virtue001: "Neither myself nor my writing professor ever considered the term "white hot" as racist, despite the fact that people like yourself and Joan "I-see-racism-everywhere" Walsh seem to spin every possible story or comment that way."

It was a joke. You missed it.

Regarding "white-hot," I dunno, maybe people were overusing it a decade or two back, but I haven't read it much lately. It's more of an ad-copy word -- hyperbolistic -- but that's not automatically bad. Adjectives fall in and out of favor. The list your teacher gave sounds more like opinion than hard-and-fast rules. (I would argue that claiming there are rules in subjective areas of writing is inherently questionable.)

No writer ought to be trendy, but Walsh uses all sorts of terms to color her writing, some better than others. I enjoyed her use of "bollixed" a few columns ago, though I think she and everybody else at MSNBC would do well to retire the use of "bona fides" (pronounced "bawna-fee-dez," although I always though it was "bone-ah fydes").

For my part, I hope to bring "ragamuffin" back into widespread use. Or better yet, "tatterdemalion."

OnTheBeat: "Chicago-style, and every last one of them, you know, support The One, their neighborhoods in the Dem pockets for generations past, present, and future. And you cum stains call conservatives "dangerous." Have a look. Be proud of your fellow Dems."

Wow, look at you go. I'll bet you think any instance of dark-skinned people doing bad things is somehow attributable to Obama.

Sort of like Rush Limbaugh highlighting a school-bus fist fight and saying, "This is Obama's America."

Lou Dobbs made sure to highlight that as well.

It wasn't really even news. It was the kind of crap that happens at schools all over America. But it was black-on-white, so they broadcast it on prime-time cable news, or talked it up on their shows, and tried to give it significance far beyond what it really had.

Then they tried to claim they weren't racists, but just reporting the facts.

Now you're following their lead. Like a good little thoughtless minion.

Remember: If white people commit crimes, it's just individuals committing crimes. If black people commit crimes, it's a political statement about Obama.

virtue001: "As a writing professor in college once told me, you can always tell a hack by the use of the phrase "white hot.""

Wow, your writing professor sure imparted useful wisdom there.

But I guess you're right. "White hot" does sound kinda racist.

Joan Walsh: "What if Hillary Clinton really believed that Obama couldn't get enough white votes to become president? Would that make her racist? Is it only racist if she says it? What if a black pol says it (and some did)?"

My problem with Hillary's statement is that, as an argument, it has an ugly whiff of self-fulfilling prophecy to it. I mean, it's not like Hillary was saying it as an objective observer. She wanted Obama not to get those white votes, so by drawing attention to the matter, it immediately cast a spotlight on Obama's race over his qualifications.

I don't think Hillary Clinton or Bill are really racists, but I think they lost their bearings by being too willing to use such borderline tactics in order to win. Also, once they were called to task for the way their comments were interpreted (Hillary's "white Americans" comment and Bill's South Carolina comment), they had a window in which to clarify their positions and come off looking conciliatory, and they let the opportunity pass. This left them open to charges that they were using dog-whistle communication to appeal to people's racism -- which wouldn't make the Clintons racist, per se, but would make them very cynical. Such cynicism was not what I wanted in a candidate.

Anyway, all is forgiven (that is, "all that I perceive to have been the case").

Ahhhh....well I am glad I got that out of my system. Again. I need to go make some dinner.

JohnCP: "Hillary WON THE POPULAR VOTE against Obama..."

I do hope you aren't serious.

Joan Walsh: "And XH, I love you, but you are still acting like, yes, a bot when you perpetuate this same sort of faulty logic in the way you depict the primary battle..."

I'm sorry, did you say something? You had me at "I wuv you."

You complete me.

Joan Walsh: "...that feminist defenders of Clinton were saying ALL feminists HAD to support her -- they didn't -- or that anyone who didn't support her was a sexist -- they didn't say that either."

Okay. But there were a few people in these threads who did make these arguments on an ongoing basis. (Not sure what percentage they represent, but I rarely saw any other Clinton supporters contradicting them.)

Anyway, no biggie. I used to have a dog in this fight, but that dog has since been put to sleep. Poor Fluffy.

I enjoyed watching Bill Clinton on "Larry King" yesterday, as he carefully articulated his position on the anti-Obama racism. But I enjoyed Barney Frank's upbraiding of the obnoxious anti-health-reform speaker even more.

I understand that Obama and his team need to set the racism issues aside and lead the way for what everybody ought to be debating. (And not just health-care; when I think about everything going on with Afghanistan and Iran, I feel embarrassed how side-tracked many people have become.) Nonetheless, I long to see surrogates unleashed to slam the racists for the twits they are, and especially put right-wing leadership on the defensive for the way they condone racism by ignoring it in the ranks.

A page or two behind this comment, the author responded to many of the comments people have left. Thanks for the clarifications. Looking forward to the future installments.