Minister of Science and Chief Protector of the Faith

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Contrarywise

 

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama came under fire on Friday for saying small-town Pennsylvania residents were "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion," in comments his rivals said showed an elitist view of the middle class.

Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain both pounced on the comments Obama made last weekend at a fundraiser in San Francisco.

Video of the fundraiser, which was closed to the press, surfaced as Obama was campaigning in Indiana, trying to highlight issues of concern to working-class voters, such as job losses and rising mortgage foreclosures. [...] Reuters

The best take I have read about this issue so far was over at Like Kryptonite To Stupid:

America's tired of the distortion and game-playing by the right wing noise machine, and its pretty sad the failing Clinton campaign felt they needed to jump on this (perhaps it had something to do with the coverage of President Clinton bringing back the phony Bosnia story).

One wonders where all this media concern about elitism was when John McCain was raising millions of dollars in the home of a British Lord.

Oh, that's right. He's a Republican. And he's THE John McCain.

NBC's Chris Matthews: "The press loves McCain. We're his base." [...] Oliver Willis

Oliver Willis also has Obama's quote in context.
 

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17 Comments:

At Sat Apr 12, 11:28:00 AM, Blogger Randal Graves said...

It's obvious that Obama was talking about the catastrophic lack of this product in Pennsylvania. Sheesh!

 
At Sat Apr 12, 02:34:00 PM, Blogger chaos4700 said...

I have to say, Obama is really earning my respect. Bush is supposed to be "plain spoken" and McCain a "straight talker" Obama's the only remaining hopeful who really has the courage to confront and speak about the truth of things.

On a side note, the Democratic party continues to confuse me. It's like they're trying not to win, or something. Seriously, Saddam Hussein's zombified corpse could rise from its grave and run as the Republican candidate (hey, if McCain could get his party's blessing after /that/ primary, anyone can) and the Democratic Party leadership would /still/ have trouble coming up with an effective strategy for beating him.

 
At Sat Apr 12, 04:33:00 PM, Blogger Distributorcap said...

well i guess the bowling story was getting old -- time for the lazy assed MSM to find some new drivel

 
At Sat Apr 12, 05:31:00 PM, Blogger Mauigirl said...

Great post, and thanks for the link to Oliver Willis. I agree, this story is from nowhere and is getting hyped for lack of anything better to talk about. And it's interesting that McCain said almost the same thing but no one jumped on HIM.

 
At Sat Apr 12, 05:37:00 PM, Blogger Christopher said...

Instead of discussing nuclear proliferation, or the national debt, or the Iraq war, or the mortgage mess, or spiraling healthcare costs, the idiot Borg Queen is blathering about Obama's accurate characterization of rural Pennsylvanians who cling to guns and God, as they see their way of life go down the toilet courtesy of NAFTA.

Memo to the Borg Queen: Ya' ain't gonna' catchup to Obama in the delegate count, so drop the hell out of the race. You're not going to be the next president -- so deal with it.

 
At Sat Apr 12, 08:02:00 PM, Blogger Steve said...

what really disturbs me is Obama did not donate 3 dollars of his income tax for public financing of the presidential race.

It is clear now he hates Amerikuh and only want to be our president because he hates us so much.

 
At Sun Apr 13, 01:11:00 AM, Blogger Johnny Yen said...

A friend at work and I were talking about that quote and came to the same conclusion: he spoke the truth and is getting reamed for it. God help anyone who speaks the truth in this campaign.

 
At Sun Apr 13, 10:10:00 AM, Blogger Generalissimo (Dictator) for life said...

Here is a joke for you. What happened when John McCain opened his mouth?










He lost the election!!!

 
At Sun Apr 13, 12:29:00 PM, Blogger ThoughtCriminal said...

Here's the media coverage in a nutshell:

When the tweedle beetles have bitter battle with their paddles in a bottle full of water on a noodle-eating poodle, it's a tweedle beetle noodle poodle water bottle paddle bitter battle.

 
At Sun Apr 13, 02:36:00 PM, Blogger mwb said...

Alice is so appropriate because we're through the looking glass.

We have the millionaire "Heathers" in the media complaining about how one of the Ivy league education, millionaire candidates (as if they all aren't and haven't been for years) - might not actually be Joe Sixpack.

Apparently there are no ACTUAL issues to talk about with the candidates. It's not like they have platforms, policy speeches or voting records that could be discussed or compared.

 
At Sun Apr 13, 11:37:00 PM, Blogger BAC said...

Randal, that was very funny!

Christopher, it's always dangerous to count your chickens before they hatch.

MWB, you have hit the nail on the head. Media CEO's might have to give up their bonuses if they actually paid people to do investigative reporting. That's why we hear the Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann's of the world talk about nothing!! And act as if it were news.


BAC

 
At Mon Apr 14, 06:17:00 AM, Blogger pissed off patricia said...

Man, if you are not frustrated, angry and bitter...you just haven't been paying attention.

Hillary and the media have tried to make a mountain out of a mole hill and meanwhile the president has admitted to okaying torture. Who is talking about that?

 
At Mon Apr 14, 10:11:00 AM, Blogger Dean Wormer said...

I've been interested in politics a long time and there's a lot of pure inane stuff I'm willing to write off as part and parcel of the nature of the beast. But this latest deal is just stupid and it reflects very badly on Hillary Clinton.

Either she shouldn't be the Democratic party nominee because she doesn't understand people are bitter about the economy or, as I suspect, she understands full well that people are bitter about the economy but is still willing to attack Obama by mischaracterizing his words in which case she should not be the nominee for the Democratic party.

"Elite" is Republican party framing and it is absolutely unacceptable that any elected Democrat, much less a candidate for the party nomination for the presidency, would use the term.

There are some things worse than losing.

 
At Mon Apr 14, 12:34:00 PM, Blogger Fran said...

I can't even say a word. Oh I guess I have already said some.

The whole thing is just insane.

At this point I would do anything to prevent a McCain presidency!

Think Supreme Court people.

I wish Hillary would just let go and use her efforts to be for something good.

 
At Tue Apr 15, 03:20:00 AM, Blogger Dr. Zaius said...

Randal Graves: Hey! I should try that stuff in my Magic Underpants! I can avoid those embarrassing "clingy" situations, and then static cling won't hijack those precious memories.

chaos4700: I agree! But you must admit, zombies do make compelling candidates...

Distributorcap: Same old crap in a new package, that's for sure.

Mauigirl: I heard that too! It doesn't surprise me though. The media is like a pack of GOP lap poodles.

Christopher: Hey! I liked the Borg Queen episode of STNG. Don't be mean and compare her to Hillary! ;o)

Pidomon: You indeed have a clear grasp of what is important in this election. Face Front! You are a true believer!

Johnny Yen: Ha! That sentiment contains enough truth to be painful.

Prime Minister Dr.Evil: Hee hee! I love it!

ThoughtCriminal: Now put a walnut in each cheek and say that backwards, and you will make more sense than Wolf Blitzer!

MWB: "Through the Looking Glass" may be appropriate, but i like your comparison to the movie "Heathers!" I think that the GOP is being played by Christian Slater.

BAC: Have some more grapes, BAC! (I agree, Olbermann has been one sided. On the the other hand, Cliton is intentionally creating negative press for herself.)

pissed off patricia: Yes, the brouhaha about this quote is a clear example of nothing plus nothing is still nothing. I just posted about the White House approval of torture, too!

Dean Wormer: I agree. I understand that Hillary is clawing for attention at this point, but she is starting to remind me of Karl Rove.

"There are some things worse than losing."

It would seem that to the Clintons, it is unthinkable.

FranIAm: "At this point I would do anything to prevent a McCain presidency!" I am with you - I have said from the beginning that I would vote for any Democratic candidate, even a lawn chair. That said, I am greatly disappointed in Hillary's performance. And Bill's.

 
At Tue Apr 15, 02:48:00 PM, Blogger dguzman said...

I too am disappointed in the Clintons' performance so far.

As a Pennsylvanian, I think Obama's words were dead-on accurate. I AM bitter. I don't cling to guns or religion or whatever he said; I cling to blogging. But I think it's about time someone accurately assessed the emotional state of Everyman/Everywoman, instead of just repeating that whole "noble working-class saints" bullshit they're always saying.

 
At Wed Apr 16, 06:33:00 AM, Blogger Dr. Zaius said...

I think that despite the harping on by the press, the polls indicate that the public agrees with you.

 

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