Oh, the fuss over Senator Barack Obama's remarks this weekend.

Yes, saying that small town citizens are bitter and find refuge in guns, religion, and bigotry is downright bizarre and I can't explain the comment. But Sen. Obama is no more elitist than the president, Sen. McCain, and Sen. Clinton. Consider the backgrounds of the four:

• President Bush: Grandson of a senator, son of a president, prep school, Yale degree, Harvard degree. That wasn't a silver spoon he was born with, it's platinum with a diamond setting.
  
• Senator McCain: Grandson of an admiral, son of an admiral and an oilman's daughter. Prep school and the Naval Academy. Unlike the president, he is a great American who has served selflessly, but his background is pure elite--and his wife is apparently quite the heiress.
  
• Senator Clinton: Father was a successful businessman, Wellesley and Yale degrees, husband is, well, a former president.
  
• Senator Obama: Father and mother were from modest backgrounds. Bachelors from Columbia, law degree from Harvard. He has the least-distinguished background by a mile.

When you look at it, only Senator Obama has any direct knowledge of the middle- and lower-classes' struggles. It's a fiction and a bald-faced lie to say he's any more or less elitist than these others. Yes, it was a stupid, clueless remark, but any of these four politicians are prone to these things. Can we get on with it and look at the merits of the candidates, please?

CDs listened to today:

• Beats International: Let Them Eat Bingo
• Bill Watrous: Manhattan Wildlife Refuge
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano
• Dinosaur Jr.: Where You Been
• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano (At the end of the century)