It started with Palin's relentless attempts to mask ignorance and carelessness as "average," but the media has really picked up on it. Suddenly all non-elites qualify as "Joe Six Pack." My status as a "Mainstreeter" for the past two weeks has been hokey and annoying, but "Joe Six Pack" is just offensive.
The moniker is a derisive way to tear down the middle class, suggesting that all working Americans live only for the beer at the end of the day, and can't possibly muster the intellectual capacity required to fully engage in complicated political conversations of the day.
Think of your reaction to similar nicknames, not by a friend but by the people you have elected to represent your interests: Joe Weedsmoker, maybe then it would be Mary Jane McDooby... or Joe Scratches-his-butt.... or Joe Eats-too-much-chocolate.
Anyone of those might be descriptive for some or all of the average Americans it is trying to reach, but is that the key descriptor we want our leaders attributing to us. "Hey country of complacent, alcoholically-numbed simpletons, vote for me, cause I get 'ya."
Well, that has worked for 8 years, why should we demand more respect as the economy crashes around us, our political leaders threaten armed conflict with two or three new countries, and our main concern is how pretty one VP candidate looked in her bikini 20 years ago.
Perhaps I'm just bitter that Palin didn't implode last night, instead retreating to her "safe" topics of energy, her non-elite status, and the democrats as tax-raising-job-killers every time Biden's impassioned, reasonable, and clearly well-understood responses left her floundering with no prepared, relevant material.
I must say, though, that the Joe Six Packs in the house would be in the undecided category if one VP was a presidential candidate (hmmm, I didn't actually notice him when he was one, so he's probably best at #2). Biden was inspiring,very clear, and very respectable.
What a fantastic ticket we get to vote for!
Posts
1 comment:
I hear ya!
It was fun to get your comment on our blog. Smiles back at ya! :)
If nothing else, Palin is proof positive that anyone -- ANYONE -- can run for public office. In fact, what about me? I have girl parts; I wear glasses; I have a north-woodsie accent; I grew up in a small town; I have only a citizen's grasp of economics and foreign affairs (hmmm...maybe that's even too much book learnin'). Why not me, right? ;)
Sounds like you and I have much in common.
-Angie
Post a Comment