Can Indiana handle the truth?

[AlphaCentauri]

This is not a political endorsement. It is, however, a cry of outrage that a candidate for president of the United States is attacked for speaking the truth.

Barack Obama has been quoted as saying, "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 it's not surprising then (that local residents) 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."

This is a brilliant description of what is true of places in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Obama did not sugar-coat the story. He told it as it is, as most local politicians would not dare.

Then along comes Hillary Clinton, who ignores the reality of these remarks and goes on to accuse Obama of attacking people of faith. Worse, the media labels Obama's words as a "bungle." Nonsense. He knows exactly what is happening throughout the North and in many of the towns of the industrialized Old South.

Manufacturing jobs that gave citizens good wages also provided identities to hundreds of towns. I was proud of a Ford Meter Box from Wabash (Ind.) in a sidewalk of San Juan (Puerto Rico). Folks from Bedford take pride in their limestone contributions to buildings and monuments nationwide. We know that Hoosier steel and its many transformations are vital to cars, trucks, homes and offices

Much of our struggle as a state is our mental distress. Just as it was finally sinking in that Indiana was not a farm state, we started to think that our pre-eminence in manufacturing was ending. There are Hoosiers, in and out of the General Assembly, who do not see that manufacturing is the heart of our past 100 years and the essential core of our next century.
http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2008/04/20//business/business/doc229c4410e538ecf38625742d001cb8a1.txt

[Zachstar]

1. I think they can handle the truth.

[SoCalDem]

5. Indiana has been getting smacked upside the head with the "truth"

since we lived there in the early 70's.. They learned it right alongside of Detroit & Flint and so many other steel areas

[AwakeAtLast]

8. But they still whine about Democrats - loudly

If you are around where I live (NE of Indy) Bill Clinton may as well be the antichrist.

I see afew Obama bumper stickers, haven't seen any Clinton yet.

[mwb970]

2. I heard a report from Indiana on NPR this afternoon.

The reporter had gone to a women's hair salon to find out what the people of Indiana think about the race. The comment that sticks in my mind is from one woman who was asked about Hillary. Her answer was that in most countries women are subjugated, so if we elect a woman president, we "won't be taken seriously." (This is actually what she said.) Asked about Obama, she hesitated a long time, trying to decide how not to say "I don't want a black Muslim for president" before stammering out something meaningless. Sounds like the hair salons in Indiana are breaking big for Gramps.

[Chipper Chat]

3. Hair salons bad places to get diverse opinions.

80% of the customers are rich republicans with enough disposable income to pay for hair care. Bet the reporter didn't ask the opinion of the beautician who is working two jobs because the rich white men in the Congress and White House don't give a rats ass about her.

[mwb970]

4. Wow, great point.

I hadn't even thought of that. All in all, not a very illuminating report.

[rusty quoin]

9. I am in Indiana and got my hair cut at the salon yesterday.

Tammy, the owner, and I had a long conversation about the jobs leaving and being sent to China. We talked about the privatization of the highways here. Others joined in. They were informed and concerned, so that's some good news. And better news was Tammy is getting involved.

[Petey Wheatie]

6. Maybe if Obama had "clung" to guns a little more often....

...he wouldn't go around shooting himself in the foot all the time. lol

[Leftist Agitator]

7. 32 posts in one day?

How much is the Clinton campaign paying you?

:eyes:

[Shae]

12. I've seen that one on a few threads ...

He definitely seems to have an agenda.

[AwakeAtLast]

10. I lived in Anderson for the past 15 years

I moved in the last year. The last GM factory (Guide Lamp) is being torn down and new job prospects are slim. There is the new Nestle plant, but that is only going to employ a couple hundred people. Anderson is rapidly becoming another ghost town. Lots of "bitter" people here.


FWIW :hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

11. I live in Indiana and I voted for Obama...

because I can handle the truth and 'bitter' is putting mildly.