Roving lunatic

A report is floating around the Internet that Karl Rove, the man responsible for the past eight years of George W. Bush terrorizing America, accused Barack Obama of being an elitist. Personally, I can't possibly fathom why people still quote Rove, who boasts a long career as a shameless liar, cunning manipulator and prolific propagandist.

Here's what he said:

ABC News' Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as "coolly arrogant."

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," Rove said, per Christianne Klein. "He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

The implication here is that Obama is just another arrogant liberal who lords his good fortune and status over those who apparently lack his charisma and boyish good looks. The problem is that this notion is not supported by anything but blatantly false stereotypes that liberals are oppressive elitists (after all, isn't it the conservatives who flaunt their religious beliefs over other people and believe they can do this marriage thing better than everybody else?)

Obama -- who is married to a woman who grew up in the ghettos of Chicago's south side, not the luxurious Connecticut pastures of Rove's coveted Bush family -- started his career at a community center in south Chicago, helping the poor. After receiving his law degree, he was elected to the Chicago state Legislature, where he increased tax credits for low-income workers and cracked down on predatory lenders. While Rove was thriving in his innate ability to elect money-grubbing, corrupt Republicans, Obama was helping poor black kids get into college.

Yet, it's Obama who is the elitist. It's Obama -- the black guy -- who is more likely than Rove to stand in a fucking country club with a cigar in his hand. Riiiiight.

Jake Tapper of ABC News had some interesting insight on the matter:

Interesting that Mr. Rove would use a country club metaphor to describe the first major party African-American presidential candidate, whom I'm sure wouldn't be admitted into many country clubs that members of the Capitol Hill Club frequent.

But the picture Rove paints is interesting. Who, pray tell, is Rove at this country club?

The guy telling funny stories near the band?

The charming president of the club's philanthropic arm?

The brainy guy with all the sports scores?

Or the guy who vandalizes your car and blames it on the kitchen staff?

Side note: If you want to understand exactly how conservatives in this country have attempted to convince Americans that liberals are all elitists -- and why that idea is so ludicrous -- read "What's The Matter With Kansas" by Thomas Frank. You won't regret it.