Forbidden Donut

I have yet to meet a young person that is offended by this. God damn old people again!

I think the whole thing is stupid. They can't even pinpoint one particular part of the quote that is offensive. Some say it is him calling us bitter (which I think it is more than safe to say that we are). Some say it was him grouping religion into the same category as anti-trade and stuff. Some say it is the simple fact that he is generalizing at all.

Please. I'm not going to say it won't hurt him because clearly people are quite dumb (I don't mind generalizing), but the whole thing is ludicrous.

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns ... as a way to explain their frustrations."

Uh? I just like guns. I profoundly enjoy things that go bang, and I am offended that they believe there's something wrong with that. And besides that, the biggest threat to tyranny is an armed and informed populace. Gun ownership isn't my tool to express my frustration with the government so much as it is that I want to own a firearm. The manner of speech is such that it belittles the people who disagree; as if I and people like me are somehow wrong, insane, or inferior for wanting a free choice in the matter. I'm not violent or disagreeable because I own a gun. I never killed anyone, or even aimed the thing at a person. I like shooting. I'm not any stupider because of it.

And this isn't so much about their specific statements as it is the attitude of a lot of people who support gun control. There's an unbased assumption here that owning a gun means the owner is violent and extreme, which is absolute nonsense. Anyway I think I said my peace.

He didn't say there was something wrong with it. Not at all. The reading (or listening) comprehension of people these days is pathetic. Shit, he's not even addressing people specifically, the entire goddamn statement was focussed at Washington.

He's simply saying that for decades Washington has ignored those rural towns that have crumbled as manufacturing has been shipped overseas. As a result, those in small town America have given up on Washington actually addressing their economic woes, so they instead choose the politicians they support exclusively through other issues. That doesn't mean the other issues aren't important, it just means that Washington actually addresses them.

I heard that statement (as quoted) the day after he said it. I thought about it. I didn't feel angered or offended by it.

The more I thought about, the more I could see what he saw. He wasn't addressing everyone in Pennsylvania. He was targeting a specific demographic. Maybe it didn't get across the way it should have, and that may have been his fault for not choosing his words carefully enough. In total honesty, it has been blown out of proportion.

He lists it in proxy to anti-immigration, being religious, anti-trade, and antipathy to others, which is chiefly what concerns me. Negative and close-minded states of being, connected to gun ownership. Nothing wrong with it? I doubt very much they would condone the afformentioned xenophobia.

And like I said, I was not even specifically referring to Obama's lacking eloquence in that. It was the attitude towards gun ownership from many people that I find perturbing.

the phrase "cling to guns" has a very negative connotation and that is the crux of the issue...he might not have meant to put guns in a negative light but people read into it =\

edit: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AmandaC...concealed_carry

When he speaks about clinging to guns he's speaking about people's tendency to vote using gun rights as their primary issue after becoming disillusioned with Washington's ability and/or desire to help these people's economic situations.

There is no negative connotation in there at all. He's 100% correct. It's the same thing with abortion rights or how much faith (how "christian") someone has. There are issues that people have picked up because other issues seem like a losing battle and gun rights is one of them.