Ezra Klein is cross with me again. Part of his indictment is that I didn’t fully lay out the no doubt epic-length Progressive case against Wal-Mart, in a 700+ word column. One of the the things I love about Ezra’s broadsides against me is how Tom Daschle-like they are. He’s always so saddened, ”disappointed” and offended. I remember one time how he was so upset about my column on Al Gore because his family lived back home in California. They might read it in the LA Times and not understand how wrong it was! (I can’t find the link, but I know it’s out there).

But I really love this opening line: “I’m of the opinion that how to handle Wal-Mart is among the two or three most important issues facing the country.”

Really? That is great news! If Ezra’s right, that means there aren’t many serious problems facing the country. It reminds me of when Jesse Jackson said DC Statehood was the most important civil rights issue facing America. If that’s the case, then civil rights is no longer a problem, I figured.

I do wonder what Ezra means. Is the war on terror more important than Wal-Mart? Than Iraq? If so that leaves no room for global warming, racism, healthcare, child poverty, and a whole bunch of other things that — I thought — progressives like him believed were really important. I’ll make Ezra a deal. I will forthrightly deal with the progressive case against Wal-Mart, if he explains in simple and straightforward language which issues he considers to be less important than Wal-Mart. I want to hear “Wal-Mart’s a bigger problem than racism” (I’m open to the idea, but I have a hard time believing his readers are. Or “the war on terror isn’t as important as dealing with Wal-Mart.”

Oh, and please: No weaseling by saying something like “all of these problems are connected” or “you can’t handle health care until you handle Wal-Mart.” I want a straight list of priorities.