Sorry, all this blah blah blah from a white woman about a black preacher is so out of touch. There's a huge cultural divide here and she really doesn't get it. Bombing civilians anyplace is as horrific as 9/11 and there is a comparison. Best stick to your strength - white women's issues, because here your ignorance is no help.

The government is killing us with AIDS.

to see how much it aligns with Rev Wright and Black Liberation Theology...I would love to see her references...Why are they hiding it? And to that matter, where has she been?...Liability much?

I try to resist cynical interpretations but I have to say, your analysis is compelling.

I don't know what goes on in Joan's heart or what she's up to (though I do take her at her word when she claims she wants to be in a position to effect reconciliation between the Clinton and Obama camps when the time comes for that).

I'd still like to hold out hope that Joan has some integrity and something consequential and noble to contribute from her platform here, largely because I try to be charitable in my assessments of people's motivations and character, but I have to say, your analysis is certainly plausible.

I guess I'm just most frustrated by Joan's anti-intellectualism and her refusal to wrestle seriously with liberalism from a philosophical rather than a political vantage point.

I'd like to know what Joan stands for beyond liberal platitudes like fairness and equal opportunity.

So much of what she writes is superficial and rife with unexamined premises that a serious thinker would be eager to examine, especially considering the intellectual level of her readership!

Just imagine the insights and knowledge we might attain here if the editor (it starts up top) were committed seriously, in a philosophical way, to liberalism. Or if she were opposed to it, whatever, just that she take some kind of philosophical/ideological position and really be prepared to stand by it or to revise it in accordance with new ideas, data, etc.

There are so many very valid criticisms here of Joan's essay, criticisms that are well thought through.

Joan should be grateful that so many people are offering her constructive criticism: it's a writer's dream!

I'm not talking about the petty insults, of course, but the substantive, earnest criticism.

Sigh.

Along with the rest of the nation I have listened to the sound-bites of Jeremiah Wright; and have heard the media pundits, conservative & liberal talking-heads characterize his words as “abhorrent”, “deplorable” and “anti-American.” It is true that America has a proud history of democracy and civil liberties. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence have been considered, by many scholars and historians, as two of the greatest documents ever devised by any country or society. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are regarded in history and the world as enduring symbols of freedom. These things are all part of American history, but not the only part. There is another aspect of the U.S., another America if you will, with a history and culture that is just as real as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The disregard of other cultures and peoples is not an anomaly or aberration, but it is a recurring theme in U.S. history. And it is this history that is as much to America’s shame as the aforementioned merits and attributes are to her glory.

Let’s return to that word: “anti-American.” Were the words of Jeremiah Wright really “anti-American?” Let us remember that it was in America that Native Americans were displaced and stripped of their land and their lives; where they experienced their holocaust at the hands of a callous government and greedy settlers; where the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed and robbed thousands of Native Americans of their homes and birthright; where they walked the infamous “Trail of Tears;” where they were demonized and called “savage” and “heathen;” where their culture was regarded as primitive and satanic. That was the America the Native American knew. It was in America where the Chinese were harassed and detested; where they were referred to as “craven beasts” and an “inferior race;” where angry mobs shot and killed Chinese workers with impunity at the Rock Springs (Wyoming) Massacre of 1885; where the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enacted and effectively rescinded the welcome mat to the Chinese who desired to enter this country. That is the America that the Chinese knew.

It was in America that the 20th century version of “The Inquisition” took place---namely McCarthyism; where the label of “communist” was used to bully and berate thousands of American citizens; where an estimated 10,000 people lost their jobs, because of their presumed link to communism; where the Bill of Rights received a bloody nose and a black eye by the abuse of U.S. Congressional power divorced from reason. This is the America that progressive and free-thinkers knew. Although I disagree with the choice of words by Jeremiah Wright, I understand them.

I can hear the refrain from those who say: “America’s record of freedom and justice is still better than any other country in the world, so why condemn America?” My answer is twofold: 1) This is not about comparing America to the other countries of the world, but about compelling America to truly living up to the values that it espouses; to the principles that America says it believes in. 2) America receives the degree of condemnation it receives because we hold ourselves up as the standard for liberty and justice. When we do as we ought as a nation it is to our credit or fame and when we fail to, we receive greater criticism than any other country. Why? For the same reason the banker who disparages dishonesty in business and is found to be an embezzler; for the same reason the minister who denounces people who practice “fornication” and cheats on his wife--- one simply cannot be found guilty of the very things they condemn, because they indeed will receive greater blame or criticism. I know the statements that I have made will cause some to say that I am being unfair and unpatriotic. There also may be some who will say that I am dredging up old or ancient history. Then let us consider that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are also getting along in years, yet no one denies their impact on American society today. Some will say that they weren’t around when these centuries and decades-old offenses took place and this is true. However, none of us were around during the Revolutionary War and yet it does not prevent us from waving the flag on the Fourth of July. We cannot choose our national inheritance in slices or pieces; it must be taken as a whole. Therefore it would be historical hypocrisy to suggest that our vices have not impacted our nation every bit as much as our virtues.