GEYER: Elitism a dirty word?

And that’s why generals think they can write books when they retire. We won’t recognize that different people have different talents, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and that we gain by identifying with their strengths, as they gain by immersing themselves in ours. That’s not elitism; that’s common sense.

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney did not appear in person at the Republican Convention in deference to the recent threat to New Orleans. They couldn’t care a twinkle the first time around. If that’s phony populism, and it is, give me elitists any time.

Georgie Anne Geyer is a nationally syndicated columnist.