Jon, thanks for the great review of Jericho. I've been stuck in a rut when it comes to TV shows, but now it looks like I've missed a good one.

Jon, thanks for the great review of Jericho. I've been stuck in a rut when it comes to TV shows, but now it looks like I've missed a good one.

Jon, thanks for the great review of Jericho. I've been stuck in a rut when it comes to TV shows, but now it looks like I've missed a good one.

The thing that is most bittersweet about the show is how they kill off characters. Just when you really get to care about a character, they get killed off. This is frustrating as entertainment, but as a social commentary, it is a brilliant and realistic point.

Now I'm no political junkie, but I consider myself to be well-informed. Every time I hear Obama speak, I hear a man who is intelligent, gutsy and is able to communicate effectively. You understand what he is saying, unlike most politicians who talk in circles and blow hot air.

And I'm glad to hear Mamet say he's not a “brain-dead liberal.” Neither am I; I consider myself to be a pretty goddamn smart liberal, thank you very much.

There is ample evidence that Obama knew about the Reverend's racist views, but still put him on the Obama team. I suppose Obama did the best he could by not totally rejecting the man. Because it would be impossible for him to do so, and — as you point out — actually dishonest to do so.

McCain now leads either Hillary or Obama in the latest polls. Now that the rest of America has seen the kind of hate speech coming out of black pulpits and the way Obama and the Democrats try to excuse it, very real and legitimate doubts are moving people to favor experience and proven grace under pressure over blind hope for questionable change.

And although Obama made a few Reaganesque noises in the speech and speaks of a coming together, in the end (of the speech) it still came down to the same old statist prescriptions that about half of us absolutely do not want. In the end there can be no unity. One or the other side must convince enough of those in the middle to help them defeat their opponents, and the minority will have to grit their teeth and bear it.

Finally, just a footnote here on a previous topic, Jon. Did you read Mamet's recent essay about why he is no longer a “brain-dead liberal”? It seems that his play November actually says (or Mamet intended it to say) something a bit different than what you read into it. One of the choicer quotes:

“I found not only that I didn't trust the current government (that, to me, was no surprise), but that an impartial review revealed that the faults of this president—whom I, a good liberal, considered a monster—were little different from those of a president whom I revered.

“Bush got us into Iraq, JFK into Vietnam. Bush stole the election in Florida; Kennedy stole his in Chicago. Bush outed a CIA agent; Kennedy left hundreds of them to die in the surf at the Bay of Pigs. Bush lied about his military service; Kennedy accepted a Pulitzer Prize for a book written by Ted Sorenson. Bush was in bed with the Saudis, Kennedy with the Mafia. Oh.”

Or perhaps I misread your original reading. I don't think so. Anyway, my appreciation for Mamet's work, which was very high before, will be even greater now. He has decided to move toward the light. Hallelujah!

p.s. Cool song, so I'm okay with this.

Look, we all know Kerry was a piss-poor candidate and he ran his campaign like he was giving his lunch money away. But the Swiftboaters took a non-starter and turned it into a full blown controversy. Obama does indeed try to counter fast and not let things fester quietly, but I'll be disappointed if I start seeing those particular tactics employed too liberally.

Apart from that, it seems the only thing for him to do is ride this out and see where things stand in a couple of weeks. I'm having a seriously hard time believing this will still be a big story in the summer or fall–and anyone who drifts away from him on this issue probably would have found some other reason to do it anyway before November.

You know what I found fascinating? The episode of the HBO series In Treatment that aired on Tuesday night (right after Obama's speech) featured an elderly African-American man going on a brief tirade about how he'll never be able to get over all the injustices this country has visited on blacks people.

I tend to believe that, as with many things related to Obama's candidacy, this will likely boil down to a generational issue–both in terms of Wright's perspective vs. Obama's, and in terms of the way voters respond to all these events. I don't find that fact terribly encouraging for his electoral prospects, considering that seniors vote in much larger numbers than anyone else, but I do think that younger voters will cast this issue aside rather quickly.