Ignorance Is Not Bliss

I'm an elitist.

After all, I have a master's degree.

Both of my degrees are from private colleges, no less.

I read the New York Times (on Sundays, anyway).

I eat arugula.

I've never hunted.

Never mind that I've actually worked with and taught the children of the poor and working class. Never mind that our budget is so tight these days that I'm using the Amazon gift certificates I get for reviewing things here to buy my kids winter clothes. Never mind that I know how many homes, cars and pairs of shoes I have.

You'd think budgeting and a husband who grew up in an actual small town in the heart of America would give me some "regular people" cred. And maybe they would, until I opened my mouth. You see, I don't care that Sarah Palin is a mom like me. I don't care that Barack Obama was raised by a single mom. I don't care that John McCain was at the bottom of his college class. I don't care about their "regular" credentials.

They are powerful politicians (yeah, even Sarah, seeing how she runs the entire state of Alaska and all) and no matter how humble their origins (you all realize that technically, Obama wins the humble origins sweepstakes, right?) they will never know what it's like to be an "ordinary" American. AND THAT'S OKAY.

Ordinary Americans eat at McDonald's - even though they know it's bad for them. Ordinary American's can't find Iraq on an unmarked map. Ordinary Americans watch "The Hills". Ordinary Americans wear Crocs to decent restaurants. Ordinary Americans don't understand economic theory. Ordinary Americans don't watch Friday Night Lights.

Are these SERIOUSLY the people you want running the country?

Personally, I would like a leader who understands economics, political science, world history, the Constitution, how to behave with foreign dignitaries and in various foreign countries, geography, English grammar and SAT words, what the vice-president and the rest of the Cabinet does, sociology and educational theory.

Because, uh, the president is responsible for making decisions in all of those areas. So s/he should know something about them. And be able to remember it for more than ten minutes. And I don't know many "Ordinary Americans", brilliant though some may be, who can converse intelligently on all of those topics.

So I suppose what really makes me an elitist is that I want the smartest person to win. My dad is having major surgery in December. I really don't care if his surgeon is an asshole, as long as he's brilliant at what he does. In fact, I hope he (not being sexist, it really is a he) graduated first in his class at an Ivy League medical school. And got perfect scores on his boards. Because this is my dad we're talking about. And I bet everyone understands my feelings, right?

So why don't people feel the same way about who they vote for? The president is responsible for the life of our country, after all.