[DieHard the Hunter]

In what way is this Janet “elite?”

The Green Berets are Elite. Delta Force is Elite. The US Navy SEALS is Elite. The US Marines are Elite. The 101 Airborne is Elite. The US Army Rangers are Elite. The Texas Rangers are Elite. The Blue Angels are Elite. The Pathfinders are Elite. The SAS is Elite. The Royal Marine Commandos are Elite. The Paras are Elite. The French Foreign Legion is Elite...

I think Xena Warrior Princess was probably the last female to be Elite... I’m not aware of anyone named Janet being anywhere near as elite as Xena.

[nathanbedford]

Rarely does an opinion writer come to the right conclusion for reasons so wide of the mark. The real lesson of Sarah Palin is a transcendent and spiritual lesson.

Elite women do not hate Sarah Palin for the reason the author advances, although she comes a bit close here:

No, it's because Palin makes us look like the slackers we mainly are. We've had our bit of success, but we've also spent a lot of time smelling the roses.

The author attributes palin success to an overweening ambition which enables her to endure the tedium necessary to attain political power. First, that misses the whole point of Sarah Palin's character. Second, that is not why elites react convulsively to her. The problem for elite women is that Sarah Palin is a living reproach to their selfishness. It is not ambition which has brought Palin public office, it was service and results. It is not rationalizations and self-seeking which caused Palin to bring a Down's syndrome baby full term. It was principle. It is not principle, but convenience, which brings elite women to the abortionist' s table.

Because the author misses the essence of Sarah Palin she unavoidablymisses the significance of her as a figure of (dare I say it) righteousness it is therefore not surprising that the author exhorts elitist women to the wrong remedy:

The lesson of Sarah Palin for privileged women is to try harder. And that may be the hardest one to hear.

The lesson of Sarah Palin is not to diet harder, jog more often, work harder, or get a new hairdo,-and certainly not to indulge raw ambition- the lesson of Sarah Palin is the liberating power and example of her faith.

[Rummyfan]

No, it's because Palin makes us look like the slackers we mainly are. We've had our bit of success, but we've also spent a lot of time smelling the roses. We've gone back to school to get another degree, volunteered in poor countries, devoted ourselves to a sport or a hobby. We've not had kids, or if we have, we've had one or two, and we've had nannies paid for by our work or our husbands or our inherited money.

For all her navel-gazing I think the author is on to something here.

[Rummyfan]

No, it's because Palin makes us look like the slackers we mainly are. We've had our bit of success, but we've also spent a lot of time smelling the roses. We've gone back to school to get another degree, volunteered in poor countries, devoted ourselves to a sport or a hobby. We've not had kids, or if we have, we've had one or two, and we've had nannies paid for by our work or our husbands or our inherited money.

For all her navel-gazing I think the author is on to something here.

[Allegra]

What exactly is an “elite woman?”

[DB]

Thank you Lord that I don’t live in their pathetic little world.

[Silly]

Can you imagine how smart, prepared and ready to rock Sarah will be after 4 years in office? This gal is gonna kick some serious butt in her life.

We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

[cherry]

look, I am an elite woman by MY standards which means not being born with a silver spoon in my mouth and I could less what these KEPT women think, feel, say, or spout....

[jazzlite]

...”The lesson of Sarah Palin for privileged women is to try harder. And that may be the hardest one to hear”...

This is true, however, I have wondered for many years why people who inherit big money are nearly all liberals when that is the sure path to eventual communism or some kind of terrible unrest in one’s nation. I have concluded that they do feel above the masses, above the law and even superior to God and they do not want to lose their power at the top of the ladder. Therefore, they do not want a system from which someone without their inheritance or monied status, can rise to challenge that position. I believe that is why they want a system of government which keeps people dependent and encourages slothfulness. Keeping people down also takes away the time required for most to truly become educated about the world because those people have to work hard every day to rear families and get by. (How many times since Sarah came on the scene have we heard that she should stay home and take care of her kids?) I think it is as simple as that. They are the true controllers of all that is government through their proxies and they mean to keep us common folk in our place. Sarah escaped enought to gain visibility and when people saw her innate, insightful, intelligence which is a gift no less than an incredible gift of music or some other kind of art, they loved her. There is a world of difference in someone gifted in music from birth who really needs no lessons and someone who has to study for years to learn just the basics of what that person does naturally. This is why they hate her. She IS superior and they fear that her “breakout” might pave the way for others outside their belief system and that horrifies them.

[marsh2]

Many New Yorkers hate George Bush, for instance, and say similar things about his and Palin's lack of intellectual capability and curiosity about the wider world.

This is called class and cultural prejudice. The culture of the American West is more casual, more innovative, more robust and more enthusiastic. People talk with a different accent. They prize individualism and decisiveness. Outside of metropolitan areas, they tend to live in societies that are more homogenous as to race and ethnic make-up, but which may have a greater diversity of individual opinion. Eastern elites like to think of this as provincial so that they can discount people who may have different beliefs than they.

The more they put down Palin for her Western ways, the more they reinforce their own superiority and place at the top in the natural order of things.

[backhoe]

She gets close, but misses the mark a little.

Sarah did it, without the trappings of NOW, self-absorption, "feminism," and abortion. And they loathe her for that.

[Daniel Ramsey]

This kinda reminds me about a scene in some movie about a New York upscale woman with an expensive fur coat telling someone “Do you KNOW how many MEN I had to screw to pay for THIS!”

[SupplySider]

The "elite" women I know despise Ms. Palin out of pure snobbery. They don't know much about political issues, they simply despise the personal style of those they define down in order to define themselves up.

In similar fashion they hate Bush for not projecting the sophistication they imagine they posesss, and which they therefore demand in someone representing them.

Ironically, these self-styled feminists are purely emotional when it comes to politics, seemingly proving every patriarchal stereotype true.

[gridlock]

We need to appeal to American’s native good sense and intelligence in order to win them over to traditional values of limited government and self-reliance. Arrayed against us are the billionaires of the left, with all the favorable media they can buy, and our so-called “educated elites”, who are more than happy to be bought.

It will be a battle for the soul of the nation. Our very existence hangs in the balance.

[Alia]

I found this to be a very thoughtful article surrounding the issue of “why you? (as in Senator Palin) as coming from the Dem femme circles, according to the authoress. While her friends were pursuing their “happy”, Senator Palin was toiling in the “fields.”

[writmeister]

It's not hard to see why. The boyfriend of one of my freshman roommates at Harvard is now governor of Massachusetts--a man no less and no more qualified than many of my classmates. Why him and not us? As with Palin, it comes down to wanting it badly enough and being singleminded. It means spending a lot of time in deadly dull meetings talking about school bond issues or where to put a new off-ramp.

Good point about why the "elites" do not raise the same questions about politicians like Deval Patrick.

[Faux_Pas]

::ping::

[MSF BU]

"cushioned by inherited money. And since she doesn't have any kids..."

That says it all.

[Tax-chick]

If Ann's "elite" friends look like her, I think it's safe to say that she's massively overintellectualizing their opposition to Sarah Palin. (And I need a haircut badly, myself ... although not *that* badly.)

People who become writers and intellectuals and artists tend not to want power that badly or pursue it that obsessively, which is what makes us interesting and fun ... Success at the Palin level in politics or business takes a level of blinkered self-confidence that comes mainly to (a very few) men. A lot of the people with this quality are annoying to be around. Maybe they aren't very happy with themselves.

Projecting much, Ann? One reason y'all can't stand Sarah Palin is that she appears very happy with herself, her husband, her children, and her career. Even with living in a place none of your friends has a weekend house. Vice President Cheney seems pretty content, too.

And I'd like to see a show of hands from anyone who finds you and your friends "interesting and fun." Anyone?

[SueRae]

Interesting article. I don’t pretend to understand the self-titled elitist women, I see pure green-eyed jealousy. Governor Palin is focused, tenacious and *gasp*, very likeable, something a great deal of those upper crusty snobs will never be. She has worked hard for everything she’s ever gotten and has been successful...and THAT is something that middle America (myself included) can relate to. The effete cannot.