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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:42 PM
Original message
I am the "cultural elite"!
At least that's what they say, simply because I'm a liberal.

I suppose, in some sense, that I am. I grew up middle class. I'm educated, and I teach (which, of course, also makes me a terrorist). I read widely, subscribe to Harper's, listen to nearly all manner of music, enjoy a range of ethnic cuisines (and can passably cook dishes from several of them), and have been known to get into both good wine and the occasional "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" episode.

Then again, I drive a ten-year-old pickup truck whose oil I change myself. I live in a $60k house in a working class neighborhood next to a custodian with whom I share tools, ladders, neighborhood gossip and an occasional beer. I've replumbed this entire house with the help of a guy named Peanut, torn out and replaced whole walls and old electrical wiring, put down both vinyl and tile floors. I've changed diapers on intellectually disabled adolescents, spent a summer feeding pureed hot dogs and pizza to a child with cerebral palsy. I know who Omarosa is. I know who Jeff Gordon is.

In June, I'll have been married for twelve wonderful years. I want my gay friends to be able to have the same experience, should they so choose.

I am agnostic, but I respect the rights of people of faith.

I have a great respect for the members of our armed forces, and that respect is, in part, what leads me to oppose ill-considered wars of empire.

I am steadfastly in favor of reproductive rights - and have had anti-choice protestors come up and show me their 9mm clips when I volunteered as a clinic escort - but am also steadfastly in favor of greater, more effective education as a way to decrease the demand for abortions.

Finally, I am steadfastly in favor of a living wage, suitable health care and full education for ALL Americans.

To the right wing in America, I offer a hearty "FUCK YOU". I *am* a patriot. I *am* an American, and I do love my country and its people. ALL of them. If that makes me the "cultural elite", then I accept the title.

What say you, friends?
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Stop_the_War Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. Two words:
:yourock:
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orpupilofnature57 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:49 PM
Response to Original message
2. i THINK YOUR WHAT BEN,THOMAS,AND PATRICK had in mind! ride on!
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sadiesworld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:50 PM
Response to Original message
3. I am a well-educated, middle to upper-middle class suburbanite...
who recognizes that she has a hell of a lot more in common with Main Steet than Wall Street.
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bluestateguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
4. I am also proud to be a part of that cultural elite
Some people like to trash the popular culture that is so defined by what comes out of Hollywood and New York City. I embrace it. I indentify with it and I do not apologize for it.

I like to learn and educate myself at every opportunity. I like diversity and I am a bit put off by homogeneous, pasty white culture.

I support organized labor. Unabashedly and unapologetically.

I favor more freedom at home: legalize drugs, prostitution, gambling. I oppose gun control, and I support home schooling for liberal parents who live in places where fundamentalistwackos have taken control of the public schools.

But I also recognize that that freedom is best preserved when corporations are kept on a short leash, under strict government supervision. Hence, I favor the death penalty for white collar corporate crime.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:54 PM
Response to Reply #4
34. you liberal wacko.
Hence, I favor the death penalty for white collar corporate crime.

!

I'm totally in opposition to the death penalty, but if you're going to do it at all...
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KG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
5. wow, i had you pegged as one of those ivory tower leftists!
:shrug:
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:58 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. I'm that too.
It's just a really short tower. ;-)
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Hoping4Change Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
6. Personally I think Dems should embrace the term Cultural Elite.


If Dems are the elite then Repukes must be the party of dum-dums.


Why do Dems wants to fight that appellation? The Founding Fathers made no bones about being educated, brainy, cultured and articulate so why don't Dems celebrate that fact?



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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:50 PM
Response to Reply #6
30. the Enlightenment
passed many of us by, sadly.
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Hoping4Change Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #30
52. Perhaps its time to address that sad fact. (As I am writing this
Edited on Sun Feb-20-05 05:30 PM by Hoping4Change
reply, "Respect Yourself" is being played on the radio.

It seems to me that people who embrace the tenets of the Enlightenment such as Liberalism should start "flaunting" their orientation.

I grew up working-class family with tight finances (so tight that we didn't own a car) but my parents were sharp as pins and extremely well read so I never associated intelligence or intellectual interests with income level. I know firsthand that being financially strapped doesn't mean one is intellectually challenged and I have since learned that wealth is not dependent on intellect.

I think Liberals have to unapologetically bring people up to their level meaning that if human reason is to be a guide, dumdums who don't appreciate learning need not apply to be Dems.
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tx_dem41 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:01 PM
Response to Original message
8. Well, at least you don't subscribe to ....
The Nation. ;-)
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:02 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. used to. Hell, I used to subscribe to Z.
:evilgrin:
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CatWoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:09 PM
Response to Original message
10. and here I was thinking you were the possum elite
:hi:
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:22 PM
Response to Reply #10
16. it has to be "opossum" when among the elite.
;-) Ready for next weekend?
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kiraboo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:14 PM
Response to Original message
11. We can use the "cultural elite" thing to attract some people...
but we would run the risk of alienating others. I helped out with the local Democratic organization before the election and was resented by some because I hadn't been recently laid off, I have a college degree and I live in an excellent neighborhood. I'm also personable, slim and well-kept - gasp! in startling contrast to many with whom I share an ideology. This shouldn't matter but it did, somehow. It's not only the repukes but also many dems who fear the cultural elite, the difference between the two being that a classic democrat might feel that such elitism bears no relation to the life s/he daily experiences while the repukes are fostering fear and disdain in an attempt to gain popularity with those who would otherwise consider themselves democrats. Either way, it's a bad sign. Contempt for intelligence, education and culture. Super!
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:16 PM
Response to Original message
12. yep. you're the elite
thank Jeebiz we have a gawd-fearing common man living in the White House and leading our country out of the clutches of evildoers like you.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #12
29. I'm a scary bastard, I know.
;-)
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:51 PM
Response to Reply #29
31. Cheers!
:toast:
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chrisbur Donating Member (161 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:17 PM
Response to Original message
13. I too am a liberal.
But I own 9mm clips. I am carpenter who frames houses for a living.(big old ugly calluses all over my hands) I drive an F150, but as little as possible. I am weighing the differences between just keeping my 10 year old truck or buying a little 4 cyl. Mazda or something.
My wife is an art teacher with a master's degree. We heat our house with wood cut from our 6.5 acres. We have big gardens every year and we are getting goats and chickens this spring.
We have two daughters 10 and 12 years old. They are tired of my constant ranting against the right wingers.
Both my great grandparents and my wife's came through Ellis Island around the turn of the century. Everyone Catholic. We are agnostic.

We fear the current cultural zeitgeist!
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Bouncy Ball Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:46 PM
Response to Reply #13
27. Your family and my family have a lot in common!
:thumbsup:
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:47 PM
Response to Reply #13
28. a liberal carpenter?!?!?
A liberal 9mm-owning carpenter? Sacre bleu!*

* Use of French further evidence of liberal elitism.
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chrisbur Donating Member (161 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:48 PM
Response to Reply #28
53. I know, they are so sick of me at work.
I've spent my life arguing with dimwits at work!
Electricians and plumbers in my experience have been the worst.
Bottom line is this: These people just want to have millions of vinyl clad, osb house/boxes to put up so they can buy more useless plastic crap. Their whole culture is addicted to the smell of gasoline fumes too!
It's all quads and snowmobiles and football talk with these guys.
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Skidmore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 08:50 AM
Response to Reply #28
84. Hey, one world religion owns its existence to
a liberal carpenter.
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CitySky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 12:51 PM
Response to Reply #28
86. it's okay
He's going to get a hot paraffin wax for those callused hands this very weekend!

RIGHT???
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:18 PM
Response to Original message
14. Uly, you are the "cultural elite"
Damn you! :)
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:41 PM
Response to Reply #14
24. sure. tell jaredh that.
:D
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ultraist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:19 PM
Response to Original message
15. LOVE IT!!!
Edited on Sun Feb-20-05 03:20 PM by ultraist
I take my children to museums, concerts and the library so that they are not exposed to one source of culture: trashy television shows. We live a comfortable lifestyle and eat at Thai, Mexican, Indian, Soul Food, Organic Vegan and Japanese resturaunts. We frequent Barnes and Noble.

We also adopted a five year old African American son. We sponsor his biological family and do what we can for them, subsidizing their rent and other bills. I have volunteered working with economically disadvantaged children for the last decade. We donate more of our income than churches say is appropriate to tithe.

We teach our children the importance of Social Responsiblity, Economic Justice and Respect for Diversity. They participate in our volunteer work and political involvement. We have friends of all walks of life.

We're not perfect by any stretch. We don't donate all of our income except enough to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. We don't always recycle. We have been benefactors of white privilege by participating in this society.

But, we vote DEMOCRAT and donate to the DP. The party who supports food stamps, Affirmative Action, Tech school grants, Pell Grants, Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers, and the other social programs that sustain and lift people out of poverty.

If we are liberal elitists because we enjoy cultural diversity and a culture of peace and love rather than a culture of hate, so be it.

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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:44 PM
Response to Reply #15
25. hell, you're practically communist.
Soul food? I mean, damn. ;-)
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:19 PM
Response to Reply #15
43. Barnes and Noble?????
U suck, man. I used to have an independent new and used bookstore and I abhore those giant chains. See if you can find an independent, or a good used bookstore.
Of course, I myself, bought all my Clausmas presents from the dreaded Amazon.com. All I have in my town is an odious Waldenbooks, but they did have copies of Jon Stewart's book.
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ultraist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:30 PM
Response to Reply #43
60. LOL! At least it's a blue company
I know, I know...Barnes & Nobles is closer though and they have a big kids section. What can I say?
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Dervill Crow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 10:26 PM
Response to Reply #60
71. Isn't Barnes & Noble blue?
I thought I saw online that BN is blue and Amazon is red. Gotta check that out!
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ohkay Donating Member (286 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:22 PM
Response to Original message
17. I am too.
I come from blue collar roots- my father is a truck driver, my mother is a secretary. I put my self through college- a pricey, large liberal university in Boston. I work in Univerity administration. I go to museums and baseball games. I read classics, trash and fashion magazines. I like to watch ESPN and Bravo. I drink Bud Light and Grey Goose vodka- depending on my mood.

I am still in my pajamas.

I am the cultural elite.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:28 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. exactly so!
:thumbsup:
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ultraist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. You work in a University?
For shame! A haven for liberal Ivory towerites that value intellectualism? *gasp*
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ohkay Donating Member (286 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:33 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. yup
And we don't even have a football team :hippie: :hippie:
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tx_dem41 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:54 PM
Response to Reply #21
32. My alma mater has a football team, but...
we suck! Does that count? :)
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ohkay Donating Member (286 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:36 PM
Response to Reply #19
22. We have the largest
percentage of international students of any private school in the country.
Eli Wissel is a member of the faculty.
Martin Luther King Jr is an alumni.

In short, my school makes freepers heads explode!
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Celeborn Skywalker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:33 PM
Response to Original message
20. You're not an elitist.
You're just well rounded. The republicans are the elitists. They're the ones working for the rich. We Democrats care about all people, not just the country's elites.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:40 PM
Response to Reply #20
23. well damn.
I've always wanted to be among the elite. Then again, I've always wanted to have minions, and that hasn't happened either.

;-)
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Bouncy Ball Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:44 PM
Response to Original message
26. Exactly.
I love Mac and Cheese out of the box, Hamburger Helper, and a fine wine (not all at the same time!).

I love pigs in blankets, fried bologna on white and the opera.

I'm re-tiling my bathroom this summer and I'm also attending (and a supporting member of) Shakespeare in the Park.

I'm college educated, but some of my favorite people aren't.

Eh. The right just has a huge stick up their collective ass.

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Misunderestimator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:23 PM
Response to Reply #26
45. Well put, I identify completely.
I shoot pool at the local redneck bar (but I would never hold hands with a women there), and I go to the symphony

I was educated at a conservatory in New England on full scholarship, but I care deeply about educational assistance to the poor and middle class.

I'm college-educated and half my family and many of my friends aren't.

I work in management and my brother is a mechanic.

I love to watch Survivor, and Jeopardy, and almost anything on the Sundance Channel.

Pretending you don't like the things that other might perceive to be elitist would be as dishonest as the right wing is in pretending to care for the poor.

:hi:
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DU GrovelBot  Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:54 PM
Response to Original message
33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:57 PM
Response to Reply #33
36. grovelbot is the ultimate cultural elite!
:D
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KG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 03:54 PM
Response to Original message
35. not sure if i'm elite, but i am informed and enlightened and proud of it
dammit!
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Tsiyu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:04 PM
Response to Original message
37. And Repukes are the "moral elite"
They have the edge on all things moral.

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seabeyond Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:09 PM
Response to Original message
38. i live conservatively, in a conservative area.....
without intolerance
without judgement
without religion
in morality
family values
hard work
lots of love

i take care of people, a lot of men and a lot of children

i am a 43 year old mother, raising children, staying at home and am the dissident

this is what a dissident in the united states looks like

i support my troops by paying attention with what is going on, what all people of the world are saying including the troops, i have not blindly turned my back on them so i can support bush

i am a patriot, american, christian spiritualist,

i work with the children of today, that will be our future for tomorrow

and i refuse the submissive conditioning role so many adults adopt today because they dont feel empowered or capable. i have all the condfidence i can do my life, better than another doing my life
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:11 PM
Response to Reply #38
40. excellent.
:thumbsup:
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shance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:10 PM
Response to Original message
39. I love threads like these.
Its posts like yours Ullyses that keep me coming back for more.

Three words.

You DO rock!!

Thanks for posting.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #39
42. thanks.
:)
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K8-EEE Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:12 PM
Response to Original message
41. Amen!! It's Time For Us To Embrace This "Insult"
What it really means is we are not stupid rednecks. If that makes us the Intellectual/Cultural Elite, sign me on baby!
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:22 PM
Response to Original message
44. If you have actually read James Joyce
then you are definitely "elite"

:headbang:

That seems to be as close as I can get to a "I am not worthy" smiley.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:29 PM
Response to Reply #44
48. LOL - let me put it this way.
I've read, understood and enjoyed A Portrait of the Artist... and Dubliners. I read Ulysses because I had to my senior year in college. Hell of an end passage - otherwise, feh. :D
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Misunderestimator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:25 PM
Response to Original message
46. I just wanna say...
:thumbsup:
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:33 PM
Response to Reply #46
49. thanks!
:D
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mahina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:27 PM
Response to Original message
47. I love your post, you lifted my heart.
I have faith in America's people and I do not believe in empire.

I believe in America's future as a peaceful force for good, shown by developing sustainable clean energy, providing food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, mental health services for those who need it, and education for ALL of our people. I work in the arts, where people still make things here. So I guess that makes me the cultural elite!

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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #47
50. don't get down.
There are lots of us out here. :)
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
51. I am part of the cultural "elite" also
I am artist. I am also a wife and mother, daughter, sister, etc.

I have been to 49 of the 50 states - going to art museums, and art galleries in most of them. Also in Europe and Canada. (I've also shown art in several galleries including one in Japan + and have had 1000's of cards with my art sold in gift stores).

I also like to eat at the locally owned Thai, French, Vegan, Afghani, Greek, Tibetan, and eclectic restaurants.

I love world music and volunteering at the Lotus Festival in Bloomington.

I consider myself to be an agnostic universalist.

I grow fields of wildflowers and I've planted hundreds of trees.

As a liberal - I believe in human rights and environmental protections. And I condemn what our country is doing in Guantanamo, Iraq, Syria (and wherever else "rendition", torture and corporate debauchery is taking place.)

I consider myself a patriot because I have high expectations for my country - and I don't want to see it destroyed - or for it to destroy others.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #51
54. yes, you're dangerous enough to carry the name.
:D
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agitpropagent9 Donating Member (169 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 05:10 PM
Response to Original message
55. heh
"To the right wing in America, I offer a hearty "FUCK YOU". I *am* a patriot. I *am* an American, and I do love my country and its people."

how absurdly self-contradictory.

"fuck you. i love you."

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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 05:12 PM
Response to Reply #55
56. it's my version of tough love.
I love all Americans, even the screaming idiots. :D
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mahina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #55
58. Love the sinner
hate the sin.

I only love the Democrats.
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mahina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #55
59. BUT I don't have any problem with the republicans living here.
Quite a contrast with the far right, who feels that that anyone who doesn't agree with their recipie for world domination should leave the country.
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applegrove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 05:47 PM
Response to Original message
57. Don't Liberal Secret Police kill you if you drink beer instead of Chablis?
:toast:
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ultraist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:40 PM
Response to Reply #57
63. hehe...that depends
wine out of a box is ok
imported beer is not
;)
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GOPBasher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:34 PM
Response to Original message
61. Cultural Elite here!!!!!
I'm educated, gay-friendly, a science teacher, a liberal Christian, a multiculturalist, a pluralist, etc.

Glad to meet you, Ulysses, fellow "destroyer of western civilization!" (LOL) :hi:
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 06:37 PM
Response to Original message
62. I say I am proud to know you
and share your profession.

I also think it's kinda cool to think of ourselves as 'elite'. hee hee

We have a lot in common. I will be married for 30 years - also in June. I am also agnostic, grew up middle class and have good taste in music.

And I want to say "FUCK YOU" to the right wing :)
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 07:00 PM
Response to Reply #62
64. we can be elite terrorist educators together.
:D
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #64
87. great idea
I can get myself into a terrorist mood very easily :)

That terrorist tag reminds me of a great cartoon. Two teachers are at the travel agency. One of them says "Terrorists don't bother us. We are teachers. You can send us anywhere!"
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-22-05 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #87
88. heh - like the poster I saw
"You can't scare me - I teach". :D
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Rush1184 Donating Member (478 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 08:18 PM
Response to Original message
65. How does one volunteer as a clinic escort...
I am interested in possibly helping out as the same.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 09:06 PM
Response to Reply #65
67. a local pro-choice group was running a recruiting drive
at a club Ms Uly and I used to frequent, and I signed up. I'd give your local Planned Parenthood outfit a call.
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ArchTeryx Donating Member (189 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 08:29 PM
Response to Original message
66. Wow.
Talk about a well rounded life. A fellow that's good with his hands, his mind, his heart, and his spirit, all in one.

You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary; I think you're a role model. As Robert Crumb would say, keep on truckin'!

-- ArchTeryx
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 09:08 PM
Response to Reply #66
68. thanks, but the point is
that I'm not particularly unique in this. Lots of folks do these things. Many, and I have to suspect that most, of them are liberal.
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solinvictus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 09:20 PM
Response to Original message
69. The ultimate analysis of cultural elites...
courtesy of Tom Tomorrow:
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smoogatz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 09:57 PM
Response to Original message
70. My wife and I are cultural elites and damn proud of it.
We're both published writers of--get this--poetry (the most useless art, except for dance) and literary fiction. We've both won generous, taxpayer-funded grants for writing (thanks!). We've both taught English at blue state liberal arts colleges, and have advanced degrees from same. Between the two of us, we speak four languages and have traveled to five continents (Australia's next). We don't watch much TV, and won't let our son anywhere near it 'til he's five (TV eats kids' brains). I make a mean Thai curry and if you come to my house I'll pour you the best cosmo you've ever had (fresh lime is the key). My wife grew up in Hollywood, and I lived in Provincetown, MA for six years off and on. That said, I've also lived in Georgia, central Florida, North Carolina and the Virginia piedmont; I grew up in Appalachia, my grandfather was a bricklayer, I love NFL football, I golf (how Republican is that?) and shoot skeet/trap; I drive an SUV (I'm a large person, so I like a large vehicle); I play country and bluegrass guitar, and I actually considered voting for Ross Perot for about five minutes back in '92, before it became obvious that he was insane.

I think really what we're talking about here is a successful effort on the part of the Radical Right to incite class division between the working class and the old-line liberal bourgeoisie. They do it to distract us from their real agenda--cutting taxes for the rich, eliminating corporate regulation, and restructuring the tax code to allow even greater concentration of wealth. The working class are suckers--but we've fallen for it, too, to varying degrees.
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BamaGirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 10:52 PM
Response to Original message
72. I think I qualify lol ;)
When people walk in your house, have to pick their jaw up off the floor and can only come up with, have you read all those books? I think you can claim to be the "cultural elite" lol. I'm an Army vet, a stay at home mom, and I'll never be "finished" with school. My dad is a blue collar union member and my mom is one of those hated PI lawyers. My husband is a cop. My kids recognize Beethoven, Jimmy Buffet, the Dead, and yes, unfortunately lol, Toby Keith. We're raising them to be something the RWers hate--tolerant and well read! I love the shock people get when they realize we are Democrats and don't fit in any neat little well defined pegs. :evilgrin:
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ultraist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 10:58 PM
Response to Original message
73. What beautiful posts!
:loveya:

:kick:
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Cats Against Frist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-20-05 11:10 PM
Response to Original message
74. Actually, until you said you were married,
I was going to ask you to be my boyfriend....

:hi: Just kidding.

This is an area in which I'm intrigued, as well. Up until about 5 years ago, I was "just a little bit drunk, all the time," with dyed, fried blonde hair, short skirts and flashy jewelry and leather things. I'd lived in the Midwest, all my life -- shopped at Wal-Mart, scoffed at organic food, didn't know how to order an expresso, had never even been in the same room with sushi, watched MTV 24/7, listened to Britney Spears -- the whole nine yards. I was a Democrat, and even considered myself a "socialist," having lived in Sweden with my SAP boyfriend, and, at the time, working as a home interventionist.

Because that's a what a Democrat does in the Midwest. My parents are democrats -- with their F-150 and their Chevy Tahoe, their conversations about ionized mops over crockpot meatballs, made with BBQ sauce and grape jelly, their weekly trips to Wal-Mart, their love for American Idol, their Shania Twain obsession, their combination radio/tool charger. And there will never be a time that my mom will be able to get through "I'm Proud to be an American," by Lee Greenwood, without tearing up.

But she also cries when she sees poor children. And she once called me up, after watching a show about two gay males who had a baby through a surrogate -- bawling her freaking eyes out "why don't those crazies on the right let these people get married and have families? They loved that little baby so much -- they were sooooooo excited..."

My dad tears up at union songs, and gave me my first pair of "applejacks," when I was nine years old. He's become more conservative, but even though he supported the Iraq war, he wasn't fooled by Bushler, and cast his vote proudly for John Kerry.

My mom just says of Bush: "I can hardly look at that dumb motherfucker."

*

I moved to Seattle, in 2000, where I learned not only how to order an espresso, but sling it, as a barista in a bagel shop. I ate sushi like there was no tommorow. I started listening to "Built to Spill." Even at that time, I was still total white trash -- and, in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, I remember saying to myself, "I guess it's OK, if they attacked us."

I had watched World Trade Center attack, just three weeks after my son was born -- in a moldy bungalow, with an alcoholic, my university degrees being put toward nothing more than Internet surfing and being patronized by my right-wing, "benevolent" neighbors, who "took us in," and let us rent their shitty bungalow.

And then, I started to write poetry.

*

To make a long story short -- I AM supposed to be the cultural elite. I go to art school, teach college kids creative writing, hobknob with liberal writers from NYC and San Francisco -- I still drink the dread espresso, and eat sushi -- and now I eat almost strictly organic food, and now I listen to Phish, Frank Zappa, Pat Metheny and Jethro Tull.

But I drive around town in a beat-up chevy. My boyfriend has a beat-up truck. I have an American flag on my car, and, just a few weeks ago, spent a fair piece at the rifle and shotgun range. I'm kind of fat. I wear sweatpants and tennis shoes with a black sweater dress over it -- even to teach class. I let my son watch X-Men. And my own past has never left me: I'm not a pacifist. I wear white cotton underwear. I love a good milk gravy, and sneak in an episode or two of "American Idol," during the season. I have a bust of Thomas Jefferson on my desk, and a pocket constitution. I smoke. I even enjoy a McDonald's double cheeseburger from time to time.

*

We forget about all "the normal people," -- that the poor, lots of times, can be really horrible people, that rank-and-file Republicans can give you a hand when you need it, and invite you to their house for cow brains and send you home with garden radishes and zucchini bread. That sometimes Democrats wearing cammo pants drive giant Ford Broncos with a shotgun wrapped in a blanket, in the back. We forget sometimes that that pretty frat boy in the back of the class is actually an anarchosyndicalist (don't ask me -- that's what he said), and that the person driving around in the Volvo with the Kerry/Edwards sticker is a cold, opportunistic bitch that tries to sleep with your boyfriend.

I think there's some truth to cultural stereotypes. I think that a LARGE percentage of this country's population isn't exactly "all there," and that, in some ways, we ARE some kind of elite -- but that there's another, bigger elite watching us spin our wheels, and trying to get us all to hate each other, by turning us against one another.

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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 08:02 AM
Response to Reply #74
80. great post!
Thanks!
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kodi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 12:02 AM
Response to Original message
75. right wing code words for one smarter than them who can prove it
So, just wear that anti-America, god-hating, homo-loving commie bastard label with honor, and don't forget that Jeff Gordon bumper sticker, that there is a winner.

Sadly, The joke's on them. Their children, if trained by Right Wing idiots will not have the emotional or intellectual skills to deal with the future where flexibility will be of paramount import.

But least you think this sort of labeling is just an attribute of the Right, consider that yesterday on DU I was accused intellectual elitism from vegan plant eaters on the Left for thinking with my head instead of my heart when I asked the vegans to explain how they arrived at their philosophy of vegetarianism from their value systems.

Seemed failry clear, did it not? Unfortunately, questions that deconstruct personal opinions and delve into why people hold their personal opinions is defined as a sign of "intellectual elitism" by those who are unable to articulate the reasons why they hold their opinions.

And that is about the essence of it, that those who cast such accusations as insults make the linguistic error of mistaking metaphors for what they was originally attempting to describe.

We see it with the Right who defend the indefensible all in the name of some sort of imagery that arises from confusing connotation for denotation.

The alleged "intellectualism" necessary for discerning the two is not found in books, its found in common sense.

But one can hardly be successful in maligning an adversary by calling them infected with common sense.
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ulysses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 08:07 AM
Response to Reply #75
81. LOL! a fair enough point.
But one can hardly be successful in maligning an adversary by calling them infected with common sense.

:D

Maybe you're a carni-snob, then...
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Kimber Scott Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 12:10 AM
Response to Original message
76. "Cultural Elite?" Bully's way to say...
"You've got more brains than me, so I want to kick your ass."

Join the club. They'll be shocked when they find out we bite.
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IronLionZion Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 12:52 AM
Response to Original message
77. definition of elitism
e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism Audio pronunciation of "elitism" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-ltzm, -l-)
n.

1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2.
1. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
2. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.


come on people. There are elitists in both parties. If you deny it, then you obviously are one of them.

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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 12:03 PM
Response to Reply #77
85. I think that the problem is that Republicans are opposed to culture
Especially "multi-culture" and art for it's own sake instead of their profits. Plus obviously - art that challenges the status quo.


I don't think anyone here expects "favored treatment" or "entitlements" or "domination".

If anything - the opposite.
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 07:53 AM
Response to Original message
78. Hah - that's nothing, I'm officially in the cultural elite of Europe
Official: Britons are most cultured Europeans

Forget anything about football hooligans, binge drinking, or dumbed down TV from Rupert Murdoch - we're now allowed to stereotype the French, Germans and Italians as yahoos. Excellent.
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bleedingheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 07:57 AM
Response to Original message
79. I can read and think for myself = Elitism in the eyes of the right wing
Edited on Mon Feb-21-05 08:03 AM by bleedingheart
meanwhile I drink my tea with my pinky extended in the air...

edit: cold medicine is making my spelling worse...
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Binka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 08:45 AM
Response to Original message
82. I'm Considered A Cultural Elitist Because I Want Information
Not two options. The RW dogma of black and white just can't handle the fact that many of us want MORE choices and the chance to come to our OWN conclusions. Oh and the fact that we probably prefer a Sayles or Leigh flick over something starring Arnuuuld.
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flygal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-21-05 08:47 AM
Response to Original message
83. Where do you live?
I want you for a neighbor :toast:
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