Speaking of Elitist
I just ran across a post by Queen of Spain that really voices what I was trying to get across (but failed miserably when compared). I really need to pay more attention to other blogs.
The post is title “Elitist My Ass” and here’s the part that spoke to me:
Barack Obama is giving voice to millions of us by speaking the TRUTH. He’s simply vocalizing exactly what I hear from my Uncle, from my High School friend, from my former teacher, from my now re-located parents. He is speaking about what he’s heard, what he’s been told, what he has seen.
Senator Obama’s remarks reminds me yet again that he is one of us. He GETS IT. He knows that I LEFT Detroit. I AM BITTER. I AM PISSED OFF. THERE ARE NO JOBS IN MY HOMETOWN. I couldn’t move my family back there if I WANTED TO.
Thank you! Thank you for writing this. This is exactly how I feel. I want to move so far out of Ohio I forget what a real buckeye looks like because there’s nothing here for me. That makes me bitter and angry.
I wrote this in the comments:
I live in Tuscarawas County, Ohio- which is small town/rural Midwest (Google is your friend, Jack). We have seen thousands of jobs move away, are watching our farmland and homes be auctioned off, and are desperately trying to put food in our pantries. The only candidates out of touch and elitist here are Clinton and McCain.
Obama sees what’s going on in areas that were previously prosperous due to the manufacturing industry- which has left us high and dry. He isn’t just pandering and spouting off nonsense about his grandpappy taking him shooting when he was a little boy- he’s talking to the people who are affected right now.
Clinton can shove it, as far as I’m concerned.
(Please forgive me for being a little, um, passionate about this subject. My husband’s job may be on the chopping block and we’re desperately trying to hold on to our house.)
The husband’s job on the chopping block is true. This is why we want to move away. But we can’t. There’s no one to buy our house. We’re lucky right now because he’s got a job. However, his hours are getting cut left and right, so we’re concerned about a layoff. There are already people in the managing office getting laid off. Were that to happen to him I really don’t know what we’d do. His work requires people to be building and buying. That’s not happening right now.
So, Sen. Clinton can spout off all day long about when her grandpa took her to their property by the lake (We don’t own property by the lake) to shoot some guns (really? I doubt it), but she’s not seeing the big picture. Which is people in this area, and similar areas across the country (including Pennsylvania) are angry because we’re getting the short end of the stick here. Just when we thought we were making it, giving our kids the best, it’s getting yanked out from under us. One auction at a time.
There is nothing elitist about what Obama said. He spoke the truth- loud and clear.
Here are some facts as I see them (from rural Southeastern Ohio):
- People are losing their homes and praying to God that a miracle happen so they don’t have to.
- People are losing jobs and getting pissed that cheaper labor is taking them (Thanks to the “Illegal Immigrants are taking over America” mantra being spouted they aren’t blaming the companies that are hiring the cheaper labor- they’re blaming immigrants. FACT.)
- People are losing hope and are clasping the familiar and what they have known their entire lives.
It’s condescending to spout off about going to a lake property to shoot guns when you’re a tot just because you think someone will “relate”. It’s not condescending to say “This is what’s happening and this is why” when speaking of people facing economic loss and hardship. It’s condescending to say that speaking this truth is somehow wrong. Obama put words to what is happening in our lives. That is not elitist- that is realistic.
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I think it was the “cling to” part that made people call him elitist, not the “bitter” part. But whatever, it’s a tiny quibble, and even Obama has said he could have put it better. I, too, am disgusted with Hillary’s pandering — and I used to think she’d be a better Dem nominee than Obama. Now I wish she’d just hang it up and get the hell out.
I agree 100% with you on this one! i laughed at this whole ordeal - it’s stupid…i live in pa - we don’t have jobs, people here are exactly as obama described them. the real problems is this is the best clinton and mccain can find against him - obama’s not a compulsive liar like some candidates.
it’s funny but what drew my attention to this post was seeing “tusacawarus”- we were lost in an area around here and renamed it tuska-walrus, lol.
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Miz UV,
The way I was reading it was that people are pissed about the “bitter” part. I don’t know for sure. Either way, it’s true. And really, Clinton pandering the way she is doing is sickening.
Chelle,
It’s getting ugly here. So many people are going jobless. Our biggest employer is Wal-Mart now, which isn’t a very good place to work if one wants to stay off public assistance.
Tuscarawas: Tusk-Ah-RAH-wus Your new pronunciation is hilarious, though.
I don’t find it hard to believe you were lost here. It’s pretty desolate. Were you by chance visiting our amazing Amish Country?