Elitism is no vice if talent's behind it

Writer Silvio Pontarelli in the Saturday Fence Post complained Sen. Obama was arrogant and elitist. So what?

If you needed a serious operation, would you choose a doctor trained at an elite medical school or one from some tropical island?

And if that doctor was so gifted, so well rewarded for his skills and training that his self-confidence made him arrogant, would you choose someone else who had more reason to be modest?

Talented high school players dream of going to schools with elite athletic programs.

Crucial military missions are given to elite outfits such as Navy Seals or the Marines. Their esprit de corps that we admire so much is a form of arrogance. They consider themselves second to none, the best of the best.

And that is what we need in a president in these hazardous times.

It is such a complex and difficult job, that we need someone who has received the best education, has been exposed to the brightest minds and is intelligent and self-confident.

Winston Churchill, the archetypical arrogant elitist, would be rejected by Mr. Pontarelli as lacking the common touch.

This is an election for the presidency of the United States and not to be a good old boy leader of a local elks club.

This nation is in a mess and if one of the three can get us out of it, I couldn't care less if he or she was arrogant, elitist, lived in a big mansion or never wore a flag pin.

Steve Ziering

Wheeling