Your inability to understand the "comparison" (and it wasn't, strictly, a comparison!!!) between "owning" both the pastor AND the granma is this: They are us. We is them. They are family. WE ARE FAMILY. ALL OF US. AND YOU DON'T, YOU CAN'T SIMPLY CUT FAMILY OUT OR OFF. They live in us.

If we don't keep them in the conversation, the conversation is meaningless. The conversation ceases to exist. The healing -whatever healing is possible - will not happen.

This speech will mark a turning point in the converation this country MUST HAVE about race. Of that I have no doubt. It's a shame the editor of Salon doesn't recognize it as such.

Oh, and I'm no Obamabot. I supported Edwards (financially, too) before he dropped out. I supported Obama after that because I would rather die than have the Clintons back in the White House. Now? Obama's it. The intellect, experience, faith and character that went into this speech is crystalline. Do I think he walks on water? No. But the kind of person who can summon up all the chaotic feelings from across the racial divide and speak about them with such calm eloquence is the kind of person I want leading this country in the 21st century.

We're almost a decade into it and we're moving backwards. The Clintons will not change that direction. Obama will.

Enough already with the power-hungry, shape-shifting, pandering, lying, transparently cynical and conniving Clintons!!!

CLINTON CAMPAIGN: IF YOU'RE READING THIS: NO MAS!!! BASTA! PLEASE, FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR PARTY AND FOR THE GOOD OF THIS NATION, PLEASE JUST STOP STANDING IN THE WAY OF THE FUTURE!!!!!

It's just way past time!!!

I don't need to repeat what's been written here (tom payne: oh, suh-NAP!!!).

Hillary will destroy the Democratic Party. She stoops at nothing. She's atrocious. I - and many others, it appears - will NOT vote for her if she's the Democratic nominee. Not now.

Please, for the love of all that's good and holy, please convince her to stand down.

Or is this grand American experiment done for?

It seems to me these last 6 years or so have pretty much ended any stature in the world the U.S. had.

It's mind-boggling.

I'm not sure I understand Mr. Bush: "This is an Iraqi operation" and "The Iraqis are in the lead."

Isn't it sort of a "nous sommes tous Iraqis/indesirables" over there right about now?

Wow. I guess I'm just so confused. So good to know Dubya has it all under control.

It's absolutely clear to me that Joan Walsh cares not one whit for salon.com OR for its original constituency. All she cares about is becoming a talking head and page hits.

It's disgusting. But she doesn't care, so all this indignation and opproprium is just fruitless venting.

She should be ashamed, but, by definition of the kind of media to which she's sold her soul, she's shameless. And demonstrates her shamelessness again and again and again.

It's the page hits, stupid.

Oh, btw, she also bans usernames who say stuff like this, so this may just be my last post as Duke of URL. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Gee, thanks for that lightning-like flash of how media are bought and paid for!

For the record: I used to be a Premium Subscriber - even gave gift subscriptions out, back in the day. All that ended when Joan started dumbing salon down, so people like reality bites would wander over to the site.

Pandering is as pandering does, and worshiping at the page hits altar is the death of salon.com.

David Talbott must cringe every time he clicks over this way.

Oh, and Xranadu whatever-your-name-is? Joan didn't "put together" this site. She merely invaded it and is systematically dumbing it down - and out. As per this very column's stupidity.

This simply cannot go on.

I'm to the point of contacting Salon's Board of Directors with these criticisms of Joan Walsh's awful dumbing down of Salon.

Christopher Neimeth is Salon's Chief Executive Officer.

The Board of Directors includes:

Deepak Desai

Robert Ellis

Elizabeth Hambrecht

George Hirsch

Robert McKay

James H. Rosenfield

David Talbot

John Warnock

(you can find them all listed on this page: http://www.salon.com/ir/leadership/ )

Does anyone have any advice on finding out the email addresses of these folks, or any other way to contact them directly?

I'm serious.

Because parenting is so totally NOT about you.

And you seem so totally about yourself.

Have a baby or two or three, and the "you" of you will more or less disappear for, oh, 16-20 years or so. And maybe more.

I wonder, too, if you've given any thought to the idea that your baby may have special needs - very special, very challenging, very overwhelming, ongoing and difficult special needs. Has that idea ever been given any thought in your fantasy/lust of having a baby?

I get so weary of "cluckiness" that's all about putative Mom.

Won't read the blog post (the header is all I need to see), haven't read the letters, but I'm to the point of contacting Salon's Board of Directors with these criticisms of Joan Walsh's awful dumbing down of Salon.

Christopher Neimeth is Salon's Chief Executive Officer.

The Board of Directors includes:

Deepak Desai

Robert Ellis

Elizabeth Hambrecht

George Hirsch

Robert McKay

James H. Rosenfield

David Talbot

John Warnock

(you can find them all listed on this page: http://www.salon.com/ir/leadership/ )