I guess I’m a snob and elitist myself. Because I find myself agreeing with Obama about Pennsylvanians-or the people living here in shopping mall USA. Then again I take the time to read and understand things in context. So if that makes you anti-small town America-guilty as charged.
Sometimes, whenever I come back here-I truly believe the country has gone mad. Besides the fact that more than a few people here who are incredibly fat, I’ve been in more than a few doors here that say knives or weapons of a certain length cannot come inside. Guess it makes sense-but being a guy who believes that NO weapons or knives should be crossing the entry threshold-this is a statement that borders on sheer lunacy. Sorry all you budding NRA members-there is no God given right to have a handgun. (I like others will be watching the Supreme Court case with interest-except I will be rooting for the DC law to be upheld).
So it was with great interest that I watched Obama and the reaction his statement has generated from morons people on both the right and the left. He’s learned one of the cardinal rules of American politics. Don’t tell the voters how stupid they really are. Or how in the past 20 years they have allowed themselves to be manipulated like sheep.
Even though its true. On both sides of the aisle.
I grew up in Western PA. Truth be told there were more than a few people I encountered along the way that met this description:
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 nothing’s replaced them…And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
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.
Now the key part of Obama’s statement is not the second paragraph-it is the first one. The Town Hall Harlot and the rest have of course used this to show yet again how Obama has abandoned the supposedly erudite masses that listen to Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Praeger; read MM and the other loons, and or watch the Fox Noise network.
Now probably Obama would have been best off stopping at the end of the first paragraph. However in a poorly constructed way-he actually did a good thing. He highlighted the really useless things that enter into the landscape of Presidential politics. Especially when it comes to a religious litmus test that so many people in the states seem to love.
Its a gaffe now though and it is going to come back to haunt him in the campaign.
But just because it is a gaffe does not mean its not truth.
Which he points out well in his speech in Indiana:
Besides if you want to meet a real elitst-why not talk to the man who used to own a pro baseball team? And has not lived paycheck to paycheck in his life?
Oh I forgot, we are all supposed to think he is a regular guy.
I never liked NASCAR anyway.
With all do respect, I think many “Budding” NRA members (myself included) consider it to be a Constitutional Right to bear arms. Not a “God Given Right” but like all other Americans you are entitled to your opinions and I respect that “Right” also. Religious beliefs play a large part in American culture just as well as many other religious beliefs are prevalent in other countries and cultures as well. I think it is just a part of who we are/were, look at our monetary system, court buildings etc. it is part of our American culture. I am sorry you may not approve of it but that is your right and I truly do respect it. I think that is the beautiful thing about the United States, people don’t have to agree and its ok. We can have a different opinion but don’t have to fear our lives over it or be dragged through the streets by our hair for it. No hard feelings or anything just sharing my point view is all. The Obama thing…I think I will just stay out of that one all together. This election year is interesting to say the least. Thanks for letting me share!
Skippy,
Go back to Japan. Now. Do not collect $200.
Only elites have a God given right to be provided armed protection from state sponsored goons but all the unwashed masses must accept that they must be gunned down by any crack using drug fiend who can scrape up the $100 necessary to buy a gun off the economy.
I grew up in Central PA, upstate NY, central NJ, northern Alabama, Newport RI, Fort Riley, Kansas, Leavenworth, KS, and half a dozen other places. I never saw what you fear so much. I trust an armed citizenry far more than I would the sheep that you seem to favor.
G-d**m, and i done sent my ballot to Erie county already. my family would kill me. 😉
but i just don´t trust the “b*tch”
Skippy,
You are sooo rright. Obamo hasspoken the truth; no more, no less. HRC’s comments show once again how desperate I think she is. Want elitism look to the Bush and those who control the Republican agenda. And, I think, the Clinton’s.
At least I have not seen a McCain response.
Regardless I do belive regardless of which of hte three is elected’ will be an improvement on the Bush debacle we have witnessed for lo these excess years.
“He’s learned one of the cardinal rules of American politics. Don’t tell the voters how stupid they really are.”
The problem though is that his view is subjective, in other words “he thinks they are stupid” based on his definition of stupid.
Guns and religion and antipathy are constitutional liberties, people have the right to believe in whatever they want. The irony is those people aren’t shoving their beliefs down his throat, rather in this case he is the one doing the shoving.
Obama disrupted the promise he represents, he played a class warfare card.
Curtis,
If I did go back to Japan (which I am tomorrow) I would not have to worry so much about getting gunned down by a crack goon . Why? Because the drug problem in Japan is very different and much more underground and 2) they have tough gun laws and do not have a culture that celebrates handgun ownership. Thus I can get around on reliable public transportation ( something else America is lacking) in relative safety. Furthermore for all their issues, the Japanese at least have a culture that inherently is polite and has respect for ones fellow citizen.
Jessica,
Thanks for sharing. Its clear Obama over stepped in his remarks. He should have stopped at the first paragraph. Still for me it is refreshing to see a polictican take on the folks like James Dobson and the Rush Limbaughs and Dennis Praegers and Michelle Malkins who channel bitterness for their own twisted ends.
Re the second amendment-I always amazed that people forget the part about the purpose being for a well regulated militia. It also is kind of striking to me that he same folks who want a strict reliance on this are willing to allow an evolutionary approach on the 4th and 5th amendment are willing to force me to pee in the bottle and wiretap my phone. That type of government regulation seems to be OK but guns are not. Seems inconsistent to me.
Concerning the 2nd amendment I must bring attention to the fact that it was written with two purposes in mind not just the one (referring to the militia only). It is also VITAL when interpreting a law document especially in the english language to pay close attention to punctuation. A document can be completely misinterpreted just by leaving out a simple comma. Thus the II Amendment says, “A well regulated militia,(comma) being necessary to the security of a free state,(comma) the right of the people to keep and bear arms,(comma) shall not be infringed. The law states who it is applying it self to and the reason by using the commas. 1st talking of the Militia then after the comma explaining why we need a militia then going on to the 2nd- speaking of “The People” proceeded by a comma and then explaining the right of the people(the reason). If you take all of the punctuation out of the Constitution or any legal document for that matter you leave room for err, assumption or misinterpretation. In your initial post you were referring to the citizens/the people (which is the later part of the 2nd amendment) thus my comment was directed towards what you were referring to in your post. I think the purpose of allowing not only “organized” militias to bear arms but the people (individual law abiding citizens) as well is to insulate the private citizen from governmental tyranny. In other countries Militias have been known to have their own agendas or to become tainted. For example: Nazi Germany’s tainting affect on France’s Militia. I also am led to believe that an act of self defense can therefore be considered an act of Militia because a militia has no regulations as to the size and the citizen is taking it upon himself to protect/defend himself or the community. In my opinion, the government should not have so much control. The sole purpose of the Constitution’s construction was to protect American citizens from the gov’t. It was written for the people by the people. I tend to have more of a Libertarian point of view with a few Republican values thrown in for good measure! I don’t necessarily agree with the Rush’s & the Dobson’s 100% on everything either. I think everything should have some sort of balance and of course with politics it just isn’t that way. I am not 100% sure of what you are referring to about the 4th and 5th amendment since you really didn’t elaborate on it. However, staying on key that is not what my initial comments were about.
I like NASCAR, and I like my handguns. I carry regularly as I am permitted to do by the state of Michigan.
I agree with Jessica on the Second Amendment: it was written so that we may protect ourselves from the Government, should it come to that. In the time it was written, it was understood that firearms were necessary to one’s survival. Hence, to prevent the Government from seizing firearms from the general populace, the Second Amendment was written.
As far as Japan’s public transportation, why does that exist now? Sure some cities in the US have extensive public transportation (note that Detroit does NOT), but I don’t believe we ever will. The car/truck/SUV is our freedom. To go where we want to go and do what we want to do. But I would submit that the Japanese public transportation system is more an outgrowth of the Japanese culture and the massive destruction of WWII.
To Obama’s comments on the “little people”: most folks, right or wrong, are only going to vote based on their little part of the world. That’s the way it is. To make it sound like the only answer to fix all their problems is the Government is condescending and eletist. Sure people need to get over their problems, but they need to pick themselves up and fix it. That is not why the Government exists. It is my belief that this country was built on our ability to make something from nothing.
Anyway, have a safe trip back. Good luck!
Skippy,
Japan, as you well know, is one of the most homogeneous societies in the world and also one of the most rascist and classridden. It does not have the constant dialectic of class/race with the have nots blaming their sad state of affairs on “the man” or the jooooos keeping them down. In this they very much resemble the Chinese and Koreans.
Like all classic liberals the existence of a working mass transit scheme in hyper-densely populated places such as Japan blinds you to the absence of such densities in the United States. Where there is sufficient population density or where the government has massively underwritten it, we have very fine mass transit systems. Tell me again what is it about highways that denies anyone the right to claim that they are mass transit system? They seem to bear the lion’s share of the burden for moving people in this country and yet they don’t count as mass transit.
I’ll stick with America and Americans. After all, the only reason we’re still in Japan is because they have established a universal cred for murder and mayhem and are hated by every single one of their neighbors. If we declined to keep them under control, their neighbors would surely have exterminated them by now. You write about how nice it is to live there with them now because they’re mostly pleasant to each other but it’s a pity they turn into mass murdering evil bastards when left to their own devices. You know, come to think about it….maybe that is why they regulate actual weapons so tightly. They too have reached the conclusion that giving Japanese weapons just brings out their natural lust to kill. Could be a research paper in that.
“2) they have tough gun laws and do not have a culture that celebrates handgun ownership.” just watch out for the GAS in the subways
That was in Kasumegaseki and has not happened since. The guy responsible was a nut case and is now on death row.
And since then-they have made great improvements in the flow through subway stations………
SKIPPY,
If I have no God given right to own a handgun and the police have no legal responsibility to protect me ( as adjudicated in several court cases) then who will protect me from the criminal with a gun, knife, or bat who is out to injure/kill me? I assume that responsibility, just as i assumed the responsibility to “SUPPORT AND DEFEND….” When I joined the USN a million years ago. After 911 I realized that bad things can happen at any time, to anybody, and i decided that if I had the ability to stop a bad event, whether individual or large scale, then I must do so. I have a permit, carry daily, train with professionals routinely and am comfortable with my decision. Everyone can decide for themselves, what they are comfortable with, just allow me the right to self defense.
Relative to polite japanese society….is it unfair to bring up Nanking, or is that too long ago to matter?
Good luck with the job search.
stein
Oh Skippy.
Where would one even begin? After being led to your web space, and then watch that *leader* decide he could no longer bring himself read it, I have continued to read so many of your posts with a mix of grimaces, smiles, laughter and down right revulsion. Of course, being one of those overly romantic, overweight, lazy American women you despise, you would not be surprised that I could be repulsed so easily. Right? Aw…
But it has been with a sense of curiosity and non belief that I read your blog from time to time. Was this someone I had once known? Naw, couldn’t be.
I would not even attempt to argue anything with you, one, because you have the right to believe as you do and it is your blog. And two, because you have such a cynical and tight fisted view of the world that amicable discussion would be impossible. Forget that I find your views on women, particularly those of us who spent the better part of our lives as military wives, distasteful. Once again, your views and nothing I can say will ever change that. I am just deliriously happy that your views are vastly different from the men I know and love and those of the men who make up the inner circle of our friends and family. We are just boring folks who love to watch HGTV and create warm, pretty homes that we share with our friends and family. So busy with lawn mowing and block parties and school functions that we have no need to over indulge in alcohol or porn. Especially with the barely post-pubescent girls that you seem to enjoy so much. You worry me Skip ol’ buddy. You really do.
If Japan is where you long to be than do what you need to do to stay there. I wish you well in your search for employment in Asia and nothing but the best for your life there. Your views of America and our society are so skewed from any reality that I know that it amazes me. You need not inundate me with your statistics and media blurbs. I am not stupid, naive or uneducated. I am well aware of the problems this nation faces but I choose to stay in this country and be part of the solution. We chose to be here because this is our home. This is where our family and old friends are. Being with the people (parents, siblings, children, friends) we love was more important to us that anything else. Both if us get up each day with a happy heart. Not an ounce of cynicism.
Sorry, it is just not there and you can look real hard!
This is where my past lies…this is where my future lives.
I will not even begin to touch on the gun laws here and there but I have read, with a glint in my eye, your lovely commentary on the sweetness of Japanese society. Hey, you are happy with it and love it. Good for you. Still, I would love to see you discuss it with two of my dearest friends. Uh huh. Japanese who left that country because of the the *lack* of goodness and happiness that you seem to have discovered.
They find many of your statements on Japan quite comical. And we will not even touch on the fact that no matter where I travel in this country or Europe, the rudest people I have ever encountered are…um…well, let’s just say they are not American or European.
Or we could discuss the fact that in Japan, domestic violence went largely unrecognized by Japanese society and un-addressed by the Japanese government until the early 1990s. Or, should we discuss the fact that Japan has the second-highest suicide rate in the industrialized world? Someone is Japan is none too happy huh? And please do not ask my Chinese or Korean friends how they feel about Japan. That would start a whole other dialogue. Whew.
And this is the very tip of that proverbial ice berg.
So, Japan has problems. America has problems. Both have great natural beauty and some very lovely people. Sadly, both have some pretty nasty things going for them as well.
You are more comfortable and happy in Asia. Great. Enjoy yourself there and do what you can to stay. It can be done. Be a part of THEIR solution and become a citizen. We will root for you. I love to see folks happy.
Good luck on the job search. We care about you and wish you well…even when we don’t understand you at all. That is the nature of this old American girl. God bless you.
If you return to America, we would love to see you. We will meet you at the door with hand guns blazing and a heap of the greasiest food and fattest women we can muster up. And I will make sure that HGTV is on the tube. It is only right don’tcha know.
Sue C.
Wow. Too much to digest there and I’m sure not going to argue with it. Happiness is what counts no matter where you find it. If you are who I think you are-tell your husband to give me a shout. Its been a long time and I think you would find that if he were free to do so-he would tell you I am pretty much the same guy I always have been. I just have a broader view of the world now is all.
Plus, I am shaped by the events that have gone on in my life-as are others.
Re your Japanese friends-probably if I were Japanese I might share their viewpoint. I’m not though and being a Gaijin over here is a part of my experience for both good and bad-I’m not blind to what being in Japan is all about-it is just that if approached with eyes open, there is a lot here to enjoy. Especially in the big cities. I suspect part of their enjoyment of America has to do with a similar concept.
BTW Japan would not be my first choice for a place to live over here-Singapore or Hong Kong would be. Japan would be Dash 3 on my list. And I speak reasonably decent Japanese
My reasons for loving Asia are complex, have a lot to do with the lifestyle I like and the women here, and are my own. If you are finding my viewpoint hard to accomodate-don’t follow any of my expat blog links. Or maybe you should and then you will better understand where I come from.
Guess I should hang a Mission Accomplished banner on my blog now. One snippy little post on Obama has generated 14 comments. I did not figure I would get that many…………….
Hoo! Hoo! 🙂
Obviously you do NOT know my husband.
He is, and always has been, *free* to say and think as he wishes. He is strong man of conviction and character.
To express any other sentiment is, as I suspect it was meant to be,
a rude shot at me. I’m a big girl, I can take it. Most grown up American women can.
Did that make you feel better?
Your response to my comment (mostly written with tongue firmly planted in cheek) left a barn door open for major rebuttal but I have no desire to do this with you. It has grown far too boring I think.
Enjoy your life and do what you need to do to be happy. Become a citizen of another land and enjoy what time you have left on this planet.
Just do not surround yourself with the faulty notion that your view of the world is broader than mine or that of any *shackled* married American men for whom you seem to feel a mix of disdain and empathy. Thinking like this is usually used as a cozy warm quilt to crawl under and lull oneself into believing that the views one holds are shared by most. Sadly, that quilt is badly moth eaten & has some mold damage as well.
And I say this without one shred of cynicism.
God bless you and may you find happiness in your part of the world.