Trinity’s Thistlethwaite Joins Wright, and Pfleger in Bashing Hillary Clinton

The On Faith blog at WashingtonPost/Newsweek has recently provided a forum for yet another representative of Obama’s former church to bash Hillary Clinton. I’m speaking of the Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of Chicago Theological Seminary (affiliated with the United Church of Christ), and a member of Trinity UCC. Thistlethwaite’s biography at On Faith boasts of her expertise in liberation theology, famously espoused by both the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger.

The title of Thistlethwaite’s recent post is Hillary’s Biblical Role Model. Thistlethwaite cites Hillary’s statement from CNN’s Compassion Forum, "Ever since I was a little girl, [I have been] a great admirer of Esther ... There weren't too many models of women who had the opportunity to make a decision, to take a chance, a risk that was very courageous."

Thistlethwaite, who has repeatedly crossed the line in her blog posts to support Barack Obama, uncovers negative characteristics assigned to Esther in the Older Testament: “Esther is brave, but she is also very shrewd. Through trickery and currying favor with the King, Esther saves the Jewish people. The story shows her to be quite bloodthirsty as well. Esther makes sure that not only is the King’s henchman hanged, but his ten sons as well!”

Not content with implying that Hillary Clinton is “shrewd, cunning, ruthless, and bloodthirsty,” Thistlethwaite goes on to link Clinton to Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state who certified Dubya the victor over Al Gore in 2000. Thistlethwaite points out that in the movie “Recount” Esther is also Harris’s biblical role model.

The cunning, ruthless, and viciously catty Thistlethwaite concludes her diatribe against Hillary Clinton: “What does Queen Esther mean to Hillary Clinton? Is it the same view of courage as Katherine Harris, or something different?”

I’m left to wonder about the propriety of Thistlethwaite’s use of her standing as an ordained minister and seminary president to interfere in the Democratic race to support Barack Obama, her candidate of choice, and viciously slander his opponent on the day of the last two state primaries.

The Rev. Thistlethwaite’s post puts her in the same league as the Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger, and it’s her turn to step forward and apologize to Hillary Clinton.