or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
May 08, 2007
Yes
God damn Digby is a great writer.
The only thing I'd add is that Chait's type of "liberalism" is class-based: it exists only among upper-middle class professionals. The only hope for America is if such people begin to identify (as they rationally should) with the people below them in the pyramid, rather than those above. It's a long shot, but certainly the people running America seem determined to push professionals far enough into a corner that they might.
Posted at May 8, 2007 10:37 AM | TrackBackYes. Thank you, Jon. I don't know how the Chaits of the world have taken over American liberalism. (Or were they always in charge? I'm only twenty-one.)
I've been inveighing against the affluent white liberal menace in the local elections here in Philly for months. (We were on NPR the other day!) We're on the verge of electing former investor Michael Nutter-- the feel-good candidate for white Democrats with racial insecurities-- because, as one paper argued, poverty (even a city with a 25% poverty rate) is not within the purview of the mayor's office.
We're up to Catch-fucking-eighty-two here.
Posted by: Sully at May 8, 2007 01:32 PMThe only hope for America is if such people begin to identify (as they rationally should) with the people below them in the pyramid...
Well, that's not the only hope. They're not irreplacable.
Posted by: darrelplant at May 8, 2007 02:24 PMThank you darrelplant. Thank you. I wish Digby had such a sense of irony.
Posted by: at May 9, 2007 12:10 PMWas it here, or somewhere else, that there was a discussion of the political consciousness of restaurant workers - those in the kitchen know which side the bread is buttered on, but the waiters identify with the class position of the customers?
I used to be a liberal myself - in Lenny Bruce's phrase, "I have the cancelled checks to prove it."
Posted by: mistah charley, ph.d. at May 10, 2007 09:59 AM
