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OPINION

Obama's Critique of Small Towns Reveals Truths

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Obama's Critique of Small Towns Reveals Truths

Barack Obama said the people in the small towns of Pennsylvania “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them”. He spoke aloud what many liberals think. His remarks in San Francisco, which have now come to be known as “Bittergate,” are very telling about the man. These were not scripted and pre-thought words, but were a spontaneous, honest answer to a query. Obama’s words are a looking glass into his deepest thoughts.

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We believe Obama was projecting his own beliefs on working, mainstream Americans. Since making the comments, he has been in retreat. Now, he says that anger and hope go together. Evidently, Barack Obama’s message of hope is actually a brew including anger, bitterness and resentment. Are these the emotions lingering in his heart when he speaks of change?

No one denies that in the past many wrongs were perpetrated against African-Americans. However, let us put it in perspective. Jews, Italians, the Irish and many other groups of people faced cruel and unfair treatment in our history, especially when they were new arrivals to America. While not slaves, many were indentured servants…only a small notch above slavery.

Secretary of State Condi Rice has a much healthier attitude on these issues when she says our nation had a “birth defect” when the nation was born, because of slavery of African-Americans. She holds out hope by talking about the healing process, which began with the Civil War, continued with the Civil Rights movement, and is ongoing today.

Obama has a way of turning around negative situations. He excels at making “the other person” out to be the bad guy. Instead of apologizing for his latest comments, as most people do after they offend someone else, he plays the victim and acts offended. This is the tactic a wife abuser uses when saying, “It’s her fault that I hit her, she made me do it.” Obama offends millions of Americans by his remarks about people in small towns, guns, religion and immigrants, and then dismisses it as “the silly political season.”

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This is not the first time that he has used the tactic. When America learned about his racist, anti-American, profane pastor, what did Obama do? He turned the dialogue into a discussion about why it is America’s fault that Rev. Wright said all of those hate-filled words.

Either Obama is an arrogant, intellectual elitist or he just does not “get it.” It is probably a combination of the two. Obama is disconnected from, lacks empathy for, and has no understanding of the beliefs and values of these small town and suburban Americans. Here lies the great divide in worldviews.

The Harvard-educated, urban-dwelling, Hollywood-embracing, Pastor Wright- following Obama just has trouble understanding why we love America without conditions. He continues criticizing the “bad” in our past, while we choose to embrace America, even with her flaws, because she is still, by far, the best and greatest nation the world has yet seen. Despite our sins, we still are the beacon of hope and opportunity for freedom loving people around the globe.

Barack Obama: your derogatory, demeaning, and stereotype-filled remarks may reveal more than you realize. Be careful, because your arrogance may lead to your downfall…we are beginning to hear the condescension in your slick words.

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Hope mixed with anger is not the solution. Former slave and the founder of Tuskegee University in Alabama, Booker T. Washington, wisely said it best concerning the effects of bitterness, “I would permit no man…to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”

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