We all know what the pillars of the Democratic elite are. The Republican Media machine reminds us of them daily. Everyone together, say them with me now:
- The judiciary - "Damn activist judges!"
- Trial Lawyers - "Damn trial lawyers!"
- Hollywood - "Damn Hollywood elites!"
- The media - "Damn Liberal media!"
- Academia - "Damn liberal professors!"
So, we got that settled. The Democrats are the elitist party, the Republicans are the Party of Joe and Jill Six-Pack. But wait...if you look beneath the sloganeering, a Republican elite shows its ugly head. Are you ready for this?
- The religious Elites. These are the people with their own TV shows and networks in some cases, with the giant flashy churches and the 1-800 numbers for donations. Only through them is salvation possible. These guys are as flashy as any Hollywood star, with big machines that disseminate information to their waiting, salivating public. They denounce abortion as they proclaim their faith in Jesus, all the while demanding people "Vote righteously" without mentioning poverty, healthcare or the environment. They represent the true spirit of the faith about as well as Hallmark represents the true spirit of Christmas.
- The Conservative Media. The Republican Party decided long ago that the media was incurably liberal and the only way for them to get their message out was through media that they control. That's why today you can hear any number of voices rail against Democrats on talk radio and now the Fox News tv network. The internet is becoming more and more a domain for the same practice. They also have an organized reporters on their payroll who attend training sessions in Republican think tanks and then take that information to the editorial pages of America. This is a now a complex machine compromising book publishing, think tanks, newspapers, direct mailing, emailing, and internet blogging. The way the Swift Boat people worked will be point one when historians look back to see when the Republican media machine reached full maturity.
- Global Corporations. Corporate welfare is now so common in Congress that we spend more on welfare for corporations than we do on welfare for people. A lot of this money comes in the form of supposed "foreign aid" which is really just money that our government gives to a foreign country with the caveat that the money be spent on an American company - usually a military contractor or economic consultant whose pockets get lined so that they can stay in fancy hotels in Cairo or Islamabad. The connection of the Reublican party to the Military-Industrial elites is real and tracked. It is common now for Republican Congresspeople to move from Congress to lobbying firms and back now. The new Senator from South Dakota, John Thune, followed just such a practice after he left Congress four years ago.
- The Gated Communities of America (GCA) The Gated Communities of America are like separate states unto themselves. They have their own private schools, their own security teams, their own laws and their own environmental rules. They like Republicans because Republicans will leave them alone, and not force them to confer with the rest of America especially on economic policies like taxes. The estate tax, (whoops, I mean "death" tax) is a perfect example of the influence this group has on the Republican Party. These people are rich and scared of the majority of America and Americans, they make laws to keep people out and they are a core constituency of the Republican Elite.
- The Lobbying Industry. The lobbying industry is dominated by Republicans. It is the stated goal of the House majority Leader Tom DeLay to make the industry completely run by the Republican Party to dole out the big cheese so that only Republicans benefit. He calls it his K Street Project, named after the street on which all the lobbying firms live. In exchange for all the money that flows into Republican coffers the lobbyists receive any number of perks, from favorable legislation and corporate welfare to deregulation of their industries.
So, Democrats have elites that want to represent the little guy (trial lawyers) and educate our kids (professors), while the Republicans have their elites who tell us how to worship, how to run our government, and afterwards live in their gated communities so that they don't have to live in the world they've created for the rest of us. Who do you trust more to run your country?
Part of the Republican message is painting us as elites - so we need to do it right back. Remember the old stereotype of sweater-vested college Republicans that were smarmy jerks? Where'd that stereotype go? The one from Revenge of the Nerds or Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? Everybody hates that guy, he's still out there somewhere, we just need to remind people.
Are there any other elites in the Republican Party you can think of?