After the first release of the Jeremiah Wright videos, Barack Obama gently distanced himself from his pastor but still made it clear that he was his mentor, his “uncle,” and someone who had been his inviolate conduit to Christ.

Though the candidate could slap Wright on the wrist, he couldn’t betray his long-term filial connection to the man who married him, baptized his children and received tens of thousands of Obama dollars as church contributions. This didn’t play as well as the campaign thought it would and so a formal speech was added in which Obama eloquently addressed the entire subject of race in this country as if no one had thought it through before and as if he had something new to add.

Despite the fawning praise of the the New York Times and other media pundits, the proof was in the pudding and Obama lost the Pennsylvania primary, most specifically the votes of white blue collar workers, women and seniors.

Clearly more damage control was needed and so the Reverend Wright was recruited for a dog and pony show in which he could up the ante of his flamboyant tirades on nationally televised broadcasts before the NAACP and the National Press Club, this time condemning America for not being racist enough - not understanding that blacks actually think and learn differently from whites.

This pseudo-analytical claptrap, piled on top of further excoriations of American terrorism, imperialism and corporately evil capitalism provided enough fodder for Mr. Obama to re-visit his earlier repudiation of his “uncle” and now totally divorce himself from a man he claims not to have known after all.

The plot becomes more layered with Wright’s promise to judge Obama himself if he becomes the president; no free ride for any politician, even a black one, from the principled demagogue who answers only to God. This should surely satisfy all white people who are nervous about Obama’s ties to a racially divisive extremist.

Regardless of what the spinners say, black people will not hold his latest disavowal of Wright against Obama if he’s the candidate in a national election. So, if the goal is to continue wrapping up the white vote, it’s a win/win strategy to keep Wright chanting and taunting the black candidate who can wear his newfound moral probity like a shield against legitimate questions and criticism. You’ll notice that Michelle Obama has been very quiet lately…..

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