Hillary Clinton is speaking out against them, but having a shot-and-a-beer in a bar in Indiana may not be the best way to go about it.
John McCain on the other hand is taking a different approach. From a speech given about an hour ago in Washington at Associated Press' annual meeting:
During the Great Depression, with many millions of Americans out of work and the country suffering the worst economic crisis in our history, there rose from small towns, rural communities, inner cities, a generation of Americans who fought to save the world from despotism and mass murder, and came home to build the wealthiest, strongest and most generous nation on earth. They were not born with the advantages others in our country enjoyed. They suffered the worst during the Depression. But it had not shaken their faith in and fidelity to America and its founding political ideals. Nor had it destroyed their confidence that America and their own lives could be made better. Nor did they turn to their religious faith and cultural traditions out of resentment and a feeling of powerlessness to affect the course of government or pursue prosperity. On the contrary, their faith had given generations of their families purpose and meaning, as it does today. And their appreciation of traditions like hunting was based in nothing other than their contribution to the enjoyment of life.
In my other profession and the war I served in, the country relied overwhelmingly on Americans from these same communities to defend us. As Tocqueville discovered when he traveled America two hundred years ago, they are the heart and soul of this country, the foundation of our strength and the primary authors of its essential goodness. They are our inspiration, and I look to them for guidance and strength. No matter their personal circumstances, they believed in this country. They revered its past, but most importantly they believed in its future greatness, a greatness they themselves would create. They never forgot who they were, where they came from, and what is possible in America , a country founded on an idea and not on class, ethnic or sectarian identity. And America must not and will not forget them.
Next week, I'll begin a tour of places in America that do not frequently see a candidate for President. They are places far removed from the prosperity that is enjoyed elsewhere in America. I want to tell people living there that there must not be any forgotten parts of America; any forgotten Americans. Hope in America is not based in delusion, but in the faith that everything is possible in America. The time for pandering and false promises is over. It is time for action. It is time for change, but the right kind of change; change that trusts in the strength of free people and free markets; change that doesn't return to policies that empower government to make our choices for us, but that works to ensure that we have choices to make for ourselves. For we have always trusted Americans to build from the choices they make for themselves, a safer, stronger and more prosperous country than the one they inherited.
In Timothy Egan's award-winning book, The Worst Hard Time,
the plight of the Dust Bowl farmers and small-town businessman is poignantly described. What Egan pointed out to the reader as bad as it got during the Dust Bowl storms, which took place on top of the economic turmoil of the Great Depression, is that two-thirds of the people living in the Dust Bowl region--southwestern Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles--didn't leave.That fact perfectly shows the inner-strength of folks living in "flyover country."
As for McCain visiting out-of-the-way places next week, it's a great idea. Your humble blogger made a byways-trip through Kansas last year, and the people I met with were thrilled that I bothered to visit their humble towns. Actually, I enjoyed it.
Again, I'm only a blogger. McCain is a presidential candidate.
Related post:
Marathon Pundit's My Kansas Kronikle--A 39-post series
Amazon special through April 18: Buy two Blu-ray discs, get one free
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5 comments:
Curiously, Sen. McCain failed to note that it was Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt who guided our nation out of the Great Depression after the disastrous Republican policies left it in a shambles. In other words, we have been here before.
FDR of course also led we Americans through World War II; serving as Commander-in-Chief to the Greatest Generation. His Democratic vice-president ably took over to such strong degree that history's lens now has our current president, George W. Bush, comparing himself to that man from the "Show Me" State (though certainly Pres. Truman's contemporaries disagreed with his leadership).
Credit where credit's due, after all.
The time for pandering and false promises is, indeed, over. If only Sen. "Four More Years" McCain was cognizant of the nugget of truth in the words he mouthed while he runs around claiming that speaking the truth about what's going on in middle America is now considered "elitist".
FDR prevented the Great Depression from getting worse, a big achievement, but the war is what pulled this nation out of the Depression.
FDR did have this country somewhat prepared for war in 1941, unlike Wilson in 1917, but his health was poor in 1944--he had no business running for president then--and a month before his death, FDR sold Eastern Europe down the river at Yalta.
"FDR prevented the Great Depression from getting worse, a big achievement, but the war is what pulled this nation out of the Depression."
Nice comeback John! Is that the best you've got? Oh, and by the way, Eastern Europe was already "down the drain" in 1944. I'd hate for your selective memory to alter the facts for your readers.
PS: Where's Pat Hickey when you need him? He remembers FDR, and surely even he will acknowledge that Sen. McCain is no FDR.
Surely. He will.
Oh man. For starters, half of Poland, 2/3 of Latvia, most of Czechoslovkia, and all of the future East Germany were still under Nazi control on New Year's Day, 1945.
Secondly, the occupied peoples of those nations did not want to get rid of the Nazis only to have the Communists take over.
47th Ward. Sure I remember 'Old 'Baccy' Roosevelt ( addicted to cigarettes even then)- we prep-ed at Choate and later made hell on the Don's and Porters with our hi-jinx and ripping good antics at Ha - Vud! Halcyon days - Ubi Sunt!
My apologies while an Old Duffer recalls the Days of his Youth.
Now, as to young scapegrace, Master Barry - graceless pickle to find himself , especially as he wore the Crimson.
The Best of our Class closed ranks behind young Barry and the dear lad will soldier on - to what appears to be an ignominous defeat at the hands of the that Foul Tempered Man of the People. Reminds me of Old 'Backy's Uncle Teddy, but with the Class Distinction.
A McCain Century - another American Century - damn the working classes! Franklin was hoodwinked.
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