Why do I think Obama is out to destroy Clinton? Did you miss the concluding para's in the NYTimes story:

"In the interview last spring, Mr. Wright expressed frustration at the breach in relationship with Mr. Obama, saying the candidate had already privately said that he might need to distance himself from his pastor. But perhaps the two could repair things, said Mr. Wright, pointing out that Mr. Obama’s opponent, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, had faced worse.

“At least there are no semen stains on any dresses,” Mr. Wright said, one of several digs he has taken at the Clintons.

“That kind of frankness scares people in the campaign,” he added."

Frankness? How about sleaziness? How about character assassination? One can just imagine the jokes that pastor and pol may well have enjoyed at the devil Clinton's expense over the months. If anyone wants to argue that Obama didn't know about Wright's despicable sermonizing over the Clintons 'riding' American blacks like Bill rode Monica Lewiinsky, go ahead. I simply don't believe it.

If anyone wants to argue that the youtube 'bamboozle' 'hoodwink' 'okey doke' video clip wasn't aimed squarely at the Clintons, that it didn't paint them as whites simply using black Americans? Sorry, but I don't believe that, either.

If anyone wants to believe that the Clintons were willing to throw the Democratic party into turmoil by injecting race into the race, for their own nefarious ends? Sorry, but I don't believe that one, either.

I've been convinced ever since SC that Obama's campaign has engineered the whole rotten Clintons-as-racists deal. And I positively loathe him for it. I loathe him for deliberately smearing the Clintons as a tactic for gaining the nomination. I loathe him for the condescension he so plainly shows toward Clinton. I loathe him for splitting the Democratic party right down the middle (sorry, I don't believe this one's on Clinton, either). I loathe him for taking the chance of setting back race relations in this country a good 30 years, in service of blind ambition and overriding ego.

So, if this doesn't hang together as a shining exercise in logic, my apologies. But I'm beyond clinical exercises in logic. Like many other Clinton supporters, I'm deeply angered by this wretched accumulation of just plain nasty crapola, and completely depressed about the giant mess the Democratic party has gotten itself into, with the complicity of the flipping "Who, us?" media.

You say: "Break out a delegate calculator...and show me a viable scenario where Clinton regains the pledged delegate lead and thus the nomination. Good luck with that.>>

My my, we're quite a long way from hope and change and a new kind of politics, here, aren't we? What about recognizing the very real possibility that many who voted for Obama under the sway of last month's theme would now like their votes back? In case you haven't been reading any of the more mainstream message boards out there, your hero is in big trouble: Mid America is NOT happy. So let's make sure the devil Clinton's campaign is strangled by stale numbers. Guess it's dog in the manger time in the blogosphere.

BTW, thanks much to NYShooter for the sharp analysis - it's highly e-mailable, not to mention xeroxable.

You say: "It is becoming increasingly clear from these comments what is going on with the Obama-haters like Kate-Tex and her ilk. Like others have said- they despise Senator Obama simply because he is doing well."

Obviously, you're missing the whole point. Obama is doing well because he's doing things down and dirty. If he were Boss Tweed, well, no problem. What else would you expect? But here we have a rather Machiavellian politician masquerading as the messiah. That's downright scary, especially as he's getting away with this in certain quarters, including that which considers itself this country's intellectual elite. That's REALLY scary.

You say: "By the way, mid-America is not up in arms. That's more wishful/delusional thinking. Mid-America is perfectly happy with Sen. Obama, just like the rest of us."

Go to the Chicago Tribune website and look for yesterday's story about Obama suddenly discovering he'd received far, far more fundraising assistance from Rezko than he'd previously admitted. Then read the reader comments. You won't be happy.

You say: "the loons who troll the columns of a Rezko story at the Trib...represent, I'm sure, the heart of Middle America."

Why are they loons? Because they're posting on the Trib site and not this one? Because they don't agree with you? In great part, it's the more passionate and committed voters who are bothering to post about this election on any site. Obama supporters cannot discount them, but I suppose you could try.

Would y'all like to stand guard at the polls and strip all 'loons' of voting rights? What will be the criteria for spotting them? Their desire to vote for someone other than Obama? Something less than an undergraduate degree? An inability to spell Machiavelli? A lunch bucket in the trunk? The wrong kind of tattoo?

Look, I realize I'm being snarky, but I'm out of all patience with the superiority complex so evident here on salon.com., the ivory towerness of it all. You simply cannot write off a large proportion of the population as being beneath consideration and still call yourself a liberal. That's a contradiction in terms.