I am from a small town in Indiana (18,000 people) born and raised as the saying goes

Obama's remarks do not offend me.... probably because they are true.

Indiana is more into religion and guns than antipathy.... being Indiana's token Democrat I have a lock on the antipathy and I don't share!

I'm surprised this topic hasn't been greenlit.

Taken in context, (which these words are taking very much out of context) Obama was explaining the difficulties of how someone like him can campaigne amoung people that feel like they have no hope

No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

It shouldn't, because it's damn accurate.

People in small towns have guns so they can go hunting, go shooting, shoot city slickers who come into town, etc...

GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.


It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

Like you.

kmmontandon: GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.


It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

Like you.

I'm not offended by it.

GaryPDX: kmmontandon: GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.
Like you.

I'm not offended by it.

GaryPDX [TotalFark] Quote 2008-04-11 06:21:01 PM
I'm telling you, this guy is a Marxist. Do.not.want.


Hmmm.

has this been confirmed yet? as far as I know, it was a blogger who stated this with nothing to back it up. maybe someone is tring to set up Hillary so they can say she doen't fact check everything? that would be funny.

The truth hurts doesn't it?

The economy sucks and you need something to blame, so you blame the easiest things to blame... you need something to cling to and so you cling to what is most familiar to you.


It sucks that Obama said this, because this may actually cost him the primaries. I was really hoping for the future of America to go in a new direction. If Hillary is nominated Dems will lose to McCain, and say hello to another (likely) 8 years of Bush.

Here's the full transcript, which isn't posted (of course, since it's from Michelle Malkin) in the link.

"OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.


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. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

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."

The economy sucks and you need something to blame, so you blame the easiest things to blame...

Usually, the Jooz.

GaryPDX = Pwned.

kmmontandon: It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

Bingo

Link to above transcript (new window)

No, of course much like the Wright thing assholes will cherry pick quotes that will cause the most anger.

Also Kos has Obama's response, also found in the above link I posted:

""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," Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said."

Election over.

There is no way in hell Obama is going to win any state with a sizeable rural population after this. His arrogance is stunning. Just because it sounds good to an liberal audience doesn't mean it sounds good to rural America.

GaryPDX: kmmontandon: GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.


It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

Like you.

I'm not offended by it.

Really? Now you're not 'offended' when he said something that might cost him votes? You get 'offended' by just about everything Senator Obama says, just so you can troll. GTFO you Republican hack.

GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

and you were such a massive obama supporter, too. this really must take the wind out of your sails.

I spent a large chunk of my life living right outside a small, rural town of about 1,500, give or take a bumpkin. A small town in an economically depressed area of a small Eastern state.

I agree that religion/gossip/whatever tends to dominate people and the way they think, same as everywhere else.

I guess I have an issue with the gun thing, though.

I never saw anyone abuse or misuse or obsess over guns. You owned one for hunting and maybe one for self defense; you probably had the one your parents or grandparents left you, too.

Guns were tools that had their proper place in the scheme of things, and that was that. People didn't stand around the IGA talking about guns. They talked about the same stuff everyone else everywhere else talked about.

Crime was low.

I like Obama and am considering voting for him, but this sort of thing is worrying. People don't need him to be their conscious or their psychiatrist. He's a politician; he isn't a savior.
He needs to remember that.

playblu: Election over.

There is no way in hell Obama is going to win any state with a sizeable rural population after this. His arrogance is stunning. Just because it sounds good to an liberal audience doesn't mean it sounds good to rural America.

let me guess... a bush-lovin' 28 percenter or a hillaryite?

playblu: There is no way in hell Obama is going to win any state with a sizeable rural population after this. His arrogance is stunning. Just because it sounds good to an liberal audience doesn't mean it sounds good to rural America.

Why don't you read the entire speech.

dustbunnyboo: People don't need him to be their conscious.

actually, after 8 years of bush, conscious would be nice.

"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. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter)."

Is this false? I guess people don't want to hear actual truth.

co-conspirator: The economy sucks and you need something to blame, so you blame the easiest things to blame...

Usually, the Jooz.



playblu: Election over.

There is no way in hell Obama is going to win any state with a sizeable rural population after this. His arrogance is stunning. Just because it sounds good to an liberal audience doesn't mean it sounds good to rural America.

Perhaps I'm being a little optimistic, but I would not be surprised if there isn't a considerable number of disillusioned small-town people who whether they agree with him or not, appreciate a politician speaking to them like adults instead of just trying to rouse them up with "gay jewish commies are gonna take your guns and force you to have abortions unless you show you love Jesus and America by voting for me".

GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

Oh look, it's GaryPDX posting in an anti-Obama thread. And, shockingly, it's also a day that ends in Y.

Bad quote. In many ways its true, but its a bad quote.

"As president, I will tell you not what I think you want to hear, but what you need to hear." - Barack Obama

/all the way to the White House, Senator

Ghastly: Perhaps I'm being a little optimistic, but I would not be surprised if there isn't a considerable number of disillusioned small-town people who whether they agree with him or not, appreciate a politician speaking to them like adults instead of just trying to rouse them up with "gay jewish commies are gonna take your guns and force you to have abortions unless you show you love Jesus and America by voting for me".

I hope he takes this approach. His approach so far has been to not deny away things he has said or been that have been thrown at him, but to treat people as adults and explain what he meant and what he said. I hope it works well for him now.

And in another instance, he said it like this -

"What you need in the next president is not somebody who tells you what they think you want to hear, but who tells you what you need to hear."

Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.

hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.

I was about to post this. Great response by him. He is doing the right thing in saying that 'being bitter' is not an insult - it's a natural response, one we are all prone to.

GAT_00: GaryPDX: kmmontandon: GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.


It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

Like you.

I'm not offended by it.

Really? Now you're not 'offended' when he said something that might cost him votes? You get 'offended' by just about everything Senator Obama says, just so you can troll. GTFO you Republican hack.

That's the dumbest thing I've read today. How on earth is not liking Obama the same as being offended by anything he says? I don't like Bush, but I'm not offended every time he opens his mouth.

robsul82: "As president, I will tell you not what I think you want to hear, but what you need to hear." - Barack Obama

/all the way to the White House, Senator

But we're 'Muricans! We like to be told you'll be straight with us, but we don't like to actually take the medicine.

FlashHarry: dustbunnyboo: People don't need him to be their conscious.

actually, after 8 years of bush, conscious would be nice.

I could not possibly disagree more. Except the part where I should have spelt it "conscience" :)

We do not need another administration that thinks only it knows what's good for us.

We don't need any more nannys.

We don't need any more moralizing from the top down.

We need a leader who is capable of telling people that they can make it on their own and helping them do that by reconsidering and changing policies that drive jobs out of the US.

I would hope that Obama can rise to the task and avoid the temptation to be the nation's Jiminy Cricket.

Stuff like this is awesome. It's like whenever the right tries to hit him he just gets stronger.

hillbillypharmacist: Hit it out of the park, too.

wow, awesome. I fully expected him to somehow quote that people are "mad as hell, and they aren't gonna take it anymore".

GaryPDX: No matter how you explain it, this is going to offend a LOT of people.

Yea, like the people at Hillaryis44:
moononpluto Says:

April 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
God, we really have to make sure, that comment from Obama hits the PA airwaves.

Obama's new PA ad

Hey you gun toting, anti immigrant, religious nut anti trade facists, vote for me because I'm kool.

I'm Barack Obama and i approve of this message.

Looking for gnat shiat in pepper and hoping it sticks.

hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.
Sweet jebus, I think it moved.



/'scuse me a sec

kmmontandon: It has a very good explanation. And the people who are going to be offended are looking to be offended, desparate to be offended, by something Obama says.

playblu: Election over.

There is no way in hell Obama is going to win any state with a sizeable rural population after this. His arrogance is stunning. Just because it sounds good to an liberal audience doesn't mean it sounds good to rural America.

And there's one now. You must be prescient, kmmontandon. You're absolutely correct that people are looking for anything to be offended about.

Even democrats, because change is a scary thing. It's so much easier to stay with what you know.

hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.

*CRACK! HOME RUN!*

thatvoiceguy: hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.
Sweet jebus, I think it moved.



/'scuse me a sec

walk around, you'll be alright...

SphericalTime: And there's one now. You must be prescient, kmmontandon. You're absolutely correct that people are looking for anything to be offended about.

Even democrats, because change is a scary thing. It's so much easier to stay with what you know.

This is so true.

Even though his response was great (I just watched it), what people will remember, and what the Rush Limbaughs of the world will talk about on Monday is the comment about guns.

Right or wrong.

dustbunnyboo:

I like Obama and am considering voting for him, but this sort of thing is worrying. People don't need him to be their conscious or their psychiatrist. He's a politician; he isn't a savior.

In essence that is what he is saying. When you are frustrated, when bad times have got you down; don't put your faith in religion. Believe instead in me. I know what's best for you.

dustbunnyboo: I like Obama and am considering voting for him, but this sort of thing is worrying. People don't need him to be their conscious or their psychiatrist. He's a politician; he isn't a savior. He needs to remember that.

All politicians can be accused of coming off as though they want to be a savior, particularly if you disagree with a point he just made. If you're perhaps imagining that John McCain (for example) doesn't think he can walk on water at times, you probably haven't listened to him much in the unguarded stuff yet.

I agree and disagree with you about the gun issue. There are parts of this country -- I live in one -- where guns have a fetish-like quality to some folks. (BTW, I have a decent collection myself, as does my business partner.) Those folks do often gravitate to rural communities. No doubt they agree that the thing is a tool. But it's also a symbol.

Now think about that. If you are living in an urban area, a gun is a symbol as well. When I was on a train a week ago and a kid pulled one (largely out of fear) after a fight started, it was a symbol for him ... and for all the train passengers too.

For you in rural America, the gun is a symbol of your freedom and your independence. For urbanites, it's often a symbol of instability and threat. And please don't suggest that everyone packing heat will change the dynamic -- if someone pulls a pistol on the street, I'm going to feel threatened and my world will be shaken up along with my shorts, even if I have a piece in my pocket too.

The response of others to the threat of a firearm is not entirely something rural Americans fail to notice. I've heard plenty of folks at gun shows laughing over how some casual encounter was hilarious because the other person's eyes got huge at the sight of the shotgun in their trunk or something.

At any rate, your view of the firearm as simply a useful tool needs to be setoff against the common sense understanding of that tool as a symbol as well of instability and threat in our world. Because that's what it often is, plain and simple. That's part of the culture gap that Obama seems to be trying to touch and you should give some consideration to as well.

(And yes, I agree, a screw-driver, knife or hammer would be threatening in the right context but those rarely have the capability to reach out and touch me a block away.)

gilbyguy: In essence that is what he is saying. When you are frustrated, when bad times have got you down; don't put your faith in religion. Believe instead in me. I know what's best for you.

His entire message is not to believe in him, but to believe in yourself and don't look to the government to fix everything. Yes, the government can help, but America is more than that. The government, as Obama distills is, helps people help themselves.

That's how I view his philosophy.

hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.

Did my pants just get tighter?

thatvoiceguy: hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.
Sweet jebus, I think it moved.


Might have just been the cell phone buzzing.

BGates: People in small towns have guns so they can go hunting, go shooting, shoot city slickers who come into town, etc...

he wasn't saying that's why they have guns, he was saying that's why they become single issue voters. if you don't think anything is getting better anyways, you might as well put your bet on something you think you can influence.

This won't hurt him against Clinton- she hardly has any call to understand small-town people or those who make less than $12 million/year.

Against McCain it might make a difference, but November is a long ways from now.

I just wish Hillary would stop agreeing with McCain and act like she were running for the Democratic nomination, not the GOP.

hillbillypharmacist: Obama has already responded. [youtube, pops]

Hit it out of the park, too.

i'm about ready to see obama start to get angry on our behalf. i like when he starts getting worked up into the mic.