Don't people have a right to be bitter?

[Mobius]

I mean anyone from Flint has a right to be bitter.
Why do people take so much offense to being told they have a right to be bitter?
Oh that's right, it has been totally taken out of context and now apparently telling people they have a right to be bitter is grammatically the same as being directly called bitter.
You know for a Yale grad, her vocabulary and grammar is really terrible.
God help us if she runs the country.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. Obama told the truth.

We have a right to be angry. We were sold a bill of goods. The American Dream was a bright shining lie. The powers that be manipulated the system for their gain. They told us if we were good little drones they would reward us. That was a lie too. Everything they told us was a lie. They are only in it for their own profit.

Now the whole system is crashing down because they have slain the middle class, which drives the economy.

[Mobius]

2. Yeah, Heaven forbid the TRUTH be told.

Yeah, Heaven forbid the TRUTH be told.
I just see Hill like the Terminator(T1000) at the end of T2 where he is flailing around in the molten steel looking for anyway out.
I mean the lies, the ridiculous lies. Sniper fire?
Obama tells people they have a right to be bitter because they have been cheated.
Hillary tries to gain some kind of war hero glory by lying about being under sniper fire, and maintains the status quo. The status quo will literally kill us all.
People are not just going to lay down and die and follow whatever puke the Establishment puts out there.
Bitterness is just a precursor for what mayhem is to come, if the status quo champions run the show.

[merwin]

11. The issue wasn't with the word bitter, it was with his reasoning that

people were clinging to guns, religion, or immigration because they were bitter, and not for other reasons.

I, personally, am religious not because I'm bitter about anything, but because I have faith.

I understand what Obama was TRYING to say, but it came out completely wrong. I'm sure what he said is true for SOME people, but not as a blanket statement.

[Mobius]

13. Well they do cling to these things out of fear.

Religion is based on the fear of what happens to us after we die.
So it was created to help quell that fear, and all that it has done is keep people placated through falsehoods, and in thousands of years of bloody wars.
Why would a person cling to a gun?
Because it makes them feel powerful in the face of utter helplessness.
And yes, the American worker SHOULD be bitter that both Clintons sold them out to NAFTA, as well as all of the companies taking their jobs overseas where there are no laws about pesky things like safety and overtime.

[TLM]

31. But that's just it... he was talking about the wedge issues...

And why folks cling to wedge issues like guns and god and gays when voting. He never said anybody who owns a gun or goes to church is therefore angry and bitter. He wasn't talking about the activities, but the voting issues.

Don't buy into the spin that he was saying that anybody who owns a gun or goes to church does so because they are all bitter.

The full transcript shows clearly he wasn't talking about all rural working class folks, or gun owners or church goers... he was talking about wedge issue voters and the reason why they vote based on wedge issues like guns, gays, and immigration. He spoke of bitterness towards government and politics, but hillary and mcsame seem both to forget that part when they tried to act as if Obama just said all of middle america is bitter.

There was nothing offensive in what he said, and if I just had to pay 4 bucks a gallon so i could drive to the post office and drop off my taxes, I seriously doubt that Hillary and her 109 million on tv telling me everything is fine and

[Mobius]

33. I was responding more to what the reply said

than what Obama actually said.

[thunder rising]

34. Still it's typically American to be bitter over a policy they enabled and were warned against.

And they listened to the siren songs of Pollyanna again and again. Just a spoonful of sugar helps the poison go down.

[Neshanic]

3. Of course they do. You sound bitter...and clingy, but I don't know you.

Not particularly nice feeling getting called that by someone who has no idea who you are, the struggles you have, no matter what they may think, is it.

[Mobius]

10. Am I talking to a brick wall?

He did NOT call people bitter.
Read my post before you jump the Hill is la dee daa bandwagon, ok?

[phrigndumass]

4. Some politicians ...

... would rather feed us a huge load of bull and whistle "Don't Worry Be Happy" to us, to keep us from realizing that they still don't have a fucking clue what our lives are really like. Senator Obama has started yet another necessary conversation, and talking about it only helps his campaign. I really hope the Clinton campaign keeps this "bitter-gate" going up until the debate, because it will most definitely backfire.

What they don't get is this: Yes, we are resilient, but we don't want to have to be resilient.

[Rosemary2205]

5. Bitter is very negative and implies hopelessness and victimhood

Angry would be more appropriate. Angry people stand up and smack you in the face. They do something to change their circumstances even if it takes awhile to figure out what to do and who to do it with (or not).

Most of my family is still in Michigan - they are PISSED, not bitter.

[Mobius]

7. Perhaps

but he did NOT call people bitter. He said they had a right to feel that way.
He never said that was how they felt, or implied he knew what they were thinking.
That was my whole point that you seem to have completely missed.

[Rosemary2205]

14. No, I got the point

I probably replied clumsily. I did not mean to say Obama called anyone bitter - or anything else for that matter - what I meant was that people in that circumstance I don't think would appreciate even hearing the word 'bitter' and them in the same sentence. The hype wouldn't have any legs whatsoever if Obama had said 'angry' because there are a lot of folk who really are angry. When the hype kicked in twisting what Obama said, people would have said, yes I'm angry so WTF are the pundits yammering on about. I'm just saying IMHO a change in verbage would have defused the "nit pick everything Obama says" crowd.

[TLM]

26. I've always thought of bitterness as long lasting anger....

There is nothing hopeless or victimy about it.

I'd say the definition is, in this context, is 7 or 5.

bit·ter Audio Help /ˈbɪtər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, -er, -est, noun, verb, adverb
–adjective
1. having a harsh, disagreeably acrid taste, like that of aspirin, quinine, wormwood, or aloes.
2. producing one of the four basic taste sensations; not sour, sweet, or salt.
3. hard to bear; grievous; distressful: a bitter sorrow.
4. causing pain; piercing; stinging: a bitter chill.
5. characterized by intense antagonism or hostility: bitter hatred.
6. hard to admit or accept: a bitter lesson.
7. resentful or cynical: bitter words.
–noun
8. that which is bitter; bitterness: Learn to take the bitter with the sweet.
9. British. a very dry ale having a strong taste of hops.
–verb (used with object)
10. to make bitter: herbs employed to bitter vermouth.
–adverb
11. extremely; very; exceedingly: a bitter cold night.

[ArkySue]

29. Let's go to the Dictionary, shall we?

From Webster's New World Dictionary:

bitter
adj.
#4. characterized by strong feelings of hatred, resentment, cynicism, etc.

Sounds so emotional....

[Jensen]

6. Don't Be Bitter ....GO SHOPPING!!!!

:sarcasm:

[Mobius]

8. Yeah that $600

might be enough to buy a few days worth of food in this economy. P A R T A Y!

[Rosemary2205]

15. how many people do you feed?

We have 3. Me, husband and a single acquaintance who is renting the spare bedroom. Our food bill last month was $284. My normal budget is $250 but we had a birthday party last month for a neice and splurged.

[Mobius]

22. ok

so I exaggerated a tad. Sue me.

[spoony]

9. If he had simply said

"people may feel bitter, and they have every right to," this wouldn't have been an issue at all. It was, simply, poorly stated.

[Mobius]

12. Thank You

for reading my opening post , first of all.
And humbly sir or madame, they still would have twisted it around the same way.
All you did was shift a few clauses around.

[spoony]

16. Well, yes his actual opponents would have

likely twisted ANYTHING he'd have said. But for me the great error came not so much in even implying that people were, instead of may be, bitter, but in seemingly attributing a number of innocuous things in their lives to that bitterness: religion, owning guns, distrusting trade agreements. And beyond that, perhaps also painting the people too broadly with xenophobia.

So in addition to restating the bitterness line, I'd have dropped the line that followed, because I don't believe Obama is an elitist or thinks bad things about all rural people.

[Rosemary2205]

17. A better option for sure.

It was clumsy, and IMHO the right tactic will turn it into a benefit for him.

Just MHO.

[bridgit]

18. Wasn't he segregating...'people' shall we say from his 'uber-cool people-supporters'?

It's been insinuated for weeks one is racist, too old, uneducated, working poor if not an Obama supporter...now one is "bitter"? What's next? One becomes refuse? All must kowtow before such tripe?

[Skittles]

19. LOL, would y'all PLEASE GET OVER YOURSELVES

HAVE YOU NEVER, EVER SEEN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN BEFORE?

[Mobius]

21. Um

it's the caps lock key, on the left of the standard Qwerty keyboard.
I believe you have misconstrued it's usage.

[Skittles]

23. and you misconstrue the usage of an apostrophe

unless you mean IT IS, use ITS

[Mobius]

27. uh

Better than freaking out on caps lock to unleash my interwebs rage.

[99th_Monkey]

20. Not in McSame's & Hillary's world you don't. "Bitter?" ... are you kidding me?

the line has been thusly drawn, by Hillary and Mr. McSame ....

so be it.

Obama is clearly up to the challenge, and then some ... as usual.

[TLM]

24. The people aren't taking offense.... that's just it.

"Why do people take so much offense to being told they have a right to be bitter?"


Nobody is taking offense at what Obama said... that's why the Hillary/McCain team had to edit out the parts of what Obama said that make it clear he's talking about bitterness towards government and politics and why that fuels wedge issue voting.

Then they try very hard to get the media to repeat their version of what he said... that anybody who goes to church is bitter or if you hunt you've been unemployed for 25 years.

The thing is that type of gotcha crap worked 10-20-30 years ago... but today vast numbers of people can get online and read the actual transcript, watch the video, and see for themselves that hill/john are distorting what Obama said. And two things happen, one, someone just got motivated enough to get into the process, AND two, they just got pissed that hill/john lied to them AGAIN!

And all media eyes are on Obama for the next week to talk about the bankruptcy bill, nafta, columbia, and hill will repeat the same weak attack meme about obama being elitist and insulting everybody who loves jesus as bitter and racist. It just won't play. The woman with 109 million telling the rural rust belt voters that everything is fine? Let them eat cake... anybody?

[Mobius]

28. Thank You

You made me feel better :hug:

[ecstatic]

25. Something tells me that HRC understood exactly what Obama was saying

but she's just hoping the voters are stupid enough to accept her faux, Rovian framing. I would feel so insulted if she talked to me the way she has talked to PA and IN these past few days. Voters deserve more than the shit she is peddling.

[cooolandrew]

30. Exactly don't speak out you're fired or bitter a lie is a mistake and black folks success is ..

well only affirmative action. Translate that to foreign policy and we are in for so much FUN.Of course she's been washington too long for hope but hey she's not bitter no no no no.

[Life Long Dem]

32. Bill Clinton campaigned heavily on health care and the whole election

was based on health care. Yet we never got what we were promised. That made a lot of people bitter. How many people voted for Bush and ended up getting what they were promised? There must be a lot of bitter people due to the Bush administration. At least with a wedge issue you know what your getting and I wouldn't be promised something I wouldn't get it.

[Mobius]

35. It didnt happen

because it would have been a colossal failure and devastating to the economy. Obama of course knows this, and has a better plan.
Bitter isn't even the word for how I feel about the stolen Bush administration.
There are just no words...

[thepurpose]

36. They do, but you are not suppose to point it out.

[undeterred]

37. Its in the Bill of Rights

If its not, it should be. :)