Some news sources did not air or print Obama's entire comment, but according to the Huffington Post and CNN.com, here's what he said:
"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 going to regenerate and they have not," he said.
"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," he also said.
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First off, I do not believe that he said these people were wrong to cling to anything, but rather that people cling to what they know and understand. Sticking to what we were raised to believe and to what we are used to comforts us, right? Common sense here, right?
Is it not true that people get bitter from job loss and financial insecurity? Especially when it lasts for a long period of time?
I know that I am upset and bitter about my dad's joblessness and our overall family situation.
Additionally, it is pretty common for people to say negative things about others, or not trust things that they do not understand. I hear white kids make black jokes and vice versa. I hear many people make homophobic comments and jokes. I hear men make sexist comments/jokes and vice versa. I hear religious people trash and disregard other religions because they are different, which apparently means "wrong." People tend to stay loyal to others who they can relate to. It makes sense.
So I do not think that he said anything that wasn't already pretty obvious.
Like I mentioned in another blog, as a former resident of small town Pennsylvania, I know why they cling to guns.
Guns = food.
For many in rural Pennsylvania, hunting, fishing, and trapping are a major supplement to both food and monetary income. If "hillbillies" pride themselves on one thing, it's that they won't let their family starve, one way or another.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Good blog.
Check out mine. I posted about an hour ago
"my first name must be, "He aint sh@t", cause everytime I come through, yall be like "He aint sh@t"!....I'll be dat" --Redman
"Anything that can go wrong, Will go wrong"----Murphy's Law
Everything presidential candidates say get shortened for the benefit of a news story. I think what he said isn't anything to get mad at him for, especially when he was talking about an area where he grew up.
People stick to what they know because they are afraid of change. I am very open minded. If some one does not believe in God, or is christian, I do not care. That is a belief that does not make them a bad person or "wrong".
When it comes down to it no one is right. The only things that are true are things that have been proven with science. If it has not been proven than it is pure belief or speculation.
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
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