Earlier, I walked down Memory Lane a little: The Left was always telling conservatives that, thanks to our privileged lives, we could not see how the other half lived. We were blind to their suffering and deaf to their cries.
Of course, the same accusation is heard today. It comes from the Left — but also from the Right. And frankly, I hear it more from the Right, day in, day out.
Anyway, a further stroll down Memory Lane — to the Democratic convention of 1984. Mario Cuomo was the keynote speaker, and here is a taste of what he said: “A shining city is perhaps all the president sees from the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well.”
I remember burning when I heard Cuomo say that (and everything else). Where to begin? Maybe with this: Reagan was the son of an itinerant, alcoholic shoe salesman. When a kid, Reagan was sent to the butcher to get scraps for the cat. Only the Reagans didn’t have a cat.
Etc.
Moreover, Reagan’s policies helped the poor and struggling above all, because the well-off really didn’t need the help: Economic growth, no economic growth; jobs, no jobs — the well-off were fine. They always are.
My main point, in this lil’ post: The charge that conservatives don’t care about the down-and-out is bunk, whether it comes from the Left or the Right. Same with the you-want-war stuff. Bunk, and obnoxious.