October 20, 2010
Milbank: A Pissant Goes A-Sniping
Dana Milbank once used to be entertaining, back when... well, I'm sure he was, or he wouldn't have a job.
Unfortunately, whatever he was, what his is now is a shrill, whiny little man who reveals far more about his own prejudices than he hurts those he sallies forth against.
Take for example, the evil rich folks running against Dana's beloved progressive Democrats in this election.
Consider the candidates on the ballot next month who are getting Tea Party support. In the Connecticut Senate race, there's Linda McMahon, who with her husband has a billion-dollar pro-wrestling empire. The challenger to Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, is a millionaire manufacturing executive. The former head of Gateway computers, Rick Snyder, is spending generously from his fortune to win the Michigan governor's race.In New York, the Republican gubernatorial candidate is developer Carl Paladino, with a net worth put at $150 million. And Rick Scott, running for governor in Florida, has a net worth of $219 million from his career as a health-care executive. Then there's California, where the Republican Senate nominee is former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina and the gubernatorial candidate is former e-Bay boss Meg Whitman.
The McMahons turned a regional wrestling sideshow into a billion-dollar business empire. Ron Johnson, likewise, is a self-made entrepreneur in the plastics industry. Rick Snyder worked his way through the ranks of Coopers & Lybrand before joining Gateway computer. Rick Scott's dad was a truck driver and his mother worked as a clerk at J.C. Penney, and he worked his way to the top.
In each and every instance, the men and women Milbank reviles for the crime of being rich are self-starting, hard working individuals that created the wealth they now command. They are living examples of the American dream we were once taught to admire.
Not only did these individuals make themselves very wealthy, they created dozens or hundreds of jobs each, supporting thousands of family members. Like all successful entrepreneurs, they created wealth not just for themselves, but for everyone around them.
This, apparently, amounts to capital crime for someone like Milbank, a small man who can only generate scorn, not jobs.
Contrast with prominent Democrats like John Kerry, who married wealth, or the Kennedys, who inherited it.
Posted by: Robert at October 20, 2010 03:52 PMAnd contrast with prominent Repubs - Romney (inherited), Bush (inherited), Palladino (government) and O'Donnell (never had any).
Posted by: Tc at October 20, 2010 06:21 PMYo, Tc! Just remember it was Obama's Inaguration that drew the record number of private jets into DC airports!
You don't suppose they were all Repubs celebrating the Won's win?
Posted by: Earl T at October 20, 2010 08:56 PMThen there's California, where the Republican Senate nominee is former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina and the gubernatorial candidate is former e-Bay boss Meg Whitman.
Neither of whom started those businesses. They were instrumental in offshoring jobs from those businesses however, & Fiorina has been rated as one of the worst CEOs in recent history.
And a health-care executive? Really? "Trafficker in human misery" would be a better phrase.
But your "beloved" crony capitalists & parasites can do no wrong, right?
Posted by: M. Bouffant at October 20, 2010 09:44 PMEarl, how do you know the people with private planes weren't self-made? And we were talking about people in politics, not just money.
Besides, I thought Obama was supposed to be a socialist who was out to get the rich. So why would so many rich folks turn out to celebrate his inaugaration?
Posted by: Tc at October 20, 2010 10:56 PM"Trafficker in human misery"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA How dare people charge money for services. They should do it for free.
"Parasites"
People who create wealth are parasites, those who live off the wealth of others are noble. Got it. Makes perfect sense.
"Crony Capitalists"
Bailing out GM to save union jobs is just good policy, no cronyism there. No sir.
Liberalism: Weapons Grade Stupid.
Posted by: Britt at October 21, 2010 01:11 AMwow thanks for the laugh. boofant.
what is it about libs that everything they scream about is projection.
just as Britt said the real "cronies" are in the dem party where they sucked like "leaches" on things like fanny may and freddie mac. ei bawny fwank
how pathetic.
tell any one hear what bawny fwank has produced in his life besides antibiotic resistant VD
and nan pelosi with her sweetheart deals to her hubby thats not cronyism....
same with boxer...
I want a lib to name a career lib pol who has ever produced anything but layers of smothering bureaucracy
Posted by: rumcrook at October 21, 2010 03:11 AMAs is standard operating procedures for liberals, ignorance is no bar to spouting an opinion.
M. Bouffant - Meg Whitman was one of the founding partners of eBay. And Fiorina was considered (at the time) to be horrendously imbecilic for her pushing the merger with Compaq. In hindsight, she left HP far healthier than either HP or Compaq were at the time.
I'm guessing that you take the union perspective - it's better for both companies to fail and everyone lose their job than to offshore a few thousand jobs to keep tens of thousands of Americans employed.
Posted by: brian at October 21, 2010 11:35 AM
