*gasp* Class War!

[zsquirrelboy]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the senator-elect from Virginia:
The most important--and unfortunately the least debated--issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is

Comments

[hakamadare]

hm. it’s hard to read your tone (partly because i don’t know the first thing about Senator Macca), but do you disagree with Mr. Webb?

-steve

[zsquirrelboy]

I realized that might be the case... I was hoping the *gasp* would make it clear.

I'm quite happy about this.

[zsquirrelboy]

Would "*gasp* *clutch pearls*" have been better?

[hakamadare]

well, the first mental image i got from that was of you desperately grabbing your crotch, so… not as such. :)

-steve

[kungfoogirl]

I, for one, agree with a whole bunch of what he said there.

I'm not sure what he's specifically proposing be done about it...

Maybe I'm a little more sympathetic to these issues, coming from a city with a very "working class" mentality (Pittsburgh) and moved to the South.

[voxel]

You seemed to miss an a in spelling Senator Macaca. It's been a long time coming for politicians to start waging class warfare on behalf of the lower and middle class, and it is a welcome sight.

[zsquirrelboy]

I wasn't sure that there was a consensus on how it was supposed to be spelled. I'll correct it. :)

[loravarnion]

Indeed. Kind of amazing, really. This is what I (and my father) have been saying less eloquently to our red-state relatives for years. Working class, middle America has just gotten totally screwed by the modern GOP, all the while being led by the nose with the "gays, guns, and god" bullshit.

I agree with Webb 100% on this, but it will take more than one essay to make a difference. This needs to be a constant theme in the media, an on-message talking point repeated again and again. The modern conservative movement has been framing the debate for the last 20 years at lest - reframing effectively is both the key to a sustainable progressive majority and will take years to accomplish.

[zsquirrelboy]

I think you're absolutely right about this. A lot of work needs to be done to actually *do* something about what has happened. I think there may be more space for a bit more optimism.

People know things are messed up. Not just in Iraq, but in the economy in general. I think there's a desire for a narrative to explain why. And I think what Webb is saying is going to have some real resonance because it's, you know, true.

[zsquirrelboy]

Hey man, you have any numbers to help me out with here? lhn is going to beat me up if I'm not careful. :)

[harimad]

This needs to be a constant theme in the media, an on-message talking point repeated again and again.

For once, inside the Beltway is ahead of the country at large. The subject gets a lot of press and there's a lot of talking about it in the usual forums. I'm hoping it's the opening to reforming the tax code to lower marginal rates & fewer exceptions to what constitutes income (ie, loopholes).

[moominmolly]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!