I grew up in the Baptist church. I was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, the "Dean of Black Preachers."
I don’t have a church home at present, but I frequently attend service at churches of various denominations. In all my church visits, I never encountered a pastor like Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Like most Americans, I was deeply offended by "snippets of those sermons." On "FOX News Sunday," Barack Obama said:
I think that it is also true that to run a snippet of 30-second sound bites, selecting out of a 30-year career, simplified and caricatured him, and caricatured the church.
In his "performance" before the National Press Club, Obama says Wright "caricatured himself." But for most Americans, those "rants" contextualized the YouTube and cable TV snippets. His good works notwithstanding, Wright may indeed be "wackadoodle."
Wright’s wackiness is wreaking havoc for his former congregant. So in a hastily called news conference, Obama flipped the script.
Obama said Wright’s dismissal of his speech on race as political posturing was a "show of disrespect to me" and "an insult to what we’re trying do in this campaign." He now hopes to distance himself from his audacious former pastor.
Good luck with that. Six weeks ago in Philadelphia, Obama said:
As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children… I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.
With polls showing him losing ground, Obama threw Wright under the bus.
Obama’s crazy uncle chickens have come home to roost.