Many of us have noticed the "darkening of Obama" for McCain ads.  Someone should do an expose on this big time.  Who in the MSM is up for it??? I'm serious.  We can't let this pass.  Don't get me wrong - a blacker man would still get my vote!  This is about manipulation, and unnecessarily fuels racist tendencies.  It makes me sick. 

Are they going to do this to all their ads now until the election?  Maybe the Obama campaign should make McCain look even older!  As we know, it's easy to make those digital "adjustments".  Actually, I don't want Obama to sink to the same tactics - it's just a fantasy.

With all of this talk of elitism, I have some insight as to why a blue collar/small town person might resent the elite and this focuses on education rather than income, although they usually go hand in hand.

I teach Adult Basic Education - the Basic means, below high school level or high school, but not ready for college.  If some way along your life, you weren't able to finish high school and/or go to college, it's very difficult to get that eduation later on.  Sometimes it seems like the odds are insurmountable.  Juggling school with jobs and families is very difficult.  They see such slow progress, it's discouraging. It is very hard work.

So you can see that to these people, having a good education seems unattainable.  We have something they can't get.  They can't even get it if they win the lottery.  So instead of viewing us with awe and respect, they see us a being condescending.

I think we need to respect that.  I know a lot of students who really want to be like me - with a Master's Degree, but it really is impossible for most of them.  The gap just keeps widening.

Any other insight?

For the most part, I enjoy reading the posts regarding the Obama/Clinton battle.  I find I learn through the comments and the various links.  I even find comfort in reading posts which match my own opinion. (I'm an Obama supporter.) There is real camaraderie sometimes!  However, lately,  I've felt that reading an entire thread of Clinton vs. Obama. really brings me down.  It's getting to be a negative experience rather than an exhilarating experience.  Is that  happening to anyone else? 

The posts are getting nasty on both sides.  I'm not just talking about the trolls (we should not feed them).  I've read plenty of rude comments and unfortunately, bad language (the "f" word is just plain coarse, in my opinion).  I wince when I read a post by a fellow Obama supporter that is rude. There's a lot of juvenile back and forth arguing. 

It must be because we are all going crazy until this settles.  Perhaps there's not that much new that we can actually post.  Yet people like to keep up the blogging relationships, the routine. So, keep on blogging, but can we improve the tone a little?  We don't want to destroy ourselves, do we?