Great way to sell the package. Tell the non-elite that there's class warfare while the elite hardly feel a thing. The tax code is and always will be filled with loopholes. That's to be expected when lobbyists write the bills that become law.

So, the elite keep pulling the strings and avoiding taxes. Note: tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is not. The difference is usually cosmetic.

The knowingly non-elite are happy 'cause it's class warfare. Rich folks obligingly complain.

That leaves the unknowingly non-elite. They think they're elite but aren't. Most of them will buy into an argument about fulfilling the social contract. They'll be rubes and braggarts at the same time.

Why is it class warfare when we redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, but textbook economics when we redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich, as we've been doing for the past thirty years?

Joan, surely you don't need me to tell you that Maureen Dowd is far closer to a gossip columnist than to a serious political commentator. She will never let Obama "be a man", because it's against her principles to actually approve of anybody.

Her stock-in-trade is finding a new catty and clever label du jour for everybody she writes about, even people she doesn't actually disapprove of. She's shallow and trivial and I wish I could just say, "Ignore her." But unfortunately she's done a great deal of harm, most notably to Al Gore and John Kerry, whose supposed stylistic flaws she harped and harped on, setting a tone that infected punditry in general.

I took the Spock comparison as a compliment.

We elected him because he seemed to be the candidate who would think and take appropriate action. We've specifically rejected those who operate from their gut. The next guy who talks about his gut gets punched in it.

I think Warren Buffet had something to say about class warfare not too long ago…

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

from ”In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning”, by Ben Stein, NYT, Nov. 26, 2006.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html

Joan, keep in mind, Spock was half human, and was struggling with his "passionate" human side, against his "logical" vulcan side. I think Barack Obama, our first nerd president, would definitely accept a comparison to Spock as a compliment. And after 8 years of a wannabe Captain Kirk running the ship, I think it's O.K. to let Mr. Spock pilot the ship.

As far as Spock's manliness, one needs only remember the episode of Deep Space Nine, where the DS9 crew was transported back into the "Trouble with Tribbles" episode:

Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax: [Sisko and Dax are getting an unexpected glimpse of Kirk and Spock] I had no idea.

Sisko: What?

Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax: He's so much more handsome in person. Those eyes!

Sisko: Kirk had quite a reputation as a ladies' man.

Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax: Not him. Spock!

Needless to say, President Spock is the man!

Joan,

I like your points. What is most bogus about this class-warfare pitch being made in the media is the bit about higher taxes on the rich hurting small businesses.

As a small business owner, I want to say loud and clear to as many as will listen: This is complete BS! I do not pay taxes on business expenses. Ever. They are all deductible (except for just half of meals). So any money I plow back into the business is never taxed! This is law.

It's only when I am able to and decide to take a cut for myself--take a profit--that I get taxed. If I take a $500,000+ per year cut for myself, darn right I should get taxed on it! If, on the other hand, I use most of that $ to grow my business, I shouldn't get taxed as much, and guess what MSM reporters! --I don't.

* * *

Re Glenn Greenwald, normally I think he's excellent, but I think he's jumping the gun on the state secrets stuff. I wrote another letter on this. Let's wait and see. Hard for me to believe Obama is doing so well on other fronts and screwing up on this as bad as Glenn thinks he is.

* * *

Re Maureen Dowd, I don't think the Spock thing will stick, for just the reasons you said. Obama is all about emotions.

Best,

Joan,

I agree with episcomom. From what I have seen of Maureen Dowd, mastery the snide putdown is her raison d'etre, whoever happens to be the target. Sarcastic name calling and these fanciful scenarios where she imagines conversations between her target and others around them is a winner for her, so I expect in all likelihood she'll stay with that. She is not overly burdened to stay with facts because that might be bad for business. She certainly parlayed mastery of the lacerating quick quip into a goldmine of columns on george bush. While I'm not a bush fan, I recognize the technique used on him.

just can't seem to get along. Especially if they share the name 'Maureen'.

But seriously, Joan, you are being unfair to MD on this occasion. Her column is unambiguously laudatory of Obama and what he's trying to do given what W. dumped on his lap.

Sure, she's trying to get an angle on him that will stick and give her a comic motif for the next four or eight years (I don't think the Spock label has legs, though) - but hey, a gal's gotta make a living.

You work your side of the street and let her work hers.

but it seemed as if Ms Dowd had a certain admiration and confidence in our new president. That is, considering she has to keep a certain bite and smirk. That's her style, her trademark, her brand. I'm a great fan of Obama so maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. Or perhaps after being in the letters section for a while, my idea of hostility has been sharpened to the point Maureen seems like a cuddly little lamb. Or perhaps I just think Ms Dowd has had enough said against her. No one likes being hated, no matter how much they might pretend they don't care.