How the “elite” become a slur

Paul Garcia / Staff Writer / The USD Vista

As a college student, I was perplexed by some Republican denouncements of Barack Obama’s intellectual pedigree. My dream is to go to Georgetown Law and then embark on a career in politics. Now I am confused. Somehow, the academic achievement and intellectualism encompassed by the nation’s top institutions are political liabilities and not assets? Consider the following:

On Sept. 4 The Associated Press reported that Sarah Palin switched colleges six times in six years, eventually getting her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Idaho, unranked by U.S. News. Federal privacy laws prohibit schools from disclosing grades, but we do know despite her journalism major that she was not part of the school newspaper or broadcasting, and so ends the academic profile of Sarah Palin.

Barack Obama received a B.A. in political science from Columbia University, ranked eigth. He eventually entered Harvard Law, ranked one-three, becoming the first black president of the Harvard Law Review and graduating magna cum laude. He then served as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, ranked four-six, teaching constitutional law.

The difference in education is clear. Obama’s education seems more befitting for the most consequential and perhaps complex political post in the world. However, some feel differently. Former Hillary Clinton fundraiser turned McCain supporter Lynn Forester De Rothschild wrote in the Wall Street Journal (Sept. 11), that if Obama loses it is because he is detached and elitist. Rothschild explained, elitism is a state of the mind. She goes on, Sarah Palin, hockey mom turned Maverick reformer would instantly zero in on the inherent weakness of Mr. Obama’s candidacy. This weakness is apparently his elite status.

The GOP has described Obama as elitist, arrogant and even uppity. That’s right. According to TheHill.com, Georgia Congressman Westmoreland said of Obama and his wife they’re a member of an elitist-class, they’re uppity. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution puts it, uppity is a word applied to African-Americans who tried to rise above servile positions.”

Should African Americans be insulted? Pastor Jamal Bryant sure thinks so, I take absolute offence, this is who you would put up against a Harvard graduate. Going on, there is, in fact, a slap of righteous indignation that you would then speak to black people. That even in 2008 you still got to jump higher, run faster, or do more, or forever be left behind.”

Anti-racist activist and academic lecturer Tim Wise believes race plays a factor. He says, the only way someone could attend five colleges in six years, one of which you basically failed out of and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, is through white privilege which is ultimately the problem.”
If not race, what else is at work here? Political philosopher Machiavelli helps explain other factors in play. In The Prince, he writes, rulers who have done great things are those who have [been] skillful rather in cunningly deceiving men. Consider Palin’s governing style. The New York Times reported on Sept. 13 Palin is, not deeply versed in policy. Instead Palin has a knack for addressing the concerns of her constituency, while ignoring the more behind-the-scenes aspects of governance.

Political Science professor Colleen J. Shogan explains this in an extension of the Pulitzer Prize winning work, Anti-intellectualism in American Life. Shogan explains that Republicans have developed a sort of populism of anti-intellectualism, which takes advantage of our scorn for the distinction and complexity associated with intellectual pursuits.

The GOP capitalizes on people not understanding the issues, instead relying on rhetoric. The mind set is, I want to see the road get paved, I don’t care how it gets done. Those who do not understand the complexity of governing affairs thus do not value them. It is not enough to do things; you must be seen doing things that people understand.

Machiavelli would say a successful politician must recognize the need for skillful cunning in the art of governing. However, our nation’s most important political post is clearly more complex than those of Machiavelli’s day. A President or Vice-President with Sarah Palin’s background and education, surrounded by the world’s most brilliant, cunning, and influential people is not a political asset; it is a liability. Take the recent example of G.W. Bush: few could argue he needed less education and intellect.

Is it necessary to defend the opinion that the president of the United States be as well learned as modern educational intuitions can provide? Would you want anything less than the best and brightest? Or does that make me an elitist? Judging by the McCain/Palin ticket, the answer to all three questions is yes.