found in the ASPEN TIMES...Editorial

hillbilly

In election 2008, don’t forget Angry White Man

Gary Hubbell
February 9, 2008

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There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.

Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.

There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.

His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.

The victimhood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.

He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives.

The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him.

The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.

His last name and religion don’t matter. His background might be Italian, English, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, or Russian, and he might have Cherokee, Mexican, or Puerto Rican mixed in, but he considers himself a white American.

He’s a man’s man, the kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, hunt white-tailed deer, call turkeys, play golf, spend a few bucks at a strip club once in a blue moon, change his own oil and build things. He coaches baseball, soccer and football teams and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, weld a new bumper for his truck, design a factory and publish books. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant on time so that you keep the lights on and never know what it took to flip that light switch.

Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”

He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green. He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner.

He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English.

Most important, the Angry White Man is pissed off. When his job site becomes flooded with illegal workers who don’t pay taxes and his wages drop like a stone, he gets righteously angry. When his job gets shipped overseas, and he has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers. When Al Sharpton comes on TV, leading some rally for reparations for slavery or some such nonsense, he bites his tongue and he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement.

He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves.

There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association, and all of them will vote against Hillary Clinton, just as the great majority of them voted for George Bush.

He hopes that she will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum.

Gary Hubbell is a regular columnist with the Aspen Times Weekly.

I could not have said this better myself.

~Hill

SirNose586

...and that is why Hil is doomed. She's doomed already thanks to backfiring tactics, but she would polarize the AWM vote if she won the nomination.

deaconbluez

Your "angry white man" is usually undereducated, bigoted, and shallow. They're the type that wouldn't vote for Obama because "his name sounds like Osama, BY GOD!"

If Mexicans are stealing your job, then learn a skill that the average immigrant that came here on a raft doesn't know.

Don't think that picking up a gun and shooting people is going to preserve liberty.

Gopher

So, about exactly WHAT is the "angry white man" so angry these days? I didn't think gun control was a major campaign concern.

It sounds like they're angry about immigration, but if they're for McCain -- he spent time last year trying to help Bush's efforts to liberalize the immigration laws.

I guess I don't get the "it" that was said so well here, Hillbilly. Maybe you could help us out here.

ColdRedRain

You mean jobs like pizza delivery man, roofer, landscaper and compuerter repair technicians? You know, the kind of jobs that are supposed to go to college students to pay for tuition? Our college kids can't get jobs because all of the jobs that are meant for college students are being sucked up by illegal workers.

hillbilly

Just tossin this out for debate boys... I just said I couldnt have said it better...

If you read all my posts by the way... I have stated that I would vote Obama... especially if he was paired with John Edwards.

I pay union dues...some people say I'm a commie...to my face...or a socialist...you kids are rookies

~HIll

White Dove

Sounds like he doesn't know that he lives on the same planet as billions of others. He sounds self-centered, prideful, and bitter for having to share that world with others not like him. Poor poor S.O.B! I bet he never learned how to get along with other little kids in the playground sandbox. Some day maybe the world will be to his liking: everyone will be exactly like him, hating everyone else and always comparing them to his perfect self. Poor poor bastard. Will he ever learn to just get along?

Gopher

There's so much in the Editorial that is incomprehensible to me, Hillbilly. I think you could have expressed this much better.

For example compare these two quotes ---

He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green.

He hopes that she [Hillary] will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum

So if he's a Democrat, he wants his party to pick Clinton just so she can get stomped? Nonsense. And you said you could vote for Obama, so surely you don't want Hillary to be the Democratic nominee.

And compare these two quotes from this same article --

He’s not a racist,

[when he] has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers.

So this non-racist views any service people from India as an idiot? Hmmm..... (I work with people from India at the office, and find most of them to be very clear in my language as well as their own, and anyone who speaks two languages well is doing better in that department than I do.)

He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner.

What are we now, back in the 1950's and the "Father Knows Best" era? Are we reading the WTS' "Family Life" book that said "basically men think, while women feel"? What a blatant stereotype !!

There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association

So your NRA prohibits black men? Or perhaps the black NRA members are NOT angry? Or their vote won't swing the election like the angry WHITE voters do?

Help me understand why you think you couldn't have said it better than this editorial did.

White Dove

Sounds like Angry White Man needs an anti-depressant. Sounds like he has no friends, either. He's so negative and can't see the beauty in the people and world around him. All he can see is how he can use them and abuse them. He mopes around all day about how life would be better if...He isn't even happy with his arm candy/trophy wife. She can do better!

hillbilly

I think your reading impared...

Hill

found in the ASPEN TIMES...Editorial

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