Unless Hilary was actually present or her preacher was molesting this girl in front of the congregation, how do you equate the two...Obama had 20 years to refute "nustso's" insane sermons...Why didn't he do it...The answer is simple...He believes what Wright is preaching...His constituency in Chicago believed what Wright was preaching...Once he got to the big leagues he realized that rest of America isn't as "nuanced" in the ways of Black racist churches so he backtracked and threw his preacher under the bus with the likes of his White Granny...At least he's an equal opertunist...

I can't help but notice a striking similarity between Obama and Rev. "god damn america" Wright.....neither takes responsibility for their own words.

They are always "misunderstood" or the victims of racism or a biased media, etc. It's never the fact that alot of people don't agree with them.

For all of her faults, Hillary owns up to her words and deeds.

Obama and his good friend Rev. Wright blame anyone and anything else.

Though I am an over educated Scottish-American, I find Joan Walsh a typical uncomprehending Caucasian of the African-American Church. I have been familiar with and admirer of the style, cadence and language of our fellow Black Christian for over 60 years. The Rev Jeremiah Wright has been speaking to his fellow African-American in their language with an amazingly educated, intelligent and passionate Biblical content. If we don't understand him, the problem is ours, not his.

True his message may be somewhat dated, but still true. Politically not

currently correct? I would say take the cotton out of you ears and listen. The language is exaggerated to Caucasian ears, but have you ever listen to Faux News and Bill O'Reilly, et al? From the ears of a Black or Muslim or even an European? The Black Church religious speech is in the Midrashic tradition, but very Biblical based.

The one item of politic incorrectness that resonates with me, it the self criticism that the sound bits endlessly loop on God Damn America. He is emulating his Biblical God father, Jeremiah, who tried to tell his nation, the Israelites, they were screwing up. I have watched ugly American overseas for over a half a century. They are embarrassing. Our outrageous invasion of Iraq on false pretense and we are not ashamed of our behavior? Would I put anger at some of my fellow citizens so strongly? No, I'm a elderly White Scottish-American of the UCC tradition, but I see through the glass darkly.

I watched parts of the Bill Moyers' interview and parts of Wrights' speech on CNN. Both have failed to persuade me about the validity of Rev. Wright's positions. More important, even though I was an early Obama supporter, I have come to doubt Obama's electability in the general election.

Despite listening to the speeches of this hateful man, Obama has made many thoughtful speeches about race and other matters. This actually raises my regard for him.

As Joan said, "God damn Bush", or "God damn the government" would have been acceptable pronouncements. "God damn America" is NOT. And I speak as a naturalized American citizen.

One part of Wright's sermon that completely put me off is his lament about the three-strikes laws. Even if those laws are unfair in relation to, for instance, what white-collar criminals get away with, a responsible preacher would have, I think, talked about the parental accountability, social and community programs and other measures to offer structure, hope, and a path to the non-criminal life to wayward youngsters. (ref: Bill Cosby). How come the three strikes law is not snagging people of other races - asians, hispanics among them - quite as painfully as it is doing young African-Americans?

Also, I think Wright is actually enjoying all this attention. It seems not to matter to him that his intransigence is hurting the chances of his protege, and setting back the cause of civil rights by, I fear, decades.

It is no solace that other white preachers issued similar stupid statements after 9/11. No one took them seriously and they got the ridicule that they deserved.

Today I have a heavy heart because I fear this small egotistical man has destroyed the possiblity that we will have a truly transformative president.

I've got the CIA on line one...They have a package for you "CO Reverened Wright"

Walsh writes: "What part of that does he think people don't understand? My conclusion Friday night was bolstered by new tapes of Wright that came out this weekend, including one that captures him saying the Iraq war is 'the same thing al-Qaeda is doing under a different color flag...'

I don't spend much time defending religious cults, especially ones run by rich powerful men (bin Laden, Coe, Hagee), but here I think that Wright was generous to the makers of the Iraq war. It seems to me that Bush and his brethren invaded Iraq not because it had anything to do with weapons of mass destruction, or a threat to Israel, or to spread democracy, or anything except for that black stuff bubbling under the desert there. And they invaded Iraq not in the interest of the U.S. but for the interests of the multinational corporations that make money controlling oil and fighting wars.

What do you think the Iraq War is all about? This is your chance, Joan. If Wright is wrong then it's time for you to put on your flag pin and break into a version of the "Star-Spangled Banner" and stop hinting at the true meaning of the Iraq War. Maybe in tomorrow's hit piece on Obama.

I have a take on this commentary which is probably a little different from most. I have lived in the Bay Area and have lived in Chicago. While many in the Bay Area, San Francisco particularly, are knee-jerk liberals, they haven't actually been around people who are unlike them all that much. While they are not racist and abhor racism, they don't actually understand what it is like to be poor and black. Spend some time in Chicago or Baltimore, or Philadephia or Detroit, or DC Joan, actually living in proximity, not on the suburban edges of these cities, and I think you would have a better understanding of where Wright is coming from. Or just go to a few black churches, so you will better understand their preaching style. I really get the sense that rather than trying to understand where Wright is coming from, you are looking for excuses to find fault with him, and, by proxy, with Obama.