In a way, I suppose I should be thanking ABC’s Cokie Roberts.  There has been a glut of quality stupid the last few days, and I haven’t really found anything irksome enough to write about recently.  Maybe Cokie noticed that as well and felt the need to fill the void of cranium-sucking inanity by lowering the level of political discourse in the mainstream media even further–a task that I didn’t think possible.  Like most of her colleagues, Cokie can’t be bothered discussing mundane things like the social, economic, and environmental policies of the candidates, focusing instead on the really pressing stuff, like whether or not Obama is an elitist.  Not to be outdone in this endeavor, Cokie actually cites Obama’s vacation to Hawaii as evidence that he is out of touch with the common folk.  Although she is careful to point out that she is aware that Hawaii is a state (good for you, Cokie!), she likens it to “some sort of foreign, exotic place” before suggesting that Obama should have chosen Myrtle Beach instead.  She was so impressed with this bit of insight that she repeated it today on NPR.

How, exactly, is Hawaii an “exotic place”?  Probably because it isn’t white enough for Cokie’s tastes.  The fact that someone can say something so trivial and so vapid as part of a political discussion on a major television network and not immediately get laughed off the set is depressing enough.  But if votes can really be swayed based on the vacation destinations that a candidate chooses, then this country is beyond fucked.  Notice also that there is no mention of the fact that John McCain takes every weekend off, presumably resting up in one of his eight homes before heading back out onto the campaign trail in the private jet provided by his mega-rich wife.  Nope, nothing elitist about that.

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