SubscribeObama Defends ‘Guns And God Clinging’ Slam
From his champions at the New York Times:
Opponents Call Obama Remarks ‘Out of Touch’
April 12, 2008
By JEFF ZELENYTERRE HAUTE, Ind. — As Senator Barack Obama sought to broaden his appeal to voters in southern Indiana on Friday, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain separately criticized him as being out of touch with the middle class, seizing on a remark Mr. Obama made at a California fund-raiser about “bitter” Americans.
At the fund-raiser in San Francisco last Sunday, Mr. Obama outlined challenges facing his presidential candidacy in the coming primaries in Pennsylvania and Indiana, particularly persuading white working-class voters who, he said, fell through the cracks during the Bush and Clinton administrations.
“So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” Mr. Obama said, according to a transcript on the Huffington Post Web site, which on Friday published the comments.
The remarks touched off a torrent of criticism from Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain and Republican activists and party officials, all accusing Mr. Obama of elitism and belittling the working class. Mr. Obama forcefully rejected those charges when he arrived at a rally here on Friday evening, drawing a standing ovation in a crowded gymnasium when he painted both of his rivals as entrenched Washington insiders.
“No, I’m in touch,” Mr. Obama said. “I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania, I know what’s going on in Indiana, I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed up, they’re angry, they’re frustrated, they’re bitter and they want to see a change in Washington. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States of America.” …
In Pennsylvania on Friday, Mrs. Clinton was first to seize upon the comment Mr. Obama made at the California fund-raiser. The Democrats are embroiled in a vigorous battle for the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
“It’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter; well, that’s not my experience,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience at Drexel University. “Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them; they need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families.”
After her remarks, aides to Mrs. Clinton issued several statements criticizing Mr. Obama, including ones that contained criticism from Republicans. Soon, the McCain campaign also weighed in with criticism of Mr. Obama’s remarks at the California fund-raiser.
“It shows an elitism and condescension toward hard-working Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain. “It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans.”
While the Obama campaign initially dismissed the criticism in a written statement from its Chicago headquarters, his advisers quickly concluded that Mr. Obama’s remarks could be a political liability as he sought to win over working-class voters. He responded with unusual force at a town meeting at a high school in Terre Haute, Ind., seeking to explain his statement that voters are bitter.
“Here’s what’s rich,” Mr. Obama said. “Senator Clinton said, ‘Well I don’t think people are bitter in Pennsylvania. I think Barack is being condescending.’ John McCain said, ‘How could he say that? How could he say that people are bitter? He obviously is out of touch with people.’ Out of touch? Out of touch? John McCain — it took him three times to finally figure out that home foreclosure was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he’s saying I’m out of touch?”
The audience, made up largely of Democratic voters, rose and applauded as Mr. Obama delivered his defense. Late Friday evening, the Clinton and McCain campaigns criticized Mr. Obama once again for failing to express regret for his remark.
“Instead of apologizing for offending small town America, Senator Obama chose to repeat and embrace the comments he made earlier this week,” said Phil Singer, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton. He added, “Americans are tired of a President who looks down on them, they want a President who will stand up for them for a change.”
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain, issued a similar response.
“Instead of apologizing to small town Americans for dismissing their values, Barack Obama arrogantly tried to spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks,” Mr. Bounds said, adding: “You can’t be more out of touch than that.”
Note how once again the New York Times reports a story that might reflect negatively on their candidate or overall agenda only when they can present his side, his defense.
(They should change their slogan to “All The News That’s Fit To Pinch.”)
But oddly enough, the charges in this case are actually untrue. Mr. Obama is not at all out of touch. Quite the contrary.
He definitely has his finger on the pulse of the San Francisco billionaire crowd and the rest of the America-haters of the left. And, after all, these are his core constituents.
We’re just not suppose to notice. And certainly we’re not suppose to object.
Unless we want to be called bitter gun-clinging, God worshipping, xenophobic racists.
32 Responses to “Obama Defends ‘Guns And God Clinging’ Slam”
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April 12th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Since no one else posted it yet - Obama: Small-Town People Cling to Religion, Guns, and Xenophobia
http://littlegreenfootballs.co.....ly&rss
[b]You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.[/b]
Amazing what kind of stuff comes out of his mouth when he’s not scripted.
April 12th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Mr. Obama was on a roll early in his campaign. A genuinely likable person that seemed to be one of us. Whether you agreed with his politics or not, he seemed to have an air of trustworthiness about him. But he has turned out to be nothing more than another of the same, so-called minority leaders, that we’ve seen for decades. Mr. Obama is unelectable because of his (apparent) personal belief that everyone in America is as bitter as his wife and the people at his church. He is too naive and socially inexperienced to qualify for many middle-class jobs, much less for President of the United States. His self-imposed cultural isolation within a circle of truly “bitter” individuals has warped his ability to understand anyone outside his prism of hate. Most Americans reject his views but he doesn’t see it. He can’t.
His supporters are really his worst enemy because they act as enablers to a pitiful perspective that, he feels comfortable, is mainstream. Once people react and he realizes how offended people are, he clumsily spins in the wind. He then further demonstrates his true self; angry, defiant, defensive, arrogant, and apparently racist.
However, I believe his candidacy has opened a healthy debate concerning the level of resentment that some people have developed in this country. Only a Presidential candidate, on the national stage, is placed in such a position requiring explanations of his remarks and beliefs. I’m sure there are many politicians scratching their heads wondering what has changed? Many spew the same venom as Mr. Obama without reproach. Perhaps this debate will help individuals reflect and differentiate between reasonable complaint and frenzied whining. Whining that merely panders to those that refuse personal responsibility for their woes, as so frequently seen from Jackson, Sharpton, and now, Obama.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Too bad he didn’t say those things before he campaigned in my state of Georgia. He would have certainly lost if he did.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
According to all the polls Americans want change, but Obama knows bitter. ;-}
April 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Wale shee-it..!! Spoze ah shud lode ma gunz and da gud book inta ma truk an hedz doun to da walmart an seez if ah can kik sum wetbaks ass’z…
Ma’ze wel stopz at duh revrunz cleetus’z houze an seez if’n he’z wantz too tagalong, maybeez wee will see’z sum um dem doobay portz fellerz an kik der ass’z too, …hee-haw..!!
Shee-it, durn neer fuhgot mahz beer kooler, gotz ta hav mah likkid feshments nowz dont eye…yezsireee, yuck yuck.
How inconvenient for Hussein and his fellow elitists, having to deal with the knuckle dragging Neanderthal inhabitants of middle America, oh my, he feels our pain. …yeah, uhh, OK.
Obamessiah can plant a big wet pucker on my ample “made in middle America” ass. Flippin maroon!!
April 12th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Hey Hussein, Hows that Uniting America thing working out?
April 12th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Monica Crowley on her radio show just described an incident told by makeup artists doing makeup for our messiah before a TV appearance. They say the emperor couldn’t be more snide, condescending, dismissive and rude. He constantly rolled his eyes when the “common people” entrusted to make him look good ask him questions. I am so happy this is coming out now because we came mighty close to giving the reins to the most important job ON EARTH to a two-bit poseur. Can someone please tell me how we got here? No record whatsoever, no experience, nothing!!! They must be laughing (him and his Michelle) themselves to bed every night. The sad part is that they are made for life!. Even if he doesn’t get the office, can you imagine how much he’ll be pulling in for speaking fees? He’ll put Bubba to shame. Change!
April 12th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
“Hey Hussein, Hows that Uniting America thing working out?”
Its all the same, he probably us less off folk would not have TV or internet to find out. Check out the “normal” billionaire company he keeps. (this is where the statements were made. A street in San Fran, called Billionaires Row)
http://www.zombietime.com/obam.....aires_row/
April 12th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Scroll down that webpage for all the pictures.
April 12th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
“gun-clinging, God worshipping, xenophobic racists”
Who me? :)
April 12th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
No……me. Just one of those TypicalWhitePeople.
April 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
This story has been covered pretty pathetically, even by FOX. All day long somehow the discussion centered on whether or not midwestern small town whites had a right to feel bitter. It wasn’t until I heard a clip from Hillary Clinton (hey, she knows exactly how he thinks, she’s poured from the same mold, so no surprise there) that I heard anything like what I’d been thinking all day. Obama, like other elitist lefties, doesn’t think small town whites (or anybody that doesnt’ think like them) can think for themselves.
So please begrudge me a few moments of satire…
You see, what he was really saying is that nobody really believes in the 2nd Amendment, or in God, or in personal responisibility, or in free markets, or even in the rule of Law. No no no, tsk tsk tsk my children, these are just silly juvenile manifestations of peoples’ frustrations that the government has allowed them to become poor, that it hasn’t fulfilled its duty to ensure their gainful employment. That is of course the constitutional responsibility of the government, right? I mean, what other job could the government possibly have?
Now all you good little small-town hillbillies just vote for Mr. Obama, and he’ll get those jobs back to you, he’ll provide you with health care and education and every little thing your heart desires, and then you’ll awaken from your conservative stupor and realize you don’t have a right to own a gun, you were just upset your job got sent to Mexico. You don’t really believe in God, you just want the war in Iraq to be over. You don’t really believe people should be punished with unwanted babies, you were just worried about how much higher the price of gasoline will rise. You don’t really believe in capitalism, free markets, or even that immigration to this country ought to be regulated by some silly little law, no, you were just really, really aggravated by the way Bush says “nuclear.” Don’t worry my ignorant racist crackers, Mr. Obama will make everything all right. It will all be perfect after 4 or maybe 8 years, and then you’ll never have anything to be bitter about, or think about, or believe in, or work for, ever again.
Won’t that be wonderful?
End Satire.
And God Willing, End Obama Campaign.
April 12th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Obama slams middle America for relying on the Second Amendment and their religion. How could they? Oh, yeah, they are bitter. See, in Obama’s world, they should not have to resort to religion. It is the government that should be taking care of them, from cradle to grave.
Which brings us to the question of why a man who thinks that government, not faith, is the end all to beat all, would have admitted that he never made a political decision without consulting with his hate mongering minister. I guess now we can assume that his association with the Rev. Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ was for the sole purpose of giving a Chicago outsider street cred and all that pretty talk about HIS faith was just playing to the crowd.
And then there is the little matter of that antipathy to people who arn’t like them and their anti-immigrant feelings (yes, those are one and the same in Obama’s mind) and that is all because they lost their jobs. Never mind that those who aren’t like them, the il-legal immigrant, is most likely the reason they no longer have jobs. Anti-trade feelings? Hell, after the stand he recently took on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, I would have thought he would praise those anti-trade feelings. Guess not.
You see, boys and girls, the man who claims to be a Constitutional scholar, thinks that the government, not family, not friends, not your faith, should be the sole arbitor of your “hope”. But I will admit, Obama has never stated with certainty which Constitution he is so versed on. My guess? The Constitution of Marx.
But ditzy looking blonds will continue to cry; overwhelmed fat ladies will continue to swoon, and men will continue to dig in their wallets to help the Obamassiah reach the golden throne. Or at least the leather chair sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.
One thing about this socialist onion, the more you peel him, layer by layer, the more he begins to really stink.
So what have we got? An open borders egotistical “my way or the highway” RINO and two socialists with one who has thrown in a handful of racism for good measure.
America, you’re f–ked.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:12 am
It is the government that should be taking care of them, from cradle to grave.
And not a moment sooner.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:53 am
“America, you’re f–ked.”
retire05, You’re right.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Seriously, is there any doubt that his supporters on the left and right coasts agree wholeheartedly with his comments and see nothing wrong with them?
Remember the “Jesusland” graphic after the last election?
This is what the Democratic party and in fact most of the “intelligentsia,” not to mention most of those in the entertainment industry think of you.
That’s why Passion of the Christ freaked them out so.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:01 am
No doubt here BillK.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:41 am
It’s all true. Here in New Jersey, Gov. Corslime is doing his best to destroy the state with his leftist, socialistic ideas. I am bitter living here and being subjected to this nonsense, but at least I have my anti-immigration thoughts to comfort me through these difficult times.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Let us take this one serious comment at a time:
-’they cling to guns. . .’- so he does not support the 2nd Amendment - so much for his Constitutional scholar mantra
-’. . .religion. . .’- how very Un-Christian of him - so much for his faith mantra
-’…antipathy to people who aren’t like them…’- I’m going to jump out on a limb here and ‘assume’ (and yes I know how dangerous that can be) that this is a racial slur - so much for his diversity mantra
-’… anti-immigrant sentiment…’- I know that this is the slimy way that the open borders crowd implies that those of us for American sovereignty, America is a country of laws, stop the flow of illegal, criminal aliens American citizens are against any and all immigration - so much for his unity mantra
-’… anti-trade sentiment…’- We all know that this is anti-corporation code speak - which means even more jobs will go down the drain when he starts the government controlling corporations - so much for his free market is prosperity mantra.
I am so glad that once again - a politician, pandering to those who actually give the money that has become ‘necessary’ to get elected exposed himself for all of America to see - I just hope that the people of Pennsylvania come through and answer him loud and clear - Anti-American Candidates need not apply here.
You know what - as always, IF McAmnesty or Her Royal Clinton had even written in a memo (much less said out loud) Typical Black Person - their campaign would have been history so damn fast - that the screen door couldn’t have hit them on the way out . .So Ms Ferraro was right - Barry would be nothing more than a second term political hack in DC if it weren’t for his ‘race’ (forgetting that he is biracial) and he wouldn’t still be in the campaign if it weren’t for his ‘race’ - And so it goes.
I still can’t believe that enough of America is that stupid, that racist, that lazy and that anti-American to actually vote Barry to the nomination much less the POTUS. . .
April 13th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
These unguarded and candid statements from Obama are the best indicators of what kind of man he is and what kind of president he would be. If the close connection to the racist, anti-American pig Jeremiah Wright and the Weather Underground terrorist didn’t convince voters of the real opinions of Barack Obama, this honest statement about how he views most of us ugly Americans should. And this man claims that he will “unite” the country (as if that’s a problem now) and somehow will make everyone the world over equal. How can so many people buy this man’s obvious act?
April 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Seriously, is there any doubt that his supporters on the left and right coasts agree wholeheartedly with his comments and see nothing wrong with them? Remember the “Jesusland” graphic after the last election? This is what the Democratic party and in fact most of the “intelligentsia,” not to mention most of those in the entertainment industry think of you. That’s why Passion of the Christ freaked them out so.
I’ll never forget the morning of November 3, 2004. The liberal students of my university (which was most of them) were walking around looking dazed and confused. They were so certain that Bush was going to get walloped. They were shocked to realize that there are actually more of us than there are of them.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
wardmama4 ….”.So Ms Ferraro was right - Barry would be nothing more than a second term political hack in DC if it weren’t for his ‘race’ (forgetting that he is biracial) and he wouldn’t still be in the campaign if it weren’t for his ‘race’ - And so it goes….”
So given all of the above, I also have a question. Is the office of the presidency subject to an “affirmative action” set-aside?
April 13th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
AmericanIPA asks… “How can so many people buy this man’s obvious act?”
The ever-increasing stupidity of the electorate in this country continually astonishes me everyday. I’m not sure why. I shouldn’t be surprised. The liberals have taken over the education and entertainment industries and have so dumbed down and distracted the population to the point that they can’t grasp the simplest of economic concepts and don’t care about anything that happens to the country as long as it doesn’t interfere with their cell phone reception, cable connection to Entertainment Tonight or stop them from posting the latest episode of their drunken sexual escapades on My Space for the world to see.
I’m trying very hard to stay positive about the future of our great country, but the more I see “typical white people” swooning, fainting and applauding every empty promise and Marxist idea coming out of Obamessiah’s mouth, the less confident I am of us even being a sovereign nation by the end of this decade.
Just imagine an Obama presidency with Reid running the senate with over 60 democrat votes and Pelosi with an even larger majority in the house.
Chills just went down my spine. I’m afraid we’re screwed.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Remember the old story about the man who spent all his youth getting to the Olympics and came in last. The punch line is “I can come in last and I didn’t spend my life training.”
Well, I could talk stupid like Hillary and Obama, I know it and admit it. But they want to run my life?!? Maybe they need Toastmasters for a few meetings. A crash course in Table Topics. Maybe they just get nervous in front of crowds.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
It doesn’t matter whether or not gender or race got them here, Hill and BO will slip slide us away toward more big brother mommism. Or whatever you want to call loss of freedom and/or liberty.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Some one tell me how this ASSCLOWN has gotten this far. Of all the other black DEMS in Congress they picked this one to be placed front and center.
How about someone like Rep Harold Ford Jr of TN who has 10 years of political experience, sure he is only a House Representative but he was in office far longer than Obama has.
Not only that Obama acts like a arrogant whitebread WASP Ivy Leaguer. He is a total pussy, get me a real black man like a Samuel Jackson type that will tell you “Get these muthafuckin terrorists out your mutha fukin country bitch ass.”
They must hate Hillary that BAD.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
What lies behind us, and what lies before us, is nothing compared to what lies within us. Obama is an empty suit with a gilded mouth.
April 14th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Wow, this has gotten completely ridiculous. It is pretty obvious that during times of distress people cling - yes, cling - to things that provide them comfort or stability. Family and religion, notwithstanding. And they vote on issues they can count on and that have a chance of being resolved, like guns, and unlike the economy. I am overweight, because when I am upset, I cling to food. My mom clings to Christ (the bible says that one should cling to Christ in the worst of conditions.)
And this whole elitist thing is insane. The phrase “Barack Obama is an elitist” was a phrase that I had not seen online at all, not a single person saying, “I don’t like him because he’s a snob”, until Hillary and McCain said it. Now everywhere you look, people are adding yet another reason to the list of why they don’t like him.
Something is very disturbing when people can buy so quickly into what they are told.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Something is very disturbing when people can buy so quickly into what they are told”
And Barack Hussien Obama is counting on it.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:49 am
sheehanjihad:
Are you trying to say that people *don’t* cling to issues and things they know, when they are upset? That in times of trouble, people don’t “cling” to Christ, the way that God, in fact, tells us to do? (If you are not a religious person, excuse me for assuming that you know the bible.)
Also, are you saying that people (either in Pennsylvania or in the US) are NOT bitter? According to the dictionary, bitter means: “marked by resentment or cynicism.” Are you saying that you haven’t expressed resentment or cynicism toward our government, or that you don’t know anyone who has? If so, please tell me where you live, so that I can move there.
It’d be nice if people who are anti-Obama would give real responses that incorporate thoughtful answers, instead of snarky one-liners that are free of content. Sometimes talking to Hillary supporters feels like trying to hold a conversation with a telephone service. “Press #1 to hear more evil things about Obama. Press #2 to hear Barack Obama’s evil, Muslim middle name. Press #3 to hear about the terror that Muslim Barack ‘Hussein’ Obama would rain down upon the earth if he became president. If you think Barack Obama is a crook, Press #4.”
April 14th, 2008 at 7:51 am
*waits idly for people to reply with witty one-liners about pressing ‘4′, or something else equally content-free*
April 14th, 2008 at 8:31 am
“Bitter gun-clinging, God worshipping, xenophobic racist”
Well said, I want a t-shirt with that.