Truth and Politics

One thing you must know if you're a politician. Sometimes you can't tell the truth:

Barack Obama attempted yesterday to dampen the row over his claim that economic problems had driven small-town voters to "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." The NYT fronts a report noting that the Illinois senator admitted his phrasing had been clunky, but he stood by his central point about the economic plight of small-town America. That might not be enough to kill off the Clinton campaign's criticism; the Post points out that the brouhaha is likely to set the tone for Wednesday's debate between the two candidates in Pennsylvania.

And this is a brouhaha because ........

I guess virtually anything can become a big deal when you're Hillary and your scraping for any leverage at all. But Obama is right. Part of the strategy by conservatives is to keep the unwashed masses pregnant and barefoot. When a person is impoverished, their needs and desires fall down the ladder of Maslow's hierarchy, making it much easier to appeal to the lizard brain and thereby control voters.