I have to admit that since I cannot vote because I am a legal resident, not a U.S. citizen, I have managed to maintain some distance and impartiality from this year's election fever. However, at the gym yesterday, and in the absence of mu ipod, I was subjected to an hour and a half of in-depth and completely superfluous analysis on Obama's response to his preacher's "inflammatory" comments. The CNN anchor prodded and probed and led and misled guest speakers until she was sure that the reason for the message and the point of the speech was discarded by all the viewers.

So help me, BlogHers, who I hold as a group of higher intelligence than the average intelligent American, understand the facts of this situation:

1) In a slap in the face of free speech, Reverand Wright is being condemned for expressing his own opinion (an opinion, mind you, that many people, hold in part, at least - how many of you have said "Damn America" in the last 8 years?)

2) Senator Obama is being asked to defend himself against words that were not even said by him,(this point should end here, because this truly should be sufficient), because he (a) visited this church for 20 years and like all non-thinking, irrational human beings, imbibed and absorbed and will act upon these words that he was subject to and (b)he didn't denounce the Reverend and his message.

Wow! That's truly a heartwarming sentiment - if what someone says is offensive to you or anyone who knows you (or may vote for you), cut them off, with immediate effect. We do not tolerate divergent thought here. Ever.

When Obama said that he cannot denounce the man he has known for 20 years, just as he couldn't the black community, or his white grandmother who was a perpetrator of those common racial stereotypes, Newt Gringich said in Fox News, "To reduce a 20-year relationship with a public figure to his grandmother is just wrong". Uhh.. no. It's right. In many cultures it is possible to have a family-like, unconditional relationship with a non-family member, who holds some opinions that you do not share, but with whom you have a bond that may include qualities like respect, integrity, and obligation. And if I'm not mistaken, that's exactly the kind of tolerance we are trying to build back into this country, right?

I apologize to Obama for the pettiness of this "evolved" nation, and hope that he will continue to try to lead us, even if he may not win.