Lots of people are having a field day with the fact that the old grey lady has already endorsed Hillary Clinton, and John McCain - FAR in advance of even Super Tuesday or the election which is in, ahem - NOVEMBER.

To some, this may seem like a surprising set of choices. But there is one thing that the establishment - of which the New York Times is a part - fears more than anything, and that is someone who isn’t part of the establishment getting control of the levers of power. Both Clinton and McCain are establishment choices, and in the end don’t differ markedly from one another. In January 2009, I can promise you this: whomever is sitting in the White House, you’ll still be getting up and going to work, paying your mortgage, and watching Keith Olberman remind us that it’s now the 10,543rd day since GWB declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq.

This isn’t cynicism on my part; it’s theory. I don’t subscribe to the whole “Republicrat” thing - or the RINO - Republican in name only thing, or care about the blurring of the lines between the parties. None of that is relevant. The thing to be aware of here is Elite Theory. As good ‘ol Wikipedia explains:

Elite theory is a theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in modern society. It argues that a small minority, comprised of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, hold the most power no matter what happens in elections in a country. Through positions in corporations or on corporate boards, and influence over the policy-planning networks through financial support of foundations or positions with think tanks or policy-discussion groups, members of the “elite” are able to have significant power over policy decisions of corporations and governments.

Ok. Now I’m not talking about some crazy Illuminati thing, or some CFR conspiracy (or Mike Myers “pentaverate” - the Queen, the Vatican, the Getty’s, The Rothschilds, and Colonel Sanders). Elite theory has its roots in the thinking of Vilfredo Pareto, but matured with C. Wright Mills’ famous book, The Power Elite, published in 1956.

Back to the story. In John McCain III, we have a Naval Academy graduate, a U.S. Senator who has served since Barry Goldwater retired. McCain is also the son and grandson of not one but TWO four star admirals, John McCain Sr., and John McCain Jr. The McCains have been part of the Military Industrial Complex since before Eisenhower warned us of its existence. It was such big news in fact, when McCain was shot down over Hanoi, that it made the front page of the New York Times. John McCain is a distinguished, and honorable man. He is though, inarguably, one of the elites.

And so is Hillary Clinton. Clinton graduated from Wellesley, and Yale Law School. She was named one of the most influential lawyers in America in the 1980s, and sat on the board of Wal-Mart. She is also a sitting U.S. Senator from one of the most powerful states in the nation, and married to the 42nd President of the United States. Hillary is not like the rest of us.

In McCain, and Clinton, you have two peas of the same pod; only outward appearance and party labels differentiate these two. The Times, in its quest to maintain the status quo, will remind us they are supporting a woman, and a maverick, respectively. But what they won’t tell you is that in their frank opinion, the running of America is just too important to be left to anyone but one of the elites.