The Wrong Reverend Wright

Well, I told you so.

Back here, I called your attention to the Sean Hannity interview of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The broadcast networks hadn't noticed yet, and Wright coverage in the print media didn't exactly jump out at you. It seems the Obama campaign hoped it would just go away. It didn't.

When Wright's oratory went viral on YouTube and all the media began to pay attention, Obama had to respond. Nothing he could have said would have been good enough, of course. He couldn't totally disavow Wright without alienating his black base, and when you get right down to it, even a total disavowal wouldn't have done the trick -- he'd have appeared both disingenuous and disloyal.

Of course, he also couldn't say that he'd attended Wright's church to advance his political career in Chicago, where a Wright endorsement is a big plus. One of the biggest problems politicians face is that somebody who helps you today can turn out to be the proverbial albatross around your neck tomorrow.

Don't blame Hillary. She didn't create the Wright problem, she just accelerated it a bit. It's better for Barack to deal with it now, as best he can, before the Republican attack machine gets into high gear. After all, he'll still have to deal with the Tony Rezko mess, which hasn't gotten much play outside of Chicago yet (with the emphasis on "yet.")