Jonah, the Alice Walker piece is extraordinary. “Radical departure,” is what the Guardian’s headline says, and “radical” is the correct word. Obama may be cautious at first in how he attempts to apply his leftist views. He’s certainly become more cautious in recent years about the way he expresses them. But the real lesson of the Jeremiah Wright affair is that Obama’s emotional and intellectual roots are radical. Obama is the appealing, and only slightly more moderate face of Alice Walker-style politics, and that is a serious problem.

Walker’s piece is a study in the blind alleys and contradictions of identity politics. One thing I didn’t know was that Walker claims credit for the “womanist” idea. Womanism is the African-American version of feminism. Shortly after the feminist/womanist distinction was invented, an Hispanic version called “Mujerista” was created as well. So in radical circles, instead of the word “feminism,” you sometimes hear the awkward phrase “Feminist/Womanist/Mujerista.” (Here’s a link to an upcoming conference on the topic.)

In my post from the other day on Jeremiah Wright’s mentor in black liberation theology, James Cone, I noted a passage in his video lecture in which he bows to the views of “womanist” theologians. Wright, Cone, and Walker are all part of the radical and identity politics-driven intellectual milieu that has shaped Obama. Walker’s piece may seem silly, but it tells us something real and important about the perspectives and individuals that formed Obama’s thinking, and that will surely shape his long-term agenda.