Glenn: "her vapid, content-free telegenic presence."

I couldn’t disagree more with this perception of Sarah Palin. On the contrary, she is simply communicating on a frequency that many of us cannot hear. She is speaking to the Christian right. When she says 'love of Israel' the message is received, loud and clear. Believers in the end times know exactly what she believes, what she stands for and what she would do if she got in office.

And do you remember the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451?

She is a dangerous trojan horse that we underestimate at our peril.

here is a video and an article that should be seen by all:

Palin's Apocalypse: A Video with Pertinent Questions

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/10/1/121949/425/Front_Page/Palin_s_Apocalypse_A_Video_with_Pertinent_Questions

Glenn:

Obama's followers are unique. Unlike any other candidate's supporters (except perhaps for Ron Paul's), they see him as much more than a mere political candidate. Much, much more.

That is very interesting, amazing even. I assume you are saying that this is true even compared with Huckabee supporters who presumably are more than a little invested in having someone with their views in the white house?

Madame Defarge

It's terribly sad, but this country is going through a Calvinistic, Christian revival. To ignore the way, not only the religious right, demands a proclamation of faith, but the MSM as well, is a recipe for a Democratic party loss.

There should be no religious test, but there is."

I'm sorry, I found this post to be very sad. Where are we at that we accept the religious test, this erosion of a founding concept of our country. Those of us who are not Christian feel increasingly like guests in someone else's house. And even in this progressive community that is considered 'ok' or at least it is considered the 'to be tolerated' reality.

Drawing the line and speaking out when the most basic freedoms get eroded, slowly, almost imperceptibly even, is central, not incidental.

Do you remember this:

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I did not speak out;

I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

the answer to the 'libel' of being called a muslim should be...'so what if I was...it happens I am not'.

apparently, in our country the answer must be 'I'm called to Christ'.

we have validated the libel, we have agreed with its most basic premise...muslim=terrorist, non-christian=unamerican...

we've all been co-opted by the religious right--even surprisingly, readers of Salon.

The tenor of the letters here seems to be that it is wrong to give a hard look at this blurring of politics and religion--because it comes from 'the good guy'.

Obama enthusiasts want to excuse away this behavior. Why? Sure, politicians have to compromise away many things to get elected.

But what next? Can we look forward to Obama giving a speech at Liberty University?

If the excuse for this brochure is the so called 'smear' that Obama is a muslim then this brochure does nothing but validate the underlying expectation of those promulgating the smear--that there is indeed a religious test for the highest elected office in this country. Thou shalt not only not be a muslim, thou shalt be a christian. Obama panders and it's ok…because he's 'different'.

By creating a brochure like this Obama aknowledges that there is indeed a religious test for presidential candidates in our country now. He follows the path of the republicans in this, and by doing so he reinforces the trend...one more blow to the separation of church and state--which dies from a thousand small blows.

I don't think he should get a pass for this.