Hillary Clinton and her admired partner, John McCain, are attacking Barack Obama for supposedly being "an elitist." I know from the newspaper industry that an "elitist" is anyone who reads, thinks and won’t pander. Obama said:
"…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. And they feel 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."
He’s right, of course, and he might have added they have been brain-washed to believe all their problems are because of taxes and "liberals," rather than the corporations, fat cats and Republicans who have used government to assist the hollowing out of the American economy, society and sense of national purpose.
Now, under attack, Obama is on the defensive. As the Washington Post reported:
He acknowledged this morning, his mistake was to suggest that
many small-town values are formed by cynicism. "You know the truth. It
is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, those are
important. That’s what sustains us," he told the Muncie audience.
But he added, "what is absolutely true is that people don’t feel
like they are being listened to. And so they pray and they count on
each other and they count on their families. You know this in your own lives and what we need is
a government that is actually paying attention. Government that is
fighting for working people day in and day out making sure that we are
trying to allow them to live out the American dream."
Of course, both Clinton and McCain are serial liars, but they speak to the American people the way one speaks to slow children, pander to their prejudices and rarely try to make them think about the real challenges the nation faces.
It’s not merely that a black man can’t be elected president in America. It’s that a smart, honest person who treats citizens as adults and challenges them to think can’t be elected. That would be too "elitist." My advice for all Dems is to leave guns alone, and be careful about religion. But that’s not what this is really about. Obama threatens not only corporate power, but the two big industries that make their living through perpetual stalemate: right-wing ideologues and Clintonites. He has to be taken out. Enjoy President McCain.
(Read previous Obama posts here and here).
Addendum: Josh Marshall has a couple of interesting updates: Hillary now talking about what a gun nut she is, and a fascinating 2004 Charlie Rose interview with Obama where he thoughtfully fleshes out his "bitter" comments. He’s right on point. Meanwhile, HuffPost reminds us of Bill Clinton’s comments on "insecure white people."
thought you would appreciate this woman’s response to clinton ( and mccain ).
Elitist My Ass
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-kotecki-vest/elitist-my-ass_b_96380.html
Understand when I tell you that Senator Barack Obama is DEAD ON when he talks about the bitterness of residents.
Are you hearing me?
This former Midwest girl is telling you Obama is not being ‘elite’ or ‘out of touch’ – he could NOT be MORE in touch. He’s LISTENING and understanding that many of us who moved away and many of us that stayed are angry, frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and UNEMPLOYED.
Senator Clinton, let me be as clear as I possibly can here:
Barack Obama is giving voice to millions of us by speaking the TRUTH. He’s simply vocalizing exactly what I hear from my Uncle, from my High School friend, from my former teacher, from my now re-located parents. He is speaking about what he’s heard, what he’s been told, what he has seen.
Do you think I like living 3-thousand miles away from my family and friends? Do you think it’s fun for me to watch everyone I know get laid off, go into bankruptcy, lose their house, work two low paying jobs, move into their parents home? Do you think I am NOT bitter about any of this?
Spin it. Go ahead. Talk about how those remarks make him seem elite and condescending. It is so absurd that it only confirms for me that you and Senator McCain are COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH with what REAL Americans think and do and want.
I would suggest, however, that you take your rhetoric elsewhere. Because the more you yap about Obama being ‘elite’ – while he’s talking about how we really feel and you’re releasing 109 Million dollar tax returns – the more stupid you look.
——————
This woman is telling it EXACTLY like how it is. i should know – i am one of those Still in michigan – and this is exactly the state of affairs here.
and clinton and mccain and all of the pundits and wise old men and beltway pundits et al can go ‘cheney’ themselves.
Why Americans Are Bitter
https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19727.htm
We lose our jobs, we lose our homes, we lose our sons in the war without end, and now many of us are losing our tempers! Some are old enough to remember the miseries of the Great Depression and we feel another one coming on as history is repeating itself. It seems that Herbert Hoover was also unconcerned about the plight of the ordinary American and intent on following his own Pied Piper. When the world-wide drought and food shortage hit, the United States was virtually destroyed. Now we are reading about food riots and shortages in other nations and the scientists are warning that another drought is in the making. I don’t know about Pennsylvania, Senator Obama, but I know about America and we are not only bitter. We are also sick and tired of elected officials who are lying to us as they betray our trust and their oaths of office
Bitter? Why Should Americans Be Bitter?
https://firedoglake.com/2008/04/14/bitter-why-should-americans-be-bitter/
Obama, Bitterness, Meet the Press, and the Old Politics
https://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-bitterness-meet-press-and-old.html
Bitter? You ain’t seen nothing yet.
And as much as people like Russert, Carville, Matalin, Schrum, and Murphy want to divert our attention from what’s really happening; as much as HRC and McCain seek to make political hay out of choices of words that can be spun cynically by the mindless spinners of the old politics; as much as demagogues on the right and left continue to try to channel the cumulative frustrations of Americans into a politics of resentment – all these attempts will, I hope, prove futile. Eighty percent of Americans know the nation is on the wrong track. The old politics, and the old media that feeds it, are irrelevant now.
It Takes Real Chutzpah for a Guy Who Owns Eight Houses ( McCain ) to Call Barack Obama an “Elitist”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/it-takes-real-chutzpah-fo_b_96376.html
Damn right they’re bitter; they have good reasons to be. And most of those reasons are the economic and trade policies that have – and continue to be – championed by George Bush and John McCain.
Obama, if you are reading this (unlikely I admit) then please stick to your guns. The media will spin anything out of proportion, they just want to rattle you, make you back down and question your convictions.
People are sick of being lied to, and they do respect an honest candidate. Every exit poll of shows that the biggest worry on the mind of the people is the economy. McSame knows nothing about running an economy, in any debate he will come off sounding like a fool.
As for Hillary suddenly taking a liking to guns, that woman radiates insincerity.