Elitism for Elites
By Barbara OBrien Friday Apr 11, 2008 5:45pmIt always amuses me when upper-class people with power and privilege start screeching about “elitism.” Today all manner of political, media and blogging elites — people with advanced degrees who’ve never been to a tractor pull in their lives — are snorting about elitism because Barack Obama said something that anyone with a real redneck background knows to be true — working-class, small-town whites feel left behind, bitter and frustrated.
Ezra Klein and Marc Ambinder provide good commentary on what Barack Obama said. My remarks today are aimed at the critics who are rushing forward to defend the tender sensibilities of small-town, working class whites that Obama allegedly offended. I say that most of those expressing outrage and defending the "values" of small-town Americans are the real elitists.
Granted, my background is southern Missouri small-town working-class white, rather than Pennsylvania small-town working-class white, and there are subtle cultural distinctions between the two. While I may have kinfolk in half the trailer parks in the Ozarks, I admit that doesn’t qualify me to speak for Pennsylvanians. But over the past forty or so years small-town, working-class white America has been living through the shared experience of diminishing opportunity combined with increasing financial instability.
In community after community, the old factory or mining jobs that sustained the local economy are gone. Forty years ago, young folks left high school, signed on to jobs that paid Union-obtained wages and benefits, and looked forward to all the trappings of American middle-class affluence — homes, new cars, trips to Disney World. Now the bright young people move away to cities, and those who remain in the small towns sustain themselves — barely — by flipping hamburgers or cashiering at Wal-Mart.
The only ones who aren’t bitter and frustrated are those too young or too dim to realize life was much better a couple of generations ago.
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The real panic here from these assholes is that Barack is stating in very plain language that he's going to address the causes of these problems, not paper them over with patronizing bullshit.
And people are responding.
I know my VA doctor wants me to eat Eliter.
We've definitely been through this before with the 2004 Kerry campaign, where it was primarily liberal media elites that were all to eager to jump on the myth of small town American virtue vs. liberal elitism. I suppose they'll do the same thing this time because it fits so nicely with Obama's inability to BOWL?
And the only other ones who aren’t going to be bitter and frustrated are those too young to remember or are going to be to young to remember what life was like in America Pre Necon takeover Dec 2001.
slippy hussein toad @ 1:
This kind of response?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bsf2x-aeE
Maha (Barbara) should be the director of all faith based initiatives in the coming Democratic Administration.
Note to Burger Flippers: it is amazing what kinds of things you can create with common kitchen ingredients...especially when your kitchen is the size of a McDonalds!
Note to WalMart Slaves: Pitchforks on Isle 3, torches on Isle 12. Or whatever.
Note to EVERYBODY: eat the rich! These people only have power over us because we LET them. If you are worried about the military suppressing your right to petition for the redress of grievances...most of them are in the same boat AND WILL STAND RIGHT THERE BESIDE YOU!
2008 is the last gasp of HOPE for a better future, and justice for past crimes, this country has. If that hope dies...a population without hope is a population that starts looking for payback. I fervently wish that we can see a GOOD president, and PROGRESSIVE government, starting in 2009.
But if it gets stolen AGAIN...I know what will happen. YOU ALL know what will happen, INCLUDING YOU AGENT SMITH OF THE NSA READING THIS! IF YOUR FASCIST ASS WANTS TO PREVENT VIOLENCE BREAKING OUT NATION-WIDE IN 2009, YOU CAN START BY ARRESTING THOSE ENEMIES OF THE CONSTITUTION IN THE BU$CO REGIME, STARTING FROM THE TOP! OR DOES YOUR OATH TO PROTECT AND DEFEND "THAT DAMN PIECE OF PAPER" MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!
slippy hussein toad @ 1:
To what? What's his plan for rural America? Right now, all I hear are gaseous emissions from all sides.
As far as todays emerging youth there are two types.
Wilkes Barre P.A. The city remains in poor shape, with those bad newer buildings (now aging badly), and the "missing teeth" of more recent demolitions, and a sagging population base. But I liked the young professionals I met there who are working to revive this very damaged place. They were intelligent, and cheerful despite the difficulty of their task. They clearly loved their town. They were free to move elsewhere, had even been to college elsewhere, but had returned to their old city in the valley to make a stand. And they had worked tirelessly to actually get a few good new things built.
The Other Type. Lets build more buildings that are little more than packing crates with bars and bandstands, while the side streets are adorned with rows of port-a-johns reeking in the impressive heat while hosting drinking contests on Sixth Street every weekend night for visiting motorists.
While I may have kinfolk in half the trailer parks in the Ozarks. Your quote is Hill-arious, one has to be from the area to appreciate the subtle inference.
Raised in rural Indiana, put myself through college and then some, parents never had money, worked growing up on farms and blue collar jobs. I'd say Obama got it exactly right, and that he truly does empathize with the people he's talking about and understand what it means too be left out and left behind. Clinton's and McCain's criticisms don't ring true, being more than anything, patronizing. I think Hillary in her heart does care, but she's so desperate that she's saying these things just to score points, which demeans her. I hate to see her stooping and trash talking. It's pathetic. McCain's concerns are ridiculous, a joke.
it isn't just the "bitter" comment that was insulting. it's then implying that the poor bitter backwater rubes could only possibly support pro-gun, anti-gay, anti-immigrant positions because their economic situation had so drastically declined. not sure what the two things have to do with each other at all, and apparently neither does Prince Barack.
The GOP has duped their supporters into thinking the polo pony Republicans are looking after the best interests of the Wal-Mart Republicans.
You can fool some of the people all of the time. Conservatives are those people.
I'm tired of the other campaigns and the media making a major league deal over a piddly comment. The leaders of our nation sat in the White House discussing torture methods, our economy is a mess, we're in a never-ending war, the whole world hates us, it takes two plus incomes to live a decent life and our kids aren't graduating from high school. Why on earth would anyone be bitter about that?
Great point John and I wish more of these small town people who realize what you have said that within such communities, there does exist an elitism of sorts that does not function in the modern american let alone the modern world.
What about those of us with advanced degrees who have been to tractor pulls and demolition derbies? Those county fairs left quite an impression on me while growing up in the 70s.
I'm not the least bit offended by Obama. But what do I know?
I'm scared. Supreme court or not, I just don't think I can bring myself to vote for Hillary, if by some slight of hand she gets nominated. Seeing and hearing her jump on Barack, calling him an elitist makes me want to literally puke my guts out. The two faced creeps like both Clintons and McCain are just about too much to bear. How much was it that the Clintons made last year? How much is Cindy McCain worth? Please oh please gimme a break!
And please tell me that there aren't a very large number of embittered Americans struggling to survive.
lolo @ 8:
Tell that to the 1.2 million individual donors to Obama.
If McCain had made this remark he would have been lauded to the skies.
Snobama 08! @ 12:
I guess you didn't even listen to what he was saying. Your concern has been duly noted.
pfeld @ 17:
Look fear straight in eye and you will cease to be afraid of it. Don't get stuck in it's grip, do something to advance.
Even though I lived through the Sixties (college and the Army), I've never been a huge fan of protest songs—until I heard James (son of Larry) McMurtry's "We can't make it here anymore."
He sums up the devastation visited on working people in this country more evocatively and passionately than anything else I've ever heard.
Download it (iTunes or eMusic) and hear for yourself.
pfeld @ 17:
Hillary still is better than McCain in every possible way, so unless you want Mr.-100-Years McPapen in office in January 2009, you'd probably have to vote Hillary.
On the OP: Couldn't have said it better myself! Bravo, Senator Obama!
Who has been more elite over the years the the whole right wing? Who have been more exclusionary and who wants to exclude people from even the basic right of voting?
This is off topic. I just check redstate (scary place I tell you), because I want to know the way they think (stupid, if not psychotic). Anyway, those of you who still doubt Senator Obama would not win in the generals should check how they feel about him (if you don't want to give them hits, i'll elaborate): Those wingnuts have 6 out 10 entries (including the more recent 4) about Sen. Obama, and everytime I check them most of their entries are about him. They fear him. They know he would beat the crap out of them.
Oh man, what an opportunity! Someone should start cranking out bumper stickers as fast as they can that simply say:
EMBITTERED AMERICAN
Let's hope that Obama keeps telling it as it is and doesn't start to fold under the pressure. If he can stay true to his principles, and if the American people are smart enough to see through the B.S. that will be flung at him, y'all might just have a brighter future in store.
teedawg @ 11:
I don't even think this is about what he said, but to whom he said it and the circumstances....in a closed fundraiser with a bunch of fat cats waiting to take their money. It's obvious that this will be another free pass for Obama, he can be inartful and misspeak and never be held to task....must be nice!
Idols are manufactured. You could take a moonshine hillbilly who dropped out of school in the 4th grade and with enough time, money, coaching, and promotion turn him into a sophisticated gentlemen fit for public consumption.
Technically we're all full of bullshit in the bigger scheme of things.
Let me see of I got this straight, people are upset because Obama said that poor people are unhappy with being poor?
hood @ 25:
Not much of an indicator. Those people are haters. They're gonna hate all over whoever they think is the Dem frontrunner.
Please someone explain to me why obama is supposed to be an expert on everything and is supposed to know how every body feels about anything and everything.
Since he only stayed with his Kenyan grandmother for a few years, and the rest of his life he lived with people of means how does he know about the people who are the have nots.
His mother left him with affluent grandparents after his father deserted them. Then when she married someone else...he was wealthy. I guess since obama is supposed to be the second coming of the Good Lord we must expect him to be the all knowing about everything.
Old School Patriot @ 7:
Indeed, the soldier is just another exploited worker, it is the awakening of their consciousness that turns a crisis into a revolution. So wake up Soldier! you are being used, those orders are illegal orders and you have no obligation to follow them.
Of course Obama is an elitist. After his "weird" behavior in Indiana the other day, can there still be any doubt? For those of you who don't watch "Hardball" Obama actually went into a diner and asked for ORANGE JUICE! This behavior was so bizarre that it led to a detailed discussion by Chris Matthews and David Schuster culminating in Matthews' asking Senator Casey just what is "wrong" with Obama. This campaign season gets more demented every day.
Marge @ 32:
Let's see. There are the years he spent being a community organizer in Chicago and being a professor takes some kind of knowledge. Outside of bieng first lady and a politician what has Hillary done again?
slippy hussein toad @ 1:
How is he going to solve these problems?
Diane @ 360:
By trying?
That would be a nice begining, don't you think?
RLF @ 103:
I don't think he's an empty suit, but like you, I sometimes feel he is promising 2 chickens for every pot. Factories have closed in many towns, jobs are gone, people are having a hard time and *do* feel like the government doesn't care about them. However, these factories/mines *are* a thing of the past and they are NOT going to come back. Technology has been a factor as well as the outsourcing of jobs to China (more than to Mexico, in my opinion).
How is Obama going to change or re-juvenate the situation any more expertly than anyone else? It's impossible to bring back the past. How is he going to create new jobs for these people? Is he going to make sure they all get trained for new jobs? A former steel worker is going to be trained to be.... what? Forklift operators are going to be trained to be....nurse's aids? It's one thing to say you understand why people are angry and bitter and another thing entirely to do something that will change their economic situation which Obama seems to imply is behind the anger. If anyone knows where Obama has specifically laid out his plans, let me know, please.
xoites defends Constitution @ 356:
If you think a vile sermon given when bodies were still burning at th WTC was worth applauding. Then you are pathetic buddy.
Not perfect but fixable even with scum like Wright.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 361:
Our government has been run the last seven years by people whose ideology is that government doesn't work. They've done their absolute best not to disprove that ideology. I think we may have forgotten what a government that "tries" is.
RLF @ 363:
and I'm a big size man. Little brain
RLF @ 363:
Vile? and i think you have your dates mixed up.
Anyway if you want to talk about vile let's get down to it.
Wright said God Damn America, right?
To you this is vile, to me this is polite.
What has America done?
Read The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and get back to me.
You REALLY need to expand your data base.
RLF @ 363:
The conservatives want presidents like George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.
But not Obama because he's an elitist.
His dad was a third world goat herder and now you want us to believe he's an elitist.
The conservatives love religious figures like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
But not Rev. Wright because he preaches hate.
When the bodies were still burning, Pat and Jerry were on NATIONAL TELEVISION, happy as clams that God was punishing America because of feminism and homosexuality.
Brealistic @ 280:
Lessee, a troll bagging on Obama audiences when their BFF Preznit hasn't had a single event that has not been held at (a) a neo-nut Think tank; (b) a Military base (you know where they HAVE To clap for the COC or get a year's KP; or (c) a hand picked audience of flat-earthed, Old Testament thumpin', tax-hatin' recidivist history flunkie kool aid snorters? Give me a F**king break. Have you no sense of shame, sir or madam? At the very least you have a fatally defective short term memory prob.
joeedugan @ 367:
Don't get wrong their scum with longer resumes.
lost_nacf_gop @ 368:
Not to mention you have to sign an Oath of Loyalty to get in.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 366:
Keep using that self hate tact you might pick up the "I hate America" vote. All 5 of them.
THINK!!!!
"Don’t get wrong their scum with longer resumes"
Anybody got Breality to English dictionary?
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 153:
Odd that my comment would be deleted but the flame response remains. gen has to make outrageous smears about anyone who makes a comment that seems like anything less than being in 100% support of his candidate and in doing so, proved the point I was making.
It's not Hillary who is tearing the party apart: it's people like gene and his other fellow Obama supporters.
RLF @ 371:
If you do not hate the atrocities America has committed you don't think at all. But i figured that out about you hours ago.
RLF @ 371:
Did you hear what Rev. Wright actually said in full context? Does this sound like "I hate America" to you?
Nomi @ 373:
Your comment made no sense. I responded to it as wel. Why did you not quote me?
Afraid?
Nicole Belle @ 375:
Nicole, i respect you a lot, but i thought it was my job to talk to the brick walls around here. :)
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 374:
We'll get a truckload of real, substanced candidates for Federal office again . . .once we decide to stop treating the effing process like the MIss America Pageant. Wolf-F**king Blitzer, meet Bert Parks.
Obama said nothing that was wrong or inaccurate. Grow up toadies. Smell your own farts for a change.
lost_nacf_gop @ 378:
I beg to differ. Obama spat in the face of THE BIG LIE.
The BIG LIE is (among other things), "Isn't it great that Americans have the freedom to work three jobs?[to make ends meet]"
I work in a factory in Indiana that is on its death bed. By this coming fall all of the machines will be in Montery, Mexico. Every day I get up and go to work bitter, and everyone else that I work with is bitter as well. Obama's comments were dead on. Why this story has any legs is beyond me. People everywhere in this country ARE bitter and they should be. For too long now OUR country has been taken from us. We feel helpless and frustrated and bitter about the things that we see going on every day in Washington. I just hope the day comes when we decide that we've had enough of it.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 377:
My bad. :) Talk away.
Pete @ 381:
I am sorry for the loss of your job, Pete. What are you going to do?
Actually the LIE was "uniquely American . . . workin' three jobs. Uttered by a guy whose never worked ONE in his whole miserable adult life.
Nicole Belle @ 382:
I was just teasing, you can pounce on the trolls any time you like. :)
getalife @ 43:
You have completely lost touch with reality now.
>Clinton praises the voters and will fight for
>them to give them hope for their future.
Wow. How cool for her. Have you read the comments here, today, on this thread? Have you not read a dozen comments from people from small towns in Pennsyvania (claim to be I should say, just for accuracy - I have no reason to doubt them, do you?) and testified that Obama hit the nail on the head. People are bitter and angry.
And here you come along all smug N shit and tell us Hillary respects the voters and praises them, to give them hope. You are an idiot. I am just SO fed up with crap like this already. Get with the program already. You are supposed to be a Democrat - how can you live with yourself knowing you may be trashing OUR candidate? I can only assume you have no soul.
lost_nacf_gop @ 384:
You are correct. I remember now. It is really hard for me to watch or listen to thar man.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 374:
Take a good look at world history All "civilized" nations are built on atrocities. I think we should stop committing them. But unfortunately it will take a shift in human nature and that usually takes many years.
Since you like using insults like your hero Wright you might understand that.
No one like yourself changes anything. Non-entities spouting hatred never do.
I thought Obama treatise was to embrace to bring together. I guess you are truly representative of him.
I ask anyone who reads this to read the whole thread and discover the heart of a true Obama follower.
Pete @ 381:
Pete, the day is when you want it to be. Watch the candidates, and you'll be able to tell which ones have no clue what you're going through, and are unable to care about it. There's two of 'em in the race.
RLF @ 388:
You just do not and refuse to "get it!"
This is my country and your country. It is the very first country on the planet where what it does is both my and your responsibility. It is not suppossed to be a monarchy where we can throw up our hands and say, "The King did it!"
What this country does is ALWAYS in our name.
Fuck what other countries do!
Take resposnsibility and stop deflecting blame on everyone else!
Grow the Fuck Up!
"I ask anyone who reads this to read the whole thread and discover the heart of a true Obama follower."
Well i support him. I follow noone. I think that is all you are capable of.
Yes, please feel free to read this thread, all criticizm of what i say is welcome.
I'm unemployed in Flint Michigan so tell ME that I'm not bitter and frustrated! Now maybe I'm not in the least interested in god or guns but that's really just a minor kvetch and not at all some horrible slight to us poor white mid-westerners. This country has gone to hell, I can't even get a job working for the local great Satan (Wal-Mart), and I AM MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY LONGER!
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 390:
WOW you total lack of history is astounding. A third entity called America did not commit atrocities. It was you and me ,our parents ,and their parents before. Atrocities are committed by people not kings, emperors, and dictators. Every atrocity ever committed was by a person, not an entity. The indians were slaughtered for their land by us not the government. If the govt. did anything it was by our acquiescence not their lead. And so forth throughout history.
Unlike you I refuse to use derogatory language. But seriously wake up!
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 391:
Hey man get some more sleep, your spelling is way off.
Eric Hussein Paulsen @ 392:
Pete @ 381:
Folks like you scare the shit out of the real ellite. If you get organized people like Hillary could lose their summer homes in the Hamptons. Obama scares them just for pointing out your plight and taking your side.
Your side is my side and always has been.
Snobama 08! @ 12:
Anyone born around the rust belt area will tell you this much is true. People ARE angry AND bitter. I know, I was just up in that area and the locals at the bars are ready to organize, and take back what the bushites have stolen from our country.
OH...........BTW, you are a POS TROLL.......
I think the people who are upset, are Hillary Clinton and John McCain that this inner city black boy is beating their butts and knows something about the frustrations that he is talking about. What does someone whose made 109 million dollars in the last 7 years know about what the laid off workers in Pennsylvania think or feel.
The "elitist" term is code word for smart, and it was used as an attack against Bill Clinton in the 1990's. He was also called a "policy wonk" for knowing too much about government. I find it ironic that the Clinton's throw these same accusations at a black man who grew up in the inner city and worked his way to where he is today.
If there is one thing that we can't have in this country is a smart president who will bring people together!!!! So we will call him elitist when he calls a spade a spade.
I live in the south and I can tell you personally that people who have no real power cling to God and guns to try to get through this life. Obama speaks the truth and it is too painful for the two real "ELITISTS" running against him. Obama scares them to death.
The orange juice scandal came out the same day that George Bush admitted that he knew about the secret meetings on torture going on in his cabinets and he approved of them. Guess which story got the most media.
"GEORGE BUSH KNEW ABOUT TORTURE MEETINGS, BUT LOOK OVER THERE, OBAMA ORDERED ORANGE JUICE."
Marge @ 32:
nobody ever said he's an expert on everything and knows how every body feels about anything and everything, strawman troll...
he's initiating valid talking points about things that career politicians like Hillary and John are afraid to initiate, because they know they'll lose their corporate sponsorship and donations.
working at Wal Mart *does* suck, and Wal Mart has had a *proven* track record of deliberately overpowering businesses in the impoverished communities where they set up shop, with immediate gains in local economy, and consistently creating local depressions and recessions.
Obama isn't afraid to bring this up because he never sat on Wal Mart's board of directors. he isn't afraid to say Wal Mart's low wage employees in small towns with limited educations have seen their community colleges become bankrupt, he isn't afraid to say the average low wage Wal Mart employee is "bitter".
are you asserting the average 35 year old "greeter" *isn't* bitter??
The problem is the regular people-masses or whatever the hell you want to call them don't organize.
Thats the big edge the elites have. The elites have turned organization into a science. Then people look up to the elites or latest "image" for leadership and to solve their problems. And now it's at the point to where people are more interested in voting for the next American Idol then they are people who are supposed to lead the country.
I grew up in one of those dying mill towns, finally left, but go back regularly to visit my family. It's so depressing I'm ready to leave as soon as I get there.
Wages are stagnant throughout most of Pennsylvania, but prices are not. People and families are falling behind faster than ever. The only thing I can say is that Obama may have understated how bitter and frustrated most of these people feel.
It's no surprise that the media misses the point entirely, nor is it a surprise that a nouveau riche like Hillarly Clinton conveniently chooses to dismiss the point, make fun of it, or exploit it for political advantage.
A shame on all of us for falling for it.
Zak44 @ 22:
Oh, dear God, that song is devastating. It's almost too hard to watch on YouTube........but it is a must see. That's exactly how the people in these small town, poverty-stricken areas of the rust belt really feel..............Obama is completely IN TOUCH..........that's why the other side is soooooooo frightened.
Clinton praises the voters and will fight for them to give them hope for their future.
Her economic policies will do just that.
Obama calls them bitter and disrespects them in front of a elitist group of large donors in S.F.
Then refuses to apologize.
This is a trend and the real Obama.
He will lose PA by 20 and the supers will go to Clinton.
Then we will unite to crush mcwar and get our country back in the right direction.
Lets not lose three in a row, lets win our country back.
Rico @ 41:
Obama is more refined and polished and Hillary is more extroverted and animated.
I'm telling you right now a Hillary Administration would not be the end of the world and a hell of a lot better then Boosh 3 McCain.
Think about it.
Why doesn't this site criticize Hillary? There's been no bigger crook and liar since Tricky Dick and this site continually stays nuetral, could be the reason I don't visit this site much anymore. Crooks and Liars my eye.
Anyone that was offended by Obama's comments was looking for something to be offended by. Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows Obama spoke the truth.
getalife @ 43:
Obamas idealistic base of first time and politically inexperienced youth don't understand the nature of politics yet. I'm not trying to be mean but they do have a lot to learn. Usually it takes a semester in the School of Hard Knocks to wake up.
RLF @ 393:
Tell that to the World War I Veterans who were gunned down on the Mall in Washington DC in the 1920's by (you guessed it!) The United States Government!
RLF @ 394:
If your brain had to take a shit it would not have a pot to do it in. The good news? It would not need one.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 396:
A government supported by the American people.
Who held those rifles?
Who shot those men?
Who burned those tents?
American people. Your and my relatives, neighbors, and friends. And they did their job with vigor.
zo, you think i mizzpell thingz?
I guezz that zupportz your argument!
Pete @ 381:
If Obama had only said what you said, this story would have no legs at all, because it's not news. It's reality and I don't think anyone wants to deny it, or can deny it. However, it was the additional part about the following quote that gave the story legs.
"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
I dunno...are you going to start clinging to guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiment and antipathy toward people who aren't like you when you lose your job? For many people, religion is a basic core belief in their life and it's something they cling to in good times and in bad times.
It was a very clumsy statement on his part and anytime a politician puts his foot in his/her mouth, they will get flack from it – it's the name of the game of politics. Remember when Joe Biden called Obama "clean and articulate?" Most of us knew he didn't mean it in any negative, racial way, but boy did he get sh*t for it.
It's all in the game
Starbright @ 400:
To hell with the game, i agree with what he said and why he said it.
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 399:
Ok--Just like your buddy you've gotta click the "Quote this comment" link for we know who you are insulting. It is not fair to make us guess. Please be considerate and click.
EVERY REAL PERSON agrees with Obama. SHillbots, repugs and pundits are simply making shit up. Real people know that Obama is speaking to them.
Just like he warned in his speech on race, people will be bombarded regularly by the media, who are trying to give them their opinion.
This is just more proof that Obama is right and that shillbots, repugs and their media minions are desperate. They are the real elitists.
JC ! Now Obama is elitest ! What a bunch of pathetic stupid morons ! Who's statement is accurate , makes more sense ? Obama saying the working class are being given the shaft and are getting bitter and pissed off ( like myself ) or Rambo Clinton , no they're not , they are optimistic ! Oh yeah Clinton , you fountain of bullshit ! I am optimistic ! Rambo has the integrity and credibility of a neocon !
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 401:
Starbright @ 405:
Mister Anderson @ 61:
worth noting!
BaScOmBe whose saying “FUCK MEDIA PUNDITS!” @ 407:
It reminds me of that Brittany fan girl.
WHYYYYYYY don't they leave her alone BOhuhuhuhu she just trying to help Bohuhuhuhuhuhu
Obama or Brittany are not Jesus. If they can't handle the spotlight get out of the kitchen.
The son of a third world goat herder is an elitist. Uh-huh, thats believable.
Saying "Bitter" is wrong? Horseshit!!! And I'm as American as (bitter) crabApple Pie!
I'm going down to the mall tomorrow and getting a "BITTER AMERICAN" t-shirt with a red circle and slash covering a "W".
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 406:
Starbright @ 411:
Well no wonder you are out of touch. You know a lot of people who have $600 to spend if they want to. I don't know anybody who has that kind of money. When i have $600 i use it to pay down a debt or lend it to a friend or relative who has a car problem or a medical bill.
Lucky you!
I totally agree with the author.
However.
I might not be a "real American," I sure don't know the lyrics to "Rocky Top."
But I'm pretty sure anyone who finds themself singing "Rocky Top" in a rural Kentucky roadhouse at 1 AM with the rest of the drunks would have the everloving shit beaten out of them.
"Rocky Top" is a Tennessee song.
As in, the University of Tennessee's fight song.
I'm pretty sure most "real Americans" know the intimate intrastate brotherly love felt by Wildcats and Volunteers.
Our author, not so much.
Glass houses and stones, anyone?
xoites [EMBITTERED AMERICAN] defends Constitution @ 412:
So... Does this one go down as a case of the pot calling the kettle an "uppity negro," or does Geraldine Ferarro have to be involved first?
On a sidenote, god damn, it's getting funny to watch Hillary grasping at straws as her campaign crumbles around her. Next week, she'll be calling him a flip-flopper because he alternates the way he pronounces the words "either" and "the." The eye-gougingly depressing part? His poll numbers probably will still drop for a couple of days as Fixed Noise runs the clip 24-7 for six days straight before someone hoists high the bullshit flag.
The way I see this story spun (e.g., Yahoo News -- Obama's Remarks Give Clinton an Opening) sickens me. You know that aftertaste you get in the back of your mouth after you vomit up $7 worth of McDonald's breakfast chased with Jaegermeister, and the Listerine still won't get it all out? Neither do I, but I bet it's damn close to the feeling I have toward the MSM and the general populace every time something like this is deemed worthy of being called "news" and people still eat it up.
Barack Obama is a very daring man indeed if he would go so far as to speak to the American voting public as though it were comprised of literate, rational adults.
L.A. Confidential @ 4:
I would go even farther back and say before the ronnie raygun revolution changed the landscape with the idea of rolling back the new deal protections for the working classes
Erik @ 24:
Oh didn't you hear that they have a BIG tent and want everyone to be a part of this new happy happy time, oh wait there are conditions for entry into the big tent and you my fellow americans do not have the needed head up your elitist atitude maybe you can try next election cycle when we'll have our MSM allies tell you what you want to hear then forget all the meaningless promises .
Oh, I am embittered by the freefall of america and the idea that the rich deserve to be rich because they are rich corporate welfare but not universal health care or I deserve my pension because I helped steer this country into the ground- congress critter
{{{{413 Starbright Says:}}}}
--->>Yeah, I'd say you're out of touch. I know all kinds of people that would be hard pressed to come up with $600 for something they don't absolutely need. They could probably do it, but it would hurt. They'd give up other necessary things to do it. Is that the "American dream?" Especially when you do get up and go to work every day.
I once drove through some small Pennsylvania town (name unknown), and there was a strike in progress at the local mill/plant (whatever). I sped through. You could cut the air with a knife. The tensions were so high it was frightening. I'd say those folks were mighty embittered. It looked like a one-plant town.
Edwin Hussein @ 418:
Eddy your back!!
Did they have guns and bibles.
You know Us great unwashed in Pennsylvania only use guns and bibles when were embittered.
I hope Obama doesn't cave on this.
He's just got to say, McCain/Clinton think you shouldn't be bitter about 7 years of Bush giving you:
Iraq
Torture
$4/gallon petrol
The housing/credit crisis
An economy in peril
And politically motivated deceptions about caring for you.
So you know what you can expect if you vote McCain/Clinton... More of the same!
Martin Gifford @ 420:
Go to the NY Times web site--he has already caved.
RLF @ 408:
Wow, what political acumen! Reducing the complexity and nuance of the politics surrounding one of the most important presidential races in our life time, with the tribulations of a mentally ill pop singer...
No wonder this country is going down the drain...
The Dude @ 422:
I was referring more to Obama's and Brittany's fan boys/girls than them. But if your candidate can't handle a little heat than he should bow out. The Obamapo I'm sorry Huffpo has risen to the level of propagandizing the very earth that the chosen one walks. It's like watching teenagers gushing over people like brittany and ,god forbid, Madonna. That is what our political press has come to. Sorry indeed.
RLF @ 423:
"MY candidate???" Please stop projecting.
So basically, if he does not respond "he can't handle the heat." If he does respond; "he is too angry and condescending/elitist/racist/what have you..."
Damn if he does, that if he doesn't... amazing eh?
The Dude @ 424:
He did respond and ,strange enough, couldn't take the heat. He apologized.
RLF @ 425:
aaaah, but see, he apologized about how he said it, not about what he said.
I know such nuance will be forever lost and ignored by you, as it does not fit your interest/bias.
unsurebtwilling @ 415:
I would say it started with noxin, the southern strategy and the president ordering cuts in domestic programs that were already in firce by law and backed by appropriations.
RLF @ 408:
Concern Troll ALERT!
The Dude @ 426:
Can't I be as ignorant as a Obamists?
How he said it in that closed fund raiser is what he meant. It gives one a true picture of his elitist leanings. Come on drop the cool-aid and take a close look.
But of course if you want to play the repug game. W never said that Iraq had anything to do with 911.
We can go on with such BULL if you like.
BaScOmBe whose saying “NO REPUGS!” @ 428:
Come on even you have to see that was a fan girl article.
Dire Lobo @ 386:
That is a great handle (user name)!!!!
Apropos of nothing, I just learned how to play Friend Of The Devil on ukulele.
Carry on, then.
L.A. Confidential @ 44:
I don't disagree with you, I just don't think she's going to get there even if she wins this nomination, and even if Obama is on the ticket. Her negatives are universally high among Republicans, and growing daily among half the Democrats. Evening assuming she gets 3/4 of the Democrats back to her side in the general, the 1/4 she will never get back will sink her.
getalife @ 43:
Hillary Clinton is insane....America isn't. This will do nothing.
The good people of PA proved in 06 that they will reject this sort of claptrap when they booted santorum from the senate.....they won't be swindled by HRC....
i just hope clinton will resign when she barely wins or even loses PA...America has had enough of her lies and skullduggery....maybe she can run with mccain, be his VP
or maybe lieberman will run with her as VP....
whatever, she's off in lulu land....
TheTruth @ 46:
The truth? hardly... Spin control? certainly... We finally catch a glimpse of the true Obama.
Obama spoke the truth and the voters in PA recognize this. They are fed up and bitter with a government that has shafted them in favor of the wealthy corporations. They know that their representatives only care about personal power and getting re-elected. They feel like nothing ever changes unless it gets worse because that is what has been happening for 30 years. This is not elitist, this comes from someone that was raised by a single mom and worked for everything he got. He is more like them than Clinton or McCain could ever imagine. Until he wrote his books, he and his wife were strapped paying off student loans. He has a career of working with working people. The pandering and phony indignation of Clinton, McCain and some media is insulting to every voter in America. We are sick of having our intelligence insulted and respect Obama for speaking to us as adults.
L.A. Confidential @ 47:
'Cause they're just not bitter yet, right LA-C? They just haven't reached the depths of despair that the gun-totin’, Bible-thumpin’ knuckle-draggers of Pennsylvania have, so they're probably down with the Messiah.
Works for me.
xargaw @ 51:
Why why in the hell did it take so long for them to wake up? And show me Bill Clintons privileged childhood and upbringing while your at it.
Brealistic @ 50:
Clinton will never win...stop trying to square the circle, and start coming to grips with that reality....
Obama is the nomination, the good people of PA will start to pound the nails into the casket.....
get a grip, and quit working for mccain....
dennis @ 52:
They will if McCain gets in for 8 years.
Most of you still don't get it. I guess this blog has become part of the elitist atmosphere that costs Democrats election. We are right because we say we are right.
Obama is right because we say he is right and only he knows how you are feeling and what you are thinking. So let me sum this up:
Small town people go to church only because they are bitter.
Small town people only own guns because they are bitter.
Small town people only go to church because they are bitter.
That's what he said and trying to ignore those insinuations in his statement as some of you are trying to do is ludicrous. You can't erase what he said or pretend he didn't say it by ignoring the part of the statement that all the brou-ha-ha is about which is exactly what you are trying to do. It is one thing to say someone is bitter. It's another thing to tell them they are nothing but a bunch or backwards racist rubes when they are and not all of your elitism is going to change that part of what he said. And that's why the Dems will sadly lose again.
* I meant to add that small town people are racist because they are bitter also. Fine message there, Barack.
ohio progressive @ 54:
How do you know Clinton won't win?
I'm not saying she will but until the contest is decided your making yourself look like and idiot.
the myth of small town American virtue vs. liberal elitism.
Anybody else out there remember "Peyton Place"? The novels of Sinclair Lewis? Springsteen's "The River"? "An American Tragedy"? "Harper Valley PTA"? Tom Lehrer's "My Hometown"?
getalife @ 43:
I can't believe the misinterpretation this is getting from Clinton (I expect nothing better from McCain.) Her response is completely disingenuous. I have been a fan of Hillary's for a long time but this is it. Barack was on the money and was talking to everyone with a level of respect - that they will understand he is NOT putting anyone down except ADMINISTRATIONS that ignore the backbone of America (and, I was also a fan of Clinton's administration but now, maybe I even have to re-think that.) Anyone who interprets this as a putdown is either purposely misunderstanding or just stupid (too elitist to expect basic comprehension from people.)
I was not a supporter of Obama's before but this whole debate is turning me into one.
This was written by Jane Smiley on HuffPo.....the last part almost brought tears to my eyes ;-)
"So now, Barack Obama tells the truth about conditions as we know them--that the countryside and the small towns are dying in many places in our country, and that the corporatocracy doesn't care enough to do a thing about it. He points out that immigrant-baiting, gay-baiting, gun-baiting, and religious pandering have helped to destroy those towns and that countryside, that those being destroyed have been cynically enlisted by their very own destroyers to provide the votes that help accomplish the destruction. And this is what Senator Hillary Clinton says about it: "Senator Obama's remarks were elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans."
From Senator Clinton's remarks, I infer that to actually see what has gone on in the US in the last 20 years is unAmerican. It doesn't matter who you are, where you were born, what you pay in taxes, what else you might have contributed to the culture, how you vote, who you support. If you don't support fundamentalist religion, job outsourcing, and free access to guns, then you are not even American.
I cannot believe how angry this makes me. I cannot believe that after the last seven and a half years, I can even get this angry. Yes, I know she is pandering to her audience. Yes, I know she will do anything to get elected. Yes, I know that she and Bill Clinton are corrupt to the core, and that I should have never expected anything better of her. But, please, any of you angry white women who still support this craven shill, don't mention it to me. Do me the following favor -- apologize to your children for not stopping the war that HIllary voted for, the war that is going to impoverish them. Then apologize to them for the effects of global warming that are going to make their lives hell. Then apologize to them for the school shooting they may someday see, the one where the kid gets the guns out of his father's gun case, or buys at a gunshow. Apologize to them for the meaningless wars they are going to fight and pay for. Then tell them that "American values" killed their hopes and maybe killed them. And ask them if they think it's going to be worth it."
clyde @ 56:
How on God's green earth did you pull that out of Obama's statement??? You can't be serious...
clyde @ 57:
If you don't know that leaving people without hope breeds a fertile ground for racism and religious fanaticism, then international relations must really leave you flummoxed.
getalife @ 43:
I say that a lot of Americans are bitter and i also refuse to apologize.
I am just SO TIRED of this nonsense.
The old white guy and the pearl-wearing white woman, each with a net worth of over $100 MILLION DOLLARS are calling the black guy "elitist".
Someone wake me up in November.
clyde @ 56:
3 in 10 people think bush is great
about 3 in 10 democrats understand and agree with what you say in this post...
the point is, your mind, like that of the bushie die hards, is working in strange ways....the outside world doesn't really get what you're saying.....
but, thankfully, like bush's world, your world is coming to an end soon.....clinton will never be the nomination.....
but don't work so hard to think so brokenly.....you might suffer permanent brain damage.....and then you wind up like lieberman.....
sometimes, the world just doesnt like you, or your candidate.....and rather than remake the world in some twisted vision (lieberman), accept defeat and move on....
L.A. Confidential @ 58:
LA, I respect you because I've read your posts here for quite some time. But the math is not in Hillary's favor, not by a long shot. She's going to need a big miracle to get the nomination, and it's not being stupid to assume that Obama is going to win.
Obama is up against the propaganda machine that
is our American media in all its forms. Lets get McCain.
He has a lousy past & even if the media gives him a
pass we can trash the dimwitted old Republican on
the Internet. Forget Hillary bashing. She is a Democrat.
Christ no wonder the Republicans win. They don't kill
their own no matter who the person is. Do we like the
country the way it is now? If so then keep up the trashing
of Hillary or Obama. Wake up & learn from the past.
Baba O'Brien forgets to mention that she is an Obama supporter.
She also leaves out part of the statement:
Are people pissed off? Yes. Are they clinging to guns, religion, etc., because of that? No.
What Obama and O'Brien are saying is that the people in small-town America are bigoted "Archie Bunkers."
Blaming in on the economy doesn't take away the insult.
Snobama 08!:
it isn’t just the “bitter” comment that was insulting. it’s then implying that the poor bitter backwater rubes could only possibly support pro-gun, anti-gay, anti-immigrant positions because their economic situation had so drastically declined.
I have to agree with Snobama. This is the thought that went through my head when I first heard Obama's comments, and as an Obama supporter, I thought-he's gonna get clobbered. Living in Texas, I see people who are proud of their religion and gun viewpoints and are not going to take kindly to what he said. Maybe those people wouldn't be voting for him anyway, but I knew the press would take the guns and religion comments and nail him. So, how many independents does he lose?
109 million dollar Hillary's pledge to "stand up for and fight for working people" is about as real as those bullets she dodged in Tuszla in 1996.
Widespread @ 85:
Sorry, that should read, "If your working class whites in the heartland . . ."
RLF @ 430:
Troll ALERT! and this one doesn't sleep.
I don't have a problem with anyone saying people are frustrated because of losing jobs, because I know I was when I lost mine. But to say that I would be bitter and turn to religion and guns and become a xenophobe, shows ignorance on part of Obama, and people like you who support these comments.
I bet if you asked these small town whites if Obama offended them they'd tell you not just no, but hell no. His words were as good as good gets because his analysis was spot on.
Hillary and Billary and John are elitists. To hear Clinton talk about his love of small town America why did he support a trade agreement that devastated small town America. Go to South Texas and you'll see no one working in the produce industry as all those jobs went south. Go to the mills in the Carolinas; they are closed. Go to the Midwest and you see plant after plant shuttered. Go to New England and the tanneries are all closed as are the shoe factories. I don't think they even make gloves in Gloversville anymore.
The only way to get those jobs back is to retract all our trade agreements and rewrite them to ensure trade is truly fair. And we need to develop new industries. Gore was prescient in describing all the jobs going green would create. And they would be good paying jobs.
I am amused that no one seems to appreciate the irony. What Obama said was not well phrased, and it was unfortunately made to an an elite bi-coastal audience that certainly made it appear to be an elitist statement. The whole thing is pure "molehill politics". However, none of the Obama supporters seem to have any appreciation for irony. Molehill politics is what they and the main stream media have done to clinton for the past three months. Do you remember what Ferraro said. Must have been absolutely racist! However, Obama himself admitted what she said was true. What did Bill say after the South Carolina primary about Jesse Jackson winning it before. Must have been absolutely racist! The fact that something was true, did not stop the Obama people from getting out the tar and feathers. And Obama did nothing to stop it. Does that make him a political opertunist. Or perhaps it just makes him a politician. Well, Obama supporters get used to it. If he gets the nomination, we will see how his bi-partisan Repugnican friends and corporate news prostitiutes will respect candor and nuance.
He that lives upon hope will die fasting.
Benjamin Franklin
Leon,
No it doesn't. Why do you think McVeigh hailed from small town America? They are the ones who have been getting the shaft from Uncle Sam for decades. They are as disillusioned as the innercity resident. And when you don't trust the government (an outside entity) you turn inward putting more faith in your rifle, church, or neighbors to keep you safe. Anything from outside your community is suspect (to include immigrants).
dennis @ 52:
I am from PA. Live in the burbs 20 minutes outside Philly. Grew up in Levittown, now live in Yardley but moving back to CC Philadelphia. We have Bristol, Croydon, Levittown, Bensalem, Trevose and so forth. Severely depressed towns. This was a Mill town, Steel, Paper and 3M, now NADA. M Knight makes his flix there that's about it.
Of course they are bitter, yup many gun owners, drugs, we have it all. The Religion thing, always has been a deep rooted RC Catholic base, except I had the pleasure of being raised Southern Baptist(joyous, considering I was surrounded by Irish Catholics). I no longer practice any organized Religion still the RC have a hard core base. Other day on my way home, man in a gihugeic SUV, license plate read, 'PAPAL', could not get close enough but a ribbon that read, 'Pope, whatever, and something referencing it! PAPAL?
Senator Obama is correct and for 52 years I have seen it. Soon as I rid myself of the behemoth of a residence I am to call ?home? outta there!!!!
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