Chuck E. Cheese is the 'engine of the economy'?

The engine of the economy ... or maybe not. So, I'm sure you've seen the article posted by Jed about the LA Times coverage of Mitt Romney's uber rich Hamptons fundraiser. You know, the one where the lady laments the ignorance of the common folks. But what really caught my eye was this guy, Michael Zambrelli:

Among Perelman's guests at the buffet lunch, which was topped off with chocolate mint cupcakes, were the Zambrellis of New York City, independent voters who attended a fundraiser for Obama four years ago.

Sharon Zambrelli voted for Obama in 2008 but has been disappointed with his handling of the economy and leadership style. "I was very disenchanted with the political process and he gave me hope," she said, but ultimately: "He's just a politician," she said, an "emperor with no clothes."

The Zambrellis scoffed at attempts by the Democrats -- who mocked Romney in an ad Sunday as "great for oil billionaires, bad for the middle class" -- to wage class warfare.  "Would you like to hear about the fundraisers I went to for him?" Sharon Zambrelli said of Obama. "Do you have an hour? ... All the ones in the city -- it was all of Wall Street."

"It's not helping the economy to pit the people who are the engine of the economy against the people who rely on that engine," Michael Zambrelli said as the couple waited in their SUV for clearance into the Creeks shortly after the candidate's motorcade flew by and entered the pine-tree lined estate. "He's basically been biting the hand that fed him in '08. ... I would bet 25% of the people here were supporters of Obama in '08. And they're here now."

My. My. My.

Zambrelli is an ad man. He worked at Ogilvy and Mather before starting up his own ad firm. He's most known, and apparently most proud, of his work marketing Chuck E. Cheese to children:

For example, for Chuck E Cheese's our work was credited by the Wall Street Journal with "racheting up their coolness factor" - so much so they've become a veritable rite of passage for America's kids. The animated character we created has a Q rating higher than Mickey Mouse, Chester Cheetah and Tony the Tiger. And company sales have more than tripled since we began working with them. No wonder they call me the only "harvard educated pre-schooler" they know.

So this guy, who has never actually made anything, produced anything, or developed anything ... he thinks HE is the engine of the economy. Or as his wife says, socialites like her are the reason we have presidential elections in this country. It's people like them, the Zambrelli's, the people with the money and who go to the fundraisers ... they are the "engine of the economy."

What they really mean is that it most certainly isn't YOU. The people who actually make the godawful pizza at Chuck E. Cheese. Or the guy who has to suffer through the humiliation of wearing that suffocating Chuck. E. Cheese outfit. Or the people who have to clean up the mess that is made after children go wild. Or the guy who has to build the building it is housed in. Or the folks that provide the security, work the registers, or any of the millions of customers that take their children there. They aren't the engine of the economy. Fuck them.

It's Zambrelli the marketing guy for Chuck E. Cheese. And his wife who doesn't work. They're the ones who really matter.

Just thought I'd clear that up.