Elitist My Ass

It has been awhile since I've been back to my hometown near Detroit, Michigan. I took the kids there in early 2007; the cold and unemployment were a stark reminder of why I left.

The abandoned buildings. For Sale signs. The way the road goes from smooth to bumpy when you cross the state line. Boarded up windows, failed 'revitalization' efforts. Friends laid off. Friends looking for work. Friends moving to get work. Family leaving, family staying, family commuting to other states for part-time jobs and part-time pay.

Make no mistake, I LOVE my hometown. I LOVE the Midwest. I think anyone and everyone should live and work and grow in these cities and towns-but understand when I tell you that Senator Barack Obama is DEAD ON when he talks about the bitterness of residents.

Are you hearing me?

This former Midwest girl is telling you Obama is not being 'elite' or 'out of touch' -he could NOT be MORE in touch. He's LISTENING and understanding that many of us who moved away and many of us that stayed are angry, frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and UNEMPLOYED.

In what world do Obama's remarks constitute 'looking down on'? I'm sorry, Senator Clinton-but are you HIGH? I am watching you right now, speaking in Indiana on CNN, and you are 'somewhat taken aback' by what Senator Obama said. Are you unaware that when life is as bad as it can possibly be, people turn to religion? Are you unaware that frustrated individuals tend to take up arms when they feel their very well being threatened by their surroundings?

Senator Clinton, let me be as clear as I possibly can here:

Barack Obama is giving voice to millions of us by speaking the TRUTH. He's simply vocalizing exactly what I hear from my uncle, from my high school friend, from my former teacher, from my now re-located parents. He is speaking about what he's heard, what he's been told, what he has seen.

Senator Obama's remarks reminds me yet again that he is one of us. He GETS IT. He knows that I LEFT Detroit. I AM BITTER. I AM PISSED OFF. THERE ARE NO JOBS IN MY HOMETOWN. I couldn't move my family back there if I WANTED TO.

When I do take trips back home it is depressing. My husband NEVER wants to visit because he can't stand how dejected everyone is and how run down the whole place seems. Are there some amazing neighborhoods and jobs-- of course. Is it horrible everywhere -- of course not. Is it worse there than in many other places in the US-damn right.

Do you think I like living 3-thousand miles away from my family and friends? Do you think it's fun for me to watch everyone I know get laid off, go into bankruptcy, lose their house, work two low paying jobs, move into their parents home? Do you think I am NOT bitter about any of this?

Spin it. Go ahead. Talk about how those remarks make him seem elite and condescending. It is so absurd that it only confirms for me that you and Senator McCain are COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH with what REAL Americans think and do and want.

I would suggest, however, that you take your rhetoric elsewhere. Because the more you yap about Obama being 'elite' -- while he's talking about how we really feel and you're releasing $109 million tax returns -- the more stupid you look.

Comments

[loril]

My most recent anecdote out of Michigan...

One of my old friends recently got in touch. We caught up. Among other updates, I learned that she is now unemployed. This is a sad fact for her and for the people who know her...but is not, in itself, outstanding. What did strike me is that she told me she recently had a doctor's appointment. (I doubt she has any health insurance right now.) The doctor asked her what she did for a living. She told him she was recently out of a job. The doctor's response? "Wow. You're the 8th person today who has told me that."

She tells me that Michigan makes my part of the Rust Belt look good right now. And this is someone who is a hard worker...college degree and plenty of work experience.

[blooddoc]

"Elitist my ass" is an excellent title for a post on this subject. Anyone familiar with blue-collar society knows that in times of economic stress people will retreat into their religion for solace, while at least thinking about what they would do if someone threatened to take their house, their car, or other possessions (?use guns). It's a self-preservation mechanism, probably best demonstrated during the Great Depression. And besides, elitism is not all bad; if it weren't for the so-called "elite" in society, most of the innovation which makes modern life what it is would not exist. The common man has long misjudged this - one of the earliest events to take place in a revolution is repression of the intellectuals, and we can go back to as early as the burning of the great library at Alexandria for an example. Obama may qualify his remarks, but should stand his ground because he is right. And unless she wants to dig a deeper hole, Hillary should back away from commenting.

[UltraClassic]

Hillary '08

Here's an idea for you, go where the jobs are. Sometimes, that means you got to pull up stakes and move. Down here in the southwest, NAFTA has been a boom for us. There are plenty of rust belt yankees who have come down here, learned spanish and are kicking butt.

I don't recall a constitutional right or economic maxim that states you will always have the job you want in the place you want. Welcome to the real world.

Hillary '08

[loril]

Either your youth or your general crassness is showing...not sure which.

Have you heard of aging parents with multiple medical issues who need care? No problemo! Just roll them up, throw them in the backseat with their oxygen tanks and "let's roll"!

I will echo what another poster wisely stated...How stupid is it for the "plan" to be for everyone in the midwest to glut the southwest and over-run it?? Aren't you guys already pretty damn low on water?? How would you like the rest of us and our extended families to over-run ''y'all" and turn your little part of paradise into a parched and barren wasteland?

This point of view was once represented in song by the extraordinary Paul Weller: "And I've tried on my own; now there's nothing to keep me at home. Like my brother has, too. Gotta leave to get out of this view. You see they tell you to move around if you can't find work in your own town..." (Homebreakers...from the awesome Internationalists album of the mid 80s)

[OtayPanky]

UltraClassic writes: Here's an idea for you, go where the jobs are. Sometimes, that means you got to pull up stakes and move.

===

What a callous remark. You're talking like someone who doesn't have a clue.

Many people (maybe not you) have long and deep roots in their community - their family, their friends, their place of worship, etc. They also have their work - and the job skills that they know.

Being economically displaced is a real hardship. Study some sociology. Read up on the statistics about the toll it takes on families - kids as well as adults - when the life of the village is shattered. Then go listen to Springsteen's "My Hometown" to put some poetry on the prose.

It takes a village...OTAY?

[Aaror]

Oh, and for the record, are you saying Clinton now supports NAFTA? Hillary I mean, we know Bill and her alter ego Penn do.

[Aaror]

So the solution for PA and IN is for all the residents to move to NV and AR? I'm sure that will go over well with their voters. Why don't you tell them that they need to move, and that you represent Clinton. You know, the Carpet Bagger "I'm from the government and I'm here to help?"
Good luck with that.

[OtayPanky]

Erin writes: I would suggest, however, that you [Hillary] take your rhetoric elsewhere. Because the more you yap about Obama being 'elite' -while he's talking about how we really feel and you're releasing 109 Million dollar tax returns- the more stupid you look.

===

Let's be clear here: This isn't Hillary being stupid. It's just her tossing another kitchen sink. At this point, it should be obvious to pretty much everyone that there's nothing she won't say or do in pursuit of the presidency.

There was never anything remotely resembling moral equivalence between these two candidates. Like Bill, there isn't a principle in the world she wouldn't vlolate to get what she wants.

How could anyone justify supporting her?

[lbrillante]

Excuse me but the one person who actually has dealt with helping people who lost their jobs working in the community to help those communities deal with thousands of steel workers who lost their jobs??? Senator Obama!
I think he is in touch and I think that a man who just paid off his student loans and is running for president is hardly and elitist...
I don't expect Senator Obama to be perfect but I do expect him to live up to his own ideals of honesty, integrity, and service... I don't expect honesty or integrity from the Clntons... So there's no contest in my opinion... Senator Obama will bring real change to Washington even though it won't be easy and it will be messy... He is the right man, at the right time, with a real ability to do the job!

[MPeter]

Hillary has $100m plus, and just got paid another $800,000 with her hubby to help Colombia syphon away more jobs from here. And now she fakes outrage the same way she faked tears in NH. Do not fall for her con job a second time!!!!!

[RichLiberal]

From Erin's bio: "Erin spent eight years bringing you live, breaking news on-the-air at Los Angeles news institution KFWB and other broadcasting outlets. She has six Golden Mike Awards stashed in the closet from those KFWB Los Angeles days including "Best Investigative Reporting: Port in Peril," the piece that touched off dozens of local, state and federal hearings on our nation's port security."

Wow, and now Erin comes back occasionally to Detroit she sees: "The abandoned buildings. For Sale signs. The way the road goes from smooth to bumpy when you cross the state line. Boarded up windows, failed 'revitalization' efforts. Friends laid off. Friends looking for work. Friends moving to get work. Family leaving, family staying, family commuting to other states for part-time jobs and part-time pay."

And: "He's LISTENING and understanding that many of us who moved away and many of us that stayed are angry, frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and UNEMPLOYED."

Sounds like Erin has become one of the West Coast elitists herself. It is obvious why she feels such kinship w Obama.

[truthorconseq]

Wow! So you're originally from a town near Detroit. Was it a suburb? Are you white? Do you really know what it's like to live in an inner city? Do you know anything about black on white crime? Do you know what it feels like to be afraid to go to sleep in your bed at night? Have you watched your neigborhood get destroyed by people who just don't care? How do you like the current Detroit mayor? Is he a dem or a republican? Is he black or is he white? Is he corrupt or is he honest? I've watched other midwest cities turned over to blacks and I've watched them all fall in ruins. St. Louis is still trying to recover from years of being run by incompetent black corrupt politicians. Ok call me a racist if you want but I think that Obama's pastor would agree with me. In fact, aside from the racist part, the Rev and his church follow some core conservative principles, such as self determination and hard work. They don't look for handouts. You seem to e saying you left because of the problems in your hometown? Doesn't show much character now, does it? I'm a midwest boy and I still live here.

[BBackSoon]

You know I live just outside of St. Louis and you are right about the city struggling to come out of years of corrupt and ineffective governing. But like Detroit how much industry have we lost in the past 20 years?

I am sure the inner city is hurting and I go downtown via very specific routs but we on the outskirts are also hurting. It sucks that cities and towns alike have to cut back on Police and Firemen because there just isn"t enough money. What about how a 20-year teacher makes less than an entry-level accountant?

As a recovering Republican I believe in paying your own way and being responsible for your own actions but I also believe that with no oversight the Big Money will always screw the little guy one way or another. I don"t want handouts; I want some kind of a fair playing field. I am all for the rich getting richer but do they always have to do it by taking an extra 20 dollars out of my pocket?

We are all angry and scared and I suspect you are too. But I think you are unable to see the forest for the trees. Black politicians don"t have a lock on corruption. If anything the cases your talking about sound like small potatoes compared to the stores of kickbacks and favors that we hear of from New York and other cities.

[disgusted48]

Dang you sound bitter.

[joeholla]

clearly bitter.

[Karoli]

So for you, it's all about the color of his skin.

Real deep intellectual thinking there, buddy.

[truthorconseq]

Whose skin? Obama or the Detroit mayor or maybe the Rev? Nope it's about character and yes it's about culture. You want to equate that with skin color, well ok, but then that's your issue sweetie. Not mine. Forgive me, I'm just a typical white person from a small town in the midwest . I know that I could never keep up with the intellectual elite. Problem for you is there are more of us than there are of you and we vote. Now that truely must piss you off.

[FogBelter]

"Forgive me, I'm just a typical white person from a small town in the midwest ."

Ask your god for forgiveness ... from me you get contempt. There used to be people with backbone in the upper midwest, now you get people who look to scapegoat their contemporaries of another race for the problems that they themselves created.

[disgusted48]

Cut your nose off to spite your face. Again and again and one more time. In your former comment you mentioned the crumbling of the inner cities. the problem is that it isn't just the inner cities that are a mess, the deterioration of the country is widespread out to the small towns and rural America. Frankly, I don't think the "culture" thing is working out for your kind too well. But keep holding on to your old hate, and backwardness, inter marry with those of like mind, and see where that gets you. At least you have your guns.

[Karoli]

Wooo, some pretty expansive assumptions there. Enjoy them. I vote too.

[Zeje]

I am bitter!!

[truthorconseq]

About what? Life in general or something specific that was done to you? Are you powerless? Why?

[Karoli]

truthorconseq:

Are YOU powerless? Of course you are! At least as long as Bush and his league of neocons control the office. Get real, they even say so. You have absolutely no say in anything as long as the lunatics are in control. So yeah, people are bitter.

Deal with it.

[truthorconseq]

Well, I really don't feel powerless. Every day I get up and go about the business of supporting my family, being a good citizen, giiving to charity, and just trying to do the right thing. That has nothing to do with who is the President of this country. Are you really waitng for change in the Presidency to get involved in a cause or feel impowered? My suggestion to you is to get over the bitterness and get involved in a cause bigger than yourself. Do something productive! There are a lot of charities that could use some help.

[JPat]

How can anyone claim Obama is an elitist? ............That is ridiculous!

He is the son of a Harvard educated Economist.
He is the step son of a Shell Oil man.
He attended a private prep school.
He has a degree from Columbia.
He has a law degree from Harvard.
His family lives in a house he bought for 1.6 million dollars with a 1000 bottle wine cellar .
He lives in Washington D.C.
He has never known a day of physical labor in his whole life.

He reminds me so much of the men I know in rural America except he is way to smart to believe in God or the Constitution other than the times he is bitter over his Senate pay check being late.

[JimR]

Wow, and I thought Hillary Clinton was spinning. You make her look like an amateur!

[JohnnySorrow]

What kind of argument is that? Would you prefer our presidential candidates have degrees from local junior colleges?

I'm not sure if you are actually paying attention to this year's race, but The Clinton's have earned $109 million dollars over the last seven years. And are you aware of who Cindy McCain is and what her family business is? Her family connections are partly how John McCain got into politics. Of the three, Obama is by far the least well off.

[Karoli]

There are so many misremembrances in your list I'm not sure where to start. But I'll try.

He is the abandoned son of a Harvard-educated economist who drank himself into oblivion and never once offered any financial or emotional support to his son.
He was the stepson of a Shell Oil Man for two years. That shell oil man was Indonesian, and also offered no financial support after the marriage ended.
He attended a private prep school on full scholarship.
He has a degree from Columbia and a law degree from Harvard, which he dropped himself into deep debt to obtain.
His family lives in a house he bought for 1.6 million, which he was able to do as a result of using his writing gift to write a book in 1995 which (be shocked here) people were interested in enough to BUY.
He rents a single apartment in Washington DC. He lives in Chicago.
Whether he knows physical labor or not is not the point. The point is whether he has a history of using the gifts God gave him for good and for the betterment of the country and maybe even the world.

You sound like the bitter one, JPat.

[qwr]

Yes, the son of a Harvard educated Economist who grew up with a dirt floor and a thatched roof. O's Indonesian step father took the same route. Bill Clinton got 800,000 from Columbia for making four speeches (read: the money was a bribe--Clinton is not that good of a speaker). Bill and Hillary made 109 million dollars in the past decade. Yes, that's right--109 million. Did they earn this money, or were these down payments on selling out the country?

[4wehttam]

Some people just don't get it. It makes me so angry every time they spin stories to suit their needs. If they actually took the time to really consider what Obama is saying THEY WOULD GET IT TO. I know Hillary doesn't get it, but her husband does. He's made the same comments, he even added the word "white", people, but because he is white, it is just fine and dandy.

Total double standard. Obama is honest and he is genuine. He understands all perspectives and sees all different points of view. I stated in other posts that I live in rural Pa (Poconos) and he gives me hope and makes me believe that our government can care for it's citizens. I believe IN HIM, if anyone can make the changes we need, it's him.

Thank you Erin for being one of the journalist that actually understands this. Hillary let her party down by taking another republican swiftboating tactic. Shame on her and shame on those that support her.

[druidlady42]

Let's cut to the chase and call this latest pseudo "bitter controversy" what is really IS: GUTTER POLITICS AT ITS VERY WORST, borrowing words right out of the Karl Rove playbook to divide and conquer the blue collar vote ! I used to admire Hillary, but NO MORE! By her statements that "Obama hasn't passed the 'Commander-in-Chief test'", then daring to label Obama as "elitist", she has shown that her quest for the nomination is not about the best interests of the Democratic Party, but ONLY about her raw ambition for power!

IMO, anyone with more than two working brain cells knew what Obama was talking about in his comments,--none of which were meant as derogatory, or "elitist"! He was referring to all those famous "wedge" issues which have been ruthlessly used, mostly by Republicans and now by Hillary, for many years to divide the working class/religious communities to vote against their own best interests,----yes, often out of frustration, fear of the unknown or unfamiliar, anger at their own economic helplessness/alienation! Here in my own area, people who don't "have a pot to piss in" still vote for Republican economic policies and continuation of an unjust war claiming the lives and limbs of their sons, simply because they hate gays, Muslims & Mexicans, and any kind of gun control. And yes, many of them "cling" to their religion which actively promotes those fears!

SHAME ON YOU, HILLARY, for playing right into the hands of Republicans!

[bluevillage]

Obama has been saying the same thing, in much more convincing language when he's given the time, in public since at least 2004. See these comments on the Charlie Rose show in 2004, after Kerry lost. Pass this along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oGF3cyHE7M&eurl=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

[4wehttam]

Yeah I saw it bluevillage. Thank you for sharing. He is sooooo honest and genuine. I respect this man a great deal more every day.

[TerenceHartnett]

I cannot believe at this point in the campaign HRC says that "America doesn't need a president who looks down on them."--meaning Obama.

She is talking about another democrat--indeed, one who will likely be the nominee--8 months before the general election?!?!?!?!?!

My God, I cannot believe what I am hearing.

If you support HRC now, then aren't you condoning these kind of tactics? Does any sane person think that Obama "looks down" on people?

[cbarn24]

I think this "bitter" comment by Barack Obama is a fantastic opportunity for him. McCain and Clinton are spinning it to their advantage. If he fails to seize this opportunity, I am afraid that this battle will constantly be fought on his opponents terms.
He need to come out as strongly critical of his oppoennts comments - as they are the politics of old. He can point to his willingness to say it like it is as a "new kind of politics". He needs to talk about people who have lost their jobs; about GOP talking about Health Savings Accts for people who can't pay their mortgages. He did not grow up wealthy - the American system worked for him and he wants to make it work for others - he now has the perfect opportunity to become one of them - he can become the champion of the people.
Americans are angry - anger is not a sign of being unpatriotic. That anger and bitterness will only grow when leaders fail to recognize the depth of their frustration. Do we believe racial integration would have come about had we not been angry?
I want Barack Obama to show some anger (like Hillary Clinton did in that farce over Nafta) - be angry at the politics of old - but mostly be angry at the way working are being treated and portrayed.
I know some may see this as a risky strategy but I truly beleive this is the chance

[AlabamaGunn]

I'm bitter as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.