Good column, although I think the Clintons self-labeled. I have a lot of respect for Hillary; little for Bill any more after the whole Lewinsky thing and what he said during the primaries which was seventies rhetoric.

I suggest that all of us who consider Barack "black", whatever that means are in fact, racist to some degree. After all, he has a white mother so he's just as much white as black. That's the problem with discussions of race in the United States,. No nuance whatsoever.

There's a great scene in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967!!!) where Sidney Poitier is trying to explain his view of the world to his father, a proud black man who argues that the time is just not right for interracial marriage. Both The fathers, white and black are against the marriage. Poitier says - and I must paraphrase - that his father represents the old generation, one that feels it must hang on to the world as it was because that's the world that validates them. I see the same attitudes from Jesse Jackson, (not his son, notice) and the Clintons who look at the world the way it was 40 years ago. Of course they are not racist in the classic sense, but they look at race very much the way we did four decades ago. That's the problem. There is a power shift away from the old guard both black and white and it's resented terribly.

We have 7 children, six adopted and multi-racial. I also teach a class in the history of diversity and racism and I must say that attitudes toward race and especially interracial marriage have changed among the young very drastically in the past 20 years. Whether this world view will be reflected in the election this fall remains to be seen.

in the world were completely self-absorbed. Did I use the word "stupid"? NO, I did not so why did you infer that meaning? You must not deliberately, or unwittingly, misrepresent the words of another person. That's a bit close to the bone, Mr. Faulkner, considering that there's quite an argument going on here as to whether the Clintons' words were misconstrued or not.

I'd also remind you that I never addressed you until you decided to address me. As for smoking, my health wouldn't be of concern to millions as the POTUS is also regarded as "leader of the free world". Maybe you should direct your anxiety to Barack Obama and ask if he's smoking, what he's smoking and how often. You raised the question, dear sir, so you can hardly object if I deflect the question to the man who aspires to be President.

Damn, that was a good and succinct post!

My best friend growing up was part of a family of 15 children. His parents were White Irish Catholics, and brought six or seven of the children into the world "naturally". This included my friend. The other children were adopted, and were of African-American, biracial, and Guyanese descent. I had a huge crush on my friend's younger sister, whom was bi-racial. She married a dude whose ears stick out farther than Obama's, but they're happy :).

In any case, your point about our lack of ability to appreciate nuance when it comes to race is well-taken.

I agree, the spirit of the times has changed.

Hillary Clinton lost because she ran a lousy campaign..in fact a sleazy campaign. AND because of her vote on October 11, 2002 to allow Bush to invade Iraq. There were 27 Senators smart enough not to vote for this, including one Republican. Her "if I knew then what I know now" just did not cut it. Her support of Kyl/Lieberman and calling the Iranian Revolutionary Guards "terrorists" was also a wrong vote. To align oneself with Kyl or Lieberman is not a wise idea. And then there were all the slimy things said during her campaign against Obama..stuff which naturally is now resurfacing in McCain's ads.. so for all of these reasons it is a good thing she won't be chosen as Obama's running mate. But I don't think the Clinton's are racists..power mad perhaps, but not racists. I only hope the Vice-Presidential candidate will be a good speaker because he's going to follow Bubba. The truble with Bill now is that he is just so obviously angry that Obama won. Bill is not a very good actor. Hillary seems to have a grip on things now..Bill seems still angry. Let's hope he can get over it and give a really good speech.

Your implication was that I would have no possible idea that by "Georgia", you meant somewhere other than the home of the Dawgs. You also told me that the actual Georgia that was invaded was once part of the Soviet Union, as if I was a child and you were my teacher. Forgive me, given those circumstances, for conflating "stupid" and "self-absorbed".

I am not up for having semantic debates with you over trite topics. You obviously look down upon every one of us who deigns to hold a differing opinion to your own, and that's your right. I will cease to playfully suggest that your obsession with composing turgid posts largely devoid of relevance is due to use of ganja or any other sort of hallucenogen. I bow and defer to your superiority as a European, and beg your forgiveness for being so ignorant as to have preferred the Black guy...

Wow, CNBC just gave a blurb that Edwards admits to affair. I don't see it anywhere else.

Damn.

The so-called hoopla around Bill Clinton not speaking at the convention was, at least in my mind, a media generated scandal. Whenever Obama doesn't do something on the media's timeline the chatter starts. I certainly had no doubts Bill would be speaking.

On the matter of Mr. Clinton's response to the question about Obama's readiness. That was a disaster...for Bill. Each of these little faux pas that Bill and Hillary commit just make it easier for Obama to completely leave the Clinton's out of the new administration. From where I sit, that's a good thing, and I voted for Bill twice. No Drama !