seriously, the whole premise of obama's candidacy to nonprogressive voters has been that here is a black candidate who not only embodies the best of america's promise, he is nothing to fear.

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This is the gist of Ralph Nader's notorious point, admittedly inartfully expressed as Obama "talking white". Nader would've done better to say it your way.

Is there a corollary to Murphy's Law pertaining to public utterances? There ought to be-- something along the lines of (to use a bunkerism) "anything that can be misconscrewed will be misconscrewed".

Actually, this phenomenon is also a function of how "controversial" the speaker is, although this quality is in turn a function of how the corporate media has reported on the speaker previously-- it's a transactional spiral. By which I meantersay that the media is generally eager to pounce on the nuances of comments by such disparate figures as Nader and Don Imus (I'm not a fan) in the first place because they're scripted as wild and crazy surds.

PS: Many fine comments here today, too many to cite individually. Glenn's post is, of course, spot-on.

Superb, just superb!

I wish I could write like that.

I'd like to save and share it when appropriate, if that's OK with you.

Well done.

I tried duckpin bowling once, and I didn't even score a 33.

It was a total disaster, because the ducks kept spitting out the pins.

...Everyone else is equally appalled as you are by the number of words and the zeal of the insults Glenn employs in setting wayward commenters straight.

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"Everyone else?" No, I'm fine with it. Perhaps I am the exception that tests the rule.

I second that emotion.

I be liking Pinky's and sysprog's comments.

And I share Alan Bennett's take on Andy Borowitz exactly. I'd only read AB's stuff in the "Funny Times", and I was appalled to find that he was consistently and excruciatingly almost-funny-- "lame" personified. I also wondered what he actually did for a living.

That is all.

The Mister Zig-Zag catch is inspired, and I wish I'd thought of it.

But when you talk about stamps on certain commodities... it's too much. It's too much!

You're tormenting me! I beg you-- please silence your inner John Yoo, and speak no more of lost treasure.

I forget...

what happened in the last seven years that would have made rhem take these agressive steps?

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I'm not sure who "rhem" is, but you must be thinking of that suspicious fire in the Reichstag.

Happy Fourth, everyone-- if it ain't out of keepin' with the situation.

My long-departed Italian-American grandma was born on the Fourth of July, so my earliest memories of the holiday are conflations of her birthday and the holiday-- as if, somehow, my dear grandma was the reason for the season.

I lack sufficient interest and competence in determining how money for mass-media political communication is best spent, so I must fall back on my abiding trust in Glenn as a most excellent steward who will make the best choices. (I guess he's my Obama, or General Petraeus.)

In memory of my late grandma, who was smart, sweet, easy-going, and good-humored-- but politically naïve enough to think that the likes of Philadelphia Supercop/Mayor Frank Rizzo and Richard Nixon were "good men" who were unfairly maligned and criticized-- I'll refrain from expressing my reaction to the long-overdue death of Jesse Helms. (Whoops, an inauspicious start!)

But I won't start throwing around speculations, e.g. about tonight's fireworks in Hell being brighter than ever due to this dignitary's fortuitous arrival.

I'll limit myself to finding something good to say about Helms' demise. OK, here goes: at least he's off Obama's short list of post-partisan veep choices.