The Obama:  Obama told donors at the fundraiser: "You go into some of 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. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising, then, that 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."

What exactly does The Obama know about small-town America?  A number of tax increases and fee increases placed on small town businesses in IL have resulted in job loss.  As a State Senator & a US Senator from IL, what exactly has The Obama done to relieve the big-time Democratic job-crushing taxes and fees from Blago?  Nothing.

It isn't so much that The Obama doesn't have a grasp of small-town America, it seems that he believes that rural America can't take care of themselves because they are ignorant when it comes to religion, guns, illegal immigrants, and economic development.  This is the BIG GOVT, PATRIARCHAL view of The Obama's version of Democracy.  You are too stupid to help yourself.  You are too hick to lift yourself up.  Don't worry, The Obama will save you.

***William Kristol has an EXCELLENT piece about The Obama's comments.  Go and read it - here is a taste:

Was he simply flattering his wealthy San Francisco donors by casting aspersions on the idiocy of small-town life?

***And, of course, our 'friend' Neil Steinberg has to jump into the middle of this thing with another rant against small-town America.  Not only are small-town American's rife with guns and religion, but also 'mean':

Gee Barack, I wish you'd checked with me before you let slip that the small towns of America are chock-a-block with bitter gun fanatics nursing their wounded pride with a thick salve of religion and xenophobia.

Because I'd have cautioned against saying that.

Not that it isn't true. Of course it's true -- you left out "mean," by the way. But so what? The sharpest insults are usually true. Truth is a defense in libel, not a strategy in politics. Not that you planned this. Obviously, it was an off-the-cuff remark, because it's plain that unhappy small-town people are certain to respond negatively to a mirror being held up to themselves, particularly a mirror in the hands of a city-slick college fellah in a necktie. Frank assessments just don't go down well to those who put their faith in angels and border fences.

Go ahead and tell Steinberg how right he is and how backward you are:  nsteinberg@suntimes.com

***Auditor Gen Bill Holland might take a look at $1M for school that doesn't exist.  Finally.

***