My friend Mark passed along Steve Sailer’s item today noting that Obama hasn’t learned a foreign language. Mark says:
It is telling that Obama had sooooo many opportunities to learn a
foreign language under superior tutelage at elite institutions, has
always felt strongly about learning foreign languages, yet somehow
didn’t bother. My suspicion is that his mother had a copy of The Ugly
American laying around the house and that he read it as a boy and
believed it all. Don’t get me wrong–I’m all in favor of foreign
language learning, including Spanish (wealthy liberals whom I know
prefer to have their kids study French or other “high kless” languages,
rather than the language of the people who cut their lawns or clean
their houses). The reality is that any kid on a college track at a
public school or at a private school will likely be taking a foreign
language.
I think Mark is right as to fact. And his view is the same one embraced by Margaret Carlson and Mike Barnicle last night on Hardball, when they said that a president must be able to feel the common people’s pain. Barnicle said it meant a lot when Clinton cried.
This is a false value in a leader. Clinton’s genuine ability to feel people’s pain did not keep him from pursuing globalist economic policies that helped demolish the middle class. Bush’s genuine ability to feel people’s pain (say the firefighters at Ground Zero) did not keep him from making disastrous foreign-policy decisions. A lot of presidents didn’t have this quality, including some greats. Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, JFK, Reagan. Give me a break.
I have an idea when this false (and telegenic) value entered the political arena: when George H.W. Bush failed to recognize, on television, the computer scanning cash registers that all us common people were familiar with, at supermarkets. He lost the ’92 election in part because of that economic detachment (and yes, too, his opposition to Israeli settlements).
Presidents are going to come out of the elite, and what can anyone do about that? Myself, I love a genuinely populist leader. It’s why I was for John Edwards, and why I like Lindsey Graham and Mike Huckabee, in spite of everything, and why my heart still warms for Truman and even Ross Perot. But the critical thing I seek in a leader is intelligence and good values. Obama has both. I bet Americans have come to value intelligence in a leader in ’08 a lot more than they did in ’00. Mark is surely right when he says Obama grew up with a copy of The Ugly American, or his mother did. The Ugly American is a great book. It gave rise to the Peace Corps because it was a bestseller in Eisenhower America, showing how arrogant the American presence was in Southeast Asia. A similar arrogance pervades American foreign policy now. I think Obama, for all his elitism, completely lacks arrogance about the place of the U.S. in the world. A Harvard Law classmate told me a few weeks back that Obama is hard to know–but that he possesses “an existential humility.” I sense that in Obama. He has a great and lofty understanding of human suffering. I don’t expect that he’s going to bro’ down with people. That’s not his character. Individuals seem to mean very little to him.
And as for not learning a foreign language, yes it is revealing: it reveals ambition. As anyone who struggles to speak foreign languages can tell you (I murder two of them), it’s not easy. It takes years to master a foreign language. Obama has always had places to go, people to see. He’s been too busy to learn one, too ambitious. Didn’t see what he could get from learning one. I understand all that, it’s the meritocracy at work.
If you want a president who’s going to relate to the common man, this is not the election for you. Both establishment candidates are from the elite (much as I love Ron Paul and Nader, I’m not going there this year). Obama’s base is surely in the upper-middle-class. There can be little question about that. As Reagan’s was in the middle class (and Reagan is the model here: movement, landslide, mandate). But there is not much of a middle class now. And there are probably as many upper middle class voters as working class ones. Just guessing. Both Obama and McCain will be pandering to the poor, as Hillary did all spring, dripping with hypocrisy. It’s going to get ugly. But elitism is hardly disqualifying.
Weiss: while we are learning the language of a 3rd world country when will we have time to learn Chinese? when will we realise that Jews and Christians, US and Israel, the West and Israel have differeent interests??
不会说中文吗?
没问题!
http://www.chinesepod.com/lessons
Better title: "Yes, Obama Is an Ambitious Elitist" who will do anything, pander to anybody, to get elected and stay there just like every American politicians "So what"?
bit longer….
Isn't there something inherently contradictory in this? You say you don't care whether a president is capable of basic human empathy, yet laud Obama, who "has a great and lofty understanding of human suffering" although "Individuals seem to mean very little to him." And yet, only individuals experience suffering–not collectivities. Inference? We're not really talking about "feeling your pain," or "walking a mile in the other guy's shoes": you don't have to stick your nose in a pile of doo-doo (Bushism) to know what it smells like. We're just talking about basic human empathy.
Obama's "great and lofty understanding" of human suffering is an act, just like his lifelong support for foreign language learning is an act. That little charade was just his way of "bro-ing down" with his liberal peeps, the individuals that he really feels at home with. And the classic way of "bro-ing down" with one's own peeps is to condescend toward some outgroup. Is being a condescending hypocrite disqualifying for a candidate for president? To some extent it's a question of taste. A lot of people think McCain is an egomaniacal asshole, and they may be right. But lots of other presidents have been, too. The question is, to what degree will that affect his performance as CinC? We're finding out–flip by flop, gaffe by restatement–that Barry Obama is a hypocritical liar. What we want to know is, what is the extent of this character deformation and how will it affect his performance as CinC? To know that, on top of being a hypocritical liar, those who know him believe that he cares little about individuals is…unsettling?
when they said that a president must be able to feel the common people's pain. Barnicle said it meant a lot when Clinton cried.
this is insane and ridiculous. how can people possibly fall for this crap? clinton exposed himself as the phony he is when he cried. honestly, people, would you cry in public over someone else's pain? you can tell when it's real. when you see one of these ww2 vets stop dead in their tracks and be unable to speak, that is the real thing. the easier a candidate cries in public the worse off we are. it means they are psychopaths with no real core values at all. people really can't tell the difference between acting and reality? probably not, phony "caring" is becoming so rampant, and encouraged. did mother teresa cry in public? if she did, she was fundraising.
the spectacle of public men pretending they aren't elitist is also nauseating. when is a quality like dignity going to come back into fashion? no one even knows what the real thing is it is so out of fashion. eisenhauer didn't have to pretend to have values. mcgovern. both had character and everyone knew it, felt it. it radiated. when you have to broadcast it then you don't.
Obama lost my vote on his FISA reversal.
Now I won't waste my time.
Do I sense dissatisfaction with the "Black Jesus". Interesting.
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I am relieved to see that all the commenters here are a lot more savvy than elitist Phil.
Actually my main problem with elitism is that the putative 'elite' are much dumber than the average person. At least if you take them at face value. No doubt they feel they are pretty sharp to get paid so well for scribbling.
I am tired of beating a dead horse but this is really a howler. Phil says "And there are probably as many upper middle class voters as working class ones. Just guessing." Not a good guess Phil. Go look it up.
Here is an assignment Phil. Write at least two pages, double spaced, on the topic "Is it possible that elitism can make you stupid?" You can have until next Friday.
Just curious, how many posters on this blog live in any of the zip code areas listed here:
link to forbes.com