Monday, April 14, 2008

Barack on small towns

I gotta give props to Barack Obama for telling it like it is about small towns. I lived in a shit town like this in La Porte, Indiana, and the amount of people who were duped by the Karl Rove machine was enormous. It's not surprising. No one wants to admit they've been screwed over their entire lives- they want to believe that what they've been doing has a point, and that there's some kind of hope out there. So they grab onto the things they know and recognize, like God or guns or some other BS values issue, because they can realte to that. Looking into economic issues that have turned their once-vibrant communities into defeated ghost towns is just far too tough for people that are working 10-12 hour days and raising their families.

So no wonder these people fall for Yalies who tell them "I'm just like you," despite the fact that these people back policies that will guarantee small-town folks will NEVER have the chance to be "just like them". And I even think in the back of their minds they know this, but like a beaten spouse, they're so scared of what might happen if they leave the comfort of their losing situation. So they stick with their losing hand, and guarantee that they stay beaten down and in their current place. Which is exactly where the rich suburbanites want them to be. What these suburban wusses DON'T want is to have small-town folk actually compete with them, because then the suburbanites might actually have to earn their money and status. And God forbid someone have to work for what they get in America!

Obama's comments will piss off some people for a bit, but many of them are the 28 percent of dopes who still support this president, so they're irrelevant for this election anyway. And now that Hillary's trying to exploit this anger over the comments by saying "Oooh, what Barack said was hurtful. You people are just fine. I have Midwestern values just like you." WHAT? Sliming everyone in sight and sticking with philanderers for career reasons are Midwestern values? It will backfire once people say "Wait a minute, Bubba rammed through NAFTA. You guys have advisers with Colombian free trade organizations. You've lived in Arkansas and D.C. for 40 years and made 9 figures in the last 7 years. How are in the world are you like us?"

As a former Hoosier that still keeps in touch with the area, I just hope it happens sooner than later, so the Hoosiers can knock out the Billaries on May 6. We'll see if this country is soft and reactive, or tough enough to accept Barack's hard truth. And it's pre-empted any chance for the GOPpers to try to use stupid social issues this November, because Barack can say "See what I said back in April? They're trying to play you?" And if there's something small-town people can't stand, it's the idea of some rich city slicker trying to get something over on them.

Whether he meant to or not, Obama may have made a move that could be the winner. Or it could confirm that this country's down the drain. We'll see which it is.