Obama was nurtured by the Ayers SDS Weatherman wing of American Marxism and was supported in his campaign by the Netroots A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition. The later are a spin off of the Workers World Party fringe group of Marxists who straddle the line between Trotskyism and Stalinism. The strongest influence on him was “Uncle” Frank Davis. who’s formal links were more to the official CPUSA. I am not aware of any links between Davis and the WWP. It occurs to me that no one has asked if there was ever any contact between Obama and Angela Davis when he lived in California. I have heard of links between the WWP and the North Korean regime but can’t find the reference. We can speculate on whether Obama’s reaction to provocations in East Asia could be effected by a desire to either destroy evidence or over compensate or protect those he sympathizes with. Whichever way he jumps his motives will be questioned.