After all of the backlash and controversy over the "bitter" statement made by Barack Hussein Obama last month at a California event, questions are arising about the Senator from Illinois and how much is really known about him, after all?
But the process has not left Obama unscathed by political fire. His associations with his former pastor and mentor Jeremiah Wright in the past handful of months, his association with William Ayers, former member of the Weather Underground, and indeed his own statements and some attempts at trying to come across as "just a regular guy" have caused some serious backlash against the Senator from Illinois, questions that quite honestly should have been raised before this late in the primary process.
His response at a San Fransisco fundraiser regarding his inability to win over large numbers of working-class voters by explaining that in their frustration over economic conditions, "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," has further alienated him from some of those very voters even further, and has given his political opponents fodder for labeling him as "aloof and arrogant." His attempts at defusing the situation were not as well received as his campaign would have hoped them to be.
Let's see. Bitter, clinging to guns or religion or antipathy. Just words?
Then there is the issue of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the man Obama had once proclaimed as being his "mentor." His disavowal of Wright's "God damn America" sermon and stance, his denunciation of Wright's Black Liberation Theology approach, and his final "disassociation" with Wright as Wright explained that his approach was that of a minister, and Obama's was that of the politician, came across as being far less than sincere.
"God DAMN America." Just words?
His bowling photo-op became a major laughing stock, with political pundits and comedians making great sport of his low scoring in an attempt to try to come across as Joe Average further strengthened the opinion of many middle class Americans that the Harvard educated lawyer was anything but an "average guy."
The issue of John McCain's proposal at suspending the federal gas tax, parroted and ad-libbed by Hillary Clinton into proposals of turning that tax back onto the oil companies (which they would then turn back around and pass back to the consumer, don't you just love honest knee-jerk reactions?) was met with skepticism by Obama, which led to another opportunity for the dreaded "E-word" to be foisted upon him.
Obama has stated that some experts say it could mean only a $30 average savings per family. That means those who are still unable to afford to take a vacation, won’t, and for others the savings may be $60 or $90 or more.
Elitist Barack Obama thinks that is chump change that won’t make any difference for anyone. Afterall, as we know from the Obama family’s Easter getaway, a vacation for them is a luxury trip to the Virgin Islands. However, for many Americans, summer “vacation” is a trip to another state to visit grandma or a camping trip a few hours away from home. That 18.4 cents per gallon savings can mean the difference of an extra one, two or three tanks of gas or an extra night or two at a motel or campground which can mean the difference between taking the family on a summer vacation -- or NOT.
Obama, of course, is taking great strides to point out that he is anything BUT an elitist, explaining in Indiana to a crowd that he has four pairs of shoes and gets his hair cut frequently because his mother-in-law "makes fun of him" if his hair gets too long, and blames his "out of touch elitist" image on his opponents.
“I’m gonna be fighting as hard as I can to make sure that people understand why I got into this race in the first place, how I got to where I am today, and when they understand that, I think they’ll recognize themselves and that my struggles are theirs and together we can change the country.”
True to that comment, he made sure to point out his non-elite upbringing: "I was raised in a setting with my grandparents who grew up in small town Kansas, where the dinner table would have been familiar to a lot of people here in Indiana – a lot of pot roasts and potatoes and Jell-o molds."
Just an ordinary average guy, as the Joe Walsh song says.
I think the "messiah" image is long gone, as are the women fainting at Obama's speeches.
Then of course, there's his wife, Michelle, who is proud of her country "for the first time" in her life. Personally, I'm always proud of my country. I may take issue with a number of things that the government does, and I may take issue with a great number of things that other people would have this country become, but as far as being an American, yes, I'm proud to be an American. I should hope that deep down, all Americans are. We have a system in place wherein, if we used it, the American people can change the things that we disagree with and make sure that the things we do are right. That doesn't mean equal, that doesn't mean redistribution of wealth by taxing income, that doesn't mean a host of things. It means that we are a nation established to be "by the people, for the people, and of the people." Somewhere along the way we've forgotten that.
It's time that we all remembered it.
Messiah or elitist? Let's close this thought with the words of Protein Wisdom:
In Chicago, where 80% of blacks say jobs are difficult to find, there is a widespread perception among African Americans that immigrant workers are damaging local job prospects. Fully 41% of African Americans say they or a family member have lost a job, or not gotten a job, because an employer hired an illegal immigrant instead. That is nearly double the number of blacks nationally who say this (22%), and almost triple the number of Chicago-area whites (15%) who say an immigrant worker has cost them or a family member a job.
Nearly half of Chicago-area African Americans (46%) favor decreasing the level of legal immigration into the U.S. This percentage is significantly greater than the fraction of blacks nationally expressing this opinion (34%). On most other immigration issues, however, blacks in Chicago have attitudes similar to those of blacks in the national public…
Is Obama — a resident of Chicago — aware of these sentiments in his local black community? Obama’s big speech on race issues does not mention it, though Obama repeatedly referred to white people being angry about losing their jobs to non-whites through affirmative action or free trade. He did not discuss black attitudes at the San Francisco fundraiser which has landed him in hot water. To the contrary, he got a big laugh from the crowd by claiming that these “small town” people had an extra layer of skepticism when being urged to believe in the power of big government “by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama.”
Obama is rapidly gaining the image of an elitist. He will be able to count himself lucky if such incidents do not cost him his already shaky image as a post-racial candidate.
Once and Always, an American Fighting Man
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