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.
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Terrific!
Coming from a small town in PA that has lost and is still losing jobs, I know exactly what you're saying.
Keep it coming!
Great post Erin, you nailed it..We are adults and admire the truth.
Erin is not mistaken. As we hear the voices that tell us we are not competitive and not wanted, we are beginning to realize, it is the militarized industry of China that is telling us this. As they march over Tibet,
Tienamen, and Hong Kong dissidents we continue to feed the machine. They do not need to raise an army, it already resides in the factories. We need to cut off high-tech equipment to them, before we come to regret it.
BITTER!!!!!!!!!
THAT MEANS HE IS NOT OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AMERICAN WORKING FAMILYS!!!!!!!
HE KNOWS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH SINCE REGEAN.
Amen, sister- I feel the exact same way! I am from a small town in Illinois. He is absolutely speaking the truth and it is so refreshing. I too heard Senator Clinton today and she is a real piece of work. Talk about out of touch. I don't know what I will do if Obama does not make the nomination, because I cannot vote for her or her tag team McCain. Bill and Hill need to go somewhere far away- Colombia would be nice. I voted for him twice and I have lost all respect for him as well. She will do anything to winand it is showing. Does she actually think this crap will get her votes! Go away- This post was excellent!
Erin, you are too kind. Mrs. Clinton is not high. She is Republican. Having made her money from playing with cattle futures and high-level graft --- instead of working as, say, a community organizer --- she really believes she has been anointed and deserves the fealty of the Little People. If they don't believe it, she will just lie to them until they do.
I love this blog. I wish I had written it! The second paragraph could be rural Pennsylvania, where I have lived and taught for the past 36 years. I saw a school district go from three large junior highs and a huge high school to not even filling one of the junior highs as parents left to find employment elseware.I have seen the bitterness that leads to hopelessness and the downward spiral to drugs and Satanism and other facets of giving up. People have been so confused with the past selection of candidates that they would vote for the abortion, gun, or gay issues because no one else was honest enough to name the issues truly concerning the rust belt.Obama has had the guts to confront issues we need to address. We must rise to the occasion and continue the dialogue. We must also convey to Clinton her desperation to be president and the methods she is using are not acceptable She reminds me of a desperate woman for a man and willing to do anything. It never works and alienates everyone. At one time I would have voted for her, going into this election I was neutral. Now you could not pay me to vote for her. I am embarassed for her.
Right on, sister. Western PA is the greatest place in the world. It has the greatest people in the world.
It has none of the pretense of Seattle, none of the assholes in German cars of Atlanta, and none of that damned dry air of Denver (How do you people breathe?).
But Obama could not have nailed it better. And for Hillary to call it elitist? What a joke. She's based her campaign on playing to these people's fears. Cry in New Hampshire, feed a line of shit to union workers in Ohio, and scare the shit out of white people in PA.
He didn't say they were bad people. He just said they're clinging to what they have. And he's dead right.
"You just go and lay your head on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand". Charlie Daniels knew it. Obama knows it. Hillary knows it.
But what is Saint Obama going to do about it?
You'll find out in January.
You could always move to Dubai, you know. Skiing in the desert and everything.
Who has been running Detroit, MI and Wayne County for the past 60 years? Most of the flyover posters have no clue or no idea how Detroit is one of the great examples of Liberal Failures so you are just going to send another liberal to fix it. What would Obama do to Michigan that Michigan can't do them selfs?
All Politics is local.
The Average Middle America are smarter to know another Liberal is not going to fix anything, the damages has ready set in.
The demise of the auto industry, steel industry, and tire and rubber industry is a result of liberal policies? In what specific way? You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
No demise. Just moved to a different locale.
Oh please. There may be 'liberal' politicians but they're living in a world entirely controlled by the corporate gods who offer and revoke the trough at will. The conditions in Detroit are not made by politicians; they're made by the conservatives at the top of government and the corporations who believe in 'market determination'.
That's the truth, bitter as it is to swallow.
"What would Obama do to Michigan that Michigan can't do them selfs?"
"The Average Middle America are smarter to know another Liberal is not going to fix anything, the damages has ready set in."
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the intellect of the average conservative. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Actually the governor who put MI as a whole in this mess was a Republican (that being said the democrats have not done a good job).
The problem in Detroit (as a Detroit City resident and property owner), is not liberals, conservatives, democrats, or republicans but cronyism (spelling?). It is politicians being loyal to friends instead of the people (think Clinton- Penn, but on a much worse 30 year level)
Peace Sam
I'm happy to know that these last eight years under Republican rule have been working out great for you and the rest of Average Middle America.
Clinton is an opportunist, with no moral center. It's not that she necessarily disagrees with Obama's contention that many Pennsylvanians are bitter. No, she just saw a chance to pummel him and advance her own petty agenda. Obama could say the earth is round and the sky is blue, and Clinton would say, "No! The earth is flat and the sky is brown!" She's always looking for an opportunity to hammer Obama, because she feels if she doesn't, she'll be ignored on and the sidelines. And that is exactly where she deserves to be--ignored and lurking on the sidelines.
They love it when Obama speaks truth - it gets the Clinton juices flowing.
Sounds a lot like parts of Ohio which never really recovered from the recession.
I meant to say, never recovered from the LAST recession.
Never recovered from the late 70's early 80's - For decades, Ohio felt recessions earlier and they lasted longer than most states.
Erin...tha
Effortless arrogance.
Thank you, Erin!
Erin, You have said it as it is and with classy anger. It isn't only in Michigan, or Pennsylvania, or Kansas, or ..........
The elite mourn the loss of Hispanic labor more than they do the American homeless.
Those living on the edge of poverty cling to their faith and their corner church and pray their children do not use the guns they carry or accidently get caught in the crossfire of the bitter users. I don't know where Hillary gets her ideas about elitism, but in Oklahoma she doesn't count anyway, because the majority of the state will vote for McCain or more of the same Bush crap. So sad and I am too old to move.
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