Since I never use the Book of Face, I have to keep being reminded who the hell Mark Zuckerberg is. Maybe somebody can clue me in to why anyone would want him to be president.
But he’s making noises like he wants to be president. Fortunately, he seems to have read Hillary Clinton’s book on how to go about doing that.
[A] listening tour is a proven model for success if that’s what he’s up to. Keep in mind that Hillary Clinton popularized the term when she went on her own listening tour prior to her first run for public office and it eventually led to her being elected President of … well, never mind.
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There’s an old tale in politics about politicians who can’t tell you how much a gallon of milk costs. (The West Wing eventually did an episode based on that story.) This encounter at the truck stop may replace that incident. If you want to be viewed as a man of the people and prove that you’re in touch with their issues and ambitions, it’s probably best not to walk into a vignette of rural America and act like you’ve just entered a petting zoo on an alien planet.
You don’t have to be a hyper-privileged gazillionaire for this to be a problem, but I’m sure it helps a lot. When you hang exclusively with people who can’t wait to agree with every precious noise coming out of your holy mouth, you must surely start thinking that the way you do things is the way everybody wants things done. In Zuckerberg’s case, that would translate to a natural belief that everyone in the country is panting for the privilege and pleasure of cleaning his ass with their tongue.
I’m sure he brought lots of security along with the cameras, so he seems to have escaped alive and – given his demonstrated talent for cluelessness, probably unscathed as well.
I wish he and Chelsea and all their rarefied friends would just go out for a nice dinner and leave us flyover trash the hell alone.
A dinner sounds like a great idea! They could try the up-and-coming, cutting-edge new cool Hollywood dinner: catch-and-dress-it-yourself puffer fish!
I see another parallel to Hillary here. Clinton went to coal mine country, and talked to those unemployed miners about things like job training. Because after all, it’s largely the economics of cheap natural gas (fracking) that have put those miners out of work, and there is virtually nothing the beltway can do to change that.
In contrast, Trump blew smoke up those guy’s asses, promising to wave some magic wand to make their jobs reappear. Trump overwhelmingly won those votes.
So what did Zuck do. He talked to the drivers about how folks like him are going to take away their jobs! Obviously he should have lied, or at least changed the subject. Zuck needs to learn the art of the pivot.
If he really wants to understand the “little people” he should spend a month riding in those trucks, but that would be harder on the drivers than on him, He should spend the entire harvest season working for a grain farmer trying to beat the weather while keeping his machinery running, and worrying if the grain price will be enough to cover his operating expenses and his huge note at the bank. He should try working as a design engineer in any industry where the sales/marketing and bean-counter departments prepare the reality-limited design specs and also the inadequate budget for the project. He should try flipping burgers for a month or so, or being on the answering end of a computer-related customer service ‘phone bank. And he should have to live on the salaries those positions offer, and provide his own health care.
I’m guessing he’d just go back to his millions and STFU . . . I hope.
Of course you’re right, Ben. That’s why no mines are opening now that President Trump is in office.
Or not…