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  • From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Obama fans, what say ye?
  • Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:09:00 EDT



> Only if YOU have THAT bias, that take on meaning. How is it deeply
> offensive to you--he did not refer to someone in your circumstances at
> all.

Are you making the 'no dog in the fight' argument? We can only take offense
if a candiate says offensive things about us directly?

>And surely you have an
understanding that your lifestyle biases how you see the far different

choice made by the rest of the population.





So .... since the rural Pennsylvanians have different values than the rest of
the country (although they aren't that far off), then it's OK for Obama to
beliitle them?





Here's the quote:



"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."





Let's distill it to the parts in question, it doesn't change it grammatically
to do so:



"..they cling to guns or religion ... as a way to explain their frustrations."



How is it possible to read this as not being pejorative?? Try some
grammatically parallel sentences:

Gene plants cherry trees as a way to have cherry pies.
Don drives 1000 miles as a way of getting to Heartwood.

In every construction like that the common interpretation of the English
language is one only does the first in order to accomplish the second. Obama
is
saying that people "cling" to guns and religion in order to explain their
frustration. NOT because those are things they value.

Let's try another parallel construction:

Gene goes to Heartwood each spring as a way of beating his bad debts in
Phoenix.

Gene might remonstrate that he has no bad debts to beat and that he goes to
Heartwood for entirely different reasons than that. Do you well to take
offense at the above comment?

Likewise those caught in Obama's wide net (supporters of gun rights and
religious rights) take offense by saying they are not attempting to explain
away
their frustrations and they support those rights for entirely different
reasons
than Obama states.









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