Obama trashes small-town America

Jaw-droppingly stupid:

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

He said this at a fundraiser in Pennsylvania, according to the Huffington Post. Michelle Malkin says:

Instead of hard-working, patriotic, faithful Americans, he sees “bitter,” “frustrated,” resentful scary people whom he’ll diss while sipping Chardonay in Baghdad by the Bay.

If you haven't studied Marxism, you may not understand that what Obama was doing was viewing Pennsylvania politics through the lens of "historical materialism." His opinions very much reflect the analysis of Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School.

Who was it that said that Obama's Marxist background was irrelevant?

UPDATE: Let's get into the Marxist angle on this thing, because I think it's important to understand, especially for readers too young to remember the Evil Empire, the Cold War, etc.

OK, when I say that Obama was viewing the situation in small-town Pennsylvania through the lens of historical materialism, I refer to the fundamental doctrine of Marxism, which can be summed up thus:

• (a) there is no God nor any other supernatural cause in human affairs; therefore
• (b) material causes -- especially including economics and technological changes -- are the only causes for historical, social and political developments; therefore
• (c) when we see some development (e.g., religious warfare) that appears to be rooted in non-material causes, we should look for the underlying material reality -- the economic or technological factors that are the real causes.

This is where the old communist propaganda phrase "false consciousness" comes from: The oppressed poor fail to have true (class) consciousness because they are blinded by religion, national identity, etc. To the Marxist, these are "prejudices" or "sentimental myths," promoted by the ruling classes in order to justify or defend their own rule.

As Obama applies the doctrine of historical materialism to small-town Pennsylvanians, they have succumbed to the "false consciousness" of Second Amendment rights, religious belief, etc., as an escape from the reality of their own economic oppression.

UPDATE II: Welcome Malkin readers. Unable to remember who had been scoffing at the relevance of Obama's Marxist background, I Googled and ... oops, it was Allahpundit.

Greg Ransom had noted that Obama's father was a socialist scholar, and Allah suggested this was a guilt-by-association trip, a witchhunt against "congenital bolshevism." I joined the facetious mockery.

But then Ace of Spades called our attention to the fact that Obama's mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a genuine CPUSA member. Hmmmm.

And now, Obama gets up in front of a friendly audience of San Francisco leftists and sounds like Lenin at the Finland Station. Hmmmm.

Ace got this poster from Slublog:

The Russian slogan is, "Yes, we can!" Perhaps someone needs to come up with a new Obama slogan:

Democrats of the world unite!

You have nothing to lose . . .

but the election!

Speaking of elections -- the "false consciousness" of politics? -- John McCain's campaign has jumped on this Obama gaffe:

Asked to respond, McCain adviser Steve Schmidt called it a "remarkable statement and extremely revealing." "It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking," Schmidt said. "It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans."

Team Hillary also jumped in:

"Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down on them," she said at a rally in Philadelphia. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families."

BTW, what was up with Obama and that "anti-trade" remark? Both Obama and Hillary have been using protectionist rhetoric for weeks.

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