Worth mulling over

One of Andrew Sullivan's thoughtful readers believes "rejection" (not racism) is the driving force behind the putrid Republican animus toward President Obama. "This is how they felt in 2008. They didn't hate Obama because he's black; they resented him because he was beloved. The nation had fallen in love, and it wasn't with them," he wrote. Interesting. I remain convinced that racism -- the largely unconscious but deeply cultural kind borne of a sad historical legacy that plagues us still (see the Trayvon Martin case) -- plays a central role in the hatred of Mr. Obama by white, mostly over 50, conservatives. That said, the reader (who, like many well-intentioned and unbiased whites, is in denial about the racial factor, I think) still has a point well worth pondering.