White man makes racially divisive comment, Obama self righteously declares he would fire him. Obama's preacher makes worse comments (White America infected black America with AIDS) Obama self righteously declares he won't abandon him:

"I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."

Obama said he appeared once on Imus' show two years ago, and "I have no intention of returning."

"He didn't just cross the line," Obama said. "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America.

"White America infected black America with AIDS" is OK though. Obama = Racism for me but not for thee.

Who cares? Fools care. Obama's wife's statements as well as the pastor, his spiritual mentor, someone he cannot separate from, says it all.

Once again, Obama plays race. It isn't race dear man. It is the inculcation of unamerican speech and values. Values in a man you defend.

You are no different in my eyes than a racist white man where the "Confederate flag still waves." Forget it. We need not an Obama mentality or a David Duke mentality in the White House.

Liberty and justice for all...ALL, and I don't mean people who look like me. Everyone. Always. I cannot vote for you. I hope others do not.

Your speech only comes upon the requirement of trying to protect your position in this race. Without that need, you;d never have made it. You are a fraud.

Barack shown a great deal of courage and honesty, and has shown how he handles difficulty -- with tact, eloquence, and grace. His intelligence and discernment far surpass his negatives.

He tolerated some inflammatory rhetoric on the part of his pastor. That's his crime? How many times does he need to denounce or reject or otherwise part ways with Wright?

Forgive him. Obama, on his own feet, represents the best of America, and our best hope for a freer, more prosperous America for our children.

It is possible to appreciate the nuances of the speech and the artfulness of its delivery without supporting Obama.

I am not an Obama, McCain, or HRC supporter. It drives me crazy when you assert because people disagree or have a different opinion of the speech they are stupid or lack the insight to appreciate detail.

It was a speech, a good speech, a politically savy speech, but just a speech. The only people paying attention to it are political junkies and wide-eyed Obama supporters.

No-one expects anyone to "make out" with the speech in its entirety. The point is, the speech was about race, it was about trying to move forward on an issue that has dominated American life since its inception.

You want to talk about his grandma without any knowledge or facts whatsoever. Do you know if he vetted it with her? NO Do you know if this was stuff he had mentioned publicly before- and thus not new to her? NO Do you know if she's bothered by it? NO

Yet thats what your on about.

Don't like the speech? Address the issues. Is he wrong about race relations in america? Has he spoken wrongly about how whites and blacks feel and why? Do you disagree with his reasoning on why people feel as they do, or behave as they do? Why?

Those are points that would enlighten, clarify and move us forward. Instead you want to carp about a grandmas feeling of which you know nothing about, absolutely and positively noting, zero, zip, nada.

Dont pretend to even defend that you know anything at all about her view on his speech, her feelings on it, her perception of it, their relationship etc. You don't.

Your being called out on a dumb point that Fox viewers would come up with. Thats not to say your dumb, but your point is. As well as willfully ignorant and beneath us as liberals and democrats.

Or will we now play the game as neo-cons? Cherry picking phrases and imagining faults of which we know nothing about simply to justify our political position?

you must be Pavlovs dog!

Not sure if you responded to my previous post about you (I'm still slogging through the thread and addressing comments one by one without even having gotten to the end--and my own posts--what a grueling process!)...

But I just read this from you

But I would die before I would stand up in front of the world and slander the name of the woman who spent her life taking care of me and my siblings. She would be humiliated.

and I must say I appreciate your sensitivity. You are right, of course, that on some level, even with my own explanation that perhaps he asked his grandmother for permission, that he has used his grandmother for political purposes. That is a fact. I suppose I think he had to do it to make that counterpoint ("I have put up with white racists as well as black racists and I love them both") but I want you to know that I take your point and I agree with it.

Many Hillary supporters feel, if I may speak for them for a moment (and I get this from Reality Counts, whom I'm looking for, btw), that one of their biggest beefs is this notion that Obama is "above politics" in some way. The thoughtful ones among us recognize that he's got political advisers as well, that he's got political instincts as well, that he makes political decisions as well. I really "get" that criticism coming from you and want you to know that you've been heard. While I agree with (what I consider) your small point about his use of his grandmother, I guess I know on some level that absolutely anyone who's reached this far in the game has used some people. I'm hoping it remains a minimal part of his campaign.