Marty Peretz, Class Warrior

Martin Peretz drops trou and squeaks out a few bars of Fanfare for the Common Man:

I have a question I've been reluctant to ask. Do the Clintons have any friends who aren't really rich? Maybe just a few, for old time's sake. But, as I read the clips about them, they consort largely, and maybe only, with zillionaires and very high-pay Hollywood types. It is not an axiomatic vocational hazard of politicians. Let me take Gore as an instance. He and Tipper have musician friends and professor friends and artist friends and just plain worker friends and farmer friends, for sure. Not that they don't mix with computer magnates, as well. But the Gores are rooted in ordinary life--in real, even quotidian activity. For example, he actually writes his own books. Believe it or not, it's true. The indulgent wealth that surrounds Bill and Hillary is, I am sure, corrupting. And that corruption--of taste, of moderation, of what is essential--cripples the soul and distorts life itself.

Yes, only the "really" rich and "very" highly-paid and the "indulgently" wealthly are soul-crippling life distorters, whereas the moderately highly-paid and the deserving wealthy are God's blessing upon us all. The cut-off line? One penny above the current Singer family fortune.

P.S. to Marty - You don't actually write your own books either.