comment #1

dinther says ...

Spot on.

Of all the candidates, to call Obama the elitist is absurd. He knows of what he speaks, having been the only candidate to grow up in less-than-privileged circumstances, and having spent his time working on the front lines in poor communities.

Not everyone in small-town America is bitter, but they're also not stupid: they know when they've been ripped off and shat upon for 7 years. However politically incorrect, Obama spoke the truth.

comment #2

Josh Massey says ...

"having been the only candidate to grow up in less-than-privileged circumstances..."

Life sure was tough on the hard, unforgiving streets of - Honolulu. From within the walls of his private school.

comment #3

christian says ...

Obama has already blinked. Way to stand up.

comment #4

VedaPierce says ...

"...But the people he just alienated weren't voting for him anyway. Or Hillary."

Showing once again the Democrats uncanny ability to alienate the very people who would benefit most from their economic and social policies.

comment #5

AH says ...

I agree with what Obama said. The problem is two fold: a) people don't want to hear it; and b) the other candidates don't are piling on Obama for it because they want to pander to the voters.

So, the question, given this reaction, is: would you rather have a candidate who tells the truth but cannot win because of that or one who panders but gets the votes?

comment #6

dinther says ...

Do your homework, Josh. Obama was raised by a single mother from the age of two, and was shuttled around to different schools in different communities. Does this make him "privileged?"
Does the fact that he went to private school make him "privileged?" That would come as a great surprise to a large tranche of families who send their children to private schools.

He is the only one of the candidates to have spent his time working full-time with the poor. If you had spent time in those communities, you would understand how he is not "condescending" to these people, as some have suggested, but addressing a truth head-on.

comment #7

deadre says ...

this situation is just sickening. I believe what he said certainly had ring of truth and he gets slammed. You can't say anything in this country these days without being labeled something. He's speaking the truth and he has to apologize. Hillary should just be ashamed of herself, talk about an hypocrite and McCain, well he's forced to pounce. If this frank remark hurts Obama then we're just doomed to continue screwing ourselves. Amazing how far the Clintons have fallen during this process, not impressive at all.

comment #8

Walter Sobchak says ...

"Not everyone in small-town America is bitter, but they're also not stupid:"

Well, that depends. You see, if they vote for Obama, then they're wise, salt-of-the-earth, iron-blooded, heartland Americans. But if they vote for John McCain, (or Hillary), then they're drooling, slack-jawed, bible-waving hayseeds.

We'll have to see.

comment #9

Mgmax says ...

You know, when the debate is between "You insulted much of your voter base by describing them as depressed hicks who turn to God and guns for what tiny, crabbed pleasures they can find in this life" and "You accurately described much of your voter base by describing them as depressed hicks who turn to God and guns for what tiny, crabbed pleasures they can find in this life," it's hard for me to see how you attract voters either way.

Life in the country with a pickup truck and a gun and church on Sunday might bore the living shit out of you, it would me, I'm pretty much never moving anywhere that doesn't have good delivery Thai food, but the people who have that life generally are fairly content with it, because if you DON'T want it, it's just not that hard in this country to go have a different one. And partly as a result of that, they mostly don't see themselves (despite 70 years of welfare state conditioning) as some underprivileged class of losers in need of rescue from Harvard-trained lawyers. Another generation or two and we'll all see government as the fount from which all blessings flow, praise be unto our elite overlords who hold the power of life and death over us in the single-payer health care state, but for the moment, the spirit of liberty and individual initiative and responsibility still exists in such places.

comment #10

Ogami Itto says ...

"Well, that depends. You see, if they vote for Obama, then they're wise, salt-of-the-earth, iron-blooded, heartland Americans. But if they vote for John McCain, (or Hillary), then they're drooling, slack-jawed, bible-waving hayseeds."

I doubt any bible-waving (and gun-lovin') hayseeds would ever vote for an African American from any political party.

comment #11

christian says ...

"And partly as a result of that, they mostly don't see themselves (despite 70 years of welfare state conditioning) as some underprivileged class of losers in need of rescue from Harvard-trained lawyers."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disappointing first-quarter earnings from General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and a drop in U.S. consumer confidence to its lowest in more than a quarter century in early April provided the latest signs the U.S. economy may be in a recession.

No, they're all jes plumb content and filled with self-actualized, non-college-learning pride that jobs are being shipped overseas and a war started by a Yale-educated president is worth every tax-payer penny. Thank God them li'l folk only know the government's there to protect them.

Mgmax, your posts are starting to sound like a well-read Sean Hannity speech.

comment #12

Mgmax says ...

And John McCain is starting to sound like Mr. President.

comment #13

D.Z. says ...

Josh: "Life sure was tough on the hard, unforgiving streets of - Honolulu. From within the walls of his private school."

At least he earned his way to a private school.

Mgmax: "but the people who have that life generally are fairly content with it, because if you DON'T want it, it's just not that hard in this country to go have a different one."

And yet the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the decline of the middle class, says otherwise.

"And partly as a result of that, they mostly don't see themselves (despite 70 years of welfare state conditioning) as some underprivileged class of losers in need of rescue from Harvard-trained lawyers."

Yes, lawyers are best for defending over-privileged Republicans who out secret agents when they get caught lying about war.

"Another generation or two and we'll all see government as the fount from which all blessings flow, praise be unto our elite overlords who hold the power of life and death over us in the single-payer health care state, but for the moment, the spirit of liberty and individual initiative and responsibility still exists in such places."

If having your job shipped to another country and dealing with Wal-Mart killing your small business can be considered liberty and individual initiative, then sure.

comment #14

sumo-pop says ...

I was born in the hills of Kentucky to a family of coal miners who might well take offense to being spoken to like adults. And they would be wrong. On several occasions whether it be to auto workers about fuel efficiency, the teachers union about merit pay, or the black community about the need for fathers to be in their children's lives this man has continued to speak the truth. I just think that it has been so long since we've heard such a thing from an elected official that we have difficulty recognizing it. We'll have to see if truth will out but for me hope dies last.

comment #15

Chicago48 says ...

He was politically incorrect and hallelujah! He speaketh the truth and the electorate gets upset. Do we want someone who speaks the truth -- yes! the American public is bitter so we cling to our "linus" blankets of religion and guns -- or do we want someone who sugar coats how Americans feel?

comment #16

christian says ...

A nation that worships American Idol is probably not to be given the benefit of the doubt these days.

comment #17

K. Bowen says ...

You all are a bunch of vapid, bitter lunkheads who are lucky to live in the same country as us. Hey, would you come vote for us on Tuesday?

comment #18

Mgmax says ...

I voted for Jesus before I voted against him.

comment #19

christian says ...

And why wouldn't the nation rush into that big tent of tolerance known as the GOP, who only condemn fags, liberals, and Hollywood.

comment #20

bikinigirl says ...

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comment #21

truefaith says ...

"Of all the candidates, to call Obama the elitist is absurd. He knows of what he speaks, having been the only candidate to grow up in less-than-privileged circumstances, and having spent his time working on the front lines in poor communities. "

dinther: Do you know ANYTHING about Obama? He did NOT grow up in "less-than-privileged circumstances." For your information, Obama went to Punahou, an elite private school, in Honolulu, HI. Punahou is a school that molds leaders and business execs. It is comparable to New York's Waldorf School. It is the type of school where all the rich kids go to. This is probably where Obama developed his elitist attitudes. So don't say that Obama grew up in less-than-privileged circumstances. It really makes you Obama-supporters look stupid and not know anything about your candidate.

comment #22

truefaith says ...

"Josh: "Life sure was tough on the hard, unforgiving streets of - Honolulu. From within the walls of his private school."

At least he earned his way to a private school. "

D.Z.: Obama started to go to Punahou, an elite private school in Honolulu, in the 5th grade. Did he start to earn his way when he was 10 years old???

comment #23

D.Z. says ...

truefaith: Bush was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and was still a C-average student, so I'd say yes.

comment #24

dinther says ...

Er, Truthfaith, maybe reading is not your forte. So let's try it again, this time a bit slower.

Once again, explain to me how going to a private school makes you "privileged." If everyone who goes to private school is a fortiori privileged, your definition of "privilege" embraces just about every social class and loses its meaning.

And once again, if you had worked in poor communities - as I have, and, by the tone of your remarks, you apparently haven't - you would appreciate that he is completely spot on with his remarks. People in these communities latch on to issues (e.g., religion, guns, abortion) for dear life and often vote against their own economic interests.

And please, stop with this elitism tripe. When he left Harvard Law as president of the HLR, Obama could have written his own ticket and insulated himself from the poor, hid away in some cul de sac while pulling in a handsome big-firm income. He elected to work at a small firm working focused on community development. By contrasts, "elitists" distance themselves from the less fortunate.

comment #25

chocolategenius says ...

Mmmmm. So Obama is elitist because he went to a private school but a part of the Republican platform is to create vouchers so that poor people can afford to send their kids to private school because public schools suck. I think I detect a bit of hyprocrisy.

comment #26

Major Calloway says ...

Please pardon this alignment test....

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