Sunday, April 13, 2008

Calling Bullshit on Bitter

By now you've heard:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not."

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.


And though he's responded and though this has been a theme of Barack's: the divisive anger bitterness and fear that the republicans spoon out like fake potatoes in the school lunch line; Hillary has gone to full pearl clutching mode over Barack Obama's 'elitism'.

Bullshit, Ms. Wellesley College. Can she get more republican than she has over the last few weeks? How are you going to run against John McCain by becoming John McCain? Rumors are that she's already calling Bill a 'cunt'. Okay, I made that up just to keep my cuss meter rating high. But really.

Here's your response to Obama's statement:

For the last eight years we've been given a steady diet of fear, fear, fear. And when people are afraid they grab for the things that make them feel safe. For some that is religion, for some that is guns. I say get rid of the fear, keep the religion and yes, keep the guns. But this country divided against itself, divided against those who look different or worship different cannot stand.

7 comments:

Joe said...

Amen.

It's sickening to see Clinton play the "elitism" game, doing exactly what Republicans have done for years to get working people to vote against their own interests.

Apparently Obama's big mistake is actually trying to think when answering questions on the stump. If he just picked a script and stuck to it, like Clinton does (even when lying about sniper fire in Bosnia) he'd be better off.

Yoga Korunta said...

Religion, as does drug abuse, serves as a distraction; a way to numb the mind from daily assault. Guns provide a level of physical security and are needed by some citizens. We shouldn't fear each other to serve the divisive GOP.

Claire said...

My problem with Obama's comments (and I'm not too thrilled with Hillary's response either, especially the 2nd amendment nonsense) is that they're going to be interpreted as contemptuous dismissal by many lower middle class voters. The Republicans will take advantage of this to pander to their worst fears and if Obama's the nominee, he'll lose some votes over it. And he will have made it easy for them, as Democrats have done for years. I'm not going to suggest that all of a sudden, Hillary's a woman of the people, but Obama's comments were those of an elitist. The thing is that he doesn't need to really worry about me...if he's the nominee, I'll vote for him, period. He needs to worry about all the so-called "Reagan Democrats" and it's the superior and dismissive attitude toward them that has allowed such a thing as a "Reagan Democrat" to exist in the first place. We all know that the Republicans don't give a damn about anyone below the top 2% of earners, but they are able to make people believe that they do, and I think that it's the superiority and contempt for the unsophisticated that has made it so easy for the Republicans to do this. Sorry to hijack your comments, and again, I'll be happy to vote for Senator Obama, but he has to understand that the high-school educated working class is a huge part of his potential constituency, and to dismiss them as "bitter" and "clinging to religion and guns" when they disagree with him just hands them over to McCain. I'm really more worried about that than I am about the continuing fight between him and Clinton.

dguzman said...

This comes from a disappointed Hillary supporter: Maybe I'm an elitist too, but I thought Obama's words were some of the most honest of the campaign thus far. He's telling it like is, instead of casting the "average Amurkan" as some sort of noble, hard-working, God-fearing upright white guy out of Norman Rockwell.

Anonymous said...

Personally, I don't see what all the hubbub is about. This statement is like all others in that people will feel the way they want to feel about it. Some will think it dismisses them and some will agree.

For those who've never lived in middle America, I suspedct that if you've been working the grease tub at McDonalds for the past 25 years you won't find the comment very objectionable because it's true and they know it.

Dean Wormer said...

Jesus. A democrat calling out a democrat for making the simple observation that the economy is in the shitter and it pisses people off.

Will Rogers is rolling over in his grave. Not to mention FDR.

Clinton's comments are absolute horseshit. Shame on her.

Anonymous said...

Am I bitter? You bet, like an asperin.

It's not just the economy, stupid. These candidates have forgotten the 600 ton elephant in the room: Iraq.

Tell me to not be bitter about, Hillary?

Regards,

Tengrain