Amazingly enough. . .

. . .there are still some conservatives out there who are clawing at themselves like a bunch of cats trapped in a fishing net over McCain's denunciation of the North Carolina GOP ad tying their Democrat gubernatorial opponents to Jeremiah Wright. They seem to be under the false impression that, by criticizing this ad, that McCain has "taken criticism of Wright off the table," which is absurd. It has done no such thing.

What it has done is take an embarrassing and ineffective ad off the airwaves. In describing McCain's actions in this matter in such a way as to make people believe that he has precluded any reference or criticism of Jeremiah Wright, or Barack Obama's relationship to him, as out of bounds, they're employing the kind of rhetorical excess many parents are familiar with. I remember employing it myself as a teenager trying to obtain permission to use the car on a weekend night.

Me: "Hey, Mom. Can I borrow your car to go and hang out with some friends tonight?"

Mom: "No."

Me: "GAAAH!!! You never let me do ANYTHING!!!!"

I'm skeptical, but perhaps I can lend a little perspective to all of this by putting the shoe on the other foot for a moment.

Imagine that the GOP had a gubernatorial candidate running in a Catholic-heavy state, like Pennsylvania, for example. And say the DNC went up with an ad that stated,

"Republican candidate for governor, Joe Smith, has endorsed John McCain for president. So has John Hagee, who has likened the Catholic Church to a great whore and a cult. Joe Smith knows this, and has still endorsed John McCain. That seems like very questionable judgment. Joe Smith -- too extreme for Pennsylvania."

What would these angry conservatives be saying about such an ad?