Defending Obama

The political venom is getting spread around like crazy lately with all the candidates looking for any gaffe, or something that can be turned into a gaffe, from their fellow hopefuls. The last few days have been full of news about Obama's San Francisco speech during which he said this about folks he met in Pennslyvania:

“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 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,”

I don't think Obama envisioned the shit-storm these comments would generate. Now he's being described as an "elitist" by Clinton and McCain. Far be it for me to think that Obama needs defending. He's a big boy and he knows the game. I'm sure he'll take care of himself. He's already taken a shot at Hillary for her shot and a beer photo op. Of course, this is the same guy who was on camera bowling with some yokels.

The point is that all politicians lie. They are like Silly Putty. They are maleable and they pick up whatever they happen to touch. I don't blame them. This is the fault of the schizophrenic American public. We say we want honest politicians who are consistent in their beliefs. What we really mean is that we want them to think like us. The problem is that there is no "us." There are just a series of special interests, the general public included.

Take trade for example. Many blue collar folks blame NAFTA for the loss of their jobs and the poor economies of their home towns. While it's true that many factories have relocated and jobs have been lost, it's also true that jobs have been created by the trade agreement as well. How bad NAFTA is depends on the audience and that's the problem. When a candidate comes to Ohio or Pennsylvania, it's hard for him/her to talk about how great NAFTA is because people here blame it for job loss. If you support these trade agreements, you won't be winning these states. When that same candidate goes to another state, or talks to a group of business leaders, coming out against NAFTA may be suicide. So you need to get the votes of all these people but the people are not in agreement as to what is best. What do you do? You could pick a side and stay on it, thus being consistent but alienating voters. Or, you can do what politicians do best - never really pick a side and try to make all the people think you agree with them. This is what makes a good politician. The problem is that once in a while you're going to get busted.

When Obama was speaking in San Francisco, the audience was different than in PA. He didn't want to come of as anti-trade but he still wants to be a man of the people so he made the statments above. And Clinton and McCain have jumped all over him. Now, the elitist argument is just insane. There's no way I believe Obama is more of an elitist that Clinton. But that's not even the point. The point is that he's right.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am bitter. I'm bitter about a country that holds out the promise of an American dream but keeps dismantling the ladder while you're trying to climb it. I'm bitter that oil companies keep whining about why they have to hike the price of gasoline while making billions in record profits. I'm bitter about corporate CEOs making 400x the salary of employees even when their companies don't perform. I'm bitter about tax abatements being given to every company that moves into a city with the result that the city infrastructure and schools crumble because individual wage earners can't bear all the tax burden alone. I'm bitter that a bank like National City may go under or be bought out, potentially costing thousands of jobs and millions in shareholder revenue, while the bank president exits with millions in his pocket. I'm bitter that those of us who live below our means, save money, and pay our bills are seeing our investments destroyed by people and financial institutions that wanted what they should never have been able to have and were irresponsible. I'm bitter that more of my money, in the form of tax dollars, is going to go to bail out homeowners who never should have qualified for a loan while no one offers to lower my mortgage. I'm bitter that the government does absolutely nothing to confront big insurance and pharmaceutical companies about double digit increases in premiums and medication costs. I'm bitter that the prestige of the United States has faltered so greatly in the last 8 years. I'm bitter that our students routinely get their asses kicked by students from just about every other industrialized country while we sit on our thumbs trying to develop novel education plans and whine about paying teachers more. Here's a novel educational plan: make every kid take math and science every year they are in school and demand that they actually pass before moving them on. Stop the unneccesary grade inflation that goes on with so-called honors classes designed to make some kids look better than others because they were willing to write an extra term paper that they probably plaigarized off the internet. I'm bitter that more than 4,000 Americans and countless Iraquis have died in a useless endeavor. I'm bitter that car companies, 30 YEARS AFTER the Arab oil embargo, still try to act like 27mpg is great fuel economy. I'm bitter that we complain about kids not going into science careers while the president slashes funding for the NIH, NASA, and forces redactions/alterations of reports produced by the governments own scientists.

But mostly I'm bitter because, in my mind, the vision of America as this great country where people are free and equal and where everyone has a chance is nearly dead. Our leaders have let that vision die. We've installed a corporatocracy where you are either a have or a have not. And it is increasingly difficult to cross the chasm between the two. I'm bitter because it doesn't have to be this way. I'm bitter because humans could do better and we simply continue to choose not to.

I suspect a lot of people feel this way. I think Obama is right and while he's backpeddling a little, I wish he wouldn't. His comments about the people in PA are the most honest thing I've heard in this campaign.