Posted by
Ellison on Thursday, April 17, 2008 6:50:28 PM
I must disclose that when I first heard the “bitter” comments by Barack Obama, I had no reaction. Even today, I still believe that the comments were not that big a deal, were truthfully when looked at from a sociological viewpoint, and have not and will not make a difference in the long run. However, what amused me most was the charge that Barack Obama was an “elitist.” Huh????
So let me get this straight. Barack Obama, an African American male who is the product of a single parent household is somehow “elitist”? A man who worked for years as a community organizer in one of the hardest hit areas of globalization, South Side Chicago, is somehow an elitist on par with that of the Kennedy’s, Bush’s, Rockefeller’s, Getty’s, etc? Maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t see this man being part of the elite ruling class of Amerca in anyway. Shoot, he is not even on par with many of those African American elite that are proud graduates of HBCUs, belong to the Divine 9, grew up in Jack & Jill, or are members of The Links or The Boule!!!
Oh wait, the new argument is well, the COMMENTS themselves, were elitist. Well, the question is where they really. When looked at in CONTEXT, Obama said,
“
So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.
Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).
But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.
Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.”
Kind of changes things doesn’t it? As a so called “urban, latte liberal”, I’m not exactly who Obama was referring to in the comments. Hell, I might even be called an elitist by some. However, I really see no factual inaccuracies in Mr. Obama’s comments.
Truth is that the a majority of the American people are bitter, frustrated, and angry. 81% of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. The past 8 years have been horrible. The economy stinks. The Occupation of Iraq is draining us financially as well as emotionally. Any sociologist will say that increased church attendance as well as resurgent nativist feelings are directly correlated to economics as well as political failings. Is it so wrong to say so?
As we are 201 days from Election Day 2008, I ask all Americans that we focus on the issues and appreciate honesty from politicians. I also ask all those Obama haters to acknowledge that no matter what, you weren’t going to vote for the man anyway. Also, this comment nor the Rev.Wright "controversy" will derail the eventual nomination of Barack Obama. Pundits, please stop speaking on behalf of working class Americans. Oh yeah, Barack Obama is not a Marxist, racist, American hater, Muslim, evil gypsy, etc!!!! LOL!!!
Most importantly, Every American needs to Pay Attention, Wake Up, and of course: VOTE!!!!