More on the good Reverend.

This is a really bad day to throw up some defense for Jesse Jackson but I still think The Root's Marc Lamont Hill makes some good points here about why there are legitimate reasons for the Rev. to be a little sideways with Sen. Obama.

Rev. Jackson did a good job of obscuring his original point all on his lonesome. But that doesn't mean the message should be lost in all the resulting hubbub.

A few things here:

1. As a card-carrying member of the media, I'm really tired of some of my colleagues running to Al Sharpton for his comment - as if he's the only dude who can give some perspective on issues involving all black folks. It's typical, it's lazy and it's sort of offensive.

2. I'll refer you to Ta-Nehisi for some clear-eyed thoughts about this controversy over the "n-word." For the record, I haven't stopped saying the word and have no plans to in the immediate future. This is not a prideful boast or anything - if anything, it's sort of shameful that I haven't removed the word from my vocabulary. But it's no more or less shameful than me still using all manner of curse words, and trust me, I pretty much use them all in an average day.

3. Referring back to The Root, I was saddened to hear that Marc's call-and-response partner, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, has decided to end her work for the Web site (scroll to the bottom a bit) because of conflicts with fellow contributor Jimi Izrael. It's tough to take sides here: I have a lot of respect for both of them. It's too bad all around: The Root certainly isn't better with her taking her multiple talents elsewhere.