Obama Explains Why Some Small Town Pennsylvanians Are "Bitter"

tchanta,

Thanks for quoting Obama, changing the subject again. Funny how his condescending, arrogant, inaccurate characterization of small-town residents gets magically transformed into an attack on Countrywide and Citibank Mastercard. It's amazing how the magician-in-chief is always able to pull off that sleight of hand without "people like you" noticing. (Yes, I'm stereotyping you as an incurious, credulous dupe -- how do you like it)?

And CaribbeanOutsider, you are missing the point. First of all, his remarks are not "true." They are an interpretation. He said, for example, that small-town Pennsylvanians are "anti-immigrant" because they don't like people who are "different" than themselves. I saw they don't like illegal immigration because it depresses wages for everyone, siphons billions of dollars from our ecomnomy which is then sent to Mexico, overtaxes our schools and hospitals and creates an underclass. Is what I said "true"? Or am I just a racist?

Open your eyes and ears, people. Obama is getting criticized (finally) because he fundamentally misunderstands this country, its people and its problems because he has lived in a cocoon of privilege his entire life.

Obama got the Washington insiders cornered.

McCain and Hillary are saying: We stick it to you, we ship jobs to China, but you are not allowed to be mad!

Senator Clinton says ‘No, I don’t think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack’s being condescending.’ John McCain says, ‘Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he’s obviously out of touch with people.’

“Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain—it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he’s saying I’m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I’m out of touch? No, I’m in touch. I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what’s going on in Indiana. I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They’re angry and they’re frustrated and they’re bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.”

I understand his remarks were in the context of explaining to one of his supporters what she was likely to encounter should she venture into the wilds of rural Pennsylvania. LOL--rather like an anthropologist on Wild Kingdom--tread softly and listen carefully and you may hear the wail of the embittered red-necked Pennsylvania sapsucker...

I especially like that he added "anti-trade sentiment" to the list of frustration-driven phobias for the benefit of the Left Coast crowd. Was that another wink and nod to his crowd that all that anti-NAFTA malarkey was just that for the benefit of the rubes? Way to go O-Man. Winning hearts and minds and unifying the people.

And Obama? One thing about the folks in PA? They generally don't like hearing their state referred to as "mid-western."

I will not reward a racist with the White House....who has sold out his own people in Illinois for Rezko and others.

He was a community organizer to get street cred, because he certainly didn't get it in Hawaii. And like every town and every state Hawaii has a tough part of town, but Obama knew he couldn't walk down there with them. They would see right through him.

He has to wait until he 'cared' about the poor folks in the US, wait until he had his eye on the public trough.

He wants the big cash like the Clinton's got after the White House. There is nothing in that plan for the rest of us. I doubt Obama will raise black folks wages $7800 like Pres Clinton did.

He has never run a state like a Gov does. He has never run a business. He has absolutely no real life experience except the example of his rich grandparents and mother ripping of the state so she could go to school in leisure, while the rest of us paid for it.

My mother had to work several jobs to go to school as a single mother. And didn't have rich paretns to pay private school tuition to keep him away from those Hawaiians who would see right through him.

No thanks....he knows nothing about being poor or middle class. The man still hasn't helped his African relatives into a proper house. When illegal immigrants from Mexico help their family throughout their years in America, sending back money to help them into better houses and businesses back home.

But not Obama....he couldn't help his family.

He shows time and again what his priorities are and it isn't the common folk. It isn't even poor folk as his actions in Illinois and Africa prove.

Yuck...an illegal immigrant on dollars a day helps their family more than Obama has in a lifetime.

Terry don't be stupid. Hillary and McCain never said such things. Hillary never said all Pennsylvanians are happy and all is well and perfect. She said Pennsylvanians are resilient. She was defending that Pennsylvanians have strong character and spirit. However, that doesn't mean she doesn't recognize the problems. She is the one promoting the revitalization of manufacturing and steel industries in America as well as new green collared jobs. She is also the one proposing extensive breast cancer research and a Czar on Poverty. She is the one who donated 10% of her income to charities. Bill clinton also started a program to help build houses for hurricane katrina victims. Just because she used positive adjectives to describe pennsylvanians, does not mean she is oblivious to the economic problems. (it was also Hillary who started about the growing housing crisis since 2007, which now Barack claims to have assessed himself)

Well I for one am relieved that Hussein explained the reason I attend church every weekend. I didn't know it was because I was "bitter". You folks backing him must be very proud. Everytime he opens his mouth this guy is showing about as much tact as Bill Clinton.

/sarcasm off

terry,
...and what about the selfish, arrogance of a neophyte to the political/national/international scene, that thinks a "vision" will miraculously take form AND be passed by congress, as well as thinking he can run a country/

See no evil, hear no evil? If Hillary only see happy and optimistic people in these communities that are ravaged by unemployment, how can she claim to know what they are going through.

I think she and Mccain are truly, truly out of touch with reality. They are only picking on Obama to further their selfish political ambitions.

Obama was asked what questions/comments to expect from potential voters... In response to that question he detailed several types of people... Indeed, some persons are quite poor and they do feel that all is lost, they are sick and tired of promises and as such they have lost confidence in the system/politicians. I am not too sure what world some of you live in but some people do respond to financial downfalls by resorting to drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, religion, crime, sports, recreation, education, suicide, hatred....and the list goes on and on.... So just take the time to understand that these statements are very very very very real. Obama also took the time to state that this is in 'some communities' ... If some of us will take the time to listen and then reflect maybe our undestanding will be more in tune to what was said.

By no means does Obama knows all... The problem however, is that he clearly articulates the situation and challenges us to work our way towards solutions. The question is...Do we wish to conduct our own introspection? There can never be any real solution until we choose to recognize the problem.

Barack's problem may very much be the fact that he is indeed a dreamer who has confidence in others seeing the light/dawn. ...but alas! Few but very few really see the dawn....

It's stupid to say, Hillary and McCain is rich so they don't get it. Are you Obama supporters ignorant? He made 1.7 million in just 2007 alone. He lives in a Mansion in chicago while his district has poor people living in slums with no heat or electricity. His dad was discovered as a rich Kenyan,not as a goats herdsman as Barack keeps sayin. He lived in suburban Hawaii in which his providers worked as a vice president in a Bank. Then he went to all the prep schools and then college. Stop trying to pretend he is some rags to richest story.

Bara

Thanks, gary, well said!

Obama can try to spin this from now until November - but the Swiftboats will be spinning him so fast he won't know what way is up. There's no acceptable reason to bash over half of the people in America if you think you're qualified to be president.

The 2008 election was supposed to be a referendum on Iraq and the GOP and a landslide for the Democrats. Instead Barack Obama has made it a referendum on Black people and their mentality of militant victim hood. This mentality has clearly -jumped the shark- in an America where Asians are wealthier than Whites, where Hispanics outnumber Blacks, and where Black immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean come here voluntarily and do well.

Martin Luther King was a great American. MLK would never have stood and listen to haters without speaking up. Obama’s spiritual advisor like Wright, Lee, Meeks, Jackson, Sharpton are discrediting what MLK stood for in life. These haters are opening the gates to something that is not health for America.

Somewhere, Martin Luther King is hanging his head in despair that the movement he worked so hard and gave his life for has been hijacked by HATRED.

This is exactly the reason why there is a racial gap in this country, Whites are mad this Black man said something like this. Or some will say he should have voted no instead of present. But the fact is he is DEAD RIGHT in what he said White America right now is mad about "illegal" immigration, because "they" are coming over here taking "our" jobs. The jobs have left this country over the last 15 to 20 years ever since Reagan broke the air traffic controllers union. Why isn't anybody talking about Hillary helping rubberstamp everything the current administration pushed through. It's no different, she did nothing to stand up to this administration. Don't demonize this man for telling the truth, look in the mirror and look at what's staring back.

How it it "Arm chair psychology?" If you read the entire quote, you can see he's on their side, and feels empathy for their pain.

Obama had by far the poorest upbringing of the three candidates. His mother was on food stamps from time to time, for cripe's sake. He went to school on scholarship and had to take after school jobs at Burger King and Baskin Robbins.. He didn't make $109 million in seven years and he is not married to a beer heiress.
This is just an excuse to jump on Obama instead of really looking at what he has to say and using it as a springboard for dialog

Having been born into a relatively poor family myself, I see no merit in having a President who shares my background. Nor need my President look like me, nor share my religion. But at least I would like one who, having achieved adulthood, landed on the same planet. Obama lives in ultra-liberal la la land, and the real problem with him is that, like all uber-liberals, he is convinced he knows us. He is, paradoxically, like the great white hunter who THINKS he knows us because he visited our land and traded beads for our elephant tusks.

once again obama reveals his feelings about white people and about God.

then he tries to spin it away.

harping on the word 'bitter' is like harping on the word 'bosnia.' without the complete context, you're making an uninformed opinion.

"But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. 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 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. 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing."

I'm sure credible pschologists and those in the medical field would vouch that people facing hard times are bitter. I would be bitter if I were o lose my job and my home, and my children are starving and without a roof over their heads. With rising crimes, who would want to give up their guns? And who wouldn't pray harder to save this from sinking. What do rich folks, like the Clintons, the Bushes, the McCains know about the poor being desperate and bitter. They've never have to face poverty. Senator Clinton must be blind to the desperation the PA voters are facing in their state. How can those facing hard reality be resilient. Resilent to what when they know that the Government and the Baron Robbers are not on their side! As usual, Sen Clinton lives in her fanrasy island. She just doesn't het it!

what sort of fallout would there be if hillary had said something to the effect of: i know there are blacks in the inner cities that feel they are at a deadend, no jobs, no prospect of getting ahead, no hope. this is why they have gotten guns, become addicted to, and selling drugs, join gangs and shoot each other. they are just bitter...
she would be tar and feathered...the mainstream media just lets bho continue with his free pass...as this will.