The Wall Street Journal demonstrates how out of touch they are with reality.

[Suu]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578220132665726040.html#project=WEALTH0105&articleTabs=article

The first image, showing the disdained faces of the "middle class", such as the single mother making 260,000$ a year. Or the poor retired couple with the elegant tennis sweaters. Yes, this is their view on America.

Below, another interactive image that shows you how worthless you are if you are unemployed or a college student, and how they assume we don't pay "any" taxes.

The kicker, the comments. You can't post there unless you pay to have an account (surprised? I am not.) But the minute someone brings up the lower classes, they are immediately labeled as lazy and a socialist.

In short: The rich really have no fucking clue.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It's not that they don't have a clue, Suu.  That's the meme they're trying to spread.

Notice the subtle distinction.

[Suu]

Why fake stupidity? What benefit does it have for them? Because if they show empathy, does this mean that they will be expected to give handouts?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Why fake stupidity? What benefit does it have for them? Because if they show empathy, does this mean that they will be expected to give handouts?

Not the point.

The point is, they're portraying single mothers who make $260,000 per year, which is patently ridiculous as a stereotype, but says two things to two separate groups:

1.  To the privileged it says, "See, they're not bad off.  They're just whining.  Who can't live on a quarter million a year?"

2.  To the actual single mothers, it says "You don't measure up.  Shut your cakehole or we'll slam what little support you still have."

[Suu]

Gotcha. That makes much more sense.

...And also makes it much more depressing.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Gotcha. That makes much more sense.

...And also makes it much more depressing.

What's even more depressing is that it is effective as hell, against a certain type of person.  For other people, there are other methods.

[Suu]

Gotcha. That makes much more sense.

...And also makes it much more depressing.

What's even more depressing is that it is effective as hell, against a certain type of person.  For other people, there are other methods.

I think the majority of us who have seen this went, "They're out of their fucking minds." Whereas I can totally see a woman, struggling to feed her two kids and working 3 dead end jobs to make ends meet while hoping she can still qualify for some state aid sees, "You aren't good enough."

This graphic gives a bit more of a realistic view of the tax rates for everyone, but they sure do make those lower-income folks look scrubby, and the rich, of course, are the victims.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578220132665726040.html#project%3DCLIFFTAXES0102%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Gotcha. That makes much more sense.

...And also makes it much more depressing.

What's even more depressing is that it is effective as hell, against a certain type of person.  For other people, there are other methods.

I think the majority of us who have seen this went, "They're out of their fucking minds." Whereas I can totally see a woman, struggling to feed her two kids and working 3 dead end jobs to make ends meet while hoping she can still qualify for some state aid sees, "You aren't good enough."

This graphic gives a bit more of a realistic view of the tax rates for everyone, but they sure do make those lower-income folks look scrubby, and the rich, of course, are the victims.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578220132665726040.html#project%3DCLIFFTAXES0102%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

Like I said, this sort of shit works on an amazing amount of people.  There's a message in THAT, too, for the people it doesn't work on.  This is also by design.

That message is "You're alone in the world of the DUMB.  No sense fighting."

[Salty]

I pretty much threw the WSJ in the Useless Shill category as soon as Rupert Murdoch bought it.

I figure every single word printed on it is unrealistic, dangerous, and stupid.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I pretty much threw the WSJ in the Useless Shill category as soon as Rupert Murdoch bought it.

Yep.

I figure every single word printed on it is unrealistic, dangerous, and stupid.

And effective.

[Freeky]

I was at the DES office this morning, and overheard a gentleman say "This shouldn't happen. Not here, not in America. I went two tours through Vietnam, something about homeless people starving on the streets." I'm not sure what upsets me more, the fact that he ought to be right or how resigned most people are when they stand in line at DES.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I was at the DES office this morning, and overheard a gentleman say "This shouldn't happen. Not here, not in America. I went two tours through Vietnam, something about homeless people starving on the streets." I'm not sure what upsets me more, the fact that he ought to be right or how resigned most people are when they stand in line at DES.

Yeah, some soldiers never really understand what exactly they were accomplishing.

He's 169% correct, of course, but this isn't America, it's America™, and soldiers are fungible goods.