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No Place for the Working Class

By Jeffrey Harrison

The nomination of the Elena Kegan reminds me once again that there is no political party that is comfortable for working class people although they are often fooled into thinking otherwise. Clearly working class people are the new Invisible Men and Women. Now the Democrats appoint another North Eastern elitist to the Supreme Court. The love affair of Clinton and Obama with these people tells you all you need to know about their pandering to the elites. Remember Clinton and Kimba Wood, Zoe Baird and Lani Guinier.

I share the values of more Democrats than Republicans but not for the same reasons. Consequently, I don't trust their values. Take Kagan who was so solidly against military recruiting while at Harvard but evidently not so against it that she would not serve the President who originated it. What's the difference? At Harvard nearly everyone agreed with her. To have the guts to condemn Clinton would have meant a huge career detour. Like so many law professors it is all about self interest. Just watch them when a Supreme Court justice they rail against visits campus.

The Republicans, on the other hand, appoint people who would have the police living in our bedrooms and oil gushing onto our beaches. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans do seem to have some core values but, at the extremes, many are just plain scary. Working class people, to whom they appeal so cynically, are just means to an end. Hopefully working class people will figure this out on their own because Democrats do everything to demonstrate their own indifference to the working class.

The opposition to allowing recruitment by the military services on campus is particularly irksome. What an easy cause for a North Eastern elitist. Few or none of the people opposing those interviews would be caught dead actually being in the military. Why? Because the military has traditionally been the place for working class and minorities to have what is as close to an equal opportunity as can be found in the USA. To be sure it cannot be found on any elitist campus. I don't get it. No one is forced to go to a military recruiter. Just who are people like Kagan protecting? And if people like Kagan want to change the policy then kissing up to the President who signed off on it is hardly the way.

Just once I'd like to see a nomination that shows some imagination.

Full post as published by Class Bias in Higher Education on May 10, 2010 (boomark / email).