15 April 2008

Self Destructing Dems Helping (Sigh . . .) McCain?

John McCain, the lesser of three evils in my mind, may be getting a boost with all the in-fighting going on between Camp Clinton and Camp Obama. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne is disgusted by it all, but he's also acting as an apologist in his piece for Sen. Obama. Obama insulted firearms owners and small town voters last week. No amount of apologizing is going to make up for it.

More interesting, is that all three (I'm back to including Sen. McCain now) want to be my friend, me a firearms owner. Wow. They wouldn't pimp themselves out to me, would they? Aren't they finally seeing the light?

Note: I do NOT have stupid written all over me, or in my DNA.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like you, I'm not thrilled with the field, but what's new.

What Obama said about "bitter" gun owners was politically the dumbest thing he could have said, and yes, perhaps it is elitist.

However, in this anonymous forum, I for one am willing to defend his statement as accurate. You are a bright, educated gun-owner, and I like to think of myself as the same.

However, the stereotypical gun owner portrayed by the anti's does exist, especially in rural areas: living in a rusty trailer sending 40% of their income to some shyster televangilist, all the while spending another 40% of their income on guns and ammo,for when the "SHTF," as the internet-savvy among them like to abbreviate. Many are uneducated and paranoid.

Obama wasn't even criticising these people - he was criticizing government for disenfranchising these people to the point that they feel (bitterly) that they need 47 guns and 10,000 rounds of ammo on hand, because they mistrust and fear government. He actually was at least SAYING he wants to reach out to those people, make the government more about the little man than big business - his point was not that he wants to take their rights away.

I'm not saying I buy what he's selling, but for his opponents to make such a fuss about this "bitter" statement is just the worst of politics - in other words politics as usual...

Brent Greer said...

The people who have several firearms and many hundreds, if not thousands, of rounds of ammunition have them because they enjoy firearms as a pasttime, as a hobby, as a sport, as a self defense implement. There are a lot of people who say he has thrown up such a smokescreen around who he is, that this is the real Barack coming out. Frankly, I don't know. But he comes across as an elitist to say what he said, and Sen. Clinton comes off as an opportunist to pounce on him. That, in my mind, is the politics as usual illustration. Thanks for writing!

Anonymous said...

"The people who have several firearms and many hundreds, if not thousands, of rounds of ammunition have them because they enjoy firearms as a pasttime, as a hobby, as a sport, as a self defense implement."

ALL of them??? We just disagree there. It's not PC to admit that SOME -- I'll even concede that it's the minority of -- folks' paranoia about the government being "out to get you" and the fast approaching end of the world are a few fries short of a happy meal, and I don't blame you for refusing to do so. Your name is on this blog, I'm admittedly hiding behind "anonymous."

Maybe it's an overreaction to the perceived lack of IQ-firepower in the current administration that makes me more tolerant of someone coming off as "elitist" because they are very, very smart, and sometimes have trouble relating to less-educated folks. I can accept a little of that in return for his using his "superior" IQ to better the country. I want my president smarter, and willing to work harder, than me - the current one fails on both counts, in my opinion.

I sound like an Obama supporter, and I guess I am (slightly) as compared to Clinton, but will look strongly at McCain when November rolls around. I'm an independant: fiscal conservative, and a social liberal (closer to libertarian, I suppose). All that means is that I disagree with almost every politician...:) Where's Ron Paul??

As always - I appreciate your thoughtful take, even when I disagree.