Pandagon

Completely separate of any real, useful, or insightful commentary I could offer here: wow, the word "tendentious" is getting overused lately. I completely blame Big Media Matt.

Wow. That's right on par with today's Jodi Wilgoren "John Kerry Eats Expensive Scallops on Vacation" feature. Did you know how much kite-surfing costs? I do now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/politics/campaign/21kerry.html

This isn't news. It's an RNC press release.

With regard to that Bush quote, what the hell? Do most Americans sit around on their multi-million dollar ranches clearing brush?

actually spent the weekend in martha's vineyard this weekend for an engagement party. It's surprisingly folksy there. A lot of small victorian homes with lots of bike paths. I was kind of disspointing as I wanted to see a bunch of blue bloods yachting in their deck shoes trying to close down the local orphanage. And wouldn't martha's vineyard be pretty comparable to kennybunkport or has logic rendered me retarded?

I find it somewhat suspicious that both Pickler and Wilgoren choose to highlight the $8 cost of those bike tubes.

This reeks transcribing of opposition research.

Bush's "clearing brush" for fun reminds me of Marie Antoinette. She had her little village where she and her Ladies could go "play peasant".

Pickler misses the fact that most Americans don't own their own ranches, and can't go play "Ranch Hand" for vacation.

A little over 200 years ago, we through one King George out of the country, lets do it again.

Exactly. Bush comes from a family just as wealthy and privileged as Kerry, so why does Kerry have to be the "elitist snob"? Because he doesn't act like a fucking moron? Personally, I think that's the root of Bush's "everyman" appeal. There are a frightening number of idiots out there, and they think Bush is one of them.
Also, slapshot57 is correct about Martha's Vineyard. It's more of a tourist trap than a playground of the rich and famous. It's just a pretty little island, and the celebrities that have frequented it (James Taylor, Carly Simon, Jackie O.) are taken in stride by the locals. Bush's sneering comment just gave me reason #40,670,982 to hate him.

The Vineyard is totally working class compared to Nantucket.
I wish I were an everyman, then I could spend 30% of the year on vacation at a 1500 acre ranch. I guess people who only get two weeks of vacation are liberal elites.
Is $8 expensive for a bike tube? That strikes me as completely normal- I just spent $9 on a tennis racquet grip.

"There are a frightening number of idiots out there, and they think Bush is one of them."

To be fair, they might be right.

SP--

That really doesn't seem like much. Which is why I'm suspicious of it. I get the feeling the RNC gave reporters a list of everything Kerry spent over the weekend and Pickler and Wilgoren just transcribed it.

Pickler (and the rest) also conveniently forget that the Sock Puppet's "ranch" was a propaganda ploy. He only bought it a couple of years before running for preznit--and I'd bet money that it'll go up on the market as soon as his political career is over--hopefully this November.

One simple question - How much are the various candidates worth. We all know that Bush, Kerry and Nader are rich, but how rich?

Also, I'd love to see Kerry float something like: "I want to see an America where you don't have to be a rich white man to be President".

Highlights the truth, and I think sums up the difference between the candidates nicely.

In other news, FDR was rich.

Way OT but needs to be said:
The whole Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy is bogus. First of all, you can't trademark a title. As far as I know, something this short isn't covered by copyright. In fact, even if it were, Moore is doing something that is well within the confines of the law: parody, satire, etc. are acceptable, even if they use the exact same lyrics, storyline, etc. If you remember "The Wind Done Gone," that book was allowed to go to print despite controversy, and this law has also been upheld in the musical scene. Yes, Ray, you wrote the book. That doesn't mean people can't build off your idea, or modify it, or parody it. Get a life.

I've vacationed in Martha's Vineyard before and I'm poor and can't afford to go to Yale/Harvard/etc., does that mean I can't be preznit?

"Also, I'd love to see Kerry float something like: "I want to see an America where you don't have to be a rich white man to be President"."

I think this would backfire so hard it would make Dean's fall seem gentle.

Ray Bradbury is actually a bit of a tool in real life. I love his writing, though.

"Most Americans don't sit in Martha's Vineyard, swilling white wine," he said at the ranch two years ago.

What exactly do they swill on Walker's Point, Kennebunkport, Maine? Pabst Blue Ribbon?

I have nothing but down time. I am looking for work. Even if I had a job and a big fake ranch I wouldn't waste my vacation time 'clearing brush'.

You know, most of us don't own ranches valued at $1.5 million+ (before subsidies for cattle) either. Most of us don't have lucrative jobs handed to us by a network of family connections. Those of us with police records don't get to have them expunged or hidden because that same network thinks they are embarassing. (That is, unless you all have something going on that I am not part of, in which case I will go sulk in my corner.)

Most of us have to figure out how to pay for the things we need and a whole bunch of us don't have the luxury of confusing 'want' with 'need'. I spend the weekend clearing weeds from my garden. I fail to see where that makes me more presidential than a guy hanging with his family at the beach.

When it comes down to it, what is the big friggin problem with having money? Some people have it. I don't. So what? GOOD for them as has it (as long as they didn't take it from me or mine). Most of us would like very much to have one or more of those grossly expensive houses. Someone worked pretty hard to get those places and others reaped the benefits; it's the American dream at its largest. Bush wasn't cast adrift to do his own thing without support from those who made the money and connections before him, so why should anyone beat up on Kerry for using his support network? It baffles the mind.

The measure isn't in what you have, it's in what you choose to do because you have the freedom to do what you choose. Comparison shopping, I like what Kerry chose to do way more than I like what Bush chose to do, so I'm going with Kerry. Isn't that the way this consumer society is supposed to work?

Ah, but most Americans don't have a 10-acre manmade pond stocked with 5,000 bass, either.

Seems to me the ranch has far too many amenities for the price tag. Maybe someone should look into that.