Sunday, April 13, 2008

Elitist??

I am having a hard time seeing how the following quote from Obama is elitist-

"It's not surprising 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."

This is essentially the thesis of Franks' What's the Matter With Kansas and has been a part of mainstream political discussion for several years. I am not sure on what planet stating the obvious is elitist. If anything, Obama's statement is quintessentially populist.

The point is that when people feel economically under siege they will reach out to find someone to blame. Their government has failed them, and the GOP has been very good at distracting these folks to the point where they vote against their economic interests. Instead of holding the GOP accountable for their slavish devotion to the economic interests of the superrich, they instead get into a lather over God, guns and gays. And immigration has only added more fuel to the fire.

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