And here I thought liberals were the ones who love to glorify those "hard-working average Americans." The mythic salt of the earth who sit around the supper table discussing the need for universal health care, or whatever, before getting up in the morning, grabbing their lunch buckets and heading off to work hard and play by the rules.

Isn't it supposed to be those mean-spirited conservatives who denigrate those same folks as irresponsible?

And yet . . .

Proving that there's no elitism like liberal elitism, the Boston Globe emits an astonishing editorial this morning, analogizing those with less-than-ideal credit to a bunch of drunks who can't resist the handout of a bottle.

The gist of "Subprime business ethics" is that credit card companies have been lending too much money to the same kind of folks who took out subprime mortgages. According to the Globe, the lenders aren't terribly concerned about getting repaid promptly, content to rack up lots of interest payments and late fees.

That's when the editors go into patronizing patrician mode. Writes the Globe, with an elitism that might have made an old Boston Brahmin blush:

Easy credit at high interest rates might help these consumers buy what they need right now, but will deepen their financial troubles almost immediately.

Meanwhile, other consumers have no obvious excuse for spending well beyond their means. Sending unsolicited credit card offers to them is like handing out bottles of vodka to people checking out of rehab.

Whoah! Imagine the liberal outrage if a conservative had described these folks trying to make ends meet as nothing better than a bunch of drunks looking for a handout.

Of course, if lenders tightened their policies, it wouldn't be long before the Globe started agonizing over "redlining" and "discriminatory lending practices that prevent lower-income Americans from achieving their share of the American dream," etc.

MSM Rules:

1. It's always Big Business's fault.
2. In a conservative, it's condescension. In a liberal, it's compassion.

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.