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Obama’s an Elitist? Who Knew?


So Obama  stirred up a bit of a problem for himself  in the recent past with his painting of the working class as “bitter” though in truth he is about half right. People do not cling to religion or guns or bigotry out of frustration over their ejection from the American Dream race. They were already evangelical or NRA card carriers or Archie Bunkers. The loss of good jobs or the decimation of their small towns magnified traits that were already not so healthy into obsessions. Is small town America bitter? Disillusioned? Jaded? Yes. Have they all become right-wing talk radio aficionados? No. Anyone who is over the edge now was pretty close before, in my opinion as someone who grew up in a union town that lost its jobs to company union busting policies for the most part. 

What’s interesting is that Obama should show his elitist nature now with the Democratic Convention still so far in the future. Not that Clinton has a chance to derail the “juggernaut for change” that is Obama but because it gives all the people who don’t want to vote for him more reason to believe that he is as phony as any other politico who cries in the wilderness, “Vote for me. I’m different!” You can’t be different and be a politician. At least not an electable one.

Obama is just like the rest of us who escaped our middle or lower class roots. We look down back and see the people and places we have left behind and think – “Man are those people stupid.” And why not? They are. They are the ones who thought high school was the best years of life and that college was a waste of time when good jobs were to be had right out the front door of the high school at whatever the local factory was. And that was when? 1950’s? ’60’s? ’70’s? Maybe the ’80’s still, here and there. But not for long and certainly not now. Sad thing is that there are still people foolishly believing that an education is something to waste and that a person can still make a living out of the high school door. I see evidence of that here in Alberta where there are young people job hopping in hopes of finding work that isn’t work or isn’t the mind numbing/soul withering suckholes that those of us who busted our guts getting degrees already knew. When the economy is job heavy, employers tiptoe softly and throw as much money into wages as they can but booms do not last and here in Alberta the first signs of a softening are already beginning. It won’t be long til the owners have control again and the little guys who haven’t any choice but to work the minimum wage part time jobs will be under thumbs again. And that is what Obama is talking about. People who live and die at the pleasure of the economy, and they know he is right when he calls them “bitter” and points out that the guns, church and bigotry are the things they use to distract themselves from their own responsibility. People never like it when you see through them. It will cost Obama in November.

 

Making Fun of Canadians


Colbert does it.  South Park does it.  Heck, I have even done it.  And let me tell you, Canadians may chuckle politely at their own expense, but they don’t like it much.  I was reminded of this last week when I ran across an article in the Globe and Mail about the latest Canadian bashing efforts of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park.  When I first started watching South Park, I was confused by baby Ike’s flapping head. Even his being adopted didn’t adequately explain the fact that he looked like a cut-out.  A really badly done cut-out.  Then, of course, it was revealed that Ike was Canadian and combine that with the (flatulent) Canadian actors, Terrance and Philip, who showed up from time to time (with flapping heads) and it all made sense.  No Canadians I know (I haven’t been to Quebec yet) are similarly afflicted, although the one I live with is a bit windy, and it seems not very nice of South Park to characterize them this way.  My Canadian (windy and all) is very nice (with a nice bum).  And that is the problem.  Canadians are very nice and polite and, as we all learned on the playground, this makes one a target for harrassment and ridicule.

The latest South Park offering has Canadians going on strike and no one in the States really noticing.  Which makes sense as Americans view Canada as a future territory (though when peak oil becomes a real bitch in another decade – the U.S. is going to find itself having to show a little respect if it wants to continue its oil-soaked ways).

When I mentioned South Park and its take on Canadians to Rob, I got the ultra polite response that one will get from a Canadian who is maintaining the Canuck version of the “stiff upper lip” while composing lyrical French curses within the recesses behind that very nice smile.  South Park employs all the usual Canadian stereotypes – hockey players, lumberjacks, Quebeckers.  I don’t really understand them.  In the Midwest I come from, hockey is also a big deal.  I haven’t seen a single lumberjack after being here almost a year, and the French speakers I have met don’t seem the least bit xenophobic or secessionist.  The American take on Canada is that our northern neighbors are just American wanna-be’s.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Canadians have a somewhat low opinion of the States, mainly due to its politics, and they see themselves and their country and culture as on par or even excelling that of America.

I wonder what the average American would think if they knew how they were portrayed in foreign media or talked about by people of other countries.  While the U.S. is a place that many people from other countries would like to live, it seems to me that their reasons for that are more about money than anything else.  No one seems to envy us our culture.  Our culture is kind of viewed as vacuous.

Just another side-effect of living “abroad”.

The Snows of April


When I first moved here I encountered many natives who were concerned that I might have difficulty dealing with the harsh Canadian winters. Frigid temps. Elk high mounds of snow. Dark depressing months that saw less sunlight than the toes of a very fat man. But I did rather well. I ventured out when Canadians were cowering in their homes. I didn’t don long-johns until November and had them off a month or more ago. I come from the Midwest people, not California. As the snow began to melt and the weather warmed, I was ready for my first Canadian winter to melt into spring, a clear victory for me.

The weekend before last was a beatific example of spring. Warming winds and sun. Jacket doffing, capri and short weather. This last Saturday it started to snow. A lot. This morning it stopped. There is now more snow on the ground than accumulated all winter long. 

I survived winter quite well, thank you very much. Winter is nothing here in Canada. It is the spring that is a bitch in heels. She will take some getting used to.