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This has been pissing me off lately.
For those who may not know, presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech recently in which he called out on the carpet something a lot of people aren't willing to 'fess up to. Here are his exact comments, taken from the Wikipedia entry:
Senator Obama campaigned in Pennsylvania in preparation for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, and spoke about small-town Pennsylvania at a private April 6 fundraising event in San Francisco. His remarks were widely reported:
"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 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."
Now, I've spent most of my life in small towns, and I ABSOLUTELY back Obama on this. He called it 100% right, whether people like it or not - and a lot of them don't. Since then, the media's been aflame with people screaming that Obama's comments somehow mean that he's slamming small towns, guns and religion (all of which are practically considered Sacred in this culture, especially the latter). Both Clinton and McCain (neither of whom has any room to talk themselves, and have probably made worse statements; why aren't people going after them?) have made snotty comments in response, the latter going so far as to call Obama "elitist" (As if you're one to talk, Mr.-I-Have-My-Tongue-So-Far-Up-Bush's-Ass-He-Uses-It-To-Brush-His-Teeth-With).
Obama later said that his statements weren't 'worded well' - but IMO he has absolutely nothing to apologize for. He called it right on the money - people ARE bitter and angry and they ARE using guns and religion and prejudice in inappropriate ways to cope - and people simply aren't willing to own up to it because he jabbed the Sacred Cows right in the balls.
We need more of that kind of honesty.
For those who may not know, presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech recently in which he called out on the carpet something a lot of people aren't willing to 'fess up to. Here are his exact comments, taken from the Wikipedia entry:
Senator Obama campaigned in Pennsylvania in preparation for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, and spoke about small-town Pennsylvania at a private April 6 fundraising event in San Francisco. His remarks were widely reported:
"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 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."
Now, I've spent most of my life in small towns, and I ABSOLUTELY back Obama on this. He called it 100% right, whether people like it or not - and a lot of them don't. Since then, the media's been aflame with people screaming that Obama's comments somehow mean that he's slamming small towns, guns and religion (all of which are practically considered Sacred in this culture, especially the latter). Both Clinton and McCain (neither of whom has any room to talk themselves, and have probably made worse statements; why aren't people going after them?) have made snotty comments in response, the latter going so far as to call Obama "elitist" (As if you're one to talk, Mr.-I-Have-My-Tongue-So-Far-Up-Bush's-Ass-He-Uses-It-To-Brush-His-Teeth-With).
Obama later said that his statements weren't 'worded well' - but IMO he has absolutely nothing to apologize for. He called it right on the money - people ARE bitter and angry and they ARE using guns and religion and prejudice in inappropriate ways to cope - and people simply aren't willing to own up to it because he jabbed the Sacred Cows right in the balls.
We need more of that kind of honesty.
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