- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
All this hand wringing over Barack Obama's supposed "Bittergate" gaffe seems a
satire on TV news people's preoccupation with trivia and their insistence on telling
viewers what to be concerned about. The president's admission that he supported
"enhanced interrogation" despite his earlier claim that Americans don't torture?
Ignore that news thunderbolt while pondering ad nauseam how Obama's "elitist" use of the words "cling" and "bitter" could derail his drive toward the White House.
To lump TV professionals into a group would be stereotyping. But it's
fair to imagine they don't encounter many so-called blue-collar workers --
even if they commute to work. Having ridden the D.C. and New York subways,
I know relatively few passengers visit with many other people.
It's different on a bus in the Midwest where you see the same people every day. As an editorial writer riding the bus to work for 23 years, I engaged dozens of commuters in conversation. Beset with worries, they typically clung to their hobbies as a way of getting through the week. Hardly any mentioned hunting, but some talked fishing, and a few, including bus drivers, were stock car enthusiasts. Some of those so-called "working class, blue-collar people" considered church activities a big part of their lives. They would not have recoiled at the suggestion that it amounted to "clinging" to something valuable in times of trouble. Nor would they have denied being bitter.
Bitter about what? Only about low pay, long hours, disrespect from employers and the threat of layoff. When politics came up, the typical comment was, "Politicians . . . there's not a nickel's worth of difference between any of them." That was during five presidential administrations -- Carter up to and including Bush II. I imagine the picture was largely the same in Pennsylvania.
Motives in hyping the "elitist Obama" angle seem to vary. I imagine most news
people on the 24/7 networks just want something to talk about (as contrasted with
something to work on) -- a new development in the seven-month horse race. Some, however, seem determined to scuttle Obama's candidacy no matter what. Most impassioned, perhaps, is psychiatrist-turned-columnist Charles Krauthammer. He says the elitism controversy gives prospective voters insight into Obama's character. This from a pundit who saw in George W. Bush "character" enough to
give Republicans decades of dominance.
If uttering the words "cling" and "bitter" amount to a controversy, I can't imagine how
many more speed bumps Obama will hit between now and Nov. 4. All he can do
is be himself -- "frank, feisty and populist," as Joan Walsh puts it -- and tell the truth,
which, after all, is the easiest to remember.
