The big difference between Dr. King and the "identity" politicians who followed after him is that he believed in racial integration as the hope of America, and they believed in black power -- the message of Malcolm X. I don't see assholes like Hitchins carrying on about how Obama is no Malcolm X, because the differences there are immediately visible, and besides, they have nothing to GAIN from saying that.

But actually, now that Hitch mentions it. Obama has a lot in common with MLK, specifically having to do with integration, and there lies much of the difference between him and earlier "identity" leaders like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Obama is not only a believer in integration, but he is a product and emblem of it. He is the visible representation of our hopes for a better life in which we are better people.

It's been a long time since racial integration was a cause in which some pride could be taken. Since then we've had to back down and hope for less, accepting a new and improved version of the Separate But Equal that was found by the Warren Court to be a guaranatee of permanent inequality -- which is precisely what it has turned out to be. We were told that affirmative action was unfair, and then that even diversity programs are not acceptable to White America. Now, as a heroic irony, we are told that integration,m represented by Dr.King, is what White America REALLY wanted all along. Excuse me, but I'm a little older than Hitchins, and I remember that integration was precisely NOT what those of you who identify as White wanted then, nor what you really want now.

What we all want, being Americans, is mostly the crap we've seen advertised. We're sure that if we only have enough of it, we'll be happy. Some of us want politicians who will cater to that desire structure. Some of us are willing to accept that we can do better than that, but only in wartime.

What we got from MLK, and get now from Obama, is the challenge to do better than that. Hitchins and his little pack of dittoheads here don't seem to want to rise to that challenge. Why am I not surprised? But I remain optimistic that most Americans will, when faced with the choice between hope and despair, choose hope,and the responsibilities that go with it.