Thursday, July 31, 2008

Hee-hee; I'm an "Elitist Prick"!


There's a very lame hoo-haw on Slog concerning John McCain's $500 shoes. Eli Sanders originally posted a quote from Christopher Hayes, where Hayes wonders why some Democrat blogger doesn't make a stink about the high price of said shoes and implying that if the shoe were on the other foot, (meaning if Obama was displaying inappropriate signs of wealth and priviledge), the Republicans would be all over it.

Here's the link to the original Slog post: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/shoes

I responded with this comment:

Lame. The reason that this isn't a story, is that $500 for a pair of shoes isn't that big of a deal for most Americans. Lots of blue collar types have athletic shoes that cost over a $100 and many people own boots up in that range.

Hitchens is an ass.

Posted by michael strangeways | July 30, 2008 2:50 PM


Quite a few other people agreed with me, that this was NOT a big deal, but a few were outraged:

I am distressed that anyone would spend $500 for a pair of shoes. SHOES?! What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Posted by Greg | July 30, 2008 3:45 PM


"$500 for a pair of shoes isn't that big of a deal for most Americans"

Did you mean to say "most gay Americans?"

Posted by rjh | July 30, 2008 4:24 PM


I can't believe the number of people here who think $500 "isn't much" for shoes? Where do you people work? And can I have some of your extra scratch?

Posted by Andrew | July 30, 2008 5:38 PM


This next one, is either posted by my arch-nemesis, or someone being funny:

@8 Hey Mr. Michael Strangeways.... you're an out of touch jackass. Most Americans these days can barely afford their basic bills, let alone buy $500 shoes. Do you understand what this economy is doing to middle and lower class people?

Apparently not, if you think blowing $500 on a pair of fucking shoes is 'no big deal for most Americans'.

Fuck you and yer Bruno Malis or whatever the fuck they are, you elitist prick. Shove 'em up yer kiester. How out of touch with the real world are you?

You're an ass.

Posted by michael strangeways is an elitist prick | July 30, 2008 11:24 PM


Obviously, I HAD to respond to that vicious attack:

uh, I make $15 an hour and my primary pair of shoes are Chuck Taylor knock-offs from Payless that have holes in the soles. The most expensive shoes I own are $200 Kenneth Cole boots I bought 15 years ago in NYC. The very attractive shirt I'm wearing today, I took from my apartment building's laundry room after it had been abandoned for three months. I don't own a car and have considerable debt.

Sounds pretty elitist to me.

Some of you have an odd view of America as a nation of people living on the edge of poverty. We're very much a middle class country. As of 2004, the median household income was $43,389. The vast majority of Americans are probably unlikely to pay $500 for a pair of shoes, but a majority of Americans COULD afford to BUY a pair of $500 shoes, once a year, if they so desired.

$500 dress shoes worn by a millionaire are not that shocking or insulting. I think you'd have to hit the $1k mark and have them made out of stem cells before you'd get much public outcry over a pair of goddamned shoes.

Posted by michael strangeways | July 31, 2008 9:49 AM


oh, and dude, it's Bruno MAGLI.

UPDATE: I misread the original post and thought that it was a quote from Christopher HITCHENS and not Christopher HAYES, from The Nation. I apologize to Mr Hitchens and stand corrected.

2 comments:

SANDMAN760 said...

Don't toy with me, you bitch! Tell me where you got that goddam sofa! Tell me now!

Michael Strangeways said...

a fat bald man gave it to me...

was it YOU?