« The Price of Gas | Main | Data! Run! Hide! » Elitism22 Apr 2008 11:37 am Progressive Media USA notes that if you're looking for an elitist in the Presidential race you might want to look at the super-rich guy who made his fortune by marrying an heiress: And of course the couple still won't release the part of their tax returns that has all the money on it. Comments (33)
Several times today you have suggested that John McCain is something other than a courageous Maverick who is the hero of all regular people folk. Stop it. 
The audio editing on that video is pretty terrible.
Sort of a cheap shot, but one I heartily approve of. But why the narrator with the British accent? In what demographic exactly does that resonate?
Ugh. Great video other than the accent. That changes it from an expose to tabloid trash.
Bart- this is a parody of an actual VH1 show where they investigate the "fabulous lives" of various celebrities. The narrator in that show has a British accent.
Hey Matthew, as a Cavs fan, I have been waiting for you to post your thoughts on the Wizards/Cavs game last night. :-)
Great...including the accent.
What's the big deal here? I mean, it's not like Cindy McCain and her massive fortune were involved in the Keating 5, the scandal where Senator McCain was officially censured for improper use of his office to benefit a donor who also given the McCains trips to the Bahamas on his private jet and at his villa. It's absolutely shocking, given the documented prior history of her husband misusing his office to benefit her business partners that the media is letting this slide.
Ah, need to watch more teevee. Note to self. Do you mean "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and Robin Leach? Or am I dating myself? As, y'know, old enough to have babysat Matt or something.
Here comes Petey .. in ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...
Bart, I have no idea what you're referring to, so I'm guessing not. The show is actually called "The Fabulous Life of..."
John McCain: a walking version of those maildrop corporate 'head offices', a human tax shelter. But think of the children!
The VH1 show is called "The Fabulous Life of..." and features an over-the-top imitation of Robin Leach's accent and breathless commentary from "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". Homage or rip-off, the line's always so thin.
They should've talked about how he left his handicapped wife that stayed faithful to him while he was a POW for the richer, younger POA whose millionaire father launched his career. THAT is elitist.
Like I said, dating myself. Thx 55. Just so you know I'm not crazy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyles_of_the_Rich_and_Famous
great video and script. Terrible voiceover. The accent is a good idea, but just very poorly done - you can't understand what he's saying some of the time, which kinda blows the whole thing. The poor diction makes a successfull mix very difficult (though not impossible). A shame, really. closed circuit to the producers: eq and compress the voiceover, and then set up a ducking compressor. And/or re-do the VO. The piece is way too good to just sorto of botch.
They should've talked about how he left his handicapped wife that stayed faithful to him while he was a POW for the richer, younger POA whose millionaire father launched his career. THAT is elitist. No, that's the act of a maverick! John McCain just won't be tied down -- even to his marriage vows!
you're not dating yourself, Bart. and i speak as someone who is old enough to have beaten matt up in high school. "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams" to all!
trust fund scumbags...blah blah blah...i am insane...blah blah blah...i am bitter that john edwards dropped out and taking it out on the candidate who didn't vote to authorize the iraq war...blah blah blah
Wikipedia says Robin Leach was born in London, which is weird because I could have sworn his grating accent was Aussie.
I was in kindergarten when Matt was in pre-school, and I know about Robin Leach and his show, so you're not dating yourself too much.
I'd say that the video shows McCain to be an out-of-touch rich guy. "Elitist" implies something rather different, including disdain. Suggesting that there's something inherently wrong with just being wealthy isn't going to buy anyone a lot of points. The real problem is contempt, and the challenge is to portray McCain as having contempt for those with less.
Wikipedia says Robin Leach was born in London, which is weird because I could have sworn his grating accent was Aussie. It's very mid-Atlantic: his time in the US has rounded off a lot of the consonants. Imagine the old guy on Dancing With The Stars after 45 years in the US, and you get Robin Leach. Australians sometimes speak with similar characteristics -- not to say that they sound grating or mid-Atlantic. But that's one reason why Aussie actors can adapt pretty well to US or English roles.
There's an Australian actor who did morning talk shows from the same era, whose name I forget. Appeared on Talk Soup on VH1 a lot. You're probably thinking of him.
Gordon Elliott was the fellow. He was born in England but grew up in Australia. He was the other go-to guy for pompous British narrations besides Leach at the time.
The last 10 seconds were great, the rest was meh. Pretty rich for Johnny Mac to tell people to chin up and get a second job.
Yeah, Gordon Elliot and Leach have the same annoying tabloid-television cadence, along with a few mid-Atlantic mannerisms. Elliot sounds more obviously Australian, though.
The big question is, does John McCain know what the scanner at a supermarket is?
John McCain: the out-of-touch elitist war hero with one son who's an enlisted Marine veteran of Iraq and another who's going to be in the shit as soon as he gets out of the Naval Academy. That whole risking-lives-for-their-country stuff gets in the way of the elitist tag, don't you think?
John McCain - spent the 1st 4 1/2 decades of his life in a meritocracy, not an elite. Which punished McCain when he fucked up and passed him over for Admiral. He survived 5 near death situations - two jet ejections in peacetime, one when he was hit by a missile, enveloped in a sea of fire and burned in the Forrestal accident, the 5th was actually several near-death beating times at the hands of the Commies in the Hanoi Hilton. Not elite near-death encounters. Contrast that to both Obamas, who had their asses kissed and signed off on as talent to be cultivated into membership in the Elites since they were in grade school.
John McCain: the out-of-touch elitist war hero with one son who's an enlisted Marine veteran of Iraq and another who's going to be in the shit as soon as he gets out of the Naval Academy. That whole risking-lives-for-their-country stuff gets in the way of the elitist tag, don't you think? So by this standard, Republicans were lying their asses off when they tried to paint Vietnam War hero Navy officer John Kerry as an elitist. After all, that whole rsking-his-life-for-his-country stuff got in the way of Kerry being an elitist, don't you think?
Why is it that Republicans and right-wing pundits can slime Dems as "elitist" without being accused of "class warfare"?
Comments closed May 06, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
that john kerry sure was crafty and elitist!
Posted by mike c | April 22, 2008 11:45 AM