Under the Bus

Joel Achenbach finally puts words to the uncomfortable feeling I've been having about the Obama stories recently. What's with this 'throwing under the bus' thing?

The Obama-Wright relationship has incited a massive outbreak of the phrase, which we can now officially declare to be overused. That doesn't mean that those who used it in recent days were guilty of cliche-mongering -- because this one congealed into cliche status with astonishing speed.

Dave Winer wonders too, and has a lot more to say about why the Jeremiah Wright story is blown out of context:

...now I see Rev Wright in a whole new light. I still can't say one way or the other if he acted appropriately in his sermons, but that was not how you address the media. They're too dangerous. That's the way you talk on your front porch on a hot weekday evening, hanging out with your friends, arguing politics and gossiping about a neighbor. Not in front of cameras that are broadcasting your words around the world, when you're talking about someone you supposedly care about, someone who not only is your friend, but is likely the next President of the United States, your country, which you have served, that you say you love.

Also on the campaign, James Wolcott analyzes the rift between Clinton/Obama supporters and why Daily Kos is fueling the Democrats' downfall, in Vanity Fair: When Democrats Go Post-al.