Letters to the Editor
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@Dennis Colby
Dennis Colby: "Luckily for Obama, he doesn't seem to buy into the rhetoric from many of the posters here that poor people don't count. Remember when the Democrats were the party that advocated on behalf of poor people?"
This is bullshit, sorry. Please name a single poster in ANY thread of ANY Salon comments section who has said ANYTHING tantamount to the statement that "poor people don't count."
Stop spewing and repeating bullshit, people.
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hahahahah
good one x-man. :)
I to am not for bowing down to racists. Of any color. I don't see this road running the other way. African american's vote white every year to no fanfare. That or not vote. some choice. some government the gop has created.
West virgina admitted 1/4 OF DEMOCRATS that they won't vote for a black man. If 1.4 admit it what is the real number. How many "smart" people lied? but it's obama fault says the gop, clinton included.
It is what it is. They SHOULD be looked at as backwards and rednecks. to allow them to be willfully ignorant does them no favors. their must be a cause to the effect. Shunning the state would be enough. What do they have in terms of tourism, or state product? whatever it is, if anything, patriotic americans should shun the state and not buy west virgina. not go there for tourism. how do you hurt people who care about nothing but money and power? You must take it away from them. how else does one grow? to sit back and say "That's just west virgina" does them no favors. To hold them to account will change them. I bet you kentucky won't vote for clinton in the same margin. They saw what the media and america said about west virgina. What will happen as a result? you'll see kentucky make progress (by 50 years) in two weeks. :) If you catch my drift.
you don't change backwards people, or help them join reality, by allowing their backwards thinking. they must want to change and improve first. That's one. Two is there must be a conseqeunce for not changing and living decades if not centuries in the past. The year is 2008. to those that want to live in 1955 america, go build a time machine. Otherwise you must choose. the past or the future. choose.
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@Phylmom
Don't worry, you're not breaking anything.
I remember Appalachia had a huge upset in college basketball last year. I read about it.
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'Interesting', in the Chinese curse sense
Joan,
I'm glad you think the debate is 'interesting'. I myself think it's depressing in the extreme, and infuriating. I can barely keep my hands from shaking as I type, when I read the kind of disgusting vitriol against people who live in Appalachia, as I do. The fact that I've been hearing it for thirty some-odd years doesn't make it any easier. The irony of it provides some relief, but irony only goes so far.
Here's the odd thing: I'm voting for Obama. I like Obama. I talk to other 'redneck white-trash cousinhumpers' who also like Obama, are interested in him, and have an open mind. Some of them drive pickups with confederate flag license plates, live next to interracial couples, and work with people who live openly in same-sex relationships. Welcome to the New South.
Know what, though? That will all go down the tubes once this kind of garbage makes the rounds down here. The Republicans and their ground machine, intact since 2004, will make sure that it does. Yes, people will want to vote their own interests, but given a choice about who to believe actually represents those, the ones associated with the insults and smears that we are so familiar with down here will not fare well. This is true whether or not they truly believe McCain gives a damn; at least he won't purposefully stick his finger in their eye.
I'll be knocking on doors this fall for Obama. The ones I'll be focusing on are the hard cases, because I've found that I can be persuasive even with right wing Republicans by listening, showing respect and entering into a discussion with them in good faith. I have bona fides they will respect, even though I spent 15 years on the coast, in Seattle, Ground Zero of latte-sipping. Because none of that means a damn thing to most of them. Some won't be swayed ... the ones some of you seem committed to your one-to-many fallacy in believing represent all of us ... but you never actually know who's going to come over until you try to engage them.
I'd appreciate it if the rest of you Obama supporters would either a) put aside your arrogance, reread Obama's race speech and start following his example, instead of trying to launch your own Cultural Revolution, or b) stay the hell home, and not make our jobs any harder. We'll do just fine without y'all. Really.
qs
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It is perhaps condescending to ask "what's the matter with Kansas (Appalachia, etc.)?"
But one can't help but wonder. And one can't help but notice that after a fairly high-minded campaign, at least with respect to an emphasis on the larger issues of the day (the wars, healthcare policy, market reform, foreclosure assistance, etc.), that it all seemed to descend into parody when we reached a certain swath of the country. Then came the emphasis on bowling scores and faux country-accented paeons to days of gun-weilding youth, the ritualistic throwing back of shots and swilling of cheap beer, such pandering nonsense as gas tax holidays and the cheerful dismissals of know-it-all, elitist professions like "economics," a veritable barnstorm of barely disguised condescension laced with childish gestures of comity.
And, boy howdy, the interviews with the local folk! I'd suggest that the MSM failed to accurately portray the views of the typical Appalachian, but we've all seen the exit polling. It would appear that racism is not subtle there, nor is it considered shameful. Like the confederate battle flag in certain parts of Dixie, this is a racism worn as a badge of honor. As Stephen Colbert suggested, one state motto might well be "West Virginia: No Interviews Please".
So, first, I'd ask the Appalachian apologists whether the color of Barack's skin is as defining an issue as the network/cable coverage and exit polls have indicated? Have the people of Appalachia been slandered in this respect, or are they as willing as any demographic to vote for the candidate who best speaks to their issues, whether white, black, hispanic, etc?
And, second, if the race factor is not an irreducible impediment to winning their votes, what issues important to them need to be emphasized to bring them into the Democratic fold?