Why is mockery of community organizing so inflammatory?
When Giuliani and Palin mocked community organizing, they were speaking from ignorance to ignorance. Some of their backers have taken the criticism a step further. In a Wall Street Journal editorial, James Taranto contrasts the community Obama worked in with that of “normal Americans.” He suggests that those living in subsidized appartments with broken plumbing needed to “call a plumber” to get the toilet fixed. First, as anybody who has ever lived in any kind of apartment knows, keeping the toilet and other fixtures in good repair is the landlord’s responsibility—whether the landlord is a private individual or a government entity. Secondly, if you can afford to pay the plumber, what are you doing living in subsidized housing? In part, it may be ignorance people find so offensive. But these attacks go past ignorance. It isn’t hard to figure out what a community organizer does—and most people who are discussing community organizing should have at least had the minimal diligence to read
