October 20, 2008

"Obama talking to a bunch of wine-sipping San Francisco liberals with an anthropological view toward white working-class voters."

That's Obama -- talking about himself in the third person to characterize the way "the press" "interpreted" his statement that people in small, jobless towns "get bitter" and "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 offers the true interpretation:
And I was actually making the reverse point, clumsily, which is that these voters have a right to be frustrated because they’ve been ignored. And because Democrats haven’t met them halfway on cultural issues, we’ve not been able to communicate to them effectively an economic agenda that would help broaden our coalition.
Though he now calls his bitter clingers line "my biggest boneheaded move," I'll bet he thinks he has a right to be frustrated that his attempts to communicate to them effectively have not been fully appreciated.
“I mean, part of what I was trying to say to that group in San Francisco was, ‘You guys need to stop thinking that issues like religion or guns are somehow wrong,’ ” he continued. “Because, in fact, if you’ve grown up and your dad went out and took you hunting, and that is part of your self-identity and provides you a sense of continuity and stability that is unavailable in your economic life, then that’s going to be pretty important, and rightfully so. And if you’re watching your community lose population and collapse but your church is still strong and the life of the community is centered around that, well then, you know, we’d better be paying attention to that.”
Don't you want the President to be an intellectual? In Obama's world, people hunt for a sense of continuity and stability. By contrast, Sarah Palin hunts to stock the freezer with meat.

IN THE COMMENTS: Darcy said:
Why does he assume (really..he does!) liking to hunt or own guns has anything to do with "a sense of continuity and stability" that isn't in an individual's economic life? And going to church have anything to do with your community losing population and collapsing?

Why don't these people just lean on the Democrats tofulfill these needs, hmm? I mean, really!

He had a second bite at the apple, and yet still revealed the same offensive thoughts.
Palladian said:
The wonderful thing about Obama is that, even though he's slick and polished, in the end he can't seem to stop himself from eventually saying what he really believes, from the bitter clinging remark to the Joe The Plumber wealth redistribution thing.
Jeff with one 'f' said...
Isn't "Change" the direct opposite of "a sense of continuity and stability"?
Pogo feels moved to quote George Orwell:
"Only an intellectual could say something so stupid."

"Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."
Doyle said:
He should have just said "Who knew hicks were so sensitive?"

AND: At the end of a long day, I'm amused by Darcy's tiny typo "tofulfill." It's like a landfill, but for tofu. Also, there's this from Tom Macguire, making some good points but also accusing me of being abnormally un-laserlike. I remember when the lefties were the ones who thought I was thick.

79 comments:

Harsh Pencil said...

I don't care if a president is an intellectual or not -- I want him or her to have correct judgement. Regarding hunting, Obama has his head up his rear end. People hunt because 1) they want a freezer full of meat, and 2) they like hunting.

Mathematicians are intellectuals, but their theorems are, in fact, true. Cultural anthropologists and law professors are also intellectuals, but they are mostly full of crap. We are about to elect the latter.

Sofa King said...

Guns aren't just about hunting.

Unknown said...

His explanation is worse than his original statement. WTF

Triangle Man said...

Sofa King said...

Guns aren't just about hunting.


No, guns are primarily about target shooting. Hunting is second. After that, guns are mostly about something people have sitting around in a box on shelf.

Crimso said...

"And I was actually making the reverse point, clumsily"

So next will He try to tell us that when He referred to spreading the wealth around He really meant that everyone gets to keep what they earn?

Nothing wrong with having an intellectual as POTUS, but an intellectual who constantly insults my intelligence is someone I flatly refuse to trust. And for me, the lack-of-trust issue is a non-starter.

Palladian said...

"“Because, in fact, if you’ve grown up and your dad went out and took you hunting, and that is part of your self-identity and provides you a sense of continuity and stability that is unavailable in your economic life, then that’s going to be pretty important, and rightfully so. And if you’re watching your community lose population and collapse but your church is still strong and the life of the community is centered around that, well then, you know, we’d better be paying attention to that.”

Yes, that's the way to win voters! Bore them to death! Because as we all know, the dead always vote Democrat.

George M. Spencer said...

Sunday, Oct. 19: FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — When Sen. Barack Obama entered a barbecue joint here to greet dozens of people eating lunch after church services on Sunday, Diane Fanning, 54, who works at a Sam's Club, began yelling, "Socialist, socialist, socialist — get out of here!""

Later, Obama came to the long table where Fanning and other members of a local First Presbyterian church were gathered. He held out his hand to her to shake it and asked, "How are you, ma’am?" but she declined to shake....

Obama ordered some food to go for himself and his aides. They ordered chicken, collards, baked beans, slaw and wings. The tab was $13.91. The visit lasted about a half hour."

Fayetteville is in southeastern N.C. and is the home of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base.

(Ironically, Sherman destroyed the city on his way to the beach.)

Darcy said...

Where to start?

Why does he assume (really..he does!) liking to hunt or own guns has anything to do with "a sense of continuity and stability" that isn't in an individual's economic life? And going to church have anything to do with your community losing population and collapsing?

Why don't these people just lean on the Democrats tofulfill these needs, hmm? I mean, really!

He had a second bite at the apple, and yet still revealed the same offensive thoughts.

Anonymous said...

...provides you a sense of continuity and stability that is unavailable in your economic life...

You know, I get what he's trying to say there. He's being a bit too intellectual about it, that phrase covers "a freezer full of meat" as a reason to hunt.

But, ssshhh, don't remind Obama that everything is covered under the Commerce Clause.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

Isn't "Change" the direct opposite of "a sense of continuity and stability"?

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Ah, yes, the "intellectual curiosity" we lack. How dare we missinterpret The One (PBUH)? How dare we, or anyone else question his intentions EVER?? And mostly now that he realizes he may not get Joe the Plumber's vote. The record must be set straight! We must understand The Guiding Words of The One (PBUH), make them our own, cherish them, and act according to them! This is a historic moment, and He is a historic figure! So now, more than ever, comrades, we must obtain the necessary intellectual curiosity to live according to His example and his words! I exhort you all, comrades, to study more deeply the live and words of The One (PBUH) that will guide us all down a shining path of progress and freedom under his watchfull yet loving gaze!

All power to The One (PBUH)!

Unknown said...

Don't you want the President to be an intellectual?

Not if this is the result, no.

Expat(ish) said...

I'd rather have a "Joe the Plumber" kind of guy as a mayor, but I would like someone with, probably, a greater grasp of history and a little more polish as a Governor.

If you add a dash of business experience then you've got a presidential candidate with credentials.

Hey, I just described exactly one person on both tickets.

-XC

PS - Guns are obviously about target shooting, hunting, and just the wonder of owning a mechanical device that can last (and work!) for one or two hundred years. They're also why I don't worry about rioters coming down my street.

Palladian said...

Intellectuals should know when to shut up about something. Obama just keeps making this worse, by reminding voters of the original bone-headed comment and now trying to obfuscate and lie his way out of it with a cloud of gas. Shut up, Obama!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That spin has me welcoming a ground hug.

Obama makes Clinton look like Chaney, shooting his good friend.

Freeman Hunt said...

Yikes. How is that interpretation any better than the one people already took away. The only difference seems to be the addition of, "They cling because we libs haven't explained ourselves well enough so that they can see the truth and be enlightened by us."

Unknown said...

Tom Maguire's post on this "clarification" is worth reading.

Skyler said...

Being an intellectual is value neutral.

Having the right philosophy is what matters.

I'm still waiting for someone to take on the legacy of Reagan again.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

”Don't you want the President to be an intellectual? In Obama's world, people hunt for a sense of continuity and stability. By contrast, Sarah Palin hunts to stock the freezer with meat.

I would prefer that the President and all those other idiots in D.C. not look upon the majority of the people as specimins, as if we are some sort of strange species from another planet.

The "antropological" view is that he,the smart,educated and elevated professor is studying the strange, quaint and inexplicable ways of the primitive natives.

I don't want an intellecutal President. I want one who can relate to the voters and who will make decisions based not on his "OWN" predjudices but rather on what is actually good for the "nativies".

Palladian said...

The wonderful thing about Obama is that, even though he's slick and polished, in the end he can't seem to stop himself from eventually saying what he really believes, from the bitter clinging remark to the Joe The Plumber wealth redistribution thing.

Simon said...

"I'll bet he thinks he has a right to be frustrated that his attempts to communicate to them effectively have not been fully appreciated."

In other words, if we didn't understand his answer, we just weren't trying hard enough, mm?

Also, what Jeff said. Is Obama for the kind of radical change he keeps telling us we need - or for continuity and stability? To be sure, change and continuity need not conflict; change can (and should) be gradual, organic and so far as possible harmonious with traditions. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks Obama offers such.

Simon said...

Is Althouse clinging to anything that can be used to rationalize support for Obama? ;)

Palladian said...

"I don't want an intellecutal President. I want one who can relate to the voters and who will make decisions based not on his "OWN" predjudices but rather on what is actually good for the "nativies"."

I'd love to have an intellectual President. Just not a pseudo-intellectual one.

KCFleming said...

** "Only an intellectual could say something so stupid.


** "Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.


** "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."


--George Orwell

Henry said...

How unbelievably condescending.

When Obama talked about the bitterness of small town Americans he at least had the excuse of being frustrated.

Now he goes all Margaret Mead and attempts a theory. In his new view, San Francisco liberals still get to regard middle americans as alien, but, in the best tradition of diversity training, these aliens are pathetic tribespeople, not threatening warriors. Captured in a web of patriarchal tradition and powerless to affect their own destinies (only coastal liberals do that), they need the guidance of their betters.

MadisonMan said...

It mysitifes me that any politician would want to go back to one of their biggest cmapaign gaffes -- while the campaign is still ongoing -- and revisit it. How can anything good come of that?

Henry said...

Kipling would understand:

Take up the liberal's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

Anonymous said...

Was it Ed Koch who once quipped, I can do all the explaining that you want, but you have to do the comprehending. It seems the bitter clinger remarks are self-evident. It is a stereotypical categorization of a certain part of the nation, as is "wine-sipping San Francisco liberals with an anthropological view toward white working class voters."

If an intellectual President, as a result of the orderly nature of his or her mind feels the need to lump us all in with our logical groupings rather than address us as unique individuals, then no, I would really prefer someone who is not intellectual. If by intellectual, we mean someone capable of discerning the unique features of our electorate and regards the individual members as more than voting blocs, then yes, I would like an intellectual president. It is not about smarts, frankly. It is to borrow from Ray Liotta's fantastic narration in Goodfellas, "outta respect."

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

MadisonMan said...
It mysitifes me that any politician would want to go back to one of their biggest cmapaign gaffes -- while the campaign is still ongoing -- and revisit it. How can anything good come of that?

9:10 AM



He may get Joe the Plumber's vote.

Bissage said...

In Obama's world, people hunt for a sense of continuity and stability. By contrast, Sarah Palin hunts to stock the freezer with meat.

I spent some time in the hinterlands of Pennsylvania.

Hunters videotape their kills and then broadcast their favorites on cable access TV.

Prizes are awarded.

I’m sure there are also TV shows where hunters send in videos of their families sitting down to dinner.

It was probably just bad luck that I missed them.

I’m sure they’re easier to find on Alaskan TV.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Obama sounds like he is examining his missteps and the election is past and he has won.

Should he save this self-reflection for after the actual election? Which he may lose BTW.

KCFleming said...

White working-class voters are the liberal man's burden.

Palladian said...

Here's an even scarier part of the interview:

"To act like hunting, like somebody who wants firearms just doesn’t get it — that kind of condescension has to be purged from our vocabulary."

I don't like politicians who talk about "purging things from our vocabulary". To take away language is to take away the ability to express ideas and eventually, the ability to formulate ideas at all. Obama's reaction to speech he considers bad is not "more speech" but a desire to "purge [the offending speech] from our vocabulary". That impulse is telling, and frightening.

Palladian said...

"Obama sounds like he is examining his missteps and the election is past and he has won."

Oh, it is and he has. They're not going to allow him to lose.

Fred4Pres said...

Most people hunt because it is fun. It may seem cruel to those who do not do it, but unless you are vegan you should think again.

The fun part is not killing the animal. Many hunters over the years often stop hunting over that. It is a mystic hyper level of awareness that occurs while hunting. You tend to be alone, very quiet, observing the environment around you, listening and looking for subtle clues. It is very intense. There is a genetic memory to the act that all of us have, going back to our foreancestors on the plains of Africa.

Yeah, I have heard Bill Maher argue (somewhat persuasively) of why take on an anmial when you can attempt to beat Barry Diller in a movie deal (big game indeed!). There is some truth in that, but the natural world and hunting are a very unique experience. It is impossible to understand unless you have done it. Everyone other than those morally opposed to killing animals under any circumstances should go at least once in their lives, even if they don't shoot a thing.

Roger J. said...

this is simple: Obama is just a fucking liar; he said what he belived in San Fransisco, and is now covering his sorry ass--whats more to say?

Brian Doyle said...

Don't you want the President to be an intellectual?

My first choice would be to live in a country where "intellectual" wasn't used as an epithet, even by tenured professors.

Bob said...

Be nice if Obama practiced what he preached, but he's never met a gun-control measure that he didn't support.

That's the big secret to winning the White House, by the way: if the Dems would forever foreswear their gun control inclinations, they could own the White House for decades.

Brian Doyle said...

Obama's reaction to speech he considers bad is not "more speech" but a desire to "purge [the offending speech] from our vocabulary". That impulse is telling, and frightening.

I'll take unbelievably stupid and uncharitable overreactions for $800 please, Alex.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Doyle, you have won that category consistently.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Intellectual is only used as an epithet when the person who assigns it to him/herself does something that completely contradicts the meaning of the word. Example: read original post above.

It's not intellectualism that is a problem, but the pedantic pretensions that come with believing oneself morally and intellectually superior to everyone else by being, and pardon my redundancy, intellectual or, even more sadly, pseudo-intellectual in most cases.

Brian Doyle said...

He should have just said "Who knew hicks were so sensitive?"

Henry said...

That would have been a more accurate theory!

Darcy said...

Exactly right, Doyle. He should have said that.

Unknown said...

They oughta just lie back and take it!

Brian Doyle said...

What pity, to endure the embarrassment of someone trying to figure out why they keep voting for Republicans who don't care how poor they get!

Unknown said...

Call in the anthropologists! Let's get to the bottom of this!

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Doyle said...
What pity, to endure the embarrassment of someone trying to figure out why they keep voting for Republicans who don't care how poor they get!

9:40 AM


Do you not think this comment is ironic in light of the original comment's setting?

save_the_rustbelt said...

In Ohio and Michigan people hunt and fish so they can feed their families, now that their jobs have been shipped to Mexico and China.

How Obama handles the free trade versus fair trade issue will be a big battle in his presidency.

Unknown said...

Spread the Wealth Around!

Sorry, I can't get that juxtaposition out of my head and I thought I'd inflict it on all of you.

Brian Doyle said...

In Ohio and Michigan people hunt and fish so they can feed their families

Yeah right.

rhhardin said...

Obama is a village explainer with a Marxist fixation.

Unknown said...

Don't worry, everyone. According to Joe Biden, within six months of Obama's inauguration we'll have "an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." Goody! The world's gonna play "try and stump the intellectual!"

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Doyle said...
In Ohio and Michigan people hunt and fish so they can feed their families

Yeah right.

9:46 AM


You dare contradict The One's (PBUH) new explanation??? Heretic!! You will be burnt in a socialist pyre!

Unknown said...

I now realize why Obama picked Joe Biden. As an intellectual he understands that there is a certain animus out there towards intellectuals, so he needed Joe Biden to balance the ticket.

Brian Doyle said...

As an intellectual he understands that there is a certain animus out there towards intellectuals

Fortunately there's also a certain animus out there towards people with no understanding of policy, like his opponent.

Unknown said...

Hey that was good! Bravo!

Rich B said...

I wonder what Obama is going to do for an encore after he loses the election?

Write a third installment of his autobiography: "Dance with the One Who Brung Ya: I Should Have Used McCain's Divorce Papers"?

Unknown said...

For an intellectual he sure has a lousy memory.

Methadras said...

Give the man a Gold Medal for his Olympic level back-peddling. Mr. Barely doesn't know the first thing about gun ownership? Has he ever held or even fired a gun? Moron.

former law student said...

From the linked Tom McGuire thingie: Why can't guns and church simply be important to these people because they are? Why does Obama insist on linking their importance to economic distress?

Why does McCain call Wurzelbacher Joe the Plumber? Because what Joe does is essential to who he is. Strip that away, and what's left? Joe the (ex-) husband, Joe the father, Joe the Baptist, Joe the Little League coach, and Joe the hunter.

In Pennsylvania, you have Joe the Machinist, Joe the Technician, Joe the Machine Operator. Those jobs are gone, and have been gone for decades. Now you're Joe the Fry Cook, Joe the Walmart Greeter, etc. -- not as satisfying to your sense of self.

So what's left of the things that give you an identity and your life meaning? Your wife can split, you can be denied custody of your kids, but you're still a member of your congregation and you still hunt.

People hunt because 1) they want a freezer full of meat, and 2) they like hunting.

Does anyone who comments here actually hunt? In Pennsylvania, a hunter can take one antlered deer and one antlerless deer a year. Assuming average weight deer, you're talking 140 pounds of meat, or three pounds of venison per week -- let's say a savings to your grocery bill of $9 a week. Meanwhile, you had to pay for a freezer, a gun, a pickup truck, insulated camo coveralls, license, tags, a deer stand, etc. etc.

And why do people like to hunt? Camaraderie (few hunt alone), competition(mine's bigger, I only needed one shot, etc.), and cooperation (how'm I gonna get this out of here). (The freezer full of meat provides the satisfaction of competence.)

Regarding Sarah Palin: Alaska is a wild game paradise, with a lot of large animals, so she can easily fill a succession of freezers.

In Ohio and Michigan people hunt and fish so they can feed their families, now that their jobs have been shipped to Mexico and China.

My wife's cousin in Michigan says that bucks there are too gamey to eat. So he mixes the meat with pork fat and makes spicy sausage out of it. But again, the process of hunting is what's satisfying, even if you have to jump through hoops to make the meat palatable.

blake said...

Why did it take six months for him to come up with this?

So...in April are we gonna get an "explanation" of "spread the wealth"?

(I've seen others spin it as--well, something other than what it is, already, of course.)

blake said...

Doyle's comment about "intellectual" being an epithet reminds me of an old Emo Philips joke.

"Stewardess!"

"We're called 'flight attendants' now, sir. 'Stewardess' has a bad name."

"Who do you think gave it that?"

MadisonMan said...

One of my roommates (4 of us shared an apartment) in College was a hunter, and he once brought venison for me to cook (It was my day to cook). All I remember is pounding the living daylights out of the slab of meat to tenderize it. It failed miserably, and we never had venison again.

My best man was also a hunter, and once at their cabin his mom gave us ground venison served as hamburgers. Being polite, I did my best to choke it down (did she notice how much ketchup I used?)

So I will never understand people who eat venison. What I should probably do is find someone -- a chef -- who can cook it right.

Anonymous said...

It's REALLY easy to buy a gun in this country. Actually, from my experience, it's pretty easy to buy a gun in France. A handgun for self-defense or a shotgun for hunting. Guns are everywhere, they're passed down, lots of people have them.

Which is why I wonder about the ANGER and paranoia that seems to animate gun activists in this country. Who is trying to take their guns? Maybe it's the paranoid delusions that led them to buy a gun in the first place.

Unknown said...

I think it must be the preparation. I've had venison meatloaf, and it was delicious---and I normally hate meatloaf. (Probably the preparation :)) I've had venison on a handful of occasions since and it was good, though nothing particularly special.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Does anyone who comments here actually hunt? In Pennsylvania, a hunter can take one antlered deer and one antlerless deer a year. Assuming average weight deer, you're talking 140 pounds of meat, or three pounds of venison per week -- let's say a savings to your grocery bill of $9 a week. Meanwhile, you had to pay for a freezer, a gun, a pickup truck, insulated camo coveralls, license, tags, a deer stand, etc. etc.

I used to hunt. It's been a few years. The average Mule Deer field dresses at about 150 pounds and as much as 200 pounds. The meat is generally pretty good if a bit lean. The best deer are those who frequent the apple orchards in the fall :-) I generally went hunting with a rifle and a camera with telephoto lense and used the camera more than the gun.

Yes, it usually isn't a real cost effective way to fill the freezer but you exagerate the cost. I already own guns,trucks, a freezer (already full of beef, pork and lamb that I buy from the local ranchers and have cut and wrapped once a year). Tags and license aren't that expensive and you don't need a tree stand here. Just strong legs and back.

The fun/thrill of hunting is different for each person. I agree with the poster who brought up the nature experience. Being in the woods, the quiet, no human sounds other than your own feet and breathing,the smells, sounds of small animals and leaves rustling in the wind. All your senses become sharper.

I still hunt wild fowl. Pheasant, quail, geese.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

All I remember is pounding the living daylights out of the slab of meat to tenderize it. It failed miserably, and we never had venison again.

Sheesh. Well, you can't blame the deer for your lack of cooking skills.


A well seasoned saddle of venison served medium rare to rare can't be beat. People always want to overcook wild game so it is tasteless and tough as an old shoe.

AllenS said...

I eat venison. When I butcher one, I debone the animal and cut the meat into 1 1/2" to 2" pieces. I put enough meat into freezer bags for 2 people to have a meal. I beat a egg in a bowl, put the pieces in the egg then into a 1 gallon freezer bag that contains flour and cornmeal, salt and pepper. Fry in olive oil. Good stuff. To avoid gameyness make sure that the animal cools before butchering. You MUST hang the animal with the head down while it is cooling and ageing. You MUST do that.

Freeman Hunt said...

So I will never understand people who eat venison. What I should probably do is find someone -- a chef -- who can cook it right.

I've never eaten wild game of any kind, but so many people have told me about preparation being key that I bought a wild game cookbook just to be ready in case someone gives us some venison or elk.

holdfast said...

"Don't you want the President to be an intellectual?"

I want the president to be smart and wise - I don't think that means intellectual. I really don't want a president who self-identifies as an intellectual, which basically means a person who cannot make a decision. I'm not sure whether that actually applies to Obama or whether his fans just fancy him an intellectual?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

You MUST hang the animal with the head down while it is cooling and ageing. You MUST do that.

Yes. And you must be very careful when field dressing the animal to make sure that you don't get musk or other ummmm....stuff on the meat. The purpose of field dressing the animal immediately is to begin the cooling process. People who don't field dress or like idiots have the deer on top of their car are the reason that venison has a bad rep.

Hang the deer upside down (as Allens says)skin and let it get a glaze on the meat, wrap in cheese cloth and hang in a cool place or meat locker until aged properly.

More information than you wanted. :-)

Unknown said...

Some of the stupidest damn people I've known in my life were intellectuals and some of the smartest not book learned. I am uninterested in where someone went to school, what degree they have or words they use. I am interested in their thoughts and using ennui instead of boredom isn't a sign of intelligence, just vocabulary.

Kevin said...

franglosaxon said...
...I wonder about the ANGER and paranoia that seems to animate gun activists in this country. Who is trying to take their guns? Maybe it's the paranoid delusions that led them to buy a gun in the first place.

Obviously, you know little about guns and gun control in this country.

Here's a link for you get started. Barack Obama's track record on gun control, as opposed to what he now says about it.

Anonymous said...

This is a purely Marxist interpretation of the world. And I don't mean scary Marxist, I merely mean critical Marxist: economics and class consume and trump everything.

Vote McCain!

ricpic said...

So strange, those white working class exotics.

Synova said...

I'm trying to remember if he did the same thing about the "typical white person" remark, where he went to clarify what he really meant and it was clear that what he really meant is what people thought he meant the first time... he just didn't like the way they restated his point.

His new explanation of this is every bit a continuation of "an anthropological view toward white working-class voters" and like any "anthropological" view, the people subject to it are likely to figure that the anthropologist got it wrong.

Again.

Darcy said...

Embarrassing typos (not to mention grammar) in my comment.

But honored to have my comment highlighted all the same! :)