Obama scoring points with rural voters...

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Shut up.

I don't care if it costs him votes. I'm not an Obama supporter.

So you just appreciate a guy sabotaging himself by "truth" telling? Okay.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

So you just appreciate a guy sabotaging himself by "truth" telling? Okay.

I appreciate the truth and so do other people. Okay.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I appreciate the truth and so do other people. Okay.

Yep, but some things are opinion rather than truth, particularly when it comes to analyzing the voting patterns of other people whom you haven't even spoken to. One could speculate about why they might or might not vote for a particular candidate, but without asking or even knowing their specific circumstances, it's pretty arrogant to call it "truth."

But apparently neither of us are in danger of actually voting for him. I'm disappointed because I thought he might be better/smarter than to make such a clear unforced error, and I used to prefer him to Hillary and regard him as someone I'd be okay with in the White House (even though I would likely vote for the Republic candidate in the general because there's a sliver of a chance that the rate of government growth and taxation might be lower and because I think it's important to win in Iraq.)

Since Rezko, Rev. Wright and this pretending-to-know-the-minds-of-rural-voters-and-getting-it wrong stuff, I think he's just a more charismatic version of the same ol' political BS. It's just a slightly different kind of packaging.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Yep, but some things are opinion rather than truth, particularly when it comes to analyzing the voting patterns of other people whom you haven't even spoken to.

That depends. If he had pulled from a citable source, it would be less of his opinion (it already isn't just his opinion to those of us who are familiar with this explanation of social patterns). Would that make it less condescending to some? That's funny.

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

But apparently neither of us are in danger of actually voting for him.

I might vote for him. I'm just not an Obama supporter.

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

This is what I get from him:
"Uneducated people in rural America are too stupid to realize that guns, religion, morals, and values won't help their economic circumstances."

Holy spindoctor, Batman! The people who detest Obama to your degree are just as guilty of painting a false picture of him as those who think he is some messianic figure.

What you got from Obama is precisely what I would expect someone to get who absolutely loathes him. Your mind is closed to the possibility that he could have meant something else. And that's fine. If you're going to be rigid like that, go right ahead. But he never said anyone was stupid, he said that people are "bitter". There's a huge difference. Bitter does not equal stupid. There is smart and stupid, content and bitter. If you're bitter, than you desire to find contentedness. How do you do that when your government is ignoring you? How can you do that when you have limited economic prospects? You do what you can and lean on traditions... in small towns and rural America, that usually means hunting, going to church, playing some ball, etc. Yes, it may also mean fear of the other (I can't tell you how many times I've heard people in troublesome economic situations blame immigrants for stealing all the jobs).

For me, I'm tired of the same crap in Washington. McCain is a geezer and doesn't represent a lot of my issues the way I would like; Hillary is a big fat liar. That's well documented. I don't know if Obama can do the job, but I'm willing to give him a try. It can't be any worse than Bush.

[DaemonSeid]

At this point, Obama could say the sky is blue and Hillary would challenge his assessment.

Hillary: Shame on Obama for saying the sky in this great nation is blue.

Audience member #1: Um, the sky is blue.

Bob Johnson: Black folks are only agreeing that the sky is blue because Obama is black.

Audience member #2: Um, I'm asian and the guy who agreed is white.

Bill: What Hillary meant to say is that the sky isn't just BLUE, it's AMERICAN sky blue and it's a shame that Obama refuses to acknowledge this fact.

Audience member #3: WTH?

*Hillary hands Bill an Arch Card* Go get a Big Mac and let me handle this. Great Americans, the sky is more than blue. This great sky is blue with OPPORTUNITY!

Audience member #4: Can you explain what you mean?

Chelsea: It's none of your business!

*McCain and his wife rush the stage*

McCain: Blue skies for a hundred years!

C. McCain: I have always loved the blue skies of America!

*Audience collectively roll their eyes and leave*

Rev Wright: You want him to bless the white clouds after they rained on our souls! I say G-D DAMN THE WHITE CLOUDS!

Hannity: SEE, I told you Obama was a muslim!

Caller: Um, Rev. Wright is a Christian pastor.

Hannity: But he HATES America and the ONLY people who hate America are MUSLIMS!

Caller: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols hated America. They killed Americans and destroyed a government building. Were they muslims?

Hannity: Yes, yes they were! Next caller.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

At this point, Obama could say the sky is blue and Hillary would challenge his assessment.

Hillary: Shame on Obama for saying the sky in this great nation is blue.

Audience member #1: Um, the sky is blue.

Bob Johnson: Black folks are only agreeing that the sky is blue because Obama is black.

Audience member #2: Um, I'm asian and the guy who agreed is white.

Bill: What Hillary meant to say is that the sky isn't just BLUE, it's AMERICAN sky blue and it's a shame that Obama refuses to acknowledge this fact.

Audience member #3: WTH?

*Hillary hands Bill an Arch Card* Go get a Big Mac and let me handle this. Great Americans, the sky is more than blue. This great sky is blue with OPPORTUNITY!

Audience member #4: Can you explain what you mean?

Chelsea: It's none of your business!

*McCain and his wife rush the stage*

McCain: Blue skies for a hundred years!

C. McCain: I have always loved the blue skies of America!

*Audience collectively roll their eyes and leave*

Rev Wright: You want him to bless the white clouds after they rained on our souls! I say G-D DAMN THE WHITE CLOUDS!

Hannity: SEE, I told you Obama was a muslim!

Caller: Um, Rev. Wright is a Christian pastor.

Hannity: But he HATES America and the ONLY people who hate America are MUSLIMS!

Caller: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols hated America. They killed Americans and destroyed a government building. Were they muslims?

Hannity: Yes, yes they were! Next caller.

Love ya for posting this! So funny

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

At this point, Obama could say the sky is blue and Hillary would challenge his assessment.

Hillary: Shame on Obama for saying the sky in this great nation is blue.

Audience member #1: Um, the sky is blue.

Bob Johnson: Black folks are only agreeing that the sky is blue because Obama is black.

Audience member #2: Um, I'm asian and the guy who agreed is white.

Bill: What Hillary meant to say is that the sky isn't just BLUE, it's AMERICAN sky blue and it's a shame that Obama refuses to acknowledge this fact.

Audience member #3: WTH?

*Hillary hands Bill an Arch Card* Go get a Big Mac and let me handle this. Great Americans, the sky is more than blue. This great sky is blue with OPPORTUNITY!

Audience member #4: Can you explain what you mean?

Chelsea: It's none of your business!

*McCain and his wife rush the stage*

McCain: Blue skies for a hundred years!

C. McCain: I have always loved the blue skies of America!

*Audience collectively roll their eyes and leave*

Rev Wright: You want him to bless the white clouds after they rained on our souls! I say G-D DAMN THE WHITE CLOUDS!

Hannity: SEE, I told you Obama was a muslim!

Caller: Um, Rev. Wright is a Christian pastor.

Hannity: But he HATES America and the ONLY people who hate America are MUSLIMS!

Caller: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols hated America. They killed Americans and destroyed a government building. Were they muslims?

Hannity: Yes, yes they were! Next caller.

Funny.

But leave my buddy Hannity out of this.

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by scbelle

If you're bitter, than you desire to find contentedness. How do you do that when your government is ignoring you?

I, for one, wish that my government WOULD ignore me. (said on April 16)

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

scbelle,

The difference (in this case) between us is this: I don't think that those who are bitter about their circumstances lean on tradition, religion, and that which they know. I believe that these things will always be important to certain people, no matter what.
It seems that you are on par with Barack in thinking that these issues are only so important because of the state the country is in now. It's just not true. And how could you (or Obama) assume that it is when it's very clear that he doesn't lean on these things.
Overall, I thought it was very crude and disrespectful of him to say what he did. And I don't think that those who were truly insulted will be able to look at him the same way again.

DeamonSeid,

Thank you for once again, bring absolutely nothing noteworthy to the discussion. I appreciate your hypocrisy.

I believe that people will always find these things important as well. And, I can't speak for Obama, but I think he made himself clear in the compassion forum that faith is important to him throughout his life. But it IS well documented that when the going gets really tough, people do find solace in the things they know or appreciate the most. Remember back in 2001, church attendance shot waaay up after 9/11. People were trying to make sense of a crazy world. I myself haven't experienced economic uncertainty, so I can't say with absolute resolve, but I would expect that people would, yes, cling to something like faith that has brought me solace before. Tragedy doesn't usually create faith; it reveals it and even strengthens it. When the world seems uncertain, I know that I would seek refuge in my God who I know has blessed me all my life, and who I have faith will see me through my darkest hours.

[pbear19]

Do you guys really think he literally meant that people cling to guns and religion? Because I took it to mean, based on both what is logical to me, the full context of the comment itself and what he has said since, that he meant people cling to the political subjects of guns and religion.

In other words, when they don't think that their daily lives will improve financially or in any other way regardless of who is elected, they will fall back to their trigger topics like guns, religion, abortion, etc. So when the republican party campaigns on those topics in a manner that speaks to them, those ideas become more central in their decision of who to vote for than matters of fiscal or economic concern. They may like what the democrats say about health care and jobs, etc., but they don't have faith that it is anything other than rhetoric, so they fall back on the topics of gun control, family values, etc. Some may find it elitist of me to say so, but given my experience growing up in a rural area, I consider many rural Americans to be more prone to the conservative 'moral' politics than the liberal ones. And by moral politics I mean things like abortion, 'family values', affirmative action, and so on. They like the idea of tax cuts for the middle class, protection for US employees and universal health care, but they don't believe anyone can deliver. So they fall back on the triggery topics instead.

That I thought was the crux of the discussion. Not that people literally have nothing else going for them when times get tough than guns and religion, but that they don't have faith that political candidates can deliver on anything else, because they haven't seen anyone deliver in so long.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

scbelle,

The difference (in this case) between us is this: I don't think that those who are bitter about their circumstances lean on tradition, religion, and that which they know. I believe that these things will always be important to certain people, no matter what.

What's the average salary of most of your hometown's inhabitants?

Do the retired members of your community have pensions that they don't have to worry about?

You have no idea how hard some of these places have been hit. The last Johnstown Flood in 1977 is a great example. It happened right when the steel industry was starting to decline. My mom saved an old issue of the paper from that time and it's just so sad to look at now...all these ads from businesses saying "we will rebuild!!" and most of them didn't. Johnstown used to be a beautiful place, it's a ghost town now.

Obama was saying (and he's right) that people in some of these towns are so tired of hearing that they're going to get new jobs, economic opportunity, blah blah blah, that rather than believing there might actually someone out there who could change things, and maybe get their hearts broken, they'd rather say "Obama is anti-gun and I love my guns and so I'm not voting for the big jagoff even if everything else he says is pretty cool."

It's the equivalent of a girl who has gone through one too many bad breakups refusing to go out to bars or parties or be fixed up with any new man and sitting at home eating ice cream in her pajamas with 17 cats.

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by 33girl

It's the equivalent of a girl who has gone through one too many bad breakups refusing to go out to bars or parties or be fixed up with any new man and sitting at home eating ice cream in her pajamas with 17 cats.

Commandment #11: Thou shalt not double-post...

But that last statement was just too good! That's EXACTLY how it is. I just had a good laugh. Thanks, 33girl!

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

scbelle,

The difference (in this case) between us is this: I don't think that those who are bitter about their circumstances lean on tradition, religion, and that which they know. I believe that these things will always be important to certain people, no matter what.
It seems that you are on par with Barack in thinking that these issues are only so important because of the state the country is in now. It's just not true. And how could you (or Obama) assume that it is when it's very clear that he doesn't lean on these things.
Overall, I thought it was very crude and disrespectful of him to say what he did. And I don't think that those who were truly insulted will be able to look at him the same way again.

DeamonSeid,

Thank you for once again, bring absolutely nothing noteworthy to the discussion. I appreciate your hypocrisy.

I'm late, but guuss what...

you are a clown...it's called 'jokes'.

If you released your clenched up @sshole long enough you would have realized that...

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

If you released your clenched up @sshole long enough you would have realized that...

Don't be so preoccupied with his butthole. Thanks.