Barack Obama, The Post-American

Barack Obama, it seems, has lost his groove.  For the sake of reference, lets recount exactly what the senator from Illinois said about the regular folks:

“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 it’s not surprising then 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."

What this exposes is not a malice towards the small-town America because Obama has no understanding of it, but rather a complete lack of respect for those who go to church and believe in owning guns.  Obama thinks in terms of politics, and the issues of religious and guns are to him simply that of political agitation.  He has no idea what it means to live a regular life where going to church  and owning guns aren't a political statement, but rather simply parts of regular life.  Barack Obama chose his church, now infamous, not because of faith but because of the electorate he represented in that state senate.  All his decisions in life are based on politics, and the next move.  His private life is a political life.

Senator Obama has no idea what regular American life is like.  He has no idea the role church plays in the everyday life of people who have no political ambition, of the message and unity that church brings to the lives of small town Americans and the values that they reflect.  Listen to his words, which bridle on hate.  "Cling" he claims regular folks do to religion.  That implies there is no true belief, but rather simply an outlet for anger and frustration.  Has Senator Obama been to a service in these towns he speaks so divisively of?  Has he not attended the festivals these churches organize for their flock?  Has he never seen the charity of a collection plate in a small town where people who can't give still do? 

Elitism isn't the word for Senator Obama.  Obama does represent change in American, but its not the change that comes from racial conciliation or post-partisanship?  Of the former, we are well on our way; while of the latter, it is simply a pipe-dream so long as party politics lives.  Instead, Obama represents a radical change from embracing traditional American values.  I used to not entirely believe what many of the right have said that Obama while lurch this country to the far left like never before.  I didn't believe it until I heard this. 

The change Obama represents is Post-American.   Instead of embracing our history, Obama is hostile too it.  For middle America, those who love their god, feel they have a right to bear arms to protect their families, and worry of the danger  that comes with an unregulated sea of migration from the south.  In Obama's world, these are bitter people and their religion and political beliefs are a manifestation of this bitterness.  Yet for much of the country, this is the definition of their American - the freedom to protect themselves, their borders, and find true happiness in their religion.  Obama believes that happiness is derived from occupation.  When someone disagrees with him, he sees it as bitterness towards a failed life.  Even those who have lost jobs don't see their lives as failures.  They find happiness in family, property, and church.  For much of the country, that is America. 

But not for Senator Obama.

Comments

[sisterrosetta]

April 11, 2008
Obama Spins Furiously

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/04/020276.php

EXCERPT

Note the difference between what Obama said in an unguarded moment in San Francisco, and the cleaned-up version he tried to sell tonight.

San Francisco:

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.

Indiana:

So people end up voting on issues like guns and are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. They take refuge in their faith and their community, and their family, and the things they can count on.

[novamiddleman]

Obama was half right in his statement

Its the twentyfirst century manufacturing is a dying sector. You need a college education to make it in this world. The attitude of protectionisim and helplessness does nothing. I equate this same attitude with sections of the inner cities where people expect the government to somehow rescue them from themselves.

Its similar to what McCain said about jobs not coming back to Detroit

However then Obama continued speaking trying to make the argument that having religion or being in favor of guns is somehow part of the problem of why people are in the economic situation they are in.

I expect what he was hinting at is that to better your situation you should be voting democrat instead of republican. Going back to the inner city example voting democrat doesn't seem to have worked either. It shouldn't matter; its not the governments job to find a job for you provide for you or rescue you from yourself.

Obama really blows it in the second half of his statement. Making a general statement that having religion or being in favor of guns is inherently bad or causing a negative effect on your life is about the dumbest analogy I have seen a politician make in a long time.

[novamiddleman]

Obama was half right in his statement

Its the twentyfirst century manufacturing is a dying sector. You need a college education to make it in this world. The attitude of protectionisim and helplessness does nothing. I equate this same attitude with sections of the inner cities where people expect the government to somehow rescue them from themselves.

Its similar to what McCain said about jobs not coming back to Detroit

However then Obama continued speaking trying to make the argument that having religion or being in favor of guns is somehow part of the problem of why people are in the economic situation they are in.

I expect what he was hinting at is that to better your situation you should be voting democrat instead of republican. Going back to the inner city example voting democrat doesn't seem to have worked either. It shouldn't matter; its not the governments job to find a job for you provide for you or rescue you from yourself.

Making a general statement that having religion or being in favor of guns is inherently bad or causing a negative effect on your life is about the dumbest analogy I have seen a politician make in a long time.

[sisterrosetta]

OBAMA ILL

Obama: 'Bitter' comments were ill chosen

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-12-obama-comments_N.htm?csp=34

EXCERPT

Clinton hit all those themes in lengthy comments to manufacturing workers in Indianapolis.

"I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its policies," she said. "Now, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it's a matter of constitutional right. Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of personal faith."

"I grew up in a churchgoing family ...," she continued. "The people of faith I know don't 'cling' to religion because they're bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich ...

"I also disagree with Senator Obama's assertion that people in this country 'cling to guns' and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration," she said.

"People don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them."

[sisterrosetta]

Obama To Rural Pennsylvanians: Vote For Me, You Corncob-Smokin', Banjo-Strokin' Chicken-Chokin' Cousin-Pokin' Inbred Hillbilly Racist Morons

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/259984.php

“morons”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txrikNFX-8E

[George Templeton]

What Obama said mirrors that book "What's the Matter with Kansas." That regular folks who vote Republican are fooled by social issues into voting against their own interests. Those regular folks that vote Republican are stupid and easily led. Liberal elitism at its finest.

[Isophorone]

Note that one can easily turn Obama's words around on his own co-congregants and constituency. I had a lot of fun doing that!

[sisterrosetta]

THE SAGA CONTINUED

April 13, 2008
Annie Get Your Gun

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/annie_get_your.html

EXCERPTS

Clinton, who has over the past two days, touted her family's roots in Scranton, PA, as working class and church-going, has also portrayed herself as a defender of the Second Amendment. Obama tonight questioned her commitment, saying she is playing politics with guns. He said she was trying to appear like "Annie Oakley."

SENATOR OBAMA

In a fiery speech, Obama again defended his comments, which have dominated the political dialogue for the past 48 hours, and he hit Clinton for using what he said were using Republican talking points against him.

"She knows better," Obama said. "She knows better. Shame on her. Shame on her. She knows better."

SENATOR CLINTON

The Clinton campaign released a statement calling Obama's evening remarks an "outburst" and saying that "the shame is his."

"For months, Barack Obama and his campaign have relentlessly attacked Hillary Clinton's character and integrity by using Republican talking points from the 1990s," spokesman Phil Singer said in a statement. "The shame is his. Sen. Clinton does know better -- she knows better than to condescend and talk down to voters like Senator Obama did. Senator Obama’s outburst won't change the fact that he has embraced his characterization of the millions of Americans who live in small towns."