My letter to The Corner:

So, when Obama denounces the racist words of his pastor, but refuses to forcefully and angrily denounce the man and reject their long relationship, etc., your collective reaction is basically: well, he’s clearly lying, since he still went to that church; and therefore he must be lying now; and he’s a liar, and a socialist and a racist and a liar, and probably a liar, too.

When he mentions the racist things his white grandmother said, and refuses to reject her and his long relationship with her, your collective reaction is: OMG! Obama throws his White Grandmother under the bus! Racist!

In the first case, he fails because he didn’t throw Wright under the bus. In the second case he fails because you insist he threw his grandmother under the bus. But he used the same language for both; he rejected the racism in both; and he refused to sever his relationship with either. But you chose to react in completely opposite ways to the two.

Is there even a shred of intellectual honesty over there?

Obama Speaks

About the current meltdown in the financial markets, Jim Henley asks:

Another way of putting it is, "So, did Bin Laden win then? Did we bankrupt ourselves on an insane and criminal war in half the time it took the Soviets, in response to his ever-so-helpful prodding?" Or is it just a matter of wringing out the excess briefly so the economy can come roaring back.

Good question.

To Review Before You View

There Will Be No

Should you ever happen to see the old Bette Midler movie, The Rose again, try not to think of Dee Snider from Twisted Sister.

Betcha can't do it.

Bush laments his inability to go fight in his righteous little wars:

Bush heard tales of all-night tea drinking sessions to coax local residents into cooperating, and of tribesmen crossing mountains to attend government meetings seen as building blocks for the country's democracy-in-the-making.

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

What a tool.