his denigrating of partisans, of everyone old, of all fighters, of civil rights heroes, the race speech was all highlighting negatives about groups, and this, and ...

His whole "unity" bs is built on denigrating everyone else, i find--knocking everyone else down in order to build yourself up. And it goes way beyond the usual us/them of politics.

She said that Obama was just telling it like it is there's "crackers in dem der hills"
I think the Hill reference was intentional. What whites who are not privileged have suspected, then have known from the grandma speech is that Obama hates whites period.
His "typical white" comment was easily said because he says a lot worse behind closed doors to his non-anglo loving wife Michelle and his anti-jew paster Wright.
This latest censure was nothing more than to increase the traditional boundary of "cracker" and move it up to Pennsylvania, an up until now traditionally "cracker free" zone. Could someone print out those typical white T-Shirts with saltines please? can't wait until he begins calling Ohioans "white trash"

from the comments at TalkLeft...ugh.

When even CNN's Candy Crowley (no friend to any Democrat) is preemptively spinning for him...

as usual.

They can't resist any Clinton stuff, and totally ignore Obama's "gaffes" -- and all of McCain's too needless to say.

Obama were no longer media darling?

with the bowling and "elitist" stuff--and the fact that this made the news at all this time (it wouldn't have a few months ago) proves it.

--another perfectly right comment at TalkLeft-- "... doesn't mean that the cult of republicanism - including the GOP corporate media - won't zero in on this like a laser if Obama is the dem nominee. Today's gaffe is just a deposit in the smear bank that we'll hear about in spades come September if Obama is the dem. They'll be no Bill Clinton distractions, only media darling mccain, and Obama. Obama will take a beating and he better have some pretty damn good, lighting quick responses as even non-gaffes are turned into negatives." -- http://www.talkleft.com/comments/2008/4/...

That's what the GOP will try to do to Obama and this crap does not help.

I've got to disagree with you, jeqal, that Obama hates whites. I don't think it's a race issue, it's a class issue. And I don't think Obama hates working class people, I think he doesn't identify with their culture and it shows. Which would be fine if he didn't seem to feel the need to denigrate it. If there's anything telling about Obama's attitude in his remarks, I thought it was his need to reduce the Pennsylvania working class culture to the most basest of stereotypes.

It's too bad because, as I said in my post, Obama is right on the economics of the area, it's just a shame that his understanding ended there. Because it's hard for anyone to hear you clearly if you've just insulted them.

McCain's already on it. He is going to be a disaster in the GE.

A lot of Obama supporters say people like me are hoping Obama will lose. No, I'm hoping Obama won't lose. I'm not voting for him, I live in KY(which I think Clinton could have a shot at) so it won't matter to Obama(not that my vote has ever seemed to matter to Obama). I haven't decided if I'm going to vote Green or write in Clinton(I won't vote for a republican, I'm a good democrat). But I do hope there are enough voters in the states that will matter, to push him over the edge. I just don't think it will happen.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

hatred of the Clinton's would be an advantage for her in the GE. It eventually reaches a backlash point, and helps her, because a lot of people see it as unfair.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

And not being able to empathize with people not of your class. Yet another reason why the media had to jump on the Tina Bachtel story so hard--Not only was Hillary empathizing with people, she was constructing an alternative narrative. Can't have that.

Notice also that Obama, as usual, lumps together Bush and Clinton with this:

And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration....

Now, in an academic sense, of course, Obama is right on the macro trends.

But what I remember, and most of America remembers, is that times were better under Clinton.

So, I'm betting the "creative class" [cough] rhetoric isn't going to play too well.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Or really two problems are the policy implications (Pennsylvanians are only anti-trade because they're bitter?) and the risk of re-raising Wright. As to the first one, tell me again why I should believe Obama will do something about trade? If anyone has a reason to be bitter about free-trade its steel workers. Or, more accurately, former steel workers. They got screwed so others could get rich. It's not some irrational hatred they cling to.

As for Wright, it's best not to make broad sweeping generalizations about others' religious beliefs after you've just spent the last several weeks defending your own. I'm just sayin'.

And I've already read comments on blogs defending Obama because what he said was right. Wow. Just, wow. So, I'm guessing we're going to get a whole new round of the creative class looking down their noses at the American working class. Because they're all about unity.

They fell through the Reagan and Bush I administrations too.

Why didn't His Transcendantness mention them?

Oh, wait, that's right, he thinks Reagan took office to offset the excesses of the Sixties and Seventies.

You know, the Civil Rights Movement and Womens' Liberation and silly stuff like that.

------------------------------------------------
"The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion." - Molly Ivins (RIP)

that's a surprise.

"Senator Obama has said many times in this campaign that Americans are understandably upset with their leaders in Washington for saying anything to win elections while failing to stand up to the special interests and fight for an economic agenda that will bring jobs and opportunity back to struggling communities. And if John McCain wants a debate about who's out of touch with the American people, we can start by talking about the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans that he once said offended his conscience but now wants to make permanent,”

*What Obama Really Meant

------------------------------------------------
"It's like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong." - Molly Ivins (RIP)

“I saw in the media it’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter. Well, that’s not my experience.

“As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children.

“Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them, they need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families.”

*Clinton's statement today on her "Solutions for the American Economy" tour.

h/t No Quarter

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

this has to be by far the most bizarre take on this whole situation. Sorry for the link to kos, but it has to be read to be believed. for the record, i'm a gay man, and I find this horrifying if actually written by a gay man, but I must say, it seems more like some strange outreach to gay men using every stereotype the author can think of.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

every day is stranger than the last....

I mean, "my faucet had been dripping for weeks"? Will Dr. Freud please pick up the white courtesy phone?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

... get bitter.

[rimshot. Laughter]

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

would grow cynical about politicians telling them only what they want to hear and not take their concerns - or them - seriously. It's not like they have politicians coming there and promising to reform NAFTA only to then go to some big San Francisco fundraiser and tell all the California millionaires and billionaires that those poor workers "cling" to their guns, bigotry, and anti-trade sentiment - and how nice of him to lump those things together - because they're bitter. Hard to believe they'd be bitter.

Don't get me wrong, Obama would be a gazillion times better for working class folks than McCain. But that doesn't mean comments like his don't feed into the very cynicism he claims to want to defeat.

Here's an idea Obama why don't you demonstrate you take working class people seriously. You can start by backing universal healthcare.

Was actually invented and propagated by VastLeft (Google it!)

So it's nice to see it come around here, from somewhere else. Victory!

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

.

Bingo

And I’m supposed to think that those Obama lovers who are so quick to pile on me as old, dried-up, and blue-colalr and hence racist and stupid, are going to work to improve this country for the poor, unions, and the elderly?

Via Tennessee Guerilla Woman.

My Unity Pony's still on back order...

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Via Marc Ambinder:

Republicans sense an opportunity in the developing storm over Barack Obama's remarks.

His comments have been distributed to allies on Capitol Hill, to members of the Pennsylvania press corps, to talk radio hosts across the country, to Republican state parties and to the congressional campaign committees. The National Republican Congressional Committee is using the statement to whack Chris Carney, a vulnerable frosh member of congress from Pennsylvania. ((Note: contrary to an earlier sentence, he is neutral.))

The GOP is so very predictable.

Like, for example, fixing his broken health care plan.

I won't be holding my breath.

And it would be nice if somebody in the Hillary campaign remembered Harris Wofford was from PA and started to relate these two issues.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

The OFB pisses on people and tells them it's raining (pretty, rainbow rain, too):

not these folks'.

Obama's support for gun rights (sometimes) is sincere too, but not these folks'.

Obama's attitudes towards "typical white people" or others that are different from him is ok, but not these folks'.

...

They are "misunderstanding" and it's a good thing he's here to explain it to them, no? That their "bitterness" causes them to have faith in other things besides politicians (like him, btw).

ugh.

Suburban Guerrilla

Ah yes, Pennsylvanias are such a simple, stupid, bitter bunch. Clinging to God (you got a problem with God, Senator?), hating those foreigners… (As someone recently reminded me, the vast majority of progressives who look down their noses at the white working class people will never have to compete for the same jobs.)

But the fact is, Democrats have to stand together against this crap. We can’t accept these media swarms against any Democrat - even Democrats we don’t like or support. While I think it’s too late and almost impossible to stop this one (mostly because it’s too complicated to explain to the distracted TV viewer), we can refrain from repeating it, and explain the context to anyone who brings it up.

... I, at least, didn't know there was a media swarm. Sig It never occurred to me those guys would give two shits. I guess this is the pivot toward McCain we've all been waiting for. Would have happened at some point, regardless....

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Missed that one first time through.

'Cause I thought that's what Obama was pandering to by pounding Hillary on CAFTA/NAFTA.

It's confusing. Can I just have some boring policy bullet points, please?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

I’ve got to disagree with you, jeqal, that Obama hates whites. I don’t think it’s a race issue, it’s a class issue.

Obama gets poor black people (thanks to the edumacating of Dr. Wright) and identifies with middle and upper class white people.

but he doesn't get working class and poor white people -- to him, they had all the advantages (they were white) and still they aren't as elite as he is --- so there must be something wrong with them...

Having trashed Hillary and built Obama up, our famously free press is now pivoting toward McCain and starting to tear Obama down. The OJ thing is stupid media whores in action. But Obama's abortion statement no such thing. Nor is this.

How is a blogger supposed to show solidarity on the one, and not on the other two???

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Here [DCOW]:

"Senator Obama has said many times in this campaign that Americans are understandably upset with their leaders in Washington for saying anything to win elections while failing to stand up to the special interests and fight for an economic agenda that will bring jobs and opportunity back to struggling communities.

Nonsense. Obama's campaign has never been about standing up to anything*, let alone struggling communities. That's been Obama's problem since the start. He's always been about Unity which morphed into Change which morphed into Transformation which morphed into that "national conversation" thing that got dropped and now has morphed into .... A certain lack of clarity and focus. No wonder he can't close the deal.

Please, can I just have some boring bullet points on policy?

NOTE * With the exception of the Democratic base and the voters of FL and MI, of course. (But thanks for taking one for the team, guys!)

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Springsteen singing Youngstown in Youngstown.

... I discount any paragraph that begins "the truth is" (Ever read LeGuin's City of Illusions?)

And the "persuade" part just struck me as more Unity bullshit about meta-leadership, so I slashed it out, and went for what I saw as the meat of the paragraph, which is how Obama relates to the people he's asking to vote for him.

As we all keep saying, Obama would do better to stop the meta musing about what it takes to persuade, and start persuading. Leaders lead, as Atrios is fond of saying.

A universal health care policy that wasn't fake would be a good start. Unfortunately, as the Obama campaign itself has stressed, they're all abuot politics, not policy, so they'll have to do some midcourse correction. But they've got plenty of TV money, so presumably that won't be a problem.

Can I please have some boring bullet points about policy?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

or does it look like the wheels are kinda coming off in the Obama camp?

It is so true. He doesn't want to lead on anything. He wants to be the president who came to D.C., and got everybody to talk to each other. And the policies they choose aren't as important as the fact that everyone's talking.

It doesn't matter if the policies actually solve anything, let's just be happy because everyone in DC is smiling again, and the media is smiling again(none of those nasty scandals like the Clinton years, Obama won't "trash the place", he's better than that).

And we are always at war with Eurasia.*

*

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

*Sorry bout that, some of his politics seem Orwellian, at times.

My keyboard is broken.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

religion because they are dissatisfied with their lives and they're bitter, right? I wonder what Obama's excuse for attending the church he attends is?

Considering Wright's rhetoric, I guess I'm not surprised Obama thinks of Christians as bitter.

Instead of being objective, NPR framed their coverage of his remarks from the Obama POV: He said some voters were angry and bitter and, thus, vote on the issues of gun rights or gay marriage. Talk about spin. By the time you get to what he actually said, the perception has already been shaped to neuter his inflammatory remarks.

Obama originally says that the values held by the working class in PA--which he sums up as God,* guns, and xenophobia (!)--are rooted in bitterness "to explain their frustrations" and now it's been framed as an explanation of "culture wars" voting habits.

*Right, because it's not like people struggling to get by would seek out God for, uh, hope or anything.

people clinging to their guns is a problem.

From a DailyKos diary I plucked this gem by a supporter who attended one of the fundraisers in San Francisco on April 6 2008:

Obama also talked about gun violence, and reminded the crowd that he had just come from Montana, where “everyone has guns.” He said as a practical matter we will not be able to outlaw gun ownership in the foreseeable future, and that trying to do so at this time is not politically feasible. That being said, however, he indicated that we can and should work to address the loopholes in gun show sales and the types of guns that are available. His stance on this reminds me of the work he has done on capital punishment. Recognizing that it was not possible as a practical matter to eliminate it, he worked very effectively to minimize its application.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/6/1...

How does the above jive with this?

Obama in Boise on Feb 2 2008:

“And then there are people who say, `Well, he doesn’t believe in the Second Amendment,’ even though I come from a state - we’ve got a lot of hunters in downstate Illinois. And I have no intention of taking away folks’ guns.”

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb03/0...

So which is it? So as a practical matter in SF we can't enact gun control but in Boise he's all Second Amendment. Which is it? Is there a WORM for this?

Here:

It feels weird to have to state that there is dignity and worth in a life of labor. These allegedly bitter, backwards people have no interest in leaving their way of life so they can join Obamacans at the Starbucks in some hip urban enclave. They need not apologize for the choices they've made in their lives, no matter how much people like Obama and Delong try to shame them into voting against their interests. The poor bitter rubes of Pennsylvania actually want universal health care, which you aren't delivering. They want Social Security, which your advisor Goolsby wants to privatize. They want an orderly and honorable end to the Iraq occupation, which you are now waffling on. They want deecent education for their kids, a relief from predatory lenders, some privacy, and an end to the assumption that they should be ashamed of themselves because they don't aspire to be upper class.

Well, even though Starbucks does burn their coffee, it might be OK to work for Starbucks. They've got health insurance, after all.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

A source says no. Readers? Assuming that any of you are literate and aren't out behind the house practicing your antipathy or clinging to your gun? (Personally, I keep mine under my pillow. It's uncomfortable, but what's a little discomfort compared to feeling really safe?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

While I do believe Democrats have to stand together against media swarms, I won't hold my breath waiting for the Obama supporters to stand up for Clinton the next time she's the target.

And it certainly doesn't mean I don't know Obama's a condescending ass whose candidacy probably means another eight years of a Republican president.

But Jeff Fecke(who has taken Obama to task over many things) over at Shakesville has a piece up defending it.

The problem is that there is a slight kernel of truth in the statement, which makes it defensible to many progressives, its the same things many of us have been saying about "God, guns & gays" since the 2004 election, but since it isn't most of them being talked about like that, they can't see the condescension.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

Pennsylvania and Ohio have been screwed over economically with the decline of American industry. So that's what all his defenders and the media have focused on. At least for now. Completely ignoring the dismissive way he then ties economics to culture, which he helpfully characterizes by relying on the shallowest, most negative stereotypes.

It also carries with it the liberal conceit that those dumb fucks are voting against their interests when they vote for Bush because of the economics (totally ignoring the fact that Pennsylvania didn't vote Republican and Ohio barely went for Bush). If only they were smart like all those rich people in San Francisco and New York. The problem with that is 1) who am I to tell them what the hell their priorities ought to be, maybe they care more about culture than they do about economics (although, again, Pennsylvania voted for Kerry) and 2) I know a lot of upper middle class professionals who voted for Bush - even as they denigrated him as an idiot who was destroying the country - because otherwise the terrorists would win.

A lot of Americans vote for the person they're comfortable with or culturally identify with. Why does Obama think so many African Americans and academics are voting for him? Look at all the knots the Blogger Boyz have tied themselves in trying to convince themselves and the world that underneath the exterior of this triangulating centrist, beats the heart of a progressive warrior. What is that based on? Cultural affinity.

See here.

Obama's now painted himself into a corner.

The Unity schtick was always presented as a way of avoiding conflict, because people of good will were going to sit down around the table and come to an agreement about what was really right for the country because of Obama's mad negotiation skillz. No, really. You can't imagine how many times I heard exactly that line from the OFB over at DK.

And now, he's campaigning in part of the country that got totally fucked by the Conservative Movement that Obama wanted to unify with, and lots of people are not happy about that, and they're right not to be. And tagging those voters with a lot of disrespectful class-based markers probably isn't going to help him.

So, now, apparently, he's going to turn himself into a fighter. He's probably got enough TV money to reintroduce himself to the country, and the OFB won't miss a beat when the party line changes, so I'm sure it's doable. The question is whether it's doable in two weeks.

But to me, the idea that he's got to abandon his core message to pick up a few percent in PA is an indication that he ran too early. (And the Boiz say Hillary ran a bad campaign? Looks like message pre-emption, to me.)

Please, can I just have boring bullet points about policy?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

The blue-collar workers of Ohio and Pennsylvania weren't enlightened latte-sipping liberals until their jobs got outsourced to other countries.

They were the same people when they were doing well economically as they are today.

------------------------------------------------
"It's like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong." - Molly Ivins (RIP)

I can't help but wonder if Obama provides tin ears to his supporters because their comments have left me bewildered. Word to the wise: if you insist on being clueless and overwhelmingly patronizing, it's best to keep quiet. Whenever you tell anyone that they "cling" to their guns out of a sense of frustration--because no one really uses them to protect family, property, or to hunt, heavens no!--they'll look at you as if you're dumb as a box of hair. When you tell them they hold onto their faith out of a sense of bitterness, they'll look at you with scorn.

Working towards a more perfect union does not include adding ignorant fool to the usual arrogant asshatery.

@Aeryl (re: Shakesville post): Obama only mentioned The Gays in his spin. His original remarks were about "religion" (in addition to guns, xenophobia, and anti-trade beliefs). Only when doing damage control did he try to make it appear as if he had discussed homophobia ("gay marriage"). Regardless, it's bad. The man distorted and smeared their culture.