WHAT honesty, Obamaphiles????? OK, I'm in a generous mood, so let's give him a pass on the "people get bitter when they lose their jobs" part and assume everyone who has lost their jobs in PA is bitter. (not true, but that's the problem with making sweeping generalities.)
It's THIS part that is condescending and ridiculous: "they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment."
Let's unpack this, shall we? First off, he doesn't qualify it with the words "some" or "a few." He says that whole towns subscribe to this. And to what are they subscribing? "They cling to guns..." What the heck does that mean? They shoot people and things on a hair trigger to make themselves feel better?
Please.
They cling "to religion." I would LOVE to hear his explanation of this one! Specifically what religion(s)? Does he have a problem with the churches in these "small towns" or one or two in particular? Newsflash, Obama. Many people go to church through thick and thin and their faith is a bedrock in their lives. It doesn't depend on an economic downturn.
The irony here, though, is that he justifies all of the nasty speech at HIS church in a BIG city because, oh, well, they're fighting the injustices from slavery and they do so much good in the community! YET, he mocks the faith of people in small towns in Pennsylvania and basically calls their religion a crutch. This is unreal!
Next, we have them clinging "to antipathy to people who aren't like them..." Really. So, now they're all bigots (yes, that's what "antipathy to people who aren't like them" means) because of the economy? Another newsflash to Obama -- small towns in Western Pennsylvania where I grew up are very diverse with a sizable population of African-Americans. The economy hits ALL of the people and black unemployment is most often higher than white unemployment. No one is blaming the other -- they're all in the same boat!
The "anti-immigrant" sentiment really made me laugh. Again, he knows NOTHING about Pennsylvania. This is an area in which many of the people are second and third generation immigrants from Germany, Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc. When I was a child (and I would be a second-generation American on one side whose maternal grandmother came from Czechoslovakia), we had ethnic neighborhoods, churches and social clubs. Heh, my father was English but he joined "The Italian Home" social club so we could go there for dinners and events. Folks there remember all too well when their ethnic group was discriminated against several decades ago and they're not keen to do that to other immigrants.
The only phrase that has some truth is the one about "anti-trade sentiment." But, hello! People in the BIG cities are angry about the trade agreements, too. What industry has it hit harder than automotive, and that's not confined to PA. NAFTA has benefitted some states in the Southwest but I think EVERYONE agrees it needs to be revisited and revamped.
One last problem -- Obama said this stuff to a group of wealthy contributers in urban California. WHY is he ragging on small-town Pennsylvanians to big-city Californians? That's really insensitive and has no place in fund-raising. Is he trying to play groups against each other by exaggerating differences? I sure hope not.
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