Let Me Get This Straight

Isaiah 29:21 - That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.

Sorry to wade into Bittergate. But after seeing this ad by Senator Clinton, I feel like I've to to put something down or I'm going to explode.

So let me get this straight, two millionaire Senators, who've spent decades in Washington, are accusing the black man from Chicago of being and out of touch elitist? Excuse me? I can't even believe the media lets this play out as anything other than comedy.

Oddly, this ad doesn't address the "bitter" remark. Or maybe it's not so odd. After all, that's pretty easy to defend. I will admit that I am bitter that I can't make ends meet while we bail out millionaire investors. I'm bitter that I pay $3.50 for gas while oil companies shatter profit records. I'm bitter that I can't get insurance because I'm sick, but Insurance companies also turn in record profits.

So, since bitterness if obviously out, Clinton pulls out even more context. Now, apparently, all he said was that we "Cling" to our religion. Way to play to another right wing myth, that Dems are hostile to religion. Never mind that Obama himself is a religious man, that his chosen church has actually helped poor people. Nope, just paint him as an atheist, hostile to religion.

Clinton arguably has the better health care plan, but she's not campaigning on that. Instead she attacks.

So when it comes to religion, I'd like Senator Clinton and her followers to read Isaiah 29:12 "That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing."

Turn aside the just as a thing of nothing. That describes perfectly what they are trying to do to Obama. From saying he just wasn't ready, to joining McCain in criticizing the front runner.

•  racist!!!

  you called him black!!

  omg!

  by Zain on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:01:27 PM PDT

  •  Yea that's helpful not!

    Jeez could you come up w/something better than this comment?

    by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:04:15 PM PDT

    •  No, he/she can't.

      Next question?

      Heh... Clinton supporters are getting so desperate, just look at this comment, that ad, and the manufactured "outrage."

      That quote from TPM calling the Clinton campaign a parody of itself is spot on.

      by highacidity on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:13:09 PM PDT

  •  And Senator Clinton is a woman,

    So I'm sexist to, don't you know. Although at least I don't call her Hillary, as we are not on a first name basis.

    by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:05:23 PM PDT

•  You got it right - two millionaires accusing the

  black senator from a single-parent home of being "elitist."

  Such is our political dialogue today.

  by Shane Hensinger on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:03:53 PM PDT

  •  uh baracky is a multi milionaire

    who went to private school.

    by Zain on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:04:49 PM PDT

    •  He is, while private schools OMG

      Maybe just maybe he tested in bc he was smart (like I did), and do you have links that show he's a multi millionare (oh besides the new book money)...

      Private school kids are so horrible huh?  I'm so fucking elite bc I ate soup to be able to go to a private school.

      Give me an f'n break!

      by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:06:43 PM PDT

      •  i went to private school

        so i have no clu what you are talking about

        Obama is about as common as bush is cowboy.

        by Zain on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:09:17 PM PDT

        •  Then you should know that not every

          fucking person who goes to private school is elite. Plenty of kids test in, or get scholarships and plenty of families scrape money to send their kids to private school.

          by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:11:41 PM PDT

          •  there is no evidence he got a scholarship

            there is evidence his grandparents who raised him were reasonable well off.

            My point was in reply to the comment suggesting because he is black and form a single parent house it makes him mr joe blogs.

            by Zain on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:13:16 PM PDT

            •  To repeat what I say below.

              Even if the pot is black, it's pretty silly for the kettle to make an attack ad about it.

              My point is neither Hillary or McCain can claim to be an Average Joe either. And to me, Obama seems a lot more credible in that role.

              by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:16:10 PM PDT

            •  Except Barack himself said...

              ...he was on a scholarship. It was before the Hawaii primary, and Daniel Inouye said something snarky about prep school kids, and Barack fired right back at him.

              by Veritas78 on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:29:29 PM PDT

              •  Look Zain doesn't want facts Zain smash facts

                Zain wants a myth, Zain loves spin!

                by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:37:30 PM PDT

    •  How many senators aren't multi-millionaires

      who attended private school?

      by CalexanderJ on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:20:31 PM PDT

      •  But you see Obama's the most uppity!

        It's not his turn it is Hillary's turn!

        by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:22:37 PM PDT

    •  Net Worth

      Measuring Wealth of the '08 Candidates

      With one exception among the three leading Republicans and three leading Democrats, the contenders each appear to be worth tens of millions.

      The exception: Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). As a community organizer-turned-law professor-turned-state senator-turned U.S. senator, the bulk of Obama's wealth has come only in the past few years, with the huge success of his second book, " The Audacity of Hope."

      Sen.Barack Obama(D-Ill.)

      Net worth: $1-$2.5 million*

      Details: In January 2005, Obama agreed to a $1.9 million advance from Random House for two non-ficton books and a children's book, of which $200,000 is being donated to charity. One of those books -- "The Audacity of Hope" -- has been a huge best seller since being released in October. He owns a home worth at least $1.6 million in Chicago.

      *His wealth is likely to have increased significantly because of the huge success of "The Audacity of Hope"

      by Nonie3234 on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:39:20 PM PDT

      •  Thank You!

        Wow, actual numbers--well done.

        by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:42:50 PM PDT

        •  Teh Google!

          It are a miracle!

          by Nonie3234 on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:46:32 PM PDT

    •  Private School

      Hawaii's Punahou High School

      It was the 1970s and Obama was one of the few black students on campus. The son of a white mother and black father, he attended Punahou on a scholarship starting in the fifth grade.

      Obama's parents were divorced. He barely knew his father and spent most of his time living with his grandparents.

      "For my grandparents, my admission into Punahou Academy heralded the start of something grand, an elevation in the family status that they took great pains to let everyone know," Obama writes in "Dreams From My Father," his memoir of those years.

      by Nonie3234 on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:41:58 PM PDT

      •  How dare you respond w/facts thats unfair!

        by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:52:33 PM PDT

  •  Bill clinton was from a single parent house

    with an abusive step father who almost shot him.

    by Zain on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:09:59 PM PDT

    •  His wife.

      This election is about Hillary, not Bill.

      Oddly, Bill Clinton also got into trouble for saying very similar things about poor white people.

      Senator Clinton's ad sucks, which is the main point I'm trying to make. It is destructive  and mean in a way I had not thought her capable of before.

      by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:12:29 PM PDT

      •  Shss Zain hasn't got the memo yet. n/t

        by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:13:17 PM PDT

      •  Is it just me...

        or did those who were in that ad look like they were "reading" their outrage off a cue card?

        by second gen on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:29:33 PM PDT

    •  Poor Bill, it's not what he was it's

      what he has become. Glass-Steagall repeal is about as f'n elite as it gets.

      by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:12:31 PM PDT

•  Tip Jar

  Or if not tips, at least patience to not yell at me too much for posting about this.

  by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:03:55 PM PDT

•  Is it impossible

  for a "black man from Chicago" to be "elitist"?

  I find that comment weird.  Now one could say that Obama is not elitist without focusing on his race (he actually is biracial, black and white heritage), but why is it impossible for a black man from Chicago to be elitist?  

  By definition, no black person can be elitist?  Why?

  Obama may or may not be elitist, but I think that has to do with who Barack Obama is, not whether he is a "black man from chicago."

  by TomP on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:04:11 PM PDT

  •  Just less likely.

    And even if the pot is black, it's pretty silly for the kettle to make an attack ad about it.

    My point is, no one could fit the "elite" tag more than the Clinton's and McCain's— and at least his church record shows some familiarity with poverty and social ills. And, as a minority, I feel he might have some feeling for what it's like to be on the outside.

    by DJ Adequate on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:09:26 PM PDT

•  This whole thing is making me palpably angry.

  It's crazy.

  by ablington on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:05:24 PM PDT

•  This country has a myth and it is an important

  one.  That we have mobility and that your own future  success can be made by yourself alone.  Rugged individualism is one strain of this.  But the data shows that we really have less mobility than Europe.

  We love our myth and don't want to acknowledge class.  It drudges up India and "untouchables."  That just does not fit into our American identity.  I think class is harder to have a conversation about in this country than race.

  So as we know that genetically race really is a construct, it comes down to culture and class.

  Class is what all this elitist/bitterness discussion is centered on.  And no American can face it.  We can say poverty, but not class.

  The best thing about this election is that our country is trying to talk about these things.  It takes courage.  Some are doing a better job of it than others though.  And I am not just referring to the candidates.

  by dogheaven on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:23:26 PM PDT

•  Seriously I'm starting to get a low

  opinion of the people that have endorse Hillary as well as the undecided supers.

  Does anyone in this party have a backbone to stand up to the Clintons?

  by Shhs on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 04:26:37 PM PDT

•  I don't know

  if I hate Clinton or her asshole supporters more.

  by audiored on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 05:40:53 PM PDT