When did people start hating LATTE so much?

[Mooney]

One thing that I keep noticing is that Obama supporters are often characterized by their detractors as "latte drinkers." I don't drink the stuff myself, but can someone tell me what it is about latte that engenders such hostility?

[Recursion]

1. Roughly 1994

Starbucks represents "new economy" disruptions.

[jlake]

2. They are a sign of those with more money than sense.

Folks who look down upon hard working union members and the like.

[Mooney]

5. So you can tell someone's intellectual capacity and financial worth

by the type of coffee they drink?

[jlake]

6. No, it's just an expression. kinda like "limousine liberal" etc.

[Mooney]

10. So you mean it's an intentionally reductive soundbyte

designed to characterize a political opponent in cartoonish, one-dimensional terms?

[jlake]

17. Of course.

[Mooney]

19. I appreciate your honesty. n/t

[Zhade]

43. ...which ALSO came from rightwingers.

NT!

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Yes, we Latte drinkers look down upon you peasants

[jlake]

11. Yep. My local Starbucks even demands it's patrons wear shirt and shoes.

My son said "Starbucks is a gosh darn fancy store. You gotta wear a shirt and shoes to go in there".
I was heartbroken at how the elite snobs cater only to those wealthy folks who can afford such luxuries.

[cliffordu]

23. BZZZZT Wrong Number

I worked my ass off for my entire life, drank lattes for a while in the early '70s and then switched to espresso shots, 4 at a time, in a cup. Black.

Yummy.

My grandfather, father and I were all Union workers.

I never looked down my nose at anyone, except idiots who attempt to slime me and my kind with crap like your post.

[jlake]

27. You sure lived high on the hog. Some of us can barely feed our families

let alone spend $10 a day at SBUX or the like.

[cliffordu]

32. Don't assume....

you know anything about me, scooter. Your generalizations are as infantile as your attitude.

Good luck with your candidate, though.

[lvx35]

3. Its a cartoonish personification of luxury.

AS if anybody can't afford the $1.50 for a latte. Real mean drink black drip I guess.

[Recursion]

12. My (very Republican) grandfather thinks they're "perfumed"

Which I take to mean "flavored", which he doesn't like.

I don't like flavored coffees either.

[Birthmark]

13. No, not everyone can afford that $1.50

And good hard-working people at that.

[lvx35]

26. Ah, who can't afford a few bucks.

I'm pretty poor and that occasional mocha is a pleasure I choose. Not choosing it is one thing, but I don't think its a real sign of luxury.

[Birthmark]

36. Who? Do you want their names or something?

Believe it or not, there are people that can't afford to spend a $1.50 if it's not a necessity. Really, there are. You won't see them in the suburbs or malls often. They get special escorts out if they show up in places like that.

[lvx35]

40. Are you talking about disabled people?

Is that who the Republicans are referring to when they speak of "latte liberals", people who don't require a caregiver?

I just don't think lattes are a big sign of luxury, I've gotta say. :)

[jlake]

16. Starbucks charges nearly $5.00 for a latte..... so yeah, alot of people can't afford that.

[lvx35]

21. Where does a latte cost $5?

I guess it can be over $3 at Starbucks, but not $5.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14944249/

[jlake]

24. That is for a small. a grande, or medium costs $4.64.....

[lvx35]

28. Looks like you know this latte business pretty well, jlake.

You aren't one of them latte sipping liberals, are ya? ;)

[jlake]

30. I've been known to drink at Starbucks a time or two.

But I certainly couldn't afford to make it a daily habit.

[lvx35]

31. How about smoking?

That costs 2-3 times as much, but its not a sign of luxury.

[jlake]

34. Ha! to me it is. I have never smoked and I think it is an exceptionally expensive

luxury.

[lvx35]

38. hehe. Okay.

An you're right on that one. peace. :)

[amitten]

4. Plenty of Republicans drink lattes. If you live in an urban area,

it's likely that lattes are at least occasionally a part of your life...

It's just coffee with milk, for God's sake.

[DesertFlower]

7. i've never had a latte and i think

starbucks coffee tastes burned. i brew my own at home "chock full o nuts".

[Mooney]

14. Starbuck's coffee is fucking swill

I wouldn't drink that shit at gunpoint. Cafe Bustelo is where it's at.

[bluestateguy]

8. Oh, when Tish and I go to the country club for brunch on Sunday we always start out with a latte

Unless we are in a rush to get Dylan to his lacrosse game and Kaitlin to her tennis lesson.

:sarcasm:

[Mooney]

18. Polo is simply de riguer at my house

when it's not yachting season.

[davidinalameda]

37. and Buffy to her polo match?

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

15. Guilty! My circulatory system is comprised of 27% latte.

[TK421]

20. Let me tell you about Latte, my friend....it's NOT that expensive

in fact, I can get a nice cup of it ( 20 oz ) RIGHT across the street from my job, and it only costs me two-fifty! Not much difference from a 20 oz. cup of coffee ( maybe fifty cents ) but it's basically three shots of espresso with steamed milk...granted, that's extra work for these people over here, but we at the theatre treat them well.

So when someone shoves a latte up your nose tell them....SO WHATT-A?

[better tomorrow]

22. didn't Starbucks just have a 99 cent night?

[Moochy]

25. I had a Latte in a hot tub in Marin once.

It was good.

[Catherina]

29. When Barack moved into the neigborhood

He's not even threatening imperialism or White privilege but just moving into the neighborhood is enough to send every single racist shrieking down the street quicker than they can grab their hood.

[better tomorrow]

33. it is too bad because....

as I am working on a music video of his life, I find that there is the one-half white part of his family that no one EVER really mentions a lot. And, about his name....did you know that in fifth grade he was known as "Barry"?

[Catherina]

39. I knew about his name and know of his heritage but

damn! I can't wait to see your music video. Promise you'll PM me when it's done?

For the rest, in a disgusting display of racism, I've seen how avowed racists like David Duke can live with him because he's "half-white" bit dixiecrats are too horrified about the drops of coffee in 'their' milk.

America's been turned upside down. It's high time and thank you Barack and non-racist people. Thank you for your video :hi:

[boppers]

44. Moneygall, Ireland.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8659983019794541277

One of his great, great, great, great, grandfathers, Fulmuth Kearney, was a shoemaker who came over to america in the 1850's.

[Cha]

45. So what? BFD...

Feel better?

[democrattotheend]

35. You know what's funny?

I am an Obama supporter and I definitely fit the description of a "latte liberal", but I don't think I've ever had a latte. I don't even know exactly what it is. I do drink Starbucks sometimes, but most of the time it's not worth the money.

I fit very well into many of the stereotypes of an Obama supporter, but I also make a point of not looking down on people or judging the decisions other voters make. I think we as Democrats fall into the trap of judging and looking down on those with less education, and that's one of the reasons we haven't been successful in the last two presidential elections.

[boppers]

41. Latte Liberal, Limousine Liberal... see a pattern?

Aside from alliteration, the arching assumption is that those who bear such a burdensome characterization callously condescend down due to egotistic, not egalitarian, feelings.

I apologize for the above sentence.

Here's a simpler mental connection: "Let them eat cake!".

"Latte" is used as a rhetorical device to posit a massive disconnect between wealthy leaders and the common people, as is "Limousine". Plus, both terms are "yurapean", further extending a sense of disconnection.

[Zhade]

42. When they started borrowing rightwing talking points.

NT!