Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Seems to me this guy has far more moral authority to judge Obama's  
"bitter" remarks than the rest of us:



Take John Baer's column in the Philadelphia Daily News this morning,  
entitled, "Decades of working-class neglect--now that's insulting."

As a native-born, small-town Pennsylvanian, a son of native-born,  
small-town Pennsylvania parents - one from the coal region, one from  
Lancaster County - let me assure you that the so-called offensive,  
condescending things Barack Obama said about the people I come from  
are basically right on target.

"Bitter" perhaps best describes my late mother, an angry Irish  
Catholic who absolutely clung to her religion.
Dad, also a journalist, wasn't really bitter as far as I know, but he  
sure liked to hunt.
So, despite carping from Hillary Clinton and annoying yapping from her  
surrogates (really, it's like turning on the lights at night in a  
puppy farm), I take no offense.
What's offensive to me is suggesting that small-town, working-class,  
gun-toting and/or religious Pennsylvanians are somehow injured by a  
politician's words.
Are you kidding me?
They're injured all right, but the injury is long-term and from lots  
more than "just words."
They've been injured from decades of neglect by political cultures in  
Washington and Harrisburg driven by special interests.
They're injured by a system of isolated, insulated political  
leadership that protects itself and the status quo above all else.
They've been harmed by a lack of political guts to fix a health-care  
system that works against the poor and forces middle-class families to  
pay more for less, while at the same time giving politicians the best  
coverage taxpayer money can buy.
They've been taken for granted by political parties and candidates who  
stay in power by - and this was the apparent gist of Obama's remarks -  
forcing attention and debate on issues tied to guns, religion and race  
(precisely because such issues resonate) rather than real problems  
such as health care and the economy.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=310029
> From erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  Mon Apr 14 19:40:51 2008
Return-Path: <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
X-Original-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix, from userid 3002)
        id 55F6E4C01C; Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:40:51 -0400 (EDT)
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.3 (2007-08-08) on malecky
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.0 required=5.0 tests=none autolearn=disabled
        version=3.2.3
Received: from fmailhost01.isp.att.net (fmailhost03.isp.att.net
        [207.115.11.53])
        by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0D86E4C01A
        for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:40:46 -0400 
(EDT)
Received: from [216.78.44.231]
        (host-216-78-44-231.asm.bellsouth.net[216.78.44.231])
        by isp.att.net (frfwmhc03) with ESMTP
        id <20080414234044H03002ga2ke>; Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:40:44 +0000
X-Originating-IP: [216.78.44.231]
Message-ID: <4803EB7A.5080003 AT bellsouth.net>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:40:42 -0400
From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
Organization: EarthNSky Farm
User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 (Windows/20080213)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
References: <48022D05.5060505 AT bellsouth.net>      
<18c9df6e0804130908y45da7c5djb0d4004fd26c1b3d AT mail.gmail.com>     
<00c301c89d81$719f5ab0$6501a8c0@DonsLaptop>       <480236C8.8070502 AT bellsouth.net>  
<CD34B309-635E-4432-A11D-4394296C3DC2 AT ruralize.com>       <01b601c89dfa$39f0db10$80783542@Moon>
        <18c9df6e0804132307p1e0f69f3r333c8d5dfd10af3a AT mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <18c9df6e0804132307p1e0f69f3r333c8d5dfd10af3a AT mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Obama fans, what say ye?
X-BeenThere: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9
Precedence: list
Reply-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
List-Id: <homestead.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead>
List-Post: <mailto:homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:40:51 -0000



Marie McHarry wrote:

> For this election, barring an act of God, were are stuck with McCain
> and either Clinton or Obama. Which of those other two is the true
> leader you're looking for?


Speaking for myself, I don't think I'll be voting for any of them.  IMO, 
no true leaders there....
But I wonder...
It's pretty obvious to me that Obama has united a lot of loose ends-both 
Republicans and Democrats have fallen under his spell as for many he 
seems to be the lesser of three evils.  I'm not sure of the voter base 
for McCain or Clinton, but I ponder this what if...
If BHO continues to put his foot in his mouth and begins to lose voters, 
who do you think they will vote for, McCain or Hillary?  Do people hate 
Hillary enough to vote for McCain?  Will McCain find those lost Reagan 
Democrats who have been wandering in the desert for the last 30 
years?<g>  Or.... are the people so fed up with the Republican mindset 
that they are willing to vote for Hillary?

Bev




--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky