Letters to the Editor
-
Missing the point
Even if Obama came off as sounding elitist - I don't think he did, maybe that makes me an elitist, too - the statement still puts him light years ahead of the other candidates.
Before you can solve a problem, before you can even identify a problem, you have to acknowledge the existence of the problem. And one of the biggest problems this country faces is the disdain the American people have for their government. Obama has recognized that this exists, even if he may have misidentified some of the symptoms. McCain's response I can understand, he's attempting to ride the coat tails of the most disastrous presidency in history into office, but for HRC to come back with a quote worthy of George II is beyond belief. Are the people of Pennsylvania too stupid to be mad at a government that has failed them at every turn, or just too passive, Hillary? Are you going to suggest they start eating cake?
Are the people of Pennsylvania bitter? They should be. They, and all the people of the industrial states, have been treated with the same false sympathy and fed the same elitist bullshit we generally reserve for third world countries since the Carter administration. And yes, the Democrats have been at least as elitist as the Republicans here, until now.
Trying to identify and quantify people's anger and pain is not elitist. Treating them like they are stupid is, and our government's failure to replace the industrial jobs they let leave can't be explained by anything other than a belief that people from traditionally blue collar regions are too dumb to do anything else. That's the attitude that McCain and Clinton seem more than happy to perpetuate, and one that Obama is clearly trying to break.
-
Are you trying to not get the point?
And they say black people are sensitive. If anybody does anything but compliment white women or white men, they get accused of sexism or disrespect or appealing to white guilt. Joan Walsh and others have been pointing out for weeks examples of the double standard Hilary Clinton is subjected to as if this is why she is losing. Now, Barack Obama attempts to talk to the electorate as if they are adults, again, in an attempt to rationalize why working class white people so often vote against their economic interests. Maybe, he could have just asked the question directly but I promise that that would not have gone over well either. It really seems that people are looking for a reason to not vote for him. Old habits really do die hard.
-
Essentially, he's on target.
What O said, although irritating to many, was
essentially true--perhaps that's why it was irritating.
These issues are also addressed in Joe Bageant's
book _Deer Hunting With Jesus_.
-
And now for the blowback!
Looks like the Obama story peaked about 3AM last night. What's welling up in its place is Clinton's hypocrisy.
Which candidate profited from foreign speech deals? How much of that money has been lent to the campaign? Who exactly is the elitist?
The rhythm is working better for Obama than Clinton, with nine days to the vote.
-
Ijwalker53
No the media will never catch up. Jack Cafferty from CNN seems totally deranged, Franck Rich and Nicholas Kristoff from NewYork Times are a mixture of mysogeny and blatant partisanship, Chris Matthews is a complete and pompous moron and lots of them are more or less in the same path. It's unfortunate that they are the main influence in elections.
-
@jerm/C.P. Ellis story
Thank you for the Studs Terkel reference--I read about C.P. Ellis perhaps 25-30 years ago in one of his other early books (Working?) and that single story was one of those "aha!" moments when much of my framing changed, along about the same time I was becoming highly aware of new framing for me on women's issues and reading Susan Brownmiller's book (Against Our Will) that AKA also finds so compelling. It was a time when I finally thoroughly discarded my family-of-origin conservative Catholic views and became consistently liberal and progressive in my views. (my mom was spouting Phyllis Schlafly constantly at the time).
The C.P. Ellis story is something I have referred to again and again in conversations with people. It is indeed a classic.
I think it shows up again in American Dreams: Lost and Found by Terkel, another Studs T. book well worth revisiting as we discuss patriotism and what it means.
Great Studs Terkel quotes for your Sunday morning enjoyment:
"The older you are, the freer you are, as long as you last." Studs Turkel at 95 (and yeah, he endorsed Obama)
"I've always felt, in all my books, that there's a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence - providing they have the facts, providing they have the information"
"I hope for peace and sanity - it's the same thing."
"That's why I wrote this book: to show how these people can imbue us with hope. I read somewhere that when a person takes part in community action, his health improves. Something happens to him or to her biologically. It's like a tonic." (hey folks, try GOTV, I know I feel better today)
"I think it's realistic to have hope. One can be a perverse idealist and say the easiest thing: 'I despair. The world's no good.' That's a perverse idealist. It's practical to hope, because the hope is for us to survive as a human species. That's very realistic."
"With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven."
-
check out Bill Clinton expressing Obama's message
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYi_qNWdjgw&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/12/20562/6808
-
and check out Jed Report
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/12/20562/6808
Hillary Clinton: I'm More American Than He Is
-
and in case anyone missed this on CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8dRMofHNs&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/11/235050/410/205/494075
-
Hillary Clinton's hard right turn
Remember how ditching Penn was a "sign" the campaign would be fronting more reasonable policy?
Instead, Clinton is on two wheels headed for the right ditch. This Joe McCarthy stuff is not so much wrong, as ineffective. Give the woman a bottle of vodka, but keep her off the campaign road.
The timing of this extremism also puts the lie to the idea, put forward by Walsh and Dowd and other female pundits, that men are to blame for the Clinton's wacky campaign messages.