Misguided Attacks on the Liberal Elite

[tammywammy]

Bernie Sanders’s Misguided Attacks on the “Liberal Elite”

Rather than highlighting class differences, the phrase beclouds them.

“We need a Democratic Party that is not a party of the liberal elite but of the working class of this country,” Senator Bernie Sanders declared at a rally in Boston last week. This has become a very common refrain for Sanders specifically and the progressive left generally. After the election, Nation editor at large D.D. Guttenplan declared that liberal elites who spurned populism are responsible for President Donald Trump, while Chris Hedges argued last month that Trump’s greatest allies are, unwittingly, liberal elites.

“The elites, who live in enclaves of privilege in cities such as New York, Washington and San Francisco, scold an enraged population,” he wrote at Truthdig. “They tell those they dismiss as inferiors to calm down, be reasonable and patient and trust in the goodness of the old ruling class and the American system.”

Those damn liberal elites! They sip Starbucks in their Priuses while headed to a Harvard lecture about Hollywood film—or to the Hollywood set of a film about Harvard. These corrupt effete meritocrats are the truly powerful ones in America. May populism rise up and destroy them, so that inequality and smugness alike will vanish from the Earth.

But it’s worth asking: If all these full-throated attacks on liberal elitism ended with the ascension of a racist, sexist authoritarian who has a gross history of mistreating working people, then is attacking liberal elitism really the proper strategy for the opposition to Trump? Maybe the left should think about going back to attacking a more tried and true bugaboo: the wealthy.

-snip-

More at link: https://newrepublic.com/article/141828/bernie-sanderss-misguided-attacks-liberal-elite

[LisaM]

1. It's rich in irony, too, considering the rallies

of predominantly white students at college campuses.

[Squinch]

2. This is why I have "Bernie" and "Sanders" as two keywords in my "trash" list.

"The Liberal Elite" is a specious myth originated by Republicans to divide Democrats.

I can't speak for Independents, but within MY party, I think only the less intelligent fall for it.

[Warpy]

3. Telling someone what they're doing wrong and what they could do to correct it

is only an attack if they're thin skinned conservatives who think having a little money makes them right about everything.

The rest of us might not like criticism, but if we think there is a point and it's constructive enough to offer solutions, we usually manage to modify a few things and try to do them better.

Maybe we really should give them a legitimate attack or two so they'd learn the difference.

[Cha]

5. No.. he's wrong.. he needs to be called

out on it.

[JHan]

22. I criticize politicians, I can criticize choices by Dems but.. "Liberal Elite" is a code phrase..

that Authoritarian populists are using right now to get rid of the "Liberal Order". We can't afford rhetorical blunders. The aim right now is to destroy what the liberal elite has managed to do right, that is what Trump and his cohorts are doing right now by gutting agencies, starving clean energy funding, and they're aiming to destroy the social safety net.

Liberals using the same soundbytes of our opponents is just crazy, whatever their aims - And I'm suspect of Sander's aims here. It doesn't make sense.

[Warpy]

23. Well, that doesn't matter much now since Perez and Ellison

have turned them out of their jobs. As long as they're not rehired, the party will have a much better chance of rebuilding.

[JHan]

24. True, I have faith in them...

but it's disheartening to see this line of attack. More than ever we have to defend liberal values . And I wanna hear more from young dems like Ro Khanna who has some great ideas aimed at tackling economic inequality.

[uponit7771]

32. Skin would be thin if Sanders had a clue, he doesn't.. sound bite shit that has no basis in reality

[Warpy]

33. Conservatives are so thin skinned they'll take anything they can out of context

so they can howl about that and not bother to answer the content of the message.

This has been their shtik in both parties for decades. Surprised you haven't noticed.

It's not an attack if it's constructive criticism, that's the bottom line and conservatives need to get a grip.

[betsuni]

4. K&R

[Gothmog]

6. Great article

Thank you for posting

[Cha]

7. The right uses liberal elite as a rhetorical distraction

The right uses “liberal elite” as a rhetorical distraction. When the left uses the phrase, it plays into the hands of those who want to obscure class lines. “Liberal elite” makes people think of Meryl Streep or their local college professor, when they should be directing their ire at Jamie Dimon, Peter Thiel, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump. So forget “liberal elites.” Let’s start attacking the real enemy, using language that clarifies rather than obscures. They’re “the rich,” “the plutocrats,” “the wealthy.” Perhaps we should even revive a well-worn but still relevant epithet: “capitalist pigs.”

When I think of "liberal elite" I think of susan Sarandon who voted for jill stein while she sits on her cushiony $50 Million Bucks and the rest of the Planet is Fucked.. except for those with the big bucks like SS, of course.

[brer cat]

8. It is just more divisive rhetoric.

The self-identified "progressive left" continues to tilt at windmills while the republicans trash our souls and lives.

Interesting article, tammywammy. Thanks for posting.

[tammywammy]

9. I agree, it's nonproductive divisive rhetoric.

[Cha]

10. Hypocritical, too.

[R B Garr]

11. This is the same rhetoric the RW uses about "liberals". You can hear this tripe on

Rush Limbaugh, almost word for word. There is no excuse for it coming from someone who claims to speak for Democrats.

[tammywammy]

12. Exactly or anyone calling themselves a "progressive".

[sheshe2]

15. +1000

[WomenRising2017]

30. That is exactly what it is.

It's a derogatory term aimed at people who fight for civil rights.

For someone who is a friend towards civil rights, he seems to place it very low on his priorities. From an article I read in December,

It’s not good enough to say, “Well, I’m not a racist, I’m not a sexist, I’m not a xenophobe, I’m not a homophobe, you gotta vote for me.” You need more than that! So it’s not like they’re just voting against somebody, they’re voting for somebody. And I think that’s where we have to radically sharpen our message.
http://www.gq.com/story/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-victory-interview-moty

First, civil rights are a very important part of the Democratic party. While Hillary Clinton is a strong advocate for civil rights, she also had a strong platform for economic policy and foreign policy.

Second, Donald Trump did campaign as "I am a racist, I am a sexist, I am a xenophobe, I am a homophobe, you gotta vote for me" and won voters because of that.

Third, nearly every legislation Trump has pushed so far has been in stripping away civil rights. None have been based on the economy.

[R B Garr]

34. Great post, and a good reminder about priorities and his

limited messaging scope. She had a very progressive platform that also happened to be inclusive. To insinuate otherwise is not honest.

[Me.]

13. First Off

I think Senator Sanders needs to stop calling Dems, any Dems, names. And really, who is he to judge? I think back on that pricey trip to Rome. the new vacation house, the fact he has a senate salary, healthcare, $3mil+ to run his office and pay for expenses. He's living a very privileged life, one many would be more than thankful for.

Secondly, why is he mostly attacking Dems when it's the Cons & 45 destroying the country? And calling him a fraud just doesn't cover it. BS seems to be into deconstructive politics where the Dems are concerned and if he's hoping they're going to beg him to run again (hardly) because he is just so pure, this is not the way to go about it.

[R B Garr]

18. Yes, his attacks look like sour grapes whining because

the populous coastal areas overwhelmingly voted for Clinton. This is just more divisive attacks on Democrats with its origins straight out of Limbaugh land. Who does he think he is insinuating there are no working class people living in cities. I know union people here all over the place.

And you're right about his own privileged lifestyle. He bought a $600,000 house on a Senator's salary. Try buying a $600,000 house on a working class salary (that's about what an average house is here). He would shut up fast about calling those folks "elite". How outrageous and out of touch can you get.

[Me.]

25. As For No Working Class People In Cities...

Who does he thinks are the bldg. supers, the trash men, nurses, restaurant workers, laundry and dry cleaning employees, bakers, policemen, EMTs, fireman, those who work in offices, court employees, cashiers, nursing home/care workers, tellers at banks, newspeople, salespeople, fast food workers, teachers, subway workers, bus drivers, cable people, electricity workers, dog walkers, manicurists, hairdressers, druggists, writers, librarians, UPS & postal workers, delivery men, florists, doctors, lab technicians, tailors, opticians, babysitters, nursery care workers, jewelers, computer repairmen/women, museum workers, and so on and so forth?

[LisaM]

26. And, it was his third house.

It's just a vacation house.

[Gothmog]

37. Agreed

[SunSeeker]

28. "Bernie is well aware of that misconception, and exploits it for political gain."

Yeah, you got that right. Personal political gain, truth be damned.

[JCanete]

16. Sanders push on the Democratic party did not end with that result. It ended with a party that

made ovations to the left and convinced me to vote for Hillary Clinton in the GE. Most Sanders supporters voted for Clinton in the GE, and I'm not sure there are any numbers that suggest that there are enough people out there who would have voted for Clinton if not for Sanders.

Starting from a place of total uncorroborated bullshit to make a point is not strengthening this person's argument.

Also, lumping what Sanders was saying in with every other attack of every variety on liberals is also disingenuous. Its fair to say that if he wants to make a point about a certain elitism that using terms that Republicans have used comes with all that baggage. That's true. I think that's complicated and dicey territory. I think he's using it because the language is familiar and already believed, but he's attempting to change the content of that meaning, but that doesn't mean that's a good strategy, and I think that's fair criticism to bring. To pretend that he's saying all this other shit is entirely straw-manning.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. The 50% + 3 million MAJORITY who voted for Hillary are NOT ELITES.

The Minority President tRump has stuffed his cabinet with 0.01% elites and Goldman-Sachs alumni.

Snowden who said voting for Hillary was voting for Goldman-Sachs wins the 2016 award for most awkwardly wrong-headed tweet of the election.

Unconfirmed Executive President Bannon and unconfirmed Secretary of Everything Kushner are ensuring that the rural fly-over country that gave the Minority President his Electoral College votes is damaged the most by transportation cuts, education mandates, pollution increases, and reduced worker protections.

[Lonestarblue]

19. No Democrat or progressive should ever use the word "elite."

By referring to Democratic elites, Sanders is only underscoring the Republican claim that most Democrats are pointy-headed elites who know nothing about how the real world works. That word needs to be scrubbed from the vocabulary of anyone describing Democrats or our message or why we lost the last election.

[George II]

20. The term "Liberal Elite" is a phony term used by those who can't get their own way, almost...

...like a justification for a political "temper tantrum". I've asked those who use it here and on other sites where I've seen it if they could define that term. No one can.

[NastyRiffraff]

21. It's unbelievable that so-called progressives (SCPs)

are using the term "liberal elite." That term is over 20 years old and was originated by Republicans to mock liberals.

And now, according to Sanders--a SCP--I'm a "liberal elite." Right.

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. All the while minimizing the impact of Russia and James Comey. Message to BS: If you can't win.....

enough Dems in the primary, it means your message didn't penetrate. So all the post election sloganeering about "liberal elites" is just talk. And all the white working class voters in the Rust Belt can't change that little fact. We have been, and continue to be the party of the working class, black & brown people, LGBT people, religious minorities, and immigrants....no matter how much division some try to sow amongst us.

There are 3+ million of us, who are in no way "elite", but we made our choice, and I stand by mine.

[SunSeeker]

29. What an idiotic hateful, right wing pandering lie:

“They tell those they dismiss as inferiors to calm down, be reasonable and patient and trust in the goodness of the old ruling class and the American system.” 

No Dem is saying that shit. It is the REPUBLICAN white supremacist Alt Right that dismisses black, brown and LGBT people as inferiors. Sanders should be ashamed of himself.

[yardwork]

31. I'm becoming increasingly disappointed in Bernie Sanders.

It's starting to look like pure egoism at this point.

[crazycatlady]

35. Funny the only elitists I know are conservatives

Like my BIL, who complained when he went on a trip to Spain and flew coach instead of first class.

[BainsBane]

36. This is exactly what I was saying

Many on the left use “liberal elites” as a substitute for “wealthy,” of course, but it’s a confusing substitute, not least because rich people tend to be more conservative and to vote Republican, as they did in the last election. Meanwhile, bloated plutocrats like Trump, the Koch brothers, the Bushes, Carl Icahn, and Paul Ryan embrace openly regressive policies. And yet, pundits across the political spectrum hardly ever inveigh against the “conservative elite.”

Rather than highlighting class differences, the phrase “liberal elitism” beclouds them. In doing so, it plays into the very ideology of neoliberalism that leftists claim to hate

[Hortensis]

38. I think I'm special, but mischaracterizing me as "elite"

is ridiculous. If he meant I admire and support "elites," the same. That kind of authoritarian following is not what liberals like me do.

Perhaps Sanders would know and appreciate that if, as I believe I have often seen, he did not have a significant authoritarian leader streak himself. I want to support him as an agent of the Democratic Party, but he's making it difficult. I'm very tired of being insulted this way and want him to find the self discipline to come through on this role he chose to take on with better grace and honest commitment. To put it bluntly, a deal's a deal.

[UTUSN]

39. K&r