Sen. Barack Obama served up the San Francisco Treat to his detractors last week in the city by the bay. If that makes you think of a Journey song, please stop reading now.
Sen. Obama, he of the “oil is evil” campaign here in the Keystone State, apparently had no trepidation appearing on “Billionaire’s Row” to attend a dinner where “Campaign Helper” was served to the tune of $2,300 per plate.
If you are paying attention to Sen. Obama’s campaign, he has been relentless in the notion that most of the other politicians are guzzling big oil while he’s got no strings to hold him down. Well then, why was he appearing at the Getty Mansion at a fundraiser? Those Gettys didn’t get rich by peddling pencils, did they? The home belongs to Gordon Getty, oil heir. Well, let’s not get bogged down in the details. Let’s get to the red meat here!
While in Pennsylvania, Sen. Obama has been dissing big oil. While in San Francisco, Sen. Obama was dissing little Pennsylvanians. You know those poor, pathetic, tobacco-chewing hopeless creatures who keep waiting for the gubbermint to rescue them and take them away in a golden pumpkin coach? Those poor, poor things. There they are, wishin’ and hopin’ that Unkle Sam will buy them a Cadillac or give them a ham. Sigh. They’ve been sitting in the Chevy on blocks in the front yard, waiting for Silicon Valley to fall from a cloud and give them a fancy jobs makin’ little plastic parts for fancy computers. Yee haw!
OK, I may have made most of that stuff up that you read here. But, here’s what he did say:
“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 they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
“And it's not surprising then they 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.”
OK, how many of you slept funny last night because you were cuddling with your rifle? Hands? That’s what I thought. And, how many of you go to church every week because you have run out of any other possible options? That’s what I thought.
It’s very easy not to “get” the people of Pennsylvania when you only spend a week traveling through the state by bus with the chosen few by your side.
I truly believe the people of Pennsylvania know that when they hear fanciful promises from slick politicians, they nod their heads to be polite. Then, they go home and figure out what they’re going to do to improve their lot in life. Smart Pennsylvanians know that good things come to those who work. They realize that if their neighbors are distressed, it’s up to them to lend a hand. They’re willing to shovel a neighbor’s driveway or loan a distressed relative a few bucks if it’s necessary. They realize government is an essential function, not a lifestyle. They also know that it will be a cold day in Nanticoke before they’ll be eating watercress sandwiches with the crust cut off in some yellow colored mansion on the hill.
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Rush Limbaugh
