How about a debate between the Revs. Wright and Hagee? This might change some of the distorted focus on the "transgressions" of Obama's pastor and shine a spotlight on the hateful bile sought out for endorsement on the right. If only...

I find Walsh's "hermeneutics" on Wright rather sad. I thought the Moyers interview gave nuance to what was only parody in the clips of his sermons shown throughout the mass media. For instance, to say his sermon "sounds like it's the idea of America, its fundamental principles, that he's rejecting" only makes sense if you ignore what he actually says, just as the decontextualized snippets do. Countering the pervasive myths of American exceptionalism and innocence through recourse to historical and biblical example is hardly the sort of simplistic America-hating Walsh pointedly clings to.

"He used his hour with Moyers to argue that his thoroughgoing critique of American evil is, well, true." His critique of American evil is true, but this does not mean that he is arguing, again simplistically, that America is only evil. This is further parody of the perspective-widening the man was actually arguing for.

"I deplore all of those civilian killings as well, but 9/11 was indefensible." Therefore, there can be no parallels to 9/11 even considered? This is precisely the mindset being countered (see above re American exceptionalism).

Whether one (Obama, for instance) agrees with Wright's analysis, seems beside the point. His interview showed a thoughtful man, who has tried to open the discussion of these topics, not shut them down. Walsh's imputed pessimism in closing her piece is at odds with the portrait I saw of Obama's pastor.

When right-wing blowhards talk about "supporting America", they obviously intend "America" to be interpreted as being synonymous with "American government". In their minds, anyone who disagrees with the U.S. government is anti-American.

OTOH, when Wright says "God damn America", people jump on him for cursing the American people. Many of Wright's critics are the same people who would have us believe that "America" means the U.S. government.

Let's hear it for consistency.

I'm not surprised. You just don't get it.

A brief peak look at some of their own words:

Personality politics and race just do not figure in to Clinton supporters heads...

ProudTexasGirl: Take a skinny black dude, let him write a ridiculous book if taken as truth, an okay book as a work of fiction, let him slam America, Americans, Blue Collar Workers, Older White Women, Religious Americans, Americans who collect guns and/or hunt, Jews, Hispanics, Italians, Women in General, and then have him run for political office. No, even better, let's have him run for President of the Fucking United States of America.

The only thing more ridiculous is him winning. As dumb and mean as most of us appear to be, this might just happen. NOT.

There are more smart people and more racists than there are idiots (thank god) left in this country.

OBAMA is unelectable. He is poison. He is a plant. He is making us look DUMB and making them look SMART. He is the enemy.

America, compared to most countries, rocks. Take Africa for example, horrible piece of crap. People overbreeding, Aids is rampant, genital mutilation, and slavery. Take India, same. Take China, little bit different, but mostly the same.

Tropicalli: He now says he would NEVER vote for Obama as he is 'un-American' and just might vote for Hillary...but never Obama.

Cytherea45: Obama supporters just like Bush supporters. Can't reason with critics, they just attack, attack, attack. Won't help them, though, their man is toast. Michelle, where are my b*alls?

ShawnWM: And I'd like to see one shred of evidence to support this brown tripe the Hussein-Obama terrorist fan club keeps promoting.

It's really pretty fringey outerspace out of touch leftwing nuts when when Joe Connason and Hillary Clinton are too far to the right for the crowd.

However it's good to serve as a reminder of what 90% of American thinks of Obama: A greedy out of touch liberal terrorist and black militant being paid by Republicans to serve as a spoiler.

It's only race for blacks. They're the ones block voting for Obama. Then you have about 22% of white affluent males under 50 voting for Obama because he's black.

Obama, his vulgar money-grubbing wife, and all his mirror image clones like Louisiana's Jefferson and Clyburn in SC as well as drunken losers like Kennedy and Kerry are in fact the treasonous pieces of terrorist sympathizing trash that the Republicans always thought they were.

in the height of two-front mideast war, they've promoted a Muslim, radical with no experience

NYShooter: you're a patriot who, given the choice between a flim-flam con artist and a person who has worked for and delivered untold benefits to millions of people both in America and around the world their entire life

won'tgetfooledagain: Barack Obama is living off of the unfair racial innuendo against the Clintons that gives him 90% of the African-American vote and the naiveté of young Democrats who do not understand the hatchet job done by the Republicans on the Clintons and the fantasy promises that Obama sells them.

jameka: I realize that Obamatons are blinded by their fervor for the new messiah...bama and his crazed supporters' liberal use of the race card to paint the Clintons as leaders of the KKK in America will be seen for exactly what it is and the damage won't be pretty.

Ms. Walsh,

I am not among those who have written to scold you for your preference for Clinton (we all have candidates we favor over others), nor am I doing so now. But I found this post so wrongheaded that I had to protest.

First, your consistent tendency to conflate Obama's beliefs with Wright's is, well, selective at best. As has been said above, Obama has been more than clear about his differences with the more incendiary of Wright's approaches to political theology. Continuing to take a position of faux concern about its ramifications for Obama is merely keeping the mythology alive, and (conveniently) perpetuates the Clintons' "Who is he REALLY?? What scary thoughts is he hiding??" tactic.

Second, you claim to be on the left, and then tsk tsk about Wright's analysis of the history of minority oppression in this country. Are you really not aware of this history and its continued legacy? The left has always attempted to give voice to the voiceless--there are few other advocates for them, save the separatist radicals. Which brings me to:

Third, your puzzlingly simpleminded dismissal of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. EVERY civil rights movement has its separatist radicals. As a feminist, surely you remember the vibrant lesbian feminist separatist movement, and how, while they may have had some really silly ideas, they were invaluable to feminist dialectic, and provided a safe space for women to begin to discover themselves as women, separate from and non-defined by men.

The Nation of Islam, for all its sometimes offensive and divisive rhetoric, provides just that safe space for Black men to define themselves and discover their self-respect. They have helped communities that otherwise would go completely wanting for positive, affirming support. For Wright to commend them is not only natural, but completely rational for a man whose life has been shaped by racism and the struggle to raise his people above the level of second-class citizens. His anger at America--not just Bush, it didn't all start with him--is well-earned and real.

Disagree all you want with Wright, but you can't wrap yourself in the leftist flag and then cluck over what are some pretty fundamental tenets of leftist analysis of American social structure. You sound like a reactionary clutching her pearls about the bad America-hating negroes. If nothing else, it comes across as disingenuous and transparently self-serving.

I believe you're smarter than that.