Fema Employment

What do you think of the ENTIRE Obama quote IN CONTEXT?

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. 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.

Public Comments

1. It's true.
2. I sstill think it was a dumb thing to say. I woudl ask him why he clings to his pastor.
3. I think it was an honest assessment of what he was dealing with in his campaign. If anything, rather overgenerous where some of those individuals are concerned.
4. obama has no idea what Pa is all about and his remarks are an insult to those of us in Pa.
5. Well, I think Obama is the one BITTER, since they are not voting for him
6. Yes - I've read it in the full context numerous times and I'm still scratching my head when we get to the bitter part. It seems that in order to make this claim of clinging to our guns or religion or antipathy - he would actually have to see it happen - not just make a broad assumption that this is what we are doing.
7. Here's some opinion from the people that actually live there - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/13/133215/180/386/494887 even people there agree with Obama.
8. I think it is plain truth. The writers who came up with it should face a firing squad. The fastest way to lose an election is to tell the truth. Republican for Barack Hussein Obama '08
9. This is sentence that really angers me "people who aren't like them" What the heck did he mean by that? Does he really believe Rev Wrights sermons that we are group of prejudice mean white people....... If that is what he believes, he has no business being President.
10. "antipathy to people who aren't like them" = Racists He just called Midwesterners bitter gun toting racists.
11. It's racist generalization and insulting to many who heard it.He has no idea how people feel because he is so much better than them he can't be bothered to find out. He is just a candidate trying to appease every voter and segment of the population in order to win.His whole campaign is built on lies and innuendo. he is fooling so many Americans with his plagiarized speeches it is disgusting.
12. Still sounds like an elitist and arrogant remark, he even thinks he messed up. Thanks for continuing the stupidity and arrogance of Obama.
13. People don't cling to guns because they're poor. Some people cling to guns because they honestly believe guns are more important than their jobs (which I agree is crazy). The problem is, he has everyone who lives in a small town and living a blue collar lifestyle pegged as an NRA quack job. I read and listened to the audio as soon as I heard about it and I don't think anything has been taken out of context.
14. It still rings the same..... religion and guns have been a steadfast part of America since 1776 a.d. people don't cling to either of them, it is nothing but american to do so, well for most of us anyway, the notion that people cling to these wedge issues because of clinton or bush is absolutely absurd, and it shows how much better he thinks he is than the most of america, and i laugh when hillary calls these remarks "elitist" c'mon hillary, your calling the kettle black(no pun intended), McCain may be a washington bearocrat just like h.r.c. or b. obama, but atleast he has a VERY heartfelt voice towards America in general.
15. Even in context, it's a gross over-generalization of huge demographic of people. Having come from a small Midwestern town myself, I know I personally resent the stereotype that we're all ignorant bible-thumping bumpkins and I certainly don't want a president who believes in it.
16. You make a great point. If you look at what he said, basically, he is saying people will vote against their interests when they become bitter. Unfortunately, the Clinton machine is a master of deception, and today is teaming with the RNC to destroy Sen. Obama.
17. I still think he is implying that people have religious beliefs because they are bitter (i.e. Marx's "religion is the opiate of the masses"). That's certainly not true of me, but maybe Obama HAS SEEN religion used as a way to vent bitterness (Rev. Wright seems kind of bitter...), so I'm trying to see it from his point of view. If your "religion" is "just religion", and is not deeply rooted in genuine, hearfelt beliefs, then it is hard to "get it" when others believe for reasons other than their frustration with the way things are... I also think he was implying that all people in rural areas don't like "outsiders" or people who are different. Sorry, no matter how you slice it, it sounds condescending to me (especially considering his audience at the time)...
18. His statement is so true, that it seems to upset the very people it represents. Not just in PA or Ohio, but all over the country, people are bitter about their government's actions. People do look for other means of protection (guns) and saving (religion), when their government and society has failed at both. This is in no way demeaning it is a statement of fact that shows he is "in touch" with our problems, even though many won't admit to themselves that this is what they're feeling. Bitterness is that feeling we all have that we have been forgotten and that nothing will ever change. No where is that more true than in factory towns, rural areas and cities with large pockets of poverty.
19. This says it all "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." Maybe he should have made the same comments about his pastors sermons, and then he would have some credibility. By the way, Clinton was turning around the economy of the midwest. This is another problem, Obama refuses to recognize the success of the Clinton admin. This is the elitist liberal in him, who does not embrace Clinton's third way economics, who fails to recognize that Clinton led this nation in the right direction. Obama wants to turn back to the politics of racism, back to the failed policies of the old democratic machine. What is really sad, is that midwesterner's are not bitter, they are looking at the truth, which Obama does not want to face, that illegal immigration has hurt the working class, that trade agreements only represent international corporations. Obama does not get what this country needs to turn it around, and that is fair trade agreements that represent U.S. workers, and immigration enforcement that doesn't create a 2nd class citizen ship and slave labor, subsidized by the taxes that legal workers pay.
20. "Not surprising that they get bitter, THEY CLING TO GUNS OR RELIGION, or antipathy (dislike) to people who aren't like them (Blacks???), or anti-immigrant, etc." Quite a stereotype. What if this was a white man speaking about inner-city african/american people who live in the projects? He wouldn't last very long, would he? Obama doesn't know squat about rural/small town America, or the value system of these people.
21. I've lived in one of those towns. It's sad to see Main Street stores all shuttered and grown men looking for any kind of odd jobs to make ends meet for their families. No one from the government came to that town unless someone was running for governor or another state legislative post. When we graduated from high school, we all got out fast. Many of the boys joined the military because they didn't know what else to do. Girls went to the cities looking for jobs. But none of us stayed in that little town that our parents met in, married in, and had good times in... until NAFTA. Bitter... hell yes!!! Very bitter. Lives and dreams were destroyed years ago. Now we have a man who calls it just like it is and he is catching flak for telling the raw truth. Now, shame on those people... talking big in their town homes about something they know nothing about. They didn't live it.
22. People don't "cling" to Religious Values (i.e. pro-life) because they are bitter. They are not full of "antipathy", nor are they "anti-immigrant" or "anti-trade". Obama and his elitist San Francisco donors think that if they could just make people in PA not so bitter, they'd see the error of their ways. F*** him.
23. I have heard the full context many times, and when people, like Obama, use this to defend the remark, it just reminds everyone how little he "gets it". Those who think that this statement is the truth are looking down on people in these smaller towns, and thinking that they know what they think, and that they know what is good for them. And that these people are dumb and don't know any better. Just because Obama was making an intellectual analysis does not mean he is any less offensive or any less wrong.
24. It's still wrong and it's still elitist. You have to remember who he was speaking to. It was a group of very wealthy donors in San Francisco. He never thought it would be heard by anyone else since the media had been barred from the event. Would he have said this to a group of blue collar workers in Pennsylvania? No, instead he runs ads saying he doesn't take big money. He goes bowling when it's obvious he probably never bowled in his life. And he throws back a beer that he probably never drank before in his life. So not only is he an elitist, he's a hypocrite. He does and says one thing to your face but behind your back ....
25. It's natural, in times of hardship, for people to turn to religion for guidance. Religion is a constant: you can always rely on God and the Word to be there, even when no one else is. Really, it's quite clear what he meant even without the full context, and he's absolutely right when he states the distortions are just his opponents "playing politics." The one thing people can rely on(as far as politicians go) is that they'll support gun rights or religiously-tied moral issues, so it's only natural they vote on those. Of course they're suspicious of immigrants: there're very few jobs to go around, and any competition or any outsider(especially a politician) is going to be looked upon as competition and/or with a lot of mistrust. That he is cognizant of this problem, IMO, shows that he is leagues ahead of the opposition, and that he grasps the problems we face in a way few politicians do today.
26. Unfortunately, the truth hurts some more than others. I agree with what he said. He is reporting what he is experiencing from the people. Go Obama.