Senator Obama is not One of Us By: James Griffith, Associate Editor ByThePeople and OP-ED Columnist
Did you ever hear a story and your instincts immediately told you that something was wrong? At that point, you are not exactly sure why but something about the story doesn’t feel quite right, and in the past your basic instincts have been correct one too many times for you to ignore that sinking feeling in your stomach. I feel that way about Senator Obama. I fully admit that I have a lot of “reverse snob” in me. I never did well with the “silver spoon” kind of people, therefore I must admit a bit of a bias here. Let me explain why.
It has been my experience that amongst the individuals who have suffered adversity in their childhood, the successful ones developed strength of character built upon such experiences, while at the same time live with emotional scars that never go away. Such traits give them the drive to succeed and most of us that have experienced serious adversity ourselves, instinctively recognize it in other people when we hear them speak. Despite Senator Obama’s stories of hardship, he never gives off the vibe I would have expected from the stories that we are being told.
Hardship that builds character doesn’t come from difficult circumstances if you are shielded from the consequences. I wonder if that is what happened to him. My friends over the years came from many races, cultures, and religions. Many of them as children were face to face with despair because there was no one willing or if willing, able to help them. To understand the poor, the sick, the alcoholic, the mentally tortured, the injured you have to have dealt with the issues up close and personal and not have just been expose to them. I wonder if Senator Obama was often shielded from bad circumstances by people like his grandmother. When he talks about the issues, I always get the feeling he is talking about the issues from an abstract perspective where he has “seen” bad things but was never immersed in it from a highly personal point of view. Read More... |
Opinion