Joan, it's beyond disgusting for you to still be peddling this guilt-by-association, McCarthyist crap, this vile trash. This makes me so mad. I judge people by their own words, not by the words of people they happen to know. You'd rather judge him on this BS. You complain about Wright 's grim view of America, but you know what's really unamerican? Guilt by association.

Enough. I'm out. You hack.

...who are so concerned about Rev. Wright being an issue in the general that they can't help but keep the story afloat:

The GOP wants Clinton to be the nominee because she's the easiest to beat. Do you think Karl Rove is calling her the tougher challenge because he thinks that? Do you think Fox is focusing all their energy on tearing down Obama (and cheering every Clinton victory) because they want the Democrats to put forth their best candidate?

Here's the bottom line: if Clinton becomes the nominee, a 527 with a few hundred million dollars to blow is going to run an ad, over and over, on every channel, that shows Clinton landing in Bosnia to a welcoming ceremony with the audio of her claiming to be ducking sniper fire. They will run that non-stop from August to November and it will be all the media talks about. That ad will work better than playing Wright sermons (which I have no doubt they will do).

If you think Clinton's enormous trunk of baggage isn't going to be an issue because it's not currently getting the same coverage as Wright, you're not thinking very hard.

Didn't anyone read Br'er Rabbit?

Chimpygo...Many, many people assume that if you point out the sexism on these letter boards that you must be a rabid supporter of Senator Clinton. I am not. I am profoundly disturbed by her recent comments about obliterating people.

I want to see a democrat in the White House because I believe that the Republicans are literally destroying the planet. We cannot endure or survive another four years of such horrible leadership. I think either of the two candidates will be light years better than John McCain.

Therefore, I will try to muster up enthusiasm for whoever the candidate is...I believe my children's future depends on it.

I think we have seen a tremendous amount of racism, and blatant anti-religious sentiment directed against those who practice Islam (with the persistent efforts to try to tie Sen. Obama to Islam). Those are the tactics of the Right.

What is disheartening to me is to hear those who claim to be part of a "new" paradigm, a transformative movement, a different type of politics...to deny the sexism that has been directed against Sen. Clinton.

I think there are loads of feminists/leftists/good people are are not sexist and who are not supporting Sen. Clinton. I don't think Sen. Clinton is trailing in the election solely because of sexism. I see that conclusion jumped to constantly on these boards.

But there are a bunch of people who are writing letters to Salon who think it's okay to attack Sen. Clinton as a "c*nt", suggest that she and former President Clinton are "pimping" their daughter, who call her Shillary or Billary, in the horrible style of Maureen Dowd (whose cynicism and mean spiritedness make her a chore to read). It's just not okay to dip into the deep well of sexism to oppose someone -- it's not okay to call Ms. Walsh an "ignorant s***t". And why CAN'T she be called Sen. Clinton rather than "Mrs. Clinton?" What's to parody in suggesting respectful, parallel terms of address?

(And no, I don't support nasty personal attacks on Sen. Obama either)

I don't think you can call yourself a progressive unelss you are willing to oppose ALL kinds of oppression - including those against women and girls, and people with disabilities, and transgender people, and native and indigenous folk and people of color, etc. etc. etc.

If we want to create a new paradigm, we have to stop name calling -- and we have to stop being sexist, racist, and all the rest.

Susan McGee

Goodbye, Joan.

You're not a progressive; you've had too many martinis in SF with your TV pundit pals with whom you've become so chummy. It's as if you've been bought, or you've sold-out. I can read the same mindless trash on CNN. It's not interesting at all, it's the same garbage on the networks, only with a slight veneer of the "I am a successful, educated, humorless feminist" who CLAIMS to be from the left.

Not renewing...ciao

Why do not the cable channels round up some people who actually know a thing or two about what they're talking about when they "discuss" an issue?

Why not enlist philosophers, for instance, to discuss issues?

Why are all the "analysts" half-educated polemicists?

You can hardly tell the difference between the Onion and CNN these days.

God help us all.

Which one is the real witch? Obama or Wright?

Loved your post...I'm coming around the last several weeks that Obama is NOT a progressive (let alone Hillary, who is a complete corporate whore).

I think you hit it right on the head: Obama's discussions about bringing in Republicans is ludicrous. Why would they want to give up their power? How naive?

We literally need a revolution here, a left-wing one, to kick out corporate power. Traveling the country and bringing voters into the fold is a good thing, but Obama is not hitting hard enough from the left.

Needless to say, Clinton is a Republican wanna be; she'll lose for sure against McCain if she's the nominee because the red-meat crowd wants to vote for the true warmonger (Kerry v. Bush redux)/

Of course, this is all very depressing for me...

I want to expand upon my point about resistance. If we forget resistance, and the honorable struggles for resistance in the United States, we'll be overcome by despair, and not want to struggle anymore.

Yes, the Magna Carta gave rights mostly to the Barons, but it also gave a few rights to peasants. Yes, the to vote in Greece, you had to be a citizen, and a male (but you didn't have to own property), and yes the U.S. excluded women, African Americans and Native Americans from the franchise.

Yet, EACH of these documents established the IDEA that voting rights existed, and piece by piece, we have expanded voting rights in the Untied States. These documents established the IDEA that every human being has value and is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Women didn't get the vote until 1920, and Native Americans until 1924, and African Americans couldn't really vote until the 1970s, after fierce struggle, but the struggles of all these people (and their allies) are bearing fruit.

The world MOSTLY acknowledges global warming. Cigarettes are understood to be dangerous to your health. We ARE winning -- but we won't keep winning if we give up and ONLY focus on the negative aspects of our country. I consider myself the heir of those in the labor movement, and the civil rights movement, and all the resistance efforts...those people were Americans, too! I'm fighting the best I can against the injustices perpetrated by the government in my name.

Susan McGee