Tonight, Dennise and Maria were watching TV, and some clips of Rev. Jeremiah Wright came on from his National Press Club appearance last night. Among other things, these were clips where he was again blaming the government for AIDS, and calling American soldiers terrorists.

The following is a mostly verbatim transcription of the conversation that ensued…

“Mom, was Rev. Wright alive when Martin Luther King got shot?”

“Yes, Maria, he was.”

“I think he’s still angry about that. And I think he’s probably also still mad about that gas that makes you cry….”

“You mean ‘tear gas?'”

“Yeah, tear gas….from on the marches in Atlanta, Georgia.* And I think he’s probably mad about people having to sit at the back of the bus too.”

“It could be, sweetie.”

“Mom, I think he needs to talk to a counselor. Maybe he could talk to Ms. Wilson.”

“Who is that, Maria?”

“She’s our counselor at school. She says that before you get angry and say mean things you should try screaming into a pillow, or even screaming into a mirror…”

“Into a mirror?”

“Well,” said Maria, “actually I made that last part up.”

* (we assume she meant Selma, Alabama…)