Coming across as arrogant

One of the difficulties in talking with people about health care reform is that most people don't have the time or the resources or the information to get past the slogans ("I'm worried about the deficit...." or "I'm worried about government taking over everything...") and the stories ("I know someone from Canada who says...).  

If someone who has worked with the issue for years or someone who's paid the price of learning the facts about the soaring costs of health care and its impact on our economy and much else tries to counter with evidence, he or she is considered "condescending."  

Obama is often treated as someone who wants to be the "smartest person in the room" when he tries to correct the avalanche of misinformation disseminated by Republican leaders.  He's arrogant or he's condescending.

Paul Krugman writes about this and he's right on target. 

Someone like Senator Lamar Alexander  of Tennessee who "comes across" as folksy and knowledgeable, even though he's factually way off base, wins the exchange with Obama because the president tries to set the record straight with facts and "comes across" as arrogant.

One of the complaints about my performance as mayor was not on whether we got the job done in securing $35,000,000 in loans and grants to fix an ancient and collapsing waste water system.  We did and the project went on to successful completion. The complaints ignored the evidence of success and focused on how I talked, what I said.  How I "came across."

If someone said something that simply was wrong about the financing or costs of the system, I would try to set the record straight with facts and evidence.  And because I was the one who knew the facts and others simply didn't have the time or the patience or the information to keep up, I "came across" as arrogant.

Comments

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