Wretched Excess or another birthday party?

Chelsea Clinton's 17th birthday was celebrated in style by the Clintons. A flight out to New York for a couple of Broadway shows with her friends after eating dinners with Whoopi Goldberg and Edward Kennedy (did he buy a couple rounds of drinks?) was followed by a night at the Waldorf Astoria.

The Clintons modest celebration required 2 Air Force planes (plus AF 1), four helicopters and a 12 vehicle motorcade from LaGuardia to midtown Manhattan. The main expressway from LaGuardia into Manhattan was closed snarling traffic throughout the city. Imagine if Reagan or Bush had gone to these lengths for a crummy birthday party.

It is funny that while Clinton rails on about the privileged who benefited unfairly during the 1980s-- the "Decade of Greed" -- Clinton goes out and is as elitist as possible. And still, the First family claims to know the average American!

As a child of folks who benefited unfairly during the 1980s (Dad worked hard, paid high taxes to give his family security; Mom made sacrifices for her children), I remember some fun birthday parties. Still, no party extended past having a little bit of ice cream, cake, and a few friends in the backyard. I cannot recall what I did on my 17th birthday, but I do remember getting a nice shirt.

Before I sound bitterly envious - and perhaps I already have - let's get to the point. Clinton has told Americans he's in touch with us, he feels our pain, etc. Clinton is no more in tune with the average American than any previous president. He is elitist, and proves it in many ways. Want to sleep over at my house? Cost ya $100K and up. Want to be my friend at the White House? Better be a Hollywood hotshot. Too poor to go to a private school? Hahaha! If you're in Washington D.C. and have kids who are serious about a high school education, you better have the money to send your kids to a private school. Otherwise, you can send them to an inferior, crime riddled public school while Chelsea is at Sidwell Friends School, one of the top prep schools on the East Coast. But Clinton will cry for you on TV. Just don't have your kids interact with Chelsea.

Happy 17th birthday, Chelsea. Will it be Yale, Harvard or Wellesely?