In Which I Invoke The Moboy Doctrine For The First Time

I know, I’m a little behind the news curve on this one, but bear with me, it’s relevant.

I’ve been watching with mild amusement the reactions of the media and the world to Barak Obama’s alleged gaffe about the poor being bitter and turning to guns for comfort or some such nonsense. I find it funny that everyone seems to have landed on that as evidence of his elitism, and how he can’t connect with the populace. He’s one of the rich snobs of the world and so therefore, we shouldn't vote for him or worship him or name our babies after him or whatever.

First of all, if this is the worst that anyone can throw at him, he’s in pretty good shape, really. I mean, look at some of the things that other people have had to deal with in either this campaign or others, like dodging combat experience by joining the national guard, or having his military record called into question, or groping and/or having sex with subordinates, or not having to dodge bullets fired by imaginary snipers. A vague interpretation of a fairly articulate statement really isn’t meaning much.

But of course, the media, his competition, and now the republicans are all joining together to make a big deal out of it. Which makes me invoke the MoBoy Doctrine.

The reason why I’m invoking it is simple: All politicians are in the elite. The last time a president-to-be was born in a log cabin was Lincoln. Most modern presidents are rich men. They have to be in order to spend the kind of money they do campaigning. Yes, it’s true that they raise much of that money from contributions from rich business and foreign interests and lobby groups, but if they weren’t rich to begin with, nobody would take them very seriously. And anyone that’s in government long enough to be seriously considered for the presidency will have become quite rich and elitist in the process. It ain’t just Obama. They're all rich.

And I realize that this issue is getting to be old news anyway, but that adds to my point. One of the big reasons why everybody did get all bent out of shape over it is because everyone jumped in on the feeding frenzy. And it didn't take long to realize that there really wasn't much to feed on, here. The immediacy of the 'net and especially the bloggosphere is both a blessing and a curse. You can get the news fast, but if you're not careful, you can get swept up and not get a very clear understanding.

So, let’s just not get so bent out of shape over this one, shall we? I mean, if you don’t like Obama for political or policy reasons, fine. But this one is a smokescreen.

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com