Timothy Egan, liberal New York Times reporter turned ultra-liberal nytimes.com "Outposts" blogger, titled his Wednesday night entry "Working Class Zero," a condescending, stereotypically liberal attack on blue-collar folks too ignorant and easily "distracted" to fight for their own interests, which Egan defined as government-controlled health care.
Egan was vexed that many middle-class Americans were instead heeding "the brat's cry of Joe Wilson" and condescendingly reduced the concerns of conservative protesters of the size and influence of the federal government to "generalized rage" stoked by "well-funded Astroturf outfits."
The first nine years of the new century have yet to find a defining label, something as catchy as Tom Wolfe's "Me Decade" of the 1970s or the "Silent Generation" of 1950s men in gray flannel suits. Bookmarked by the horror of 9/11 and the history of a black president, the aughts certainly don't lack for drama.
But last week, lost in the commotion over the brat's cry of Joe Wilson and the shotgun blast of rage in the Washington protest, something definitive was released just as this decade nears its curtain call.
For average Americans, the last 10 years were a lost decade. At the end of President George W. Bush's eight years in office, American households had less money and less economic security, and fewer of them were covered by health care than 10 years earlier, the Census Bureau reported in its annual survey.
....
Now consider the people who showed up in a state of generalized rage in Washington over the weekend. They have no leaders, save a self-described rodeo clown -- Glenn Beck of Fox News -- and some well-funded Astroturf outfits from the permanent lobbying class inside the Beltway. They are loosely organized under a Tea Party movement, but these people are closer to British Tories than 18th century patriots with a love of equality.
....
"A working class hero is something to be," John Lennon, that product of ragged Liverpool, sang just after leaving the Beatles. "Keep you doped with religion and sex and T.V."
As someone who had a union card in my wallet before I owned a Mastercard, I don't share Lennon's dark view of blue collar workers. But as long as they can be distracted by people who say all government is bad, while turning a blind eye to manipulation at corporate levels, they're doomed to shouting at phantoms.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
What we need is more elite
September 17, 2009 - 13:34 ET by d1carterWhat we need is more elite NYT idiots to tell us what to do! H@ll, they can't even run their own business.
'to tell us what to do'
September 17, 2009 - 14:43 ET by JDWWhat is the Obama focus?
The libs are attempting to pass a government student loan bill that supersedes all private loans. Big brother will be checking your political loyalties... in the future.
How many hours of community service have you contributed?
What kind of vehicle are you driving? ...
Who is 'most qualified' for loans, health care, employment... ?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
Hoping for change
PELOSI INSULTS AMERICA again
September 17, 2009 - 19:44 ET by reelman46PELOSI…VIOLENCE CRY MAKES ME SICK
SEPT 17.2009…THERE WILL BE BLOOD: PELOSI WARNS OF POLITICAL ‘VIOLENCE’
This baloney is coming from a top leader of the socialist democrat party!
This kooky party recently sent union goons to bite off fingers, to block access, to chant what they were told earlier…..
they allow their thugs with nightsticks to stand at voting
entrances…..have a (video) history of filthy-mouthed trashy looking
supporters that leave a huge litter mess while flipping off people and
making personally vulgar signs having nothing to do with the issues at
hand…..
they even hire people to pretend to be conservatives (aka repubs) and do damage!
This democrat party is a criminal enterprise. This party will accuse
others of what it does or is about to do as a matter of course.
Its a party that does not read huge bills or allow others time to read
them…on purpose. Its a party infested with tax cheats and nepotism.
Its a party with the sole goal of staying in the congress 40+ years to achieve total control over every American.
Its a party that is known for voter fraud and giving America 9 trillion in new debt on its vote-buying spree.
Its a party that will lie about lying then refuse to answer questions about either.
The democrat party has a factual (even filmed) history of ugly
violence going back to the late 1960s…when it “was heroic and American”
(they said)…..now that millions of voters have finally had enough lying
secular socialism…..we get these crocodile tears from the fountainhead
of political thugism! They never change and they never blush….because
they have no shame and no respect…..its part of the mental disorder we
call modern liberalism.
The fringe media cannot change their full diapers any longer……the game is up…..many millions are no longer fooled by either.
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
Not a fear
September 17, 2009 - 19:54 ET by nadadhimmiHey reelman46, that Pelosi quote isn't her fear; it's her threat!
This flamer.....
September 17, 2009 - 20:31 ET by pantrymanis a genuine blivet... you know....10 pounds of sh*t in a 5 pound bag.
I'm white and friggin-A straight proud of it !
through the prism of comtemporary education and no doubt IVY
September 17, 2009 - 13:40 ET by PaarlLeague if he is with the NY Times this guy does not understand the American character.....especially the American character between the Hudson River and the Sierra Nevada....maybe east of the Hudson and west of the Sierra Nevada he can find his way but in the great in between he is lost.
Paarl of Rhodesia
I'd wager he might ask...
September 17, 2009 - 14:21 ET by Iowa Boy...how come there aren't any farm animals in Des Moines.
And he calls people like me isolated.
"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Official Motto of the State of Iowa
Thank you Timothy Egan
September 17, 2009 - 13:40 ET by jdlybrandNow that you've cleared that up for us, feel free to slink back into your cesspool.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
"All I care about is controlling crabgrass in my suburban lawn"
September 17, 2009 - 13:44 ET by SickofLibsNYT, in tune as always with the pulse of the people.
Benefit of the doubt
September 17, 2009 - 13:57 ET by StarAZMaybe Egan and his pals flew over us trying to have a nice home...
Well, if they did, they'd
September 17, 2009 - 15:20 ET by SickofLibsWell, if they did, they'd have caught me hard at work in the garden, not shopping for a brownstone on the Upper East Side.
The NYT has a long running TV commercial in the NY metro market that they've been running ad nauseum for years pitching home delivery of 'The Weekender', which is the Fri. Sat & Sun. editions of the NYT. It's a bunch of metrosexual 20/30-something actors, touting the various NYT sections; Arts, Travel, etc. But there is one guy that makes me want to assault the widescreen when he says in his vignette: "The NYT has the best writers in the world, and there's no debating that."
ARGGH! End of vent./
SickofLibs, there's a prettyfunny parody of the NYT Weekender ad
September 17, 2009 - 15:28 ET by Clay WatersIt's for the 92 Street Y:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENu_06t9xl4&feature=player_embedded
Clay Waters
Director of Times Watch
Clay - THANKS!
September 17, 2009 - 15:43 ET by SickofLibsOMG, did they nail that. "I'm a cool black guy." Bwahahaha!
My wife still tries to sneak in the 8-lb. Sunday NYT once in a while, but somehow it always ends up blazing away as kindling in the chiminea that same night.
They should know their place!
September 17, 2009 - 13:44 ET by CobraManDang the middle class! Don't they know that the Elites knows what is best for them? Just as they did when the Ruling Elites knew what was best for that rabble they called the Colonists!
All shall bow to the Emperor and the Ruling Elites ! The Emperor has Spoken!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Beat me to it CobraMan
September 17, 2009 - 13:48 ET by SeftonThis guy sounds like the 21st century version of King George III...
just before he got his ass kicked.
And we're also racists.
September 17, 2009 - 14:16 ET by bretzysdudeAnd we're also racists.
What was he thinking?
September 17, 2009 - 14:23 ET by SeftonHe needs to get with the program. How he left out the "wild card" insult for conservatives should get a reprimand from his superiors.
Right
September 17, 2009 - 13:46 ET by justbob223We're all too stupid to know what's good for us. That's why we need smart people like Obama, all his czars, our betters in Congress and the Washington bureacracy, and people like Timothy Egan to think for us.
Americans elected this man
September 17, 2009 - 13:56 ET by StarAZMaybe Egan is going by that.
Incomplete statement StarAZ
September 17, 2009 - 14:17 ET by hobieA slight majority of Americans elected this man. The rest of us did not.
Nice distraction by the way, as this post [not Egan's article] did not mention Obama at all.
Libs are really good at distracting, and should be called on it whereas in the past, we let them dictate the dialogue.
Focus StarAZ: this is about Egan saying that the middle class can't think for itself.
Why are you pouncing on me
September 17, 2009 - 14:37 ET by StarAZI said he thinks Americans are stupid--and I said maybe he thinks that because they elected Obama, yes, a 6% majority...You think his take is not about how great and brilliant Obama is? I voted for McCain--first time in 45 yrs I voted Republican. Why are you being so hostile--we are on the same side...
I voted for McCain--first
September 17, 2009 - 15:41 ET by Dan The Man 2I voted for McCain--first time in 45 yrs I voted Republican. Why are you being so hostile--we are on the same side.
LOL bad time to vote for RINO's Star. Did you vote against Obama or have you had an epiphany? My first vote was President Carter, but I wised up after that clown screwed up the country. I think the straw that broke was the hostage fiasco.
I am no big McCain fan now
September 17, 2009 - 17:33 ET by StarAZI am still a registered Dem--but am probably an independent. I would not even vote for McCain for senator after his recent wishiwashiness. I think basically I am in The Resistance now. My daughter says not to say that out loud. Yes, I definitely voted against Obama--got a vibe right away, never could find out who was behind him for sure or even what he had done, no records--he floated out of the mists and let people call him a Messiah. Well, we needed a manager, apparently, not a Messiah. Ooops--too late. Obama rubs me the wrong way, the snootiness, the pointing finger, the evasions, the anti-woman asides, the endless blabbing...sort of creepy. I guess that sounds childish. He is not the only university grad in the country.
No Obama is definitely
September 17, 2009 - 17:45 ET by Dan The Man 2No Obama is definitely creepy just as a child molester is creepy. You know if you tarry here much longer you will be lost in the conservative thought patterns forever. LOL So after Carter how did you look yourself in the mirror? It took me a while myself and observation and an inventory of hwo I was and wanted to be.
My parents were blue dog democrats and I guess I saw them and heard them. Monkey see, monkey do.
Carter was your aha--not mine, I guess
September 18, 2009 - 11:09 ET by StarAZHe could stand to quiet down now, though. But it's still sort of a free country...
And when you substract the
September 17, 2009 - 18:38 ET by celatorAnd when you substract the 400,000+ votes ACORN admits they cooked up, the margin gets slimmer.
It wasn't even close to a mandate.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Amareicas are rejecting his policies.
September 18, 2009 - 00:24 ET by CobraMan"Americans elected this man."
They're also rejecting his policies by a larger percentage than that which elected him. Maybe Egan should "go" by that instead of using insults to distract us from that important detail?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Marx believed it would
September 17, 2009 - 13:58 ET by MidAmericaMarx believed it would be the peasants who would most readily take to communism because of there low economic status. But that was just one of the fundemental flaws of his theory. The peasants are by nature independent and resent outside interference. Communists like Stalin had to resort to mass murder of the peasant class in order to make them 'join' the 'peoples' government. What this writer is asking is the question true believers of government control have always asked "Why are these peasants resisting? Don't they know that this is good for them?"
Patrick Henry(March 23, 1775) has the answer to the question:
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Does this fella make it any
September 17, 2009 - 14:06 ET by ConservativeRexDoes this fella make it any easier for us to know who are enemies are?
I usually don't make generalizations, but this fella is probably under thirty years old, has only lived in large cities and yes, I know it's cliche, but has an Ivy league education. He's in for a hard fall when the real world hits him.
But if by chance he isn't any of these things, he is dumber then a bag of hammers.
them folks from nu york seety is funny
September 17, 2009 - 14:09 ET by Iowa Boycuz wez jess too stoopid too now whatz good fer us.
"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Official Motto of the State of Iowa
This guy sounds like the
September 17, 2009 - 14:11 ET by sherlock1This guy sounds like the 21st century version of King George III...
I think Louis XIV (or Marie Antoinette) might be more accurate.
Radical Rectocraniotomy
September 17, 2009 - 14:27 ET by samhermanmdHis disdain for self-determination is so painful that I might have to write myself a prescription for morphine just to get through that piece of drivel!
Like most New York Times hacks, he assumes a lot and knows very little.
Perhaps I should refer him to a good colorectal surgeon. Mistaking the walls of his rectum for reality is not good. The standard treatment is to have his head removed from his anus before rigor mortis sets in.
POTD
September 17, 2009 - 14:36 ET by SeftonSam, post of the day.
;-)
I guess he missed this
September 17, 2009 - 14:35 ET by CobraMan"One more detail caught my eye in these new economic reports on the lost decade. People in their prime earning years — age 45 to 54 — took the biggest hit in the last years of the Bush Administration, their median income falling by $5,000. And the region that suffered most — the South."
Hay, idiot, did it catch your eye that "in the last years of the Bush Administration" the Democrats had control of both houses of Congress? So, WHO raised taxes in those last years? Oh, yes, it's Bush's fault, right?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Not true
September 17, 2009 - 14:37 ET by ironchefofmunchies"They are loosely organized under a Tea Party movement, but these people
are closer to British Tories than 18th century patriots with a love of
equality."
I would give good money for him to backup where the Founding Fathers had a "love of equality".
A love of freedom-absolutely. But they specifically said "all men are CREATED equal". They never said that equality of outcome was desired.
If you disagree-please back it up with some actual links. Don't just make it up like the NYT does.
should not shock you
September 17, 2009 - 14:52 ET by katainkentits their business to rewrite the Constitution as often as necessary. I'd say the Declaration of Independence is just as fair game.
There is no single leader for the tea party movement. It would follow logic in that, conservative principled people tend to be very independent small, private group type people - whereas dems tend wear their politics on their sleeve with their hearts and naturally form or seek large groups. I think that is part of the reason why this has been such a slow and lumbering beast to wake.
The dems are the collectivists. That's where most of the sheeple are (I concede there are many rino sheeple)
____________________________________________
The Emperor, he has no clothes
Equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome.
September 17, 2009 - 16:55 ET by motherbeltI would give good money for him to backup where the Founding Fathers had a "love of equality".
Once again a liberal confuses equality of opportunity with equality of outcome.
Let, Egan live in his
September 17, 2009 - 14:38 ET by ForeverOnTheRightLet, Egan live in his delusional world, like many New Yorkers he thinks the world revolves around him and New York. What nassistic foolishness that is.
about 180 degrees out of phase...
September 17, 2009 - 14:51 ET by NDanielsonthe only middle class too easily "distracted" to know what is in its best interest, are GOVERNMENT employees, and those receiving compensation through some GOVERNMENT spending! as long as those checks and bennies keep coming it's "keep up the status quo", and "shut the hell up"!
You should really rethink
September 17, 2009 - 16:33 ET by Dan The Man 2You should really rethink that rant as there are plenty of governmnet employees who worked for that pension, I am one of them. Usually there is tradeoff in money for that pension, like all benifit cost ratios one has to make the decision.
So, Egan thinks we middle
September 17, 2009 - 14:52 ET by FeynmanFanSo, Egan thinks we middle class folks are the great unwashed, huh?
I like it! How long do you think it will take before someone starts selling T-shirts that say "One of the Great Unwashed"
Limbaugh suggested that the next Tea Party rally should be in front of the MSM offices. Maybe we should all show up wearing those T-shirts. That'd scare the bejeebers out of them, wouldn't it?
"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson
This is a great example of why the NYT is history...
September 17, 2009 - 15:19 ET by wnaegeleSigh!
Re NYT History
September 17, 2009 - 16:10 ET by slickwillie2001Here's Egan's map of the USA: http://artoftheprank.com
The old liberal media is like a corporation heading for bankruptcy, where you want to push it along because only through bankruptcy proceedings can something new and viable emerge. In their case it's intellectual bankruptcy.
My best interest?
September 17, 2009 - 15:22 ET by cajun2The last time anyone looked after my best interest was my mama.
I'm all grown up now. Don't need ya.
People,get over it,I have
September 17, 2009 - 15:43 ET by donsalimanIf they think that I am a racist,do not know what is good for me and my family,dumb or what ever they want to think,then let them.
I am smarter then they think they are,for I know,I don't know it all,and do not have all the answers,but I am none of the things they call me & you.
I must tell you, my best friend for over 40 years,and we are at the opposite ends of politics and religion,but he is unlike most liberals. He does listen to me,he does not call me a racist or dumb,he does not agree with my opinions but respects me and my opinions,and never has demeaned me and that goes the same for me and his opinions,in the end we are still friends for over 40 years
Don't fret over us in the middle classes, Timmy...
September 17, 2009 - 15:44 ET by R D Helm...at the rate Comrade Chairman Obama is destroying the private sector, along with the middle class, we will soon be a two-tiered society which will be composed of the Ruling Class, and us ignern't peons.
-Dave
I agree with Rush. It's time for Obama to resign.
Too ignorant? Who is destroying our country?
September 17, 2009 - 15:53 ET by jefflebowskiAre middle class taxpayers borrowing $.46 out of each $1 spent this year in your bloated budget? Are we weakening our military and destroying our credibility with enemies and allies alike? Are we apologizing for the greatness and kindness of the United States? It is YOUR kind who has put our country on the skids! Your time is up!
Angry White Dude
www.angrywhitedude.c...
It's the stupid ...
September 17, 2009 - 15:58 ET by 10ksnookerTypcial liberal, you are too stupid to know what is good for you.
Isn't that what the commies always say?
Well thank you Timothy!!
September 17, 2009 - 16:02 ET by MightyMouthWhat would we ever do without people like you to tell us what is in our own best interests?
Can I take a crap now? Don't worry, it's a low flush toilet but of course I have to flush it TWICE to get it to work half as good as my old one!
God, will someone please pass the whiskey!
"The bureaucracy is growing to meet the needs of the growing bureaucracy"
What a moron this guy is.
September 17, 2009 - 16:15 ET by JimcinscHis intellect, or lack thereof shows exactly why the average American has no reason to read the NYT, much less pay for a subsciption.
Just what the world needs: another pompous elitist ass telling us we're too stupid to know what we want or need.
"Scratch a liberal and you
September 17, 2009 - 16:26 ET by G. May"Scratch a liberal and you find a closet aristocrat." - Frank Herbert (I think)
I daresay you wouldn't even have to scratch Egan.
Little Timmy Egan, Never got
September 17, 2009 - 16:30 ET by celatorLittle Timmy Egan,
Never got it. Never will.
Eats his porridge in a pot.
Always tries to eat a lot
Puts his shoes on, left and right,
Mommy taught him, that's the way.
Always checks the L and R
She drew to help him get it right, by gar.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Isn't it ironic that once
September 17, 2009 - 17:53 ET by Kat Outta the BagIsn't it ironic that once upon a time, the Democratic party prided itself on being the party of the working man? My, how things have changed...
anorm
September 17, 2009 - 20:42 ET by anormMr. Egan, I am as focused as a laser beam. Make no mistake about it. I am not easily led or distracted by any one else's opinion so I read Huff Po, WaPo, Politico, Fox and MSNBC. I watch Jon Stewart and SNL, Hannity and Mark Steyn. Make no mistake that I (and most others that I know) are well in the loop of information from many sources both liberal and conservative and I VOTE.
Mr. Egan, you are out of touch with real people who lead real lives thinking we are some big ignorant unwashed bunch of rednecks who get all our information from TV. If we relied on that we would be just like you.
Well said
September 18, 2009 - 07:11 ET by topdog729He tends to think we all had the kool-aid
Not knowing that free thinkers just weren't thirsty the day it was handed out!
when I read people like
September 17, 2009 - 21:50 ET by jkwtradingwhen I read people like this guy, I always wonder, do they realize sometime sonmeone just might not to discuss any further and use physical force to convery their intentions.
They insult people under a false assumption, that everyone will just use words to fight back.
Sneering elites
September 18, 2009 - 06:03 ET by neripowellIn terms of contempt for the working and middle classes, the media have nothing on the academy! As academic, a former Marxist-feminist, I can tell you that there is no institution in this country that sneers more contemptuously at middle America than the intelligestia.
When I look at B.O.'s administration and the leadership in Congress, I see that we being ruled by a cadre of pampered Ivy League elites who have notion of what it means to work for a living. Quite simply: they know better than we do what is best for us. And they are willing to do what they think is best even if we object.
Very dangerous for democracy.
Fr. Philip, OP
http://www.hancaquam...
Don't change
September 18, 2009 - 06:44 ET by nadadhimmiHey Egan, when my enemy, (you) is running at full speed towards the cliff, the last thing I want him to do is apply his brakes. The fringe media is doing a perfect "Thelma and Louise".
This clown is laughable at best
September 18, 2009 - 06:55 ET by topdog729I would rebuke this
Too Easily 'Distracted' To Know Own Best Interests
With the words of T.Jefferson
No sir we just realize that "All tyranny needs to gain a foot hold is for men of good conscience to remain silent"
Try to easily distract that A#%#*(^
I think....
September 18, 2009 - 07:04 ET by topdog729He meant the democratic middle class!
Seriously watch this vid
He had to be talking about the side he is defending
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eaI5OIcjw8
September 18, 2009 - 14:21 ET by jessieHMore yak yak from the rag-mag. Now I know why my grandfather kept the NYT in his outhouse.
Leftist turd-head
September 18, 2009 - 22:06 ET by DoktorFrankenAs usual, the Leftist turd-head gets it all backwards and inside-out. Projection comes so easily since they immerse themselves in it since they were coddled in their early school years and the constant drumbeat of the news media and entertainment media make it a pattern within their psyche that stays with them though their drug-addled and alcohol soaked youth. Their songs talk about the situation they themselves are creating and then they concoct the ever present straw man that their ''higher education'' instructs them to make. And then they attack.
So predictable and transparent. It's too bad us ignorant, blue-collar folks are too ignorant and easily distracted to detect such slyly crafted attacks.