There has been much flak over the past week about Barack Obama’s comments that some Americans voters are “bitter” and “cling to guns or religion”.  Maybe he could have used a better choice of words.  I really don’t know what they would have been.  Everyone of us, when confronted with uncertainty or discomfort, seek that which we know best.  For some, it may be guns.  For others it is religion.  And, yes, we do begin to shut down and feel bitterness when we feel we are not being heard. 

Of course, everyone is trying to pile onto the candidate for the comment, but why?  Whether Obama will admit it or not, his words were on point.  There has been talk that he has “sterotyped” working class American and that Obama comes across as an elitist. 

So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty here.  First of all, it has been said that Obama is arrogant.  That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose.  I don’t quite see him as such, but some say that is the opinion of this “working-class” American.  He is confident.  He is self-assured.  But, to label him as arrogant seems to indicate that he is above the crowd and that he looks down on the rest of us.  That’s a hard sell.  His background of work organizing those who otherwise would be without a voice seems to indicate that he is one who will use his skills to try to life up the working man or woman.  Perhaps, there would be some who would prefer to see him in a cotton shirt, jeans, and a pilled sweater.  But, that isn’t who he is. 

And, to say that some working class American voters aren’t bitter would be a lie.  We are.  Maybe that’s not the best use of our time.  But, some of us are bitter.  Why?  Because for years, there has been an “us” and a “them”.  The division has come along the great divide that separates Wall Street from Main Street.  America is a consortium of different worlds.  We can talk about “one America” until the cows come home, but we all know better.  If there has been any doubt, just look back over the past decade.

The average American citizen has been left behind, left outside the dialogue of the country, and watched his job be exported and outsourced.  I can only speak for my community, if one reads the news it is easy to assume that the final choice boils down to guns or religion.  I’m not an advocate for either, per se, but as economic times dive into the gutter, we see people beaten back to what they know.

Maybe if we had job opportunities, were not waiting to for the day we have to move from our homes, felt as if we could walk into the emergency room without fear of being turned away, and believed our voices were being heard… maybe we wouldn’t be bitter.  But, don’t blame Barack Obama for our truth.  We all know where we go and what we do when we turn for help and hope.  To pretend that we are offended by the truth is disingenuous.