In Defense of the American Dream, a one hour special on NBC this evening, featured Jim Cramer wrapping himself in NASCAR. At a speedway in Charlotte NC, Cramer cited his own rise from living out of a '77 Fairmont to assure folks that the American Dream, "something that feels like it is slipping away," was alive and well, and to urge them to buy stocks from a bevy of heavily-advertised companies.

He brought out driver Carl Edwards to say he maintained a dream throughout years of hard work. "Find a brand you like and do the homework," Cramer advised. "This is not an easy time for American business." At a time when many investors have long since left for the commodities markets, he told his audience, "Farming is a long-time trend and an answer to world-wide famine," but "Nothing has done so well as stocks."

On high gas prices, Cramer was everyone's apologist, saying that we're, "running out of oil a lot faster than we expected," "going deeper and deeper to find it," and that it wasn't really anyone's fault. Echoing Matt Simmons, he said we should be grateful gas was so cheap, comparing the cost of a gallon of locally-produced milk and a gallon of shipped and refined gasoline. Cameras showed his working class NASCAR Moms and Dads nodding in sudden understanding.

Cramer asserted that the price was high enough to make wind, "which we love," and solar affordable alternatives. But also, he said, "buy shares of the very same oil companies you're throwing your wallets at!" Ethanol, though he called a "fuel that no one wants" that is "starving the world." Cramer started to say, "ethanol is the single biggest reason ..." but the sentence was crudely cut off finishing with a 'back in a minute.' That was truly strange.

Driver Jimmie Johnson assured us that "NASCAR's continued to grow" for 60 years. Jeff Burton spoke his piece, then Casey Mears.

Cramer then featured some fellow who had fallen off his roof and was never supposed to walk again. He was walking though, and advised us, "Be patient and don't panic." and related how much money he had lost with brokers, "No one cares as much about your money as you do." He laid the groundwork for Cramer's recommendation that folks keep an eye out for, "new technology," American companies doing things better. (IOW, please invest in Cleantech/Alt Energy stocks.)

At 7:55, Kyle Busch walked out and that was enough for me.

Cramer speaks very loudly, of course, but here he spoke much more slowly and simply than he does on Mad Money, which I've only seen a few times. He used simple terms and was not afraid to repeat himself. The whole event seemed completely scripted, and seemed intended to get the working middle class into the stock market, particularly alternative energies, to replace investors that have left stocks for commodities.

Obviously Cramer is not going to blame oil prices on speculation, or on the oil majors, but I was surprised that he blamed no one, offering an explanation that would be at home on any Peak Oil blog.