The Bitterness of Obama

So what do liberals talk about when they get together and think no one else is listening? They talk about the rest of us, of course. Specifically, trying to explain why most people aren't receptive to their ideas.

The latest example comes from Democrat front-runner Barack Obama at a recent San Francisco fundraiser, where he was caught on tape remarking (or psycho-analyzing) that manyvoters in the middle class tend to "cling" to God and guns whenever they're bitter about their life.

Obama stated, "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".

In other words, deep spiritual convictions and an appreciation of the Second Amendment are some sort of emotional or psychological disorder people suffer as a result of harsh economic conditions. Or maybe just because they haven't given enough thought to the issues.

Maybe he thinks people who have material problems are bitter, or rather that we should expect them to be, after having sat for twenty years under a pastor who preached a gospel of bitterness towards America.

Obama's real problem is a political one, in that he was caught live on tap saying what he really thinks. And what he thinks is something that's been part of liberal orthodoxy since forever - that the middle class gets too distracted by religious or cultural concerns to see their economic best interests, or rather to understand why they should support liberals.

Liberal pundit Ariana Huffington, (on who's site Obama's remarks were first published), said, "It's stunning the way the Clinton campaign has completely distorted the meaning of what he said. It's stunning Hillary chose to confirm every right-wing demagogic characteristic about her own party."

Note to Ariana, what was confirmed was the elitist attitude that liberals have about people who embrace traditional American culture. George Will called Obama the "fulfillment of modern liberalism" and it's "doctrine of condescension". You know you're coming off like a liberal elitist when you can make Hillary look like a cast member from Hee Haw.

If things go the way they appear to be on the Democrat's side, Republicans will soon have yet another out of touch cultural elitist to face in November. Fine by us.

This is the same guy who opposed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which even Bill Clinton had the good sense to sign into law. Twice he failed to support passage of a bill that would have made partial-birth abortions illegal, deciding to straddle the fence and vote "present". And it's the same guy who's wife says she's only recently become proud of her country. It seems the Reverend Wright has rubbed off on her too.

And despite all the hope and change rhetoric, there's no evidence to suggest that he has ever done anything that "transcended" partisanship or ideological differences. Even the non-partisan National Journal identifies him as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.

Obama has good company among the list of more recent Democrat contenders. There was John Kerry, devotee of that great American pastime of windsurfing; John Edwards of four-hundred dollar haircut fame, and don't forget Howard Dean and his crack about Southerners driving pick-up trucks with gun racks and Confederate flag stickers on the bumper. On the other hand, Bill Clinton at least looked and acted like the rest of us, or oftentimes worse.

Maybe it's no accident that the only two Democrats to get elected President since the sixties were from the South. We can spot a cultural snob a mile away...and typically don't reward them with elected office.

Polls have consistently shown that those who hold stronger beliefs and attend religious services more regularly are often happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who don't. Even an Associated Press/MTV poll of younger Americans, (Obama's sweet spot), showed the same thing. So much for the "bitter" theory.

Maybe it's Barack and the liberals that are bitter. Bitter that many working class Americans happen to be conservatives...and happen to vote like conservatives. Bitter that they actually need the votes of "those people" in order to win elections.