Ok, I’m sorry.
I was offended. I figured the bubble had been pierced and instead of finding a sort of Robert Kennedy on the inside I’d found Richard Dawkins. But then I heard Sen. Obama’s response to the question tonight and I’m repentant for having jumped to such a gnarly conclusion so quickly:

Mr. Obama: Well, first of all, you know, scripture talks about clinging to what’s good. And so it’s very important — my words may have been clumsy, which happens surprisingly often on a presidential campaign…but this is something that I’ve talked about before, I’ve talked about in my own life, which is that religion is a bulwark, a foundation when other things aren’t going well. That’s true in my own life, through trials and tribulations.
And so what I was referring to was in no way demeaning a faith that I, myself, embrace. What I was saying is that when economic hardship hits in these communities, what people have is they’ve got family, they’ve got their faith, they’ve got the traditions that have been passed onto them from generation to generation. Those aren’t bad things. That’s what they have left.
…
So I think that this is an example of, frankly, how the political debate can distract us from what is really at issue and that is: How are we going to create a just and fair society where people are getting a fair shake? And that’s why I’m running this campaign.

What I like about Obama – and this is just the latest example – is that he stands by what he says. Yes, he apologized for some clumsy words. But he stood by the core of the remark and that is impressive. I know, it is a low bar to have to cross but today’s politics doesn’t require us to aim too high.