Opinion

I congratulate Barack Obama for letting the plain truth slip out, even if he regrets his choice of words. The economic and social realities of many Pennsylvania communities are tough calls, particularly for politicians -- the obvious flies in the face of the official party line.

There are serious problems in our state -- rural and urban -- and particularly on the western side.

Pockets of wealth and poverty are only steps away in Pennsylvania.

Describing it as economic gloom is almost politically correct. Describing it as isolation, bitterness, feelings of abandonment, economic despair, governmental neglect, developmental regression, plummeting education levels, persistent underemployment, family and social disintegration and dissipation, religious fanaticism, income inequities, family and business bankruptcy, cultural poverty, commercial exploitation, environmental destruction, drug and alcohol problems, demoralization and, last but not least, gun violence are not.

It's time we stop coloring our world with lies. Sen. Obama may not have the answers, but at least he is not afraid to call it what it is.

Emil Lester

Point Breeze

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