"Unfortunately, Obama's best defense is probably a politically unpalatable truth: He didn't pay that much attention. I think the truth is that Obama was and is a fairly secular guy who (according to "Dreams From my Father") was trying to organize black churches in the 1980s and heard from more than one black preacher that he needed to find himself a church to have credibility. He looked around and found Wright's, which was the fastest-growing black church in the area. He liked its social gospel, it helped his standing in the community, and so he joined. We may never know how often he attended, but he stayed for 20 years.

Clearly it was bad judgment to stay with the church, given Wright's divisive views, once Obama knew he had national political ambitions. But what, if anything, can Obama say now to limit the political damage?"

God, Joan, where to begin? What makes you think he wasn't paying attention? Maybe he was listening but chose to reject that particular viewpoint? Maybe he saw all the good things hat Wright does in the community and heard the other 95% of Wright's sermons which are positive? Who knows? Certainly neither you or I do.

The biggest problem is that he's stated countless times that he doesn't agree with Wright's viewpoints, but you don't believe him and somehow think that Wright has some control over him. You also betray in your writing a real fear of these groups. You buy into the notion that they are a threat and cannot contribute to the welfare of this country. And I guess it's just natural for a politician to join a church for strictly political reasons. How condescending.

Hey, I certainly don't agree with a fair portion of what Wright says, but I don't fear him and am willing to engage him in a discussion of the issues. You, on the other hand, seek to marginalize him out of your own irrational fear. And your obsession with linking Wright with Obama is something I expect from the right-wing opposition, not the executive editor of Salon.

I was thrilled to see him cast as Tony Stark. It's great to see great actors (Christian Bale as Batman is another) get these roles so these movies are more than SFx.

I've always loved Marvel Comics. It's great that the movie industry is taking them seriously.

I don't know how McCain can renounce Bush when 95% of his policies are identical to W's. He'de have to renounce himself as well. THAT I would pay to see.

Someday, this country will get a real leader who will share some unpleasant facts about this country with its citizens. One of those facts is that U.S. oil prices have been suppressed for the past 60 years and the country no longer has the clout to keep prices down unless it wants to start WWIII (or WWIV depending upon who you talk to).

A real leader will tell its citizens that the country faces obstacles that will either break it or catapult it to new heights, and that a lot of sacrifice by everyone will be required to achieve the latter. We need to make petroleum obsolete and transform ourselves from the most wasteful country on the planet to the most efficient. I personally know I can do better, but these are times where we don't have the luxury of relying on "free market solutions."

If we can put a man on the moon, we can fix this situation, but we can't do it and try to police the world at the same time.

Anyone who professes to support a candidates policies must by definition support 95% of the opposing candidates views, as they share that percentage in common.

Also, any self-proclaimed Democrat who continually calls the opponent "racist" or "criminal" cannot possibly believe the the principles of the Democratic Party and therefore must be a republican troll.

Finally, anyone who says they are deeply dissatisfied with the past eight years of the bush administration cannot possibly vote for John McCain as there is no distinguishable difference between his policies and that of the current administration. This country doesn't need a slight course correction, it needs an about-face.

This is why all the "concern" over party division is pure, unadulterated bullshit, spread by concern trolls who don't believe in the common goals of either Clinton or Obama. It's all style over substance.

Doesn't argue. (S)He drools.

Coming from where? Out of your ass?

Well, all the vitriol and venom finally reached critical mass, and now we have nancianne posting all the republikan talking points from the 90s. Good work, people.

"Roberts said that history would judge the president on whether he had prevented the nuclearization of the Middle East. If Iran gets the bomb, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other countries will follow."

Too late. Israel has enough nuclear stockpile to radiate the entire region, thanks to us. Thats why any talk of Iran or another country attacking Israel is pure fantasy. But I forgot: Israel doesn't count because they're all goodness and light (like we are), while muslim countries are pure evil. Silly me.

I was born and raised in California, so I have first-hand experience of Reagan's shitty governorship before he became president. During that period, state budgets were strangled, the mental health system was basically eliminated and real government service ground to a halt. It was the beginning to all the problems we face now in the Golden State.

W has taken Reagan's policies to the nth power. I doubt any debate will get that far, but this election should not just be about rejecting Bush, it should be about rejecting Reaganism's disastrous impact on this country.

With people like Wilentz giving him any kind of credit, I doubt we'll never get to that point.