Finally

Finally. It took months for the main stream media to begin to question the 22-year association between Barack Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor of Mr. Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, now (conveniently, as of last month) “retired.” This association was not casual, it was not peripheral, and it was not incidental. It was an on-going mutual connection between two men, so close that the Rev, White married the Obamas and acted as the Senator’s “mentor” (Obama’s words) and advisor.

ABC news’ Brian Ross, aired a relatively soft critique of the Rev. White in which an excerpt from one of his sermons was aired. In the sermon, the reverend is angry about the plight of black America. In talking about young black males, he states:

The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.

Odd, that The Reverend doesn’t mention men like Senator Obama and tens of thousands of other African Americans who have taken a radically different journey through American life, gone to college, gotten good jobs, advanced through the ranks, and are living their small part of the American dream.

Odd, that Barack Obama would countenance such angry, warped view of America. Odd, that he’d sit in a church with his young children and let them absorb this blatant racial propaganda. Odd that he’d contribute to the church, year after year, without a single public comment or protest. Odd, that a man who purports to bring us together would tacitly accept speech that does nothing but separate us. Odd, very odd.

But now, of course, Obama takes a different tack. Now, Obama tries to distance himself from the Reverend. Now, he calls the Rev. Right his “old uncle" who says dumb things. Now, he tries to escape Wright's obvious anti-Semitism when he states, "I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet magazine [a periodical published under the auspices of Rev. White's church] made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree." Obama forgets to mention that Rev. White praised Farrakhan unequivocally.

Obama bobs and weaves, trying hard to mask the connection. So convenient, so slick, so dishonest—it makes the skin crawl.

Twenty-two years is a very long time. How on earth could Obama listen to Reverend Wright, immediately after 9/11, suggest the this heinous attack was America’s fault? That is far-Left ideology at its worst – blame the victim, protect the “oppressed.” It is delusional and it is dangerous, and in my view, beneath the smooth exterior, it is what Barack Obama believes.

You don’t think so? Then ask yourself two simple questions—why didn’t Barack Obama choose another church, and why did he choose the Rev. White as a mentor and advisor? Why did he name his book, The Audacity of Hope after one of the Rev. White’s sermons?

Lot’s of questions and as yet, few reasonable answers.

Update (3/15/08):

Victor Davis Hansen dissects Barack Obama’s attempts to “manage” the Wright controversy. He writes:

Despite the serial profession of a new politics, there is something Nixonian about Obama's recent disclaimers over his racist pastor's diatribes. At first he tried to blame the messenger:

"Here is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor.”

The problem is not cherries, Senator, but an entire orchard. The most egregious slurs are not from two decades past, but post 9/11 and especially in 2006.

Read the whole thing.

Update (3/15/08):

Whoa! It looks like this story is beginning to break big – even in the MSM. I take a small amount of pride in the fact that I began questioning Obama's shady associations months before the MSM deigned to discuss them. A comment from a poster named “Peter” at The Belmont Club summarizes nicely:

In language, attitude, and behavior Jeremiah Wright is a lot closer to a toxic Muslim imam than to a Christian pastor.

Wright's public honoring of the "greatness" of Louis Farrakhan, who publicly calls himself Minister while heading the Nation of Islam, and Wright's buddy trip with him to Lybia tell me that Obama is too clever by half in selecting this particular "church" and this particular "pastor" on which to hang is Christian bona fides.

You have to be an abject idiot to believe that Obama's 20+ year relationship with Wright, his donation of tens of thousands of dollars, his active participation in the most "sacred" liturgies, and his heretofore limpid denials do not mean conclusively that Obama has bought in completely to Jeremiah Wright's anti-American, anti-civilization jeremiad.

Gimme a break. That Barack Hussein Obama would be a serious contender for POTUS is an absurdity.

These words are strong, maybe too strong, but they raise a few important issues—Is Barack Obama a con man? What does he truly believe? Can we trust his judgment as POTUS, given his highly questionable close associations (e.g., Wright, Resko).