Great post. All these people soiling themselves with rage over Obama's comments miss an essential truth--there's no reason he shouldn't express the complexity of small town life, and nobody can deny that there are insular, fearful qualities to it. It's sad that a presidential candidate has to avoid speaking the truth if it will offend some key demographic. Does any pundit stop to think that there might be a more complex message here than "all good" or "all bad?"

I live in a small town with a mill (the only major employer) that is constantly going bankrupt. While I'm not religious, I do own several guns. And I wasn't offended in the least by what Obama said. While the soundbite that everyone's quoting is too strong out of context, it's still accurate. I guess I'm an elitist too, but if Hillary's "populist" government is going to produce a nanny state, and Obama's will produce an elitist state that doesn't pander to whoever will vote for it, I'll stick with the elitism, thank you. It may be aloof, but at least it's impartial. What happened to the old small-town tradition of self-reliance? In my town, we're shifting over to other industries rather than complaining. You can't curse the government with one breath and ask for handouts with another. If a scrappy rednecks want to prove their toughness, maybe they can start by not complaining every time someone hurts their feelings.

P.S. It's also shocking that Bill Kristol and our own Lou Dobbs wannabe Kaus have blown this controversy WAY beyond any reasonable sginificance. Do they think that by throwing indignant tantrums over it, they're helping out the country in any way? No, of course not, they just smell blood.