Bitten by ‘bitter-gate’

O P I N I O N

Politicians, heed this warning. Any time you use “they” in a sentence, as in “So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them…,” you’re just asking for it.
     “They” is a word used to lump people together, to make broad assumptions. It almost always turns on the person speaking the words that follow “they”.
     After his eloquent speech on race and the subtleties that exist in the words we use, you wonder why Sen. Barack Obama would use “they” sentences at a time when he knows the whole world is watching his every move. When Sen Hillary Clinton said the phrase displayed an elitist attitude toward the people of small town America, Sen. Obama responded by comparing her ire to “talking like she is Annie Oakley” and out there talking “like she’s out in the duck blind every Sunday.”
     Yikes! Did he further compound the problem with a condescending comment toward Clinton, as if she’s only good for entertainment and not a serious contender? If he didn’t mean to, sorry, but it sure comes across that way.