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A comment from a friend on my last post about Barack Obama’s “bitter” elitism deserved a more complete answer in the form of a post. Here is his original comment:

Which part of Obama’s statement to you take offense to? It seems pretty reasonable to me. In context, what he’s saying is that the lower class has been promised much and delivered little over the past 25 years. Of course they’re bitter.

I don’t see why calling out the inequalities of our current economic system is perceived as “elitism”.

I take offense to the idea that rural residents of Pennsylvania (or anywhere else for that matter) “cling” to “guns or religion”. It belittles faith and the right of citizens to own firearms by implying that believing in God or owning a firearm is some sort of mental pacifier. I think it’s just as bad to stereotype/judge gun owners or believers as it is to stereotype African-Americans or any other race.

A Barack Obama presidency (or any DNC Presidency for the matter) would make any of the “inequalities” you refer to much worse. Take Obama’s opposition to NAFTA for example:

“Senator Obama blames “politicians in Washington” for signing trade agreements that he says are bad for the economy because they provide perks for businesses but don’t protect workers. (Source: IHT, Clinton and Obama address economic fears, February 18, 2008)”

Yet NAFTA, promoted by Republicans in congress, along with the general free trade approach that Obama and Clinton both oppose, has overwhelmingly helped out the poor.

Let’s look at unemployment and inflation for example:
7.1 avg. unemployment - 1980-1994 - pre-NAFTA - Democrats controlled gov’t purse strings
5.0 avg. unemployment - 1994-2008 - post-NAFTA - GOP mostly controlled gov’t purse strings

99% total inflation - pre-NAFTA - 1980-1994 - Democrats controlled gov’t purse strings
45% total inflation - post-NAFTA - 1994-2008 - GOP mostly controlled gov’t purse strings

The bottom line: Obama is being hypocritical on two fronts:
1. He is judging rural Americans, gun owners and believers as a group in the same way he would not want to be judged as a member of an African-American group.
2. He is ridiculing this same group for it’s “anti-trade sentiment” when he is anti-trade (anti-NAFTA) himself!

Here is the quote again in case you missed it:

“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”