He takes risks and is whiling to be honest about real issues. Read his books. This is why he is some unique.

He takes risks by pandering to bigoted Zionists in his "race speech"? Repeating the big lie and pandering to AIPAC, way to go out on a limb and take a risk. What an honest way to tackle a real issue. He'll be throwing DU all over the place for Israel, or enable Israel by looking the other way when it wants to "take care of business" (i.e. provide the airspace to get to Iran), just like the rest of them.

Did anyone even read what he said about the public's perception of Israel? Or were you too busy letting him pluck your heartstrings with stories about his grandma?

Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country... ...a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

There you have it. If you think that the occupation of Palestine or paranoid Israeli militarism fuels anti-Americanism in the Middle East, you're just a crazy person with a profoundly distorted view because it's all about the mysterious, scary, brown people that hate Uncle Sam and apple pie simply because they exist.

What could possibly be the cause of such a "profoundly distorted view" of this country and our stalwart ally Israel? It must be all the Islamofascist propaganda that I see all over the place, telling me to denounce short skirts and the NH Primary... not because thousands of miles away we support their dictators while we blow up their friends and family.

Because grandmothers (or grandfathers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, etc) shouldn't have to live in fear that everything they have ever said to a family member will be scrutinized in a public forum. Pastors are prepared for this.

-- Jane Minty

Your assuming he never discussed this issue -- or this speech! -- beforehand with his Grandmother.

I doubt he really blindsided her and that she was sitting at home stunned and saying, "I can't believe he is saying these things about me on TV!"

I'm sure that, yes, he has spoken to her about some of her comments and attitudes in the past (presumably the distant past) and that she has more than likely changed her attitudes withthe times. Obama's point about America not being static would apply here.

Sure, she probably made offhand remarks in the 70's around Obama -- but I believe she no longer believes those things she once did so many decades ago.

It is okay for Catholics to remain and worship at churches where priests sexually abused young boys. The same Catholics who voted for W. Bush and led us into war. No one is asking these Catholics to stop attending their churches, and here we ask Obama to stop attending his church because of his pastor’s comments

Obama's grandma must be well aware of the sentiments her grandson expressed in this speech, and surely she doesn't object.. not least because he already wrote about all this in 1993, in his first book. Which has sold quite a few copies by now...

disingenuous and calculated. Obama's point was: look, my granny said these racist things and I didn't ditch her! but the standard is set higher for ditching one's grandmother. If she's just espousing some off-color opinions, we all would tend think, oh that's granny for you. Not: I'm severing my relationship with granny. Why? She gave birth to your mother or father.

In contrast, ditching one's pastor is ok if a lower standard is met. A pastor is just some guy you picked to be in your life one day because you decided that liked what he said. The standard for parting ways with one's pastor is: he says things that I think are morally wrong and with which I disagree. Why listen to a pastor that you think is saying morally abominable things? Don't people attend sermons seeking moral guidance in the right direction?

I decided to ditch my pastor when he wouldn't shut up about inequality of the sexes and giving as much money as possible to the Church. Yes he said some nice things about loving thy neighbor, turning the other cheek, etc. Inspirational things. But I didn't want to listen to the garbage. This is what Obama should have done if he thought some of Wright's stuff was garbage, which it clearly was, e.g. the US invented AIDS to kill Third World people/ African Americans. I wouldn't sit around and listen to this.

It is okay for Catholics to remain and worship at churches where priests sexually abused young boys. The same Catholics who voted for W. Bush and led us into war. No one is asking these Catholics to stop attending their churches, and here we ask Obama to stop attending his church because of his pastor’s commentsThat's a great argument, because Catholic Priests molest children on the pulpit while giving a sermon.

And that Warmongering Pope Benedict, what a Cheeleader he has been for the Bush Administration!

It is okay for Catholics to remain and worship at churches where priests sexually abused young boys. The same Catholics who voted for W. Bush and led us into war. No one is asking these Catholics to stop attending their churches, and here we ask Obama to stop attending his church because of his pastor’s comments

That's a great argument, because Catholic Priests molest children on the pulpit while giving a sermon.

And that Warmongering Pope Benedict, what a Cheeleader he has been for the Bush Administration!

sweet home alabama, what a moron. One short paragraph in the speech spoke of Israel, and Obama spoke the truth that radical muslims do want the state of Israel to cease to exist. that's it. He did not condone Israeli actions in their entirety. He state they are an important ( I believe he said stalwart) and that is so. Do you think he doesn't understand the Palestinian issue, the Gordian knot of our time, far better than McLame or Hillary? You conflate him with LIeberman for that one sentence. Wrong.