Yes, we can.

[wendybeth]

Originally Posted by JWBear

I don't think he misspoke at all. He told the truth, and there are few things the American people hate more than being told truths they do not want to deal with.

I agree. I think if the economy keeps getting worse, which it will, more and more people will realize what he meant. I live in a town that is full of the people he describes and many of them seem driven by bitterness and fear. We have a high labor/low income scenario going on here, and soon the rest of the country will as well. Anyone else remember the late Seventies, early Eighties? This is going to be worse, and probably already is.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I wonder, if he did get elected, would this country actually start to like politicians that tell the truth? Or would we have to endure supposed offense at everything he ever says?

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I wonder, if he did get elected, would this country actually start to like politicians that tell the truth? Or would we have to endure supposed offense at everything he ever says?

Only if the truth is something good. This country has gotten so used to sugar coating, and PCness, and not hurting anyones feelings that people don't want to hear anything negative, unless it sounds positive.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I wonder, if he did get elected, would this country actually start to like politicians that tell the truth? Or would we have to endure supposed offense at everything he ever says?

I don't expect this to change over what we've experienced for the last 16 years (and I'm sure happened before then I just wasn't so aware).

Those not in power will take offense at every possible thing, generally not for their own offense but on behalf of other people.

[scaeagles]

Geez...."supposed" offense is all over for every politician! Often times Obama supporters act as if because this is the great Obama no unkind word should come out of any mouth who dare to gaze upon him. He deserves the same treatment as every other politician, and perhaps even a larger helping of examination, because he is so relatively new to the political scene. I will continue to look at and question his motivations and beliefs the same as I, and every other person should, examine the motivations and beliefs of each politician.

You are referring to an aweful lot of people as having "supposed" offense. While I am not one to bow to offense nor really be concerned with it, I am concerned with what the man believes, and will continue to question it, the same as I have with Hillary and McCain - I've probably been more critical of each of them than I have of Obama.

[Alex]

I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for plenty of offense and some of it will be justified and other parts won't.

But it is hardly a statement without support that manufactured offense is a big part of the standard political playbook.

[JWBear]

Oh, I'll be one of the first to criticize Obama when I hear something I consider worth criticizing. So far, I haven’t.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Alex

But it is hardly a statement without support that manufactured offense is a big part of the standard political playbook.

Indeed it is standard. Which is why I find it so amazing that when it dared be used against Obama it is found to be so shocking and out of the boundaries of the norm.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Indeed it is standard. Which is why I find it so amazing that when it dared be used against Obama it is found to be so shocking and out of the boundaries of the norm.

Perhaps because it comes from people that seem to want for him to fail so desperately that they scrutinize everything he says and does in an attempt to find anything, no matter how trivial, to smear him with. So they leap on this comment with howls of fake outrage; when if, had it been said by one of the other candidates, it would barely have made page 20.

[Strangler Lewis]

I think it's news when a serious presidential contender speaks critically and, arguably, offensively about a major player in the cultural melting pot. It was news when Bill Clinton dressed down Sister Souljah. It was news when Ross Perot said "You people." It was news when all the Republicans said they didn't believe in evolution, and it would have been news at the time if we'd been privy to Nixon talking about getting the Big Jews on board.