This Is How Empires End

Meghan McCain.. hard at work!

OK

I am not a Republican.

And frankly, these days I am not such a Democrat either.

So this is written without political animus. Merely observational.

This morning, while I was working out on the treadmill, I saw MSNBC run a big bio piece on John Boehner, the Republican Congressman from Ohio who might become Speaker of the House if the GOP can take enough seats.

The crux of the story was how Boehner had come from working class roots – he started as a kid working in his father’s bar, sweeping the floors and cleaning up at 6am every day. He took 7 years to graduate from college because he had to work part time to pay his tuition.

Fair enough. Hard working, American values. The bedrock of our country.

These are things we all admire. Hard work gets you where you want to go and there’s no getting around it.

Ummm…..

Wait.

Because while I am on the treadmill, I am also reading The New York Times‘ profile of Meghan McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain.

Sherri Shepherd, a host of “The View” who has become friends with Ms. McCain, said, “Meghan is a role model for young girls are who are trying to figure out who they are.”

The ‘role model’ Meghan tweets and blogs…

She has written a book.

What she doesn’t seem to do is work.

She does not seem to have had a job. Ever.

This lack of work or an income does not seem to have crimped her lifestyle, however.

Meghan dressed to the hilt, in an elegant black Diane von Furstenberg dress, a capelet and Tory Burch peep-toe heels, her hair swept up in plaits.

That kind of stuff does not come cheap. (Trust me).

So Meghan McCain seems to be doing pretty well coasting along without breaking a sweat. Well, there are lots of rich kids who don’t work.

But to put her on the front page of the NY Times Style section and to call her a ‘role model’ says a great deal about what is wrong with the country and the economy. And this is not political. This is about a work ethic that has gone into the toilet.

And to what does a ne’r-do-well blogger and tweeter aspire towards? What’s the next career move?

Could a “Meghan McCain Show” be a reasonable future move? “It’s easy to imagine that she could pull it off,” Mr. Felsenthal said. Ms. Shepherd had a still stronger reaction, “I absolutely see Meghan in television. When she comes on and talks she puts the ideologies in practical terms, and she makes it so you understand.” She added, “Meghan will never have to go on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ ”

Well, that’s a relief. Because that’s where Sarah Palin’s daughter is ‘working’ these days.

Sarah Palin, who The Guardian, my favorite paper, says is gearing up for a run at the Presidency through her own reality show.

One tends to think that is Rep. Boehner had spent his youth tweeting and blogging instead of working, he might not now be in the position he is in.

And if he had told his working class dad that he aspired to have a ‘reality show’ he might have gotten a good shot to the head.

Which, perhaps, would be beneficial for a few other children of the rich and powerful.