... the deep cultural divide in this country between urban elites and "the rubes". The divisions that interest me the most right now are the one on the Right.
On the one hand, Mark Tapscott:
"The key fact about Palin is that she is not a conventional politician. She actually means what she says, which is why her statement must be read in light of that fact, not with the assumption that she must have unstated motives."
And then there is Ross Douthat in the NYT:
"...last Friday’s bizarre, rambling resignation speech should take her off the political map for the duration of the Obama era. ...[H]er 10 months on the national stage have been a dispiriting period for American democracy."
This part I find particularly interesting:
"Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard."
There is a world outside the Ivy League. That simple fact seems to escape quite a few. What do we call those who differentiate on the basis of cultural pedigree as opposed to bed-rock principle? Is there really no merit to Palin's success thus far because she is not a product of an elite school(s)?
The comments on the Left are as predictable as the rain, and as unremarkable.
