She was talking about us.

What Sarah Palin said yesterday in Clearwater, FL was clearly offensive, but it was also personally insulting. By characterizing Barack Obama as someone who doesn’t see America as a force for good in the world she was saying the same of me, a passionate supporter of Barack Obama. She was saying the same of all my friends who support Barack Obama and were outraged over the demise of the Geneva Convention, the Kyoto protocol, the International Criminal Court, and countless other cases in which the United States could have been a force for good in the world. She was saying the same of my family members who support Barack Obama and have served in the United States military because they believe their country can be a force for good in the world. She was saying the same of my late grandfather who, as the pastor of his local church, not only organized his members against the war in Vietnam but organized community service efforts to care for physically and emotionally wounded soldiers returning home. He died recently, not only before he’d have the chance to see Barack Obama elected president—something he wanted from the moment the world was introduced to Obama at the ‘04 convention—but also before Sarah Palin had the chance to tell him he didn’t believe America could be a force for good in the world.

What Sarah Palin said yesterday wasn’t just about Barack Obama. It was about all of us. In one thoughtless gesture the Republican candidate for vice president demonized half the country she hopes to lead. I can think of no greater insult in American political history.