Obama and the Pastor
Denver Post columnist, occasional reason contributor, and recovering orthodox Jew David Harsanyi on Barack Obama's yes-no-but relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright:
Choosing your church means something. If you're a practicing Catholic and support gay marriage and abortion, you're in the wrong place. If you're a Scientologist knocking back Excedrins every day, think your membership is over.
Barack Obama should have done the same years ago.
This week, Obama delivered a rhetorical masterpiece confronting the issues stemming from the words of his pastor. He distanced himself from the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright's detestable and conspiratorial words, but he also deflected the most important question: What about the past 20 years?
Is Obama responsible for the words of Wright? No. But whether he likes it or not, supporting the man for 20 years is relevant. Obama claims he had no knowledge of the nastier Wright tidbits. If true, that would make him the most naïve candidate ever or the most willfully ignorant.