Thursday, October 28, 2010

Contempt for the Customer - Political Version

  1. Call them "sheeple," "the masses," and "the great unwashed."
  2. Think of them as a primitive tribe that lives in trailer courts and worships NASCAR.
  3. Deride their religious beliefs.
  4. Discount their political choices as simply being the result of manipulation by slick and/or evil forces.
  5. Believe that they harbor deep feelings of racism and xenophobia that must be frequently discouraged by their betters.
  6. Smirk at their affection for the flag.
  7. Claim to honor the military, but express shock or concern if a close relative or friend enlists.
  8. Love the courts and mock the legislatures.
  9. Regret that they lack the capacity to understand the complexities of your position.
  10. Describe their dissent as a "temper tantrum."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael, you've said before that your blog has a distinctly conservative bent when it comes to things on the political side. Wouldn't it have been more honest to title this post "Contempt for the Customer: Democratic Party Version"?

I could come up with a similar list for how the GOP shows contempt for the customer, but you've conveniently left all of those out.

James

Michael Wade said...

James,

I'd like to see your list. Although the attitudes listed may be found more on the Left right now (and I distinguish the Left from liberal and believe that the traditional liberals would not buy into any of these lines), a number of them can be found on the fringes of either party. I cringe when I hear people of any slant refer to "the sheeple."

Michael

Anonymous said...

Contempt for the Customer: Political Version

1. Run your campaign against shadowy "elites" and tout the virtue of the common man, all the while being as elite as they come and planning to spend all your post-election time with other elites of your political persuasion.

2. Appeal to people's worst instincts in the name of celebrating trailer courts and NASCAR.

3. Deride their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) if they happen to be different from the majority - in fact, paint them as the biggest threat to America.

4. Discount their political choices as simply being the result of manipulation by snobs.

5. Appeal to latent feelings of racism and xenophobia and encourage people to revel in them.

6. Wrap yourself in the flag. Pretend to try to alter the Constitution to protect the flag in order to score points.

7. Claim to honor the military, but express shock or concern if a close relative or friend enlists.

8. Love both the courts and the legislatures as long as they are going your way. The legislatures are gods for outlawing gay marriage, but they err when they legalize marijuana.

9. Celebrate that they lack the drive to understand that your position is nonsense that you plan to do nothing about once elected. (You'll fix the budget by rooting out "waste, fraud and abuse," sure you will).

10. Describe their dissent as rooted in hatred of American and family values, while you step out with your mistress or your homosexual lover.


Special Louisiana Senate voter "contempt for yourself and your beliefs: political version": easily re-elect someone you voted for because of his family values after he does this.

11. Force your wife to stand beside you with a frozen smile while you apologize for your adultery.

12. Campaign as an outsider while receiving millions from insiders and PACs run by former insiders.

13. Campaign in favor of term limits and then decide that you are the exception to the rule.

14. Campaign to "throw the bums out" until you become one of the bums yourself. Then campaign on your experience.

15. Spend more time with lobbyists than your consituents.


As with your list, a few can be applied to people of all political persuasions, but this list is more reflective of Left statements as yours is of Right statements.

James

Michael Wade said...

James,

Thanks for your additions!

Michael