Clearly, Obama's skin was made darker and his nose was made wider than they really are. There is no reasonable denying of this. While FactCheck may be corrct in stating that this doesn't prove an intent to race-bait, they don't disprove the basic facts. As they say, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

The Kos article also points out the lie that is being told while the racist imagery is presented. The ad misstates the role of the subcommittee Obama chairs and doesn't point out that Obama has actively participated in the full committee's hearings on Afghanistan. For the record, it also points out key hearings that the Armed Forces Committee held that Hillary was too busy campaigning to attend.

I have said it before and I'll say it again here. Hillary Clinton is running the most racist campaign America has seen since Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrat run. It is shameful, disgraceful and despicable. Any true Democrat, or any true American, should be outraged by the constant racist undertone of the Hillary Clinton campaign. She is taking advantage of Bill Clinton's close ties to the black community to get away with the kind of attacks that Republicans know would backfire on them. That is why Rush urged the dittoheads to vote for Hillary. Her campaign is willing to make the kind of shameless, racist attacks that the Republicans know they can't afford to this fall.

Hillary knows that she will be too old to run for president after 8 years of President Obama (or 12 or 16 if his veep gets the nod). So her strategy is clearly to weaken Obama in ways that the Republicans can't to make sure that he loses this fall and she can run as the "I told you so" candidate in 2012 to unseat McCain. Every day that Hillary stays in the race, John McCain moves one step closer to the Oval Office. But, Flying Monkeys™, keep on with your blind adoration of the Clintons. Ignore the racism, the Rovianism, the cynicism, the hypocrisy, the lies, the distortion, et al. You'll get the president you deserve, McCain. The rest of us deserve better, but America has had a good run. It was a noble experiment while it lasted. Sadly, democacy cannot survive a populace that is so easily duped by Rovian tactics and media that turn a blind eye to corruption. Salon is no better than FOXNews these days.

Once Hillary has secured the White House for McCain we will have the time to look back and ask why it happened. Was it just impossible for Joan Walsh to see anything but Hillary's gender? Did Salon ignore all the facts and rules of journalism simply because a Clinton return to power would be poetic revenge on the Republicans for the imeachment of dear Bill? Did they turn a blind eye to the facts because of, shall we call it, undue influence by certain wealthy parties? Was it blind loyalty to the Clinton brand? Was it racism? Was it some combination of these things?

These are all important questions to ponder during President McCain's term.

Or maybe, just maybe, Obama has the ability to fight the lies on both fronts. Maybe he can beat back the sludge pumps firing at him from the left and the right and emerge victorious. Maybe, just maybe, there is HOPE for America after all. Maybe America wasn't just a noble experiment doomed to failure. Maybe America can be what it has the potential to be. Maybe there is reason to hope for a better future.