Saginaw News columnist Greg Mancina discusses who he believes is out of touch

Follow on Twitter
on September 23, 2008 at 6:30 AM, updated September 23, 2008 at 6:34 AM

I'm not sure if I'm more flabbergasted at rap artist Sean "P Diddy" Combs or the newspaper that wrote the story, but one of those London rags reported that Combs has abandoned his private jet in exchange for first-class seats on a commercial jet liner.

Gasoline prices, it seems, are just too high for the multi-millionaire rapper, who according to the article is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
What is the world coming to anyway? No private jet?

"Tell whoever the next president is, we need to bring gas prices down.... I can't believe I'm flying commercial," Combs is reported as saying.

If you wince when you hear those words, you're not alone. At a time in America where gasoline prices are at an all-time high, pushing the prices of many other consumer goods higher with them, more families are falling under the poverty line.

These are some lean times for a great many Americans, and Combs' worries are particularly offensive to those of us who are sifting through our budgets to see where we can save money.

Combs, it seems, is incredibly out of touch.

Usually rich people, at least the smart ones, keep their money private. Why draw attention to yourself, and certainly don't go telling reporters that you simply can't tolerate the waiting period on construction of a new $50 million yacht or some such nonsense. It's unseemly.

The best time to go public is for charity. Say you are worth a billion. Set up a foundation, throw a black-tie affair, and make a $100,000 donation to some worthy cause. You'll likely end up in some society page or local newspaper, nevermind that $100,000 to a billionaire is a drop in the proverbial bucket. Yet, you're doing good with your money.

Flaunting it is disgusting. But being out of touch, at least in our society, is nearly as bad.

That's why there is so much of this type of rhetoric surrounding the presidential election. Sen. John McCain has tried to paint Sen. Barack Obama as an out-of-touch elitist who, in a scholarly way, talks down to his constituents.

Conversely, Obama is trying the same strategy, one that portrays McCain as out of touch, an aristocrat if you will. McCain's problem, though, is that it comes from his own words.

McCain recently made two statements that are difficult for him to explain: First, that being rich means making $5 million or more per year. If you don't think this is silly, then ask yourself how many middle class people you know making $4 million a year.
Next, McCain was asked how many homes he owns, and he was perplexed. Then he said he'd have to get with his staff on that one.


I'm not going to pounce too hard here, because McCain has some properties that are rentals and others that he's purchased for sons or daughters. However, he still should know how many homes he actually occupies in any given year.
Hey, the guy is rich. Most presidential candidates are, it's how you deal with it that counts.

I believe that in the last few weeks we've found something that McCain and rapper Sean Combs have in common.

I can honestly say I never thought I would ever write those words. We're seeing a lot of things for the first time in this election, aren't we?