Big Dogs Weblog

Obama had it All Wrong

by Big Dog on Apr 15, 2008 at 13:09 Political

Last week Barack Obama made a statement that has ended up being the most damaging of his campaign, at least up until this point. The young Senator indicated that people in small towns (the unstated message: mostly white people) turn to guns and religion and against immigrants because they are bitter about their economic situations. As an aside, most people are against ILLEGAL immigration and have no problem with those who come here legally.

I have been listening to the talk shows and reading stories about the Obama gaff and I am amazed at the number of people who say that Obama was right in what he said but he chose his words poorly. I do not believe this to be the case and I refuse to accept the apologists point of view that Obama meant people were angry because of their economic situation. I don’t see any possible way to arrive at that conclusion from the statement he made. What does turning to guns actually mean (does he mean violence) and why indicate that the small town folks only turn to religion in bad times?

The fact is, poorly chosen words or not, Obama did not say people were angry no matter how this is spun. There is no need to bring guns or religion into this to indicate anger. I could see the argument about ILLEGALS (though Obama chose to say immigrants) because many people are bitter about them coming here and taking jobs. But, many people were upset with them being here long before economic circumstances turned sour. There are a great number of law abiding citizens who resent ILLEGALS being here regardless of the economy as demonstrated by the huge opposition to the amnesty bill Congress tried to ram down our throats.

Many people in small town America own guns and are responsible people. They do not go around shooting people for the hell of it and they do not commit crimes with their guns. Certainly there are some who do but the overwhelming majority are law abiding gun owners. Obama was referring to Pennsylvania when he made his statement. That state has a huge number of hunters and other legal gun owners. The bulk of the gun crimes are in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh where people (many of whom may not legally possess firearms) use illegal weapons to commit crimes. Obama chose to ignore this group of people who happen to be the ones that turn to guns in good times and bad and instead insulted a group of people who are responsible firearms owners.

Obama also decided that he would knock religion as some crutch that people only turn to when they are on the skids. In the Obama world people turn into gun toting zealots when times are bad. Otherwise they would be non gun owning part time worshipers who were happy to have a good life while helping ILLEGALS cross the border. It does not occur to this elitist (I know he grew up poor) that many people hold their religious convictions in high regard regardless of their economic circumstances. It never occurred to him that many believers have faith that through good times and bad God will not saddle people with more than they can handle. Obama fails to understand that there are people who worship as a matter of devotion rather than a matter of convenience. It is not hard to see why when one considers that Obama joined the most popular black church in Chicago to increase his standing in the black community. Since his pastor always preached hatred and doom and gloom it is not hard to see why Obama believes that people only attend church when things are not going well. Twenty years of clinging to hatred obscured any message of hope that one expects from religion.

The Obama apologists and the candidate himself would have us believe that he misspoke about his true meaning. They want us to believe that Obama was saying that people were angry because of their situations when he actually stated that guns, religion and opposition to law breakers are refuges for those who have nothing in life or those who have lost a lot. No matter how one slices it there is no way to get to what they say the meaning was from what he actually said.

Senator Obama, when apologizing, stated that he chose his words poorly and that he should have said it better. He and those who defend him are upset that his words are being “twisted” to fit a political agenda. How dare people politicize the words of a political candidate!

It is amazing that Obama would cry about his poorly chosen words being twisted and used against him. The Senator did not hesitate (nor do any of his followers) to twist the words of John McCain with regard to being in Iraq for 100 years. McCain meant that we could have a presence there (after the war) just as we have had in Korea and Europe for the last 60 years or so. Though this was clearly what John McCain said, it has not stopped Obama and his minions from saying that McCain said we would be at war for 100 years. All the Democrats have twisted those words to indicate we would be at war for 100 years when that is clearly not what was said or what was meant. For those who doubt the meaning:

Last month, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, a crowd member asked McCain about a Bush statement that troops could stay in Iraq for 50 years.

“Maybe 100,” McCain replied. “As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it’s fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.” CNN

As for Obama’s statements, he said them and he will have to live with the backlash. I believe it shows his disdain for small town America and the predominantly white residents thereof. That he feels this way should come as no surprise to anyone who has heard his pastor speak.

It seems Barack Obama clings to that message of hate.

Tags: hate, Iraq, McCain, Obama, small town