11:46 AM
You need to remember – you are not speaking to a logical person, you’re speaking to a democrat.
wise_man on April 16, 2008 at 11:46 AM
alphie on April 16, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, Bud.
Bugler on April 16, 2008 at 11:47 AM
I am a lawyer. I don’t know, nor would I want to know, snobs like the Obamas. By the way I saw a story in the Honolulu Advertiser which said his grandmother (the one flattened by the bus) was one of the first vice-presidents for Bank of Hawaii. Yet he makes it sound like he grew up in penury.
HawaiiLwyr on April 16, 2008 at 11:48 AM
One can only hope.
It’s so sad that so many democrats who hate republicans and disagree with everything we say are forced to comment here.
wise_man on April 16, 2008 at 11:48 AM
She probably runs into a lot of her lawyer friends while shopping at Whole Foods.
LOL.
These two clowns…
benrand on April 16, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Alphie:
Colmes on H&C when questioning Romney about the Obama discussion of rural American asked him if some weren’t calling liberals elitists; as usual off subject in an attempt to change the subject, as is your claim about McCain. If anyone deserves those riches, probably from his wife’s inheritance anyway, he does. I served too and I can’t imagine surviving what he went through in North Vietnam. At least he has a sense of humor and is self-deprecating; something the Democratic elites don’t seem to have. They take themselves much too seriously, but I don’t consider them serious enough.
amr on April 16, 2008 at 11:54 AM
So, her image of a “real, middle class” woman is disheveled and wearing a hobo suit? Hey, maybe to clean my house, but for an important meeting? Even this housewife knows how to clean up better than that.
funky chicken on April 16, 2008 at 11:54 AM
The Obama’s can’t help themselves. They have been indoctrinated into liberalism and nothing short of a full deprogramming will change them from making fatuous statements.
Thanks for illustrating that being wealthy does not define elitism or snobbery. Indeed, the word snob derives from sine nobilite (s.nob), meaning without nobility. Status seeking poseurs are, more often than not, the snobbish ones.
Buy Danish on April 16, 2008 at 11:55 AM
You know alphie, as a small business owner let me fill you in on something.
If our business taxes are raised, we cannot hire any additional employees, I will cut out some of the overtime, new equipment cannot be purchased etc. The equipment companies then cannot hire more employees.
The less I pay in taxes, the more people I can employ.
Who then pay taxes, don’t have to collect unemployment, welfare, food stamps etc. I can then purchase more equipment thereby enabling those companies to employ more people who in turn pay taxes.
So instead of costing the govt, those people are now enriching the govt with the taxes they pay.
Of which my company, the equipment company, gas station, grocery store etc. also matches their SS and medicare taxes.
The benefits are not just to the employee I can hire.
It also benefits the stores that employee visits who can then employ more people who pay taxes and on and on.
Kind of like a pebble in a pond, rippling effect.
Got it?
ArmyAunt on April 16, 2008 at 12:05 PM
I am the product of a lower middle income family: father was a sailor/medic veteran. Mother a house wife. We had little and did less. I now have undergraduate and advanced degrees and professional licenses. My brother and sister are Phd’s. I live in the same small town, have many of the same friends I grew up with who have failed to take advantage of our education systems. I cling to my church and my guns and have a active practice, a large bank account accumulated by working hard and saving money. I see and hear the elitist attitude displayed by many lawyers, thiefs and bankers (thanks jimmy buffet) and in each the presidental canidates who believe they have answers to problems they have never had to face other then in conversations with lobbyist who are hocking the issues for the highest bidders. Ms. Obama’s use of poor grammer and syntax is another example of their mindless pandering as is her husband’s rediscover of the flag pin and Mr. McCain’s sudden re-evaluation of his position on the immirgration problem. It all amounts to a endless stream of BS on the way to the White House. Lies and damn lies told by politicans…..
jimwesty on April 16, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Don’t be too hard on Alphie, he’s bitter and clinging to his emotions for support.
irongrampa on April 16, 2008 at 12:05 PM
She needs a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser.
scalleywag on April 16, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Alphie, I was going to blast you, but I see many others have already done that for me. I own two small businesses (which are incorporated) and agree with what’s been said above. Tax cuts allow me to hire more people, buy newer, more efficient equipment, etc. Tax cuts are good for the economy, and not all corporations are publicly traded giants.
txsurveyor on April 16, 2008 at 12:13 PM
endless stream of BS on the way to the White House. Lies and damn lies told by politicans…..
jimwesty on April 16, 2008 at 12:05 PM
That’s what I’m bitter about!
scalleywag on April 16, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Yeah sure you did, Barry! But what sticks out to you is not sharing a one bedroom apartment with your two daughters until 3 years ago but the horrors of having to scrape ice off your windshield (like most people who live in cities like Chicago, NY and Boston are stuck doing, regardless of their income)?
Barry, you’re a hopeless liar and it’s impossible to believe you, never mind believe in you.
Buy Danish on April 16, 2008 at 12:21 PM
I have to scrape ice off my moustache in the winter. I can’t see closely enough from the pic, but did she have to do that?
JiangxiDad on April 16, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Thanks for your charity, bs.
Cindy McCain grew up in luxury supplied by her daddy’s rather dubious business dealings…then started stealing drugs from charities to fuel her habit.
What is it that Mrs. Obama has done to match that lowlife behavior?
That’s right…it’s not what she’s done…it’s what she is.
Can’t wait ’til November :)
alphie on April 16, 2008 at 12:31 PM
No one is “not allowing” her any freedom. What we’re doing is calling her on not just her elitism, but her snobbery.
Snobbery is one of the Seven Deadly Sins of American politics.
btw: Is raising a question as to why she got a $200,000 raise in a “diversity” job right after Hubby was elected Senator also racist, JiangxiDad?
fulldroolcup on April 16, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Not allowing a black woman the freedom to be elitist is
racistmysoginist:)JiangxiDad on April 16, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Michelle has done nothing to take away my first impression of her; actually, she’s made it worse with her use of improper English, “me and Barack” and droppin’ the g when she’ talking to ‘the regular folk’.
To me, she’s the mean, bitter and scary woman that I still wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Her skin color has nothing to do with it, but because of her racism, she makes it front and center.
I’d be proud of her if she moved her family to Africa and started a revolution in their ancestors’ homelands. I’d love to see how far they get with ‘hope and change’. I can dream.
Christine on April 16, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I noticed her accent got a little more ghetto in the first clip.
roux on April 16, 2008 at 12:44 PM
She is multi-lingual.. English/Ebonics ..
Keepin it real, homey.
redrock on April 16, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Anger management would help, dudette.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on April 16, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Exit question: What’s it all about Alhpie?
redrock on April 16, 2008 at 12:58 PM
So now it is lowlife to have rich parents?
Uh oh, better tell my daughter that….NOT.
Stealing drugs to fuel a habit is pisspoor behavior.
No doubt about it.
And it IS about what michelle obama is….a phony liar who carries a chip on her shoulder because she is black.
Get over it….some of us “whiteys” are sick and tired of hearing how the “man keeps them down”. I didnt go to Harvard, the hubby and I only have high school diplomas but that didn’t stop us from starting our own business. And being extremely successful at it due to hard work and long hours. No one gave us anything.
It’s called gumption, not getting into a college based on my skin color.
That woman makes me sick!
ArmyAunt on April 16, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Actually it’s a moratorium on gas taxes. Do try to keep up.
TooTall on April 16, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Don’t tell me, let me guess … You voted for Theresa Heinz’s husband in 2004.
AmIright?
wise_man on April 16, 2008 at 1:03 PM
My brother is an attorney, and his wife has tons of money independently. They live in a mega house in Park Cities (Dallas). He’s gotten kind of elitist politically since he turned lefty, but that’s the only way. Other than that, they are as down to earth as anyone. OTOH, I know a lawyer in my small town, she makes a fraction of what my brother does. She’s an elitist. Big time.
bikermailman on April 16, 2008 at 1:07 PM
He’d never admit it, but “what it’s all about” for Alphie is his racism. Pure and simple.
Bugler on April 16, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Alphie:
I have pretty much ignored your ravings but I can’t let this one pass. There is no doubt in my mind that you are a KOS-kid troll and of course you were always going to vote for Obama so who do you think you are fooling with the idea that you would ever think of voting for McCain. Your slurs of the McCain family demonstrate the childish nature of today’s Democratic Party which has normalized totalitarian behavior and anti-Semitism.
One more thing, several weeks ago you rattled off a list of HAMAS talking points and dared someone to call you an anti-Semite. I ignored it at the time but today I will tell you, yes you are an anti-Semite who cares little for this Arab/Muslim group except that they are killing Jews. Like most Palestinnian lovers around the world you barely took notice when the Lebanese Army destroyed the Nahl el-Bared refugee camp killing or wounding hundreds of civilians and displacing 50,000 people. (I am sure after googling the story you will claim that you were deeply wounded by the this act of wanton barbarism when in reality you don’t give a s**t)
jerryofva on April 16, 2008 at 1:09 PM
Exactly. There’s panderin’ all around.
(Except that Hilary’s black voice is funnier.)
Tzetzes on April 16, 2008 at 1:33 PM
what nonsense!! Obama could never have even thought, much less said, what he did if he understood small town America on any level. His dipiction is so foreign, it’s obvious he does not and probably will never understand this segment of society.
jeanie on April 16, 2008 at 1:47 PM
When he won his Senate seat in ’04, Michelle Obama introduced her husband as “my baby daddy.” That means, the father of my children, but commonly used to indicate that the man in not the husband, or is a father to one of your children. In any case, it didn’t apply to the Obamas, it’s pandering to the worst impulses in the African-American community, or any other, and pisses me off.
Maybe her “cause” as first lady ought to be improving her speech and diction.
JiangxiDad on April 16, 2008 at 2:04 PM
I have the impression that she’s another Hillary. Likely has a big influence on her husband’s policy positions… has political ambitions of her own… will run for office eventually.
NNtrancer on April 16, 2008 at 2:10 PM
What do you think corporations do with the taxes they pay? They go on the expense side of the ledger of doing business (cost). These costs are added on to the products that are manufactured and passed along to the wholesaler/distrubitor, which is another corporation.
Same thing applies to the W/D. The cost of business is passed along to the retailer. The retailer is a corporation and the cost of business gets passed on to the consumer.
So now, their taxes are reduced and they realize a savings. Eventually these savings will be passed along to the consumer.
But, in liberal-land, the evil corporations will keep the money and not pass along the savings. But, in conservative-land, this is a win-win. Let me explain.
If the savings are passed along to the consumer, the consumer wins. If the savings are not passed along to the consumer, but to the investors; think 401′s, IRA’s, etc., then they are winners.
ArmyAunt nailed it real good, too. It must suck to be you. You are never, ever the smarted person in the room.
cjs1943 on April 16, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Didn’t mean you ArmyAunt.
cjs1943 on April 16, 2008 at 2:21 PM
My grandmother used to say “money can’t buy you class” and that aphorism is quite apparent in this woman.
Think_b4_speaking on April 16, 2008 at 2:42 PM
Well, you know Obama did grow up in Indonesia and Hawaii (which makes him so qualified to be President…); scraping your windshield would be a big deal to him.
So I do wonder – how would he handle summits in such diverse places as North Korea, Russia, Iran and Syria? Talk about weather changes? While he’s preparing to meet with all those dictators (I mean diplomats) how will he and Michelle ever know what to pack? Scraping their windshield will be the least of their problems, when that nuclear missile from Iran hits their bedroom…
KrisinNE on April 16, 2008 at 2:52 PM
You make a very good point. Someone who can’t handle scraping ice off the windshield can handle global warming/climate change. I don’t think so. Thank you for pointing this out.
JiangxiDad on April 16, 2008 at 2:59 PM
A good lawyer can say anything with a straight face. Remember they have to say “my client is innocent” all the time.
Corsair on April 16, 2008 at 3:33 PM
Apparently Princeton and Harvard are too busy doing important stuff to make sure that their graduates (and post-graduates) can speak proper English.
If I had a lawyer, or anyone else I paid good money to, write that first sentence I would fire them on the spot. But this appears to be a strategy to increase their popularity/vote count. Whether it’s strategy or stupidity, I mourn for America.
Longhorn Six on April 16, 2008 at 4:06 PM
If the Obamas wouldn’t be elitist, we, and they, wouldn’t be talking about it, at nauseum, and ad infinitum (or at least until beg. Nov. 2008).
The fact that it took the media, and a whole bunch of people for Berry and Michelle Obama to actually point it out, as if their displays and speeches weren’t enough, is double, no endlessly hilarious. Therein lies the biggest Schadenfreude.
Entelechy on April 16, 2008 at 6:23 PM
and what do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
a good start.
Hog Wild on April 16, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Some of my best friend are lawyers also, but I wouldn’t want one moving next door… And, I sure as HELL would not want one marrying my sister!!!
pueblo1032 on April 17, 2008 at 10:42 AM