The Cultural Elitist

Yikes!!! Imagine the pain that Barack Obama must be feeling right now after being accused of being a "cultural elitist." Ouch. And double-ouch for a community organizer. Bad enough that he accuses small town residents as being "bitter" and who "cling" to their guns and religion. Even worse, The Perfect Speaker was forced to admit to having used poorly chosen words, telling us that "If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that."

His great sin is not that we said anything untrue per se, but that he reached beyond basic facts and attempted to add a bit too much color to his behind-closed-doors comment.

He should have stated a much more simple truth: People in small towns really don't give a hoot about Washington and would rather "go about their business" without the meddling of politicians full of vague promises for "change." A lot of people have rightfully tuned out Washington and all manner of politicians, but he should not act so surprised or befuddled by that reality. There was no need to spin it so crazily. Now he has to choke on his own words.

His other great sin is not an "elitism" per se, but simply a bad habit that he contunually lapses into: a belief that he can talk his way out of any difficulty. We saw this with the Rev. Wright flap, where instead of acknowledging the simple truth he chose to "go nuclear" and blame all of America and all Americans for the state of race relations. His pastor problem was unrelated to Americans in general. He tried to connect two dots that were not appropriate to connect. Small towns in Pennsylvannia or Indiana are not so different from elsewhere in America and passion for guns and relgion is not endemic to only small towns. Nor is being "bitter." Barack simply screwed up by trying to "paint" his way out of a corner with too much "color" and misguided detail and refused to admit that that was what he was doing.

Ultimately, the simple truth is that the man who professes such "hope' for "change" is himself inwardly "bitter" and seeking to blame others for his own bitterness. He misguidedly blames Washington for his own bitterness and misguidedly believes that he and he alone can "change" Washington to suit his own fancy, whatever that might be. Maybe his problem is that finally the folks in Pennsylvania have wised up and can see through his vague promises of change and hope. He can label it bitterness, but maybe it is simply reality.

New York Times: Clinton Seizes on Obama Remarks to Question His Appeal to Working Class

Associated Press: Obama's Remarks Gives Clinton an Opening

-- Jack Krupansky