The Marie Antoinette Rotary Club And Quilting Society

by digby

I continue to be astonished that anyone would continue to argue with my belief that there is something fundamentally, systemically wrong with village assumptions and beltway conventional wisdom. Jamison Foser catches Mark Halperin showing why people have lost all respect for political journalism:

Time‘s Mark Halperin frequently repeats right-wing myths about the “liberal media.” But today he undermined his already-weak case by arguing that one reason “to bet AGAINST major health care reform passing this year” is that “Most journalists still have health insurance.” The clear implication is that because most journalists have health insurance, they don’t see the need for reform — and that colors their reporting.

It sounds right to me. But I think what is more astonishing is the casualness with which Halperin admits it. He’s saying that unless something affects them personally, beltway journalists simply don’t give a damn.
Meanwhile we have to listen ad nauseum to them telling us what salt-o-the-earth reglar Real Muriikans they are, with Dave Gregory’s mom worried about her job and Chris Matthews concern for his pals down to the Knight of Columbus and Brian Williams shoppin’ at Walmart jess like the folks. This is the essense of the Village. A bunch of powdered, pampered elites are basically saying that the peasants should stop boring them with their tawdry complaints about their health insurance. Let them all get productive, important careers in television and journalism! But what makes these people so awesomely obtuse is that they actually believe that they are just downhome folk with bedrock American vayalyoos who live in a nice little Norman Rockwell town called DeeCee, USA.
The fact that they are players in the most powerful government in the world and many of them are very, very well off means that everyone in America, if they have the right values and work ethic, should be doing just as well. It’s our own fault if we don’t have health care. All average, everyday multimillionaire celebrities do. What’s the problem?
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