Sorry for the repeat opinion.

Main Entry: elite
Pronunciation: \?-?l?t, i-, ?-\
Function: noun
Etymology: French élite, from Old French eslite, from feminine of eslit, past participle of eslire to choose, from Latin eligere
Date: 1823
1 a singular or plural in construction : the choice part : cream b singular or plural in construction : the best of a class c singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society d: a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence e: a member of such an elite —usually used in plural
2: a typewriter type providing 12 characters to the linear inch

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89940718

If you don’t want to bother listening to it, I’ll just say that he more or less agrees with the interpretation many of you have made, that “elitism” means “thinking you’re better than ordinary people,” where “ordinary people” means “me and my friends.”

And like all the other “-isms” of course, merely having the right, erm, credentials (in the case of Mr. Obama) a poor or immigrant background. doesn’t inure one to accusations that this particular “ism” applies to you.

And of course, it can come from either direction. From those in the elite, who run things (the pols, the professional classes, tenured academics, leading journos, captains of industry, etc.) an elitist can be someone who aspires, shamelessly to be One of Us. Think of Frank Burns (M.A.S.H.) or Becky Sharpe for a fair assessment of this (I would call it unfair in the case of Mr. Obama, but I don’t really know)

It can come from those outside, who resent those who rule, who want to rule their lives, telling them what to do because they, naturally, being Of the Elite, know what’s best for the Little People.

And unfortunately for Mr. Obama, any pol who is not an old-fashioned small-government classical liberal fits that bill for the ordinary run of Americans.

What “elitist” really stands for is “from academia.” It is intended to imply a lack of awareness of the needs of ordinary working families. The reason this is being thrown at Obama is that he is a professor of law. As Scalzi pointed out, even a professor of law is far less “elitist” and out of touch with ordinary people than any of those throwing the word at him.

It is also worth saying that “elitism,” even if it did apply, is rather minor on the scale of political sins. Kind of like calling an athlete “arrogant” or a novelist “reclusive.” Sure it would be nice if they were more humble or outgoing, and it might make things easier for their marketing people, but it has very little bearing on what really matters.

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=166074

“You know, I hear what you’re all saying, but doesn’t elite mean *good*? Is that not something we’re looking for in a president anymore?. [snip] I know ‘elite’ is a bad word in politics, and you wanna go bowling and throw back a few beers, but the job you’re applying for, if you get it and it goes well, they might carve your head into a mountain. If you don’t actually think you’re better than us, then what the f— are you doing? [snip] In fact, not only do I want an elite president, I want someone who’s *embarrassingly* superior to me.”

I think in this case she’s using the wrong word. I knew I had the word earlier, but can’t call it to mind. For her her elitism=not a populist.

Regardless, I don’t think of Obama or Hillary as elitist. I reserve that judgement for extreme supporters of a candidate that can’t tolerate or intelligently debate an opposing viewpoint. Elitist may not be the correct label, but it reeks of disrespect and lack of compassion for others.

and b) that therefore (and don’t ask me the logic, I don’t follow it) he cannot “relate” to the “man [sic] on the street” and said imaginary man’s everyday concerns.

I teach high school in an area where there are very few non-white kids. For example, in my last semester of teaching, I taught about 70 white kids, 1 Asian kid, and 3 black kids. Calling Obama elitist makes me sad, just like when the black kids in my honors class are called white wanna-bes just because they aren’t talking in broken slang and actually care about education. I have seen really smart potential-filled black kids in my standard class refuse to step up to a higher level honors class because they don’t want to give the appearance of “acting white” to their few black peers in the school. They identify being black with being dumb, and it breaks my heart.

Of course, this is just a smaller-scale microscopic view of my own community, but when I hear Obama called elitist, all I can think about is how Joe asked me not to tell the class that he made the highest score on his essay because he didn’t want his black friends to make fun of him. Obama’s case may be different, and the situation may be different, but from where I stand, when I hear someone label him as elitist, all I can really hear is a racial slur.

I wish this election could be about politics, not race.

Anti-intellectualism is rampant in the US. Somehow, it’s been decried as both “soft” and “upper class” — which is interesting, since the way the upper class was created in this country was by lower and middle class people studying their butts off and becoming inventors, industrialists, etc. Also, anti-intellectualism is popular because if you don’t know something, you can just pretend not to think about it (like the environment).

It’s still fascinating to me how a several-generations spoiled rich boy Yale legacy can be just folks, while the food stamp son of an immigrant raised by a single mother is elitist. But that’s politics.

I’m with those who say that the “elitist” stamp in Obama’s case is code for “uppity.”

As according to ninjawords.com, I wonder what urban dictionary would say? Prolly highly inapropriate. I think that Lady de Rothschild is just scared of Obama.

I’d say I’m an elitist when it comes to reading. Speaking of which, How To Ditch Your Fairy is AWESOME! I LOVED IT!

And, strangest news of all, I had a dream and Justine was in it.

Remember that tape of W facing a room of Armani, silk, and diamonds at a 2500-a-plate fund raiser. He said: “Some people callya the elite. I callya mu base.”

I have never been a class warrior, not even back in hippie/early punk days (I am that old, yes) But lately? These robber barons…

If they pin the world elitist on Obama, they get a three-fer. The racists hear “uppity” with all its echoes, the middle class hears “He’s just faking caring about us” and Joe Sixpack hears “pus*y”. And that last one is the candidate killer here in the US.

But it’s true that there are shades of elitism and that you may not be aware of your own snobbishness, like when I left my lifelong home in Manhattan and was surprised to find intelligent life in NJ.

Um, doesn’t “uppity” have other connotations?

I once had someone tell me that I thought I was better than them when they discovered I had a PhD. That somehow my being more educated was an insult to them. To which the only response can be: Huh?

It seems like there’s an awful lot of projecting going on.

Also I hope and pray that the person running my country, or ANY country, is better than I am. A better manager, a better politician (in the good sense of the word), a better thinker, a better human being. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, for example, does not fit that bill on any level.

veejane: Yeah, that sucks too. The people who tell me I’ve sold out because I’m published by Teh Man. Gah! I roll my eyes at them.

Lauren: Yup, it was, indeed, a Hillary Clinton supporter, which just makes the whole thing even more bewildering. On what planet is Obama more elitist than Clinton?

They’re just as stupid, only in the opposite direction. It’s balance!