Privilege and Power

Having them doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're talking about:

The punditocracy, as exemplified by David Brooks. From Crooks and Liars:

DAVID BROOKS, “NEW YORK TIMES: Obama‘s problem is he doesn‘t seem like a guy who can go into an Applebee‘s salad bar and people think he fits in naturally there. He has to change to be more like that Applebee‘s guy and as he‘s done that he‘s become much more transactional. Much more, I‘m going to deliver this and this and this to you on policy.

John Amato did some fact-checking:

I called an Applebee’s also and they told me that none of their restaurants have a salad bar. David, sometimes the jokes write themselves.

These are the people who are telling Barack Obama how to connect with the Real Americans.