A Combination of Things

The “Bitter” End

“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 nothings replaced them, and they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. 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.”

The only reason this is a problem for people is because he is right. If Barack Obama was not running for president and was instead a professor at Harvard releasing the findings of some sociological survey or even just an intelligent person with an idea, nobody would care about this. People would either a) dismiss it altogether which would only happen if b) anybody bothered to read it or pay attention in the first place.

He is not a professor however, he is running for president so commenting on the state of the people who inhabit the land he is hoping to govern is off limits. that makes perfect sense. I have always said that the quality that i most look for in a president is to sugar coat the truth so i dont have to think about what is wrong with my country. I want my president to only tell me good things and if there are no good things to tell i want him to make them up and when there only bad things going on in the world i want him to spin them and twist them and manipulate them in such away that they appear to be good. Just like we have now. I want a liar. i want someone to patronize me and pretend that i am stupid and i will gladly play along because it is my president who is asking. If you can relate to these thoughts then please leave this site and go back to sleep with your gun under your pillow where you’ll be safe from intelligent thought and reason.

What surprises me about this whole thing, is that what Barack said isnt even a new idea. it is widely accepted information. Arent there examples of this exact thing happening through out human history? When people get scared and frustrated and there arent easy answers they turn to things they can control and that have always been their for them. In America, as well as in every country to ever grace this planet, these things have always been religion, an intolerance for people that are different from them and eventually violence.

This isnt news, this is just how it works.

Do I wish he hadnt said it? Yes, but only because now he has to answer for it. Do i think he’s wrong? I most certainly do not. I have a bigger problem with Hillary Clinton and John McCain choosing to respond to this by pretending that people who are really struggling in Pennsylvania and in other abandoned industrial towns throughout the US feel just fine about their lot in life. they arent bitter. They’re happy.

No one is blaming them for being bitter so there is no need to get defensive John and Hill. Recognition of things like the state of the people in the nation you are hoping to govern is what the job of President is all about. Its called compassion and empathy. Maybe Barack’s biggest asset in this election is that he wasnt built in a generic politicians factory and come equiped with both of these abilities.

I bet you a million dollars that factory used to be in Pennsylvania but is now in Mexico or China.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bitter, Hillary Clinton, PA