My 'tiny little mind' is all too familiar with child abuse, spousal abuse, alcoholism, suicide, schizophrenia, mental illness, homelessness, rape, family betrayal, a city destroyed by the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known (and subsequently abandoned), the near-death of a spouse due to horribly botched surgery and oh, let's see...what am I forgetting here? You have NO idea who you're talking to, so spare me your tidy little lectures. Granted I have never suffered racial discrimination, unless you count all those years in New Orleans when my husband was denied promotion because he didn't fit the right racial profile. I entered New Orleans a flaming liberal, steeped in the ethos of the Sixties, and I left it mumbling to myself, "I need to leave this place while I'm still a liberal."

So yes, this country very much needs to have a conversation on racial relations. But this conversation needs to be an honest one, not a futile exercise in extracting guilt from those who needn't have any, nor a game of one-upmanship. There are plenty of blacks in this country who've had easier lives than whites, and vice-versa.

Put it this way: some of us came from homes which were severely dysfunctional. The challenge is to understand what happened and lose the anger, self pity, and bitterness, to simply get on with life, stop looking back, even though we may end up handicapped in the American, capitalist scheme of things. Is there anything wrong with applying this paradigm to matters racial?

Took two, much needed days off from salon.com, came in, took one look, thought about getting my waders out of the garage, then said, "Self, this is WAY too much ugly for them old waders. What you need here is a backhoe."

Parting note: no, I almost certainly won't be voting for Obama if he gets the nod. There's something very wrong with a Demo candidate many of whose supporters make the far right look like a bunch of pussycats.

You say: "It would, however, be utterly disgraceful to vote for someone who I honestly believe is a crook and a liar."

Funny, but this is how I feel about Obama. However, what disturbs me most about him - and will prevent me from ever voting for him - is his complicity in the racist smear campaign against the Clintons. Also, how can you possibly overlook the demonstrable lies the man has told, including those about his very long association with Rezko, a quite well known crook whose money was, however, quite welcomed by Obama the striver? I will never, ever understand the knack Obama supporters have for pulling the wool over their own eyes, then turning round and attacking Clinton for the sins of their chosen candidate. What gives, anyway?

Speaking of issues of fairness: Joseph C. Wilson has written a rather passionate but extremely well reasoned analysis of the latest round of strategic Obama camp attacks on the Clintons. These rather unsavory attacks, as Wilson cogently outlines, served to deflect attention from Obama's weak policy cred and also from the exploding Wright flap. So far, Wilson's analysis has been carried only by Huffington Post and Taylor Marsh. Hopefully, it will get the far wider coverage it deserves. Here's the link to Wilson's message:

http://www.taylormarsh.com/index.php

Ah, I see you've mastered the Obama M.O. wonderfully: deflect any and all less than flattering information about the candidate by trying to change the subject, preferably by shooting the messenger, a nefarious creature who deals only in slander and vicious lies. This will hopefully prevent said information from receiving the attention it deserves, thereby aiding the cause of The Candidate Who Cannot Bear the Light Of Day.

I swear, the day of the samizdat never really ended. It's simply become transoceanic.

Did you read Wilson's analysis? I believe that was the point of my posting the link to it.

Has it ever occurred to you that any party which has treated one of its own as disgracefully as the Democratic party has treated Hillary Clinton this primary season, may well not be a party worth supporting anymore? The Democrats have been well nigh spineless during the Bush presidency, not exactly a state secret. This didn't exactly burnish their collective image prior to the primaries. Too, many of us have serious moral qualms about Obama himself, not to mention the nature of his slash and burn (while pretending otherwise) campaign; serious enough to prevent us from voting for him now or ever.

The reckless satisfaction which far too many Obama supporters have apparently derived from heaping derision, scorn, and slander on Hillary Clinton and her supporters, may be all the joy they experience this year. If so, so be it. One thing is sure: they're not going to find a whole lot of Clinton supporters lining up with them at the polls in November should Obama finagle the nomination. And no, this isn't a threat: it has simply fast become a reality.

You're next. And I mean it.

I usually ignore your posts but as long as we're resolving the flaming wars here: no need to consult Wikipedia to comprehend your salon schtick. I do know who Little Lord F is, treacly as the tale may be. But unlike his online namesake, the little tyke didn't have talons hidden under the lace cuffs, now did he?

A supremacist? Yah, that's me, along with every other Clinton supporter out here in bubba land. You know, that particular canard was past its shelf life weeks and weeks ago. Long past time to retire it, along with all the others.

Tell you what: you continue ignoring me, and I'll continue ignoring you. Deal?