Obama — Bigot or Elitist?

I first saw this question posed as a headline on Orson Scott Card’s Hatrack River website. It was a link to his WorldWatch commentary on The Ornery American.

My initial response was “Do I have to choose one?” but it’s actually a serious question.  In answering, Mr. Card provides a thorough discussion of Obama’s comments regarding the people of small town Pennsylvania. RTWT Obama is not a bigot; he is a liberal elitist. And that’s not the worst of it.

So what have we learned about Obama?

1. That he’s as full of ignorant stereotypes as anybody;

2. That he’s capable of saying really stupid, thoughtless, obviously-false things; and

3. That he thinks he’s really smart for saying them.

…

But when Obama makes sweeping statements like this during his presidency, he will be surrounded by advisers who think exactly the same things. There will be no one there to say, “Of course, you didn’t mean that, Mr. President, because every word of what you just said is hopelessly, idiotically false.” On the contrary, they will think that he just said something smart, because they’ll all be just as ideologically pure and ignorant as Obama himself.

The more I read and the more I learn, the more sure I am that Obama should not be our next president.