Quote:
Originally Posted by saden1
Here's Obama's response to the controversy with some clarification. He's not really backing down from the bitter comment and I think he is absolutely right, you better believe people are bitter. To me, what he is really saying is that people start caring about minor issues in his view like guns, and gay marriage, etc instead of focusing on the real tough challenges that we face and bringing an end to the cycle of b.s. that goes on in Washington.
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That's precisely why the comment makes him seem so out of touch. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's wrong, but a tremendous number of people in this country do NOT view those issues as "minor."
I think Obama is guilty of what every other politician is guilty of, namely being out of touch. These guys have been groomed from day one for their positions, most are multi-millionaires and haven't lived with the "common folk" that make up a large part of this country.
I think most of the country is guilty of the same thing. We all myopically see just our own point of view, or the views within our small, limited circle of people, and figure that's what the rest of the world thinks.
If you watch Fox News 24 hours a day you'd think President Bush is the greatest President in history. If you watch the Daily Show all week long you'd think the Republican party is nothing but clowns. Our views are dramatically shaped by the influences we surround ourselves with on a regular basis.
Go live in a large metropolitan area and spend your time with some rich white people and you'd think that the only issues that are really important are the economy and the environment. Religion and guns are trifling issues for simpletons to consider.
Head down south and hang out with the country boys and you'd think that the only important issues are guns and religion. As long as the bills are paid, who cares about the economy or the environment?
Head into the projects and people just want to pay their rent - they couldn't give a rats ass about a war that's thousands of miles away or the economy as a whole as long as they've got money for next week.
Dismiss the "guns and religion" crowd as much as you want, the fact of the matter is that's by and large the group that voted the current president into office. Twice. They're clearly voting and clearly having an influence
In the same vein, it's not better to dismiss the economy or the environment as the pedantic issues of the upper class elite in their ivory towers. They're voting too, most around urban population centers.
Dismissing any major group like Obama (or any other politician) is incredibly dangerous. These people are casting votes, whether they're intelligent or not and whether they live in the south, north, a city, the suburbs or the country, they're voting. There are over 80 million gun owners in this country, and I'd be willing to bet a large number of them consider gun ownership and important issue. By simply brushing them aside you've dismissed more than 25% of the U.S. population. You really think that if these people just had more money in their pocket they'd forget about their gun ownership rights? CBS reports that 84% of the population claims a religion. You really believe that if Joe Citizen's retirement investments would just turn around that he really wouldn't care how his religious beliefs (the fundamental beliefs he's held his entire life, the same ones that shape how he votes) are being treated by the government? How much more out of touch can you BE?
Get used to it and start trying to open your mind to what other people consider important and why. Dismissing massive portions of the population like that is damn near political suicide.
Disclaimer: The "you" I refer to is not directed at saden, his post just happened to be the springboard for this rant. It's more of a universal "you" and includes myself.