Bernbart asks "Why is it republican always turn brilliance and intellect into something to fear?."

Seems to me that's what the Obama Democrats did in the primary to Sen. Hillary Clinton, one of the brightest political leaders to come along in a long time.

You're confusing Obama's ability to give a good speech, hire skilled political consultants and draw crowds with the capacity for deep thinking and wisdom.

Please don't tell me about his Ivy League degree or being editor of the Harvard Law Review. Instead explain how, if he's thought through his positions, he can keep changing his mind on issues as important as FISA and offshore drilling.

As for who's playing the race card, it seems to be primarily Obama supporters. They label any criticism of their candidate as proof that the person criticizing him is either afraid of African-American men or bigoted toward them. They used similar tactics to smear the Clintons as racists.

Perhaps they missed the footage of African-Americans picketing an Obama speech yesterday, asking when he is going to deal with issues that concern the black community. They weren't PUMAS, so they must have been either racists or Republicans.

You sure have Obama supporters neatly sized up and tagged, I'd again rise up to their defense, but I really think and feel that your the hollow holiness of your whole harangue has just pointlessly dragged.............

Hi Joan,

You dismissed TPM's arguments about the race card without addressing any of the reasons Josh gave for making the argument. I think that it is particularly telling that the McBush people used two white women old enough to be his daughters as celebrity examples. No blacks, no men, no one his own age. Do you think that this was random? As for the dollar bill lookalike statement, there is an ad on the McBush site that shows Obama superimposed on a dollar bill along with the statue of liberty, mt rushmore etc. So, who gets the responsibility for this turn of phrase. Isn't it the height of arrogance to accuse Obama of something that the McBush had already put up on the net. What about the Obama "baby momma" comment? just a slip of the tongue? I think either firedoglake or pandagon has a running list of racial innuendos that the MSM and the McBush campaign have dragged out from under various rocks. Are you afraid of being branded as partisan by pointing out these obvious facts?

as "white sexpots" (see article by Joan Walsh). I thought it was only Colonel Blimp of the Army and Navy Club could speak of women in this way. It would be construed as a very derogatory way of descibing one quite troubled young woman and another who, although untalented, is a "celebrity".

"Law and Order". "Strict Constructionist". "Outside Agitators". "Arrogant". "Exotic-looking". "Seperate but equal". "Not like us".

These are some of the evil and immoral talking phrases used by the GOP and their minions.

The GOP counts on us to be cowed by their 'tsk, tsk'-ing of our recognition of their racism. Their cowardly excuse is that it doesn't mean what it sounds like or looks like.

I heard 'tsk, tsk' when we first accused our own government concerning the TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT.

Please don't give McCain a free pass on his blatantly racist campaign.

Now, for my cheap shot of the day.

Mr. McCain should know a lot about vacuous, dumb blondes.

if you don't like the Obamatons here at Salon why don't you expand your horizons a bit:

http://www.blacksforobama.org/

I have never given Obama one dime, and I never will! If you were trying to make a joke, then I did not get it. Good luck with your candidate.

Klytus, that's a nice alliteration, "hollow holiness of your whole harangue" but totally unenlightening as to your viewpoint.

I looked back over some of your nearly 600 letters to see if I could figure out where you're coming from.

It seems that rather than respond to contrary points of view, you prefer to answer with rhymes and insults that say very little about why you think the person you're directing your comments to is incorrect.

If people who don't agree with everything Sen. Obama leave Salon, as some have suggested, his supporters could all just preach to the choir but I don't think they'd find that nearly as enjoyable.

So I'll continue to read Salon, to be informed by it often or annoyed by it on occasion, and to post what I think of its articles. I hope that in response, I will find people who want to debate the issues civilly as I have tried to do.

Just stay good and busy, the bumble of your buzz is startin' to make us all feel good and dizzy.

Lol

It's disingenuous to suggest that McCain was race-baiting by using two white women in the ad criticizing Obama's celebrity. I can't think of a single white man, young or old, who is as famous in as negative and shallow way with the public as Hilton and Spears. Not one. We have a tendency to demonize young women - young men who party hard and act like idiots don't tend to get as much attention. The same applies to black men and women - although I don't even want to think of the fallout if McCain has used anybody black in his ad. Can you imagine an ad comparing Obama to a drug using, alcoholic, or womanizing black man? If you can't, then think about the fuss over Bill Clinton comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson, who is none of the above.

There is no question that the "Celebrity" ad was not a nice campaign ad. It will go down in history as a cheap hit on a non-political issue. But it's not race-baiting, like the ads against Ford, which clearly tried to threaten people by suggesting that this black man was trying to date white women. Although, in all honesty, I can't see why anybody should care about that in this day and age, either. I would have thought that most people would have moved past that particular issue by now.