OPINION
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Conservatives Are Victims in Their Own Minds
GOP rages against elite while holding the reins of power
By Kevin Spak
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Posted Sep 15, 08 2:50 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Rush Limbaugh & Co. like to deride liberal America’s “culture of victimhood,” but these days, it’s conservatives who are acting like victims. The GOP is encouraging its supporters to feel aggrieved and besieged by snooty “elites,” writes Gregory Rodriguez in the Los Angeles Times. This despite the fact that conservatives have been in power for 8 years—surely “one way to define ‘elite,’” he notes.
Historically, American campaigns against elites have involved economic inequality and a push to redistribute wealth, Rodriguez writes. This time "the enemies list is made up of professors, public intellectuals and entertainers, not captains of industry. And without any real redress in mind, conservative populism is all about emotion, not righting any particular social or economic wrong." Look who's acting like a "whiny grievance-monger" now, he adds.