Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, resurfaces

It's not clear if Barack Obama is behind the resurfacing of his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright in the mass media this week, or if, as he should be, he and his handlers are horrified.

Just as the controversy over Wright's incendiary racially-charged sermons, which they used to give out on CDs at his church, and posted on the church website, was starting to lose steam, Wright has suddenly reappeared, winning a big civil rights award and doing the talk show circuit, led by ex-LBJ press secretary Bill Moyers.

No matter how moderate, sweet and reasonable Wright appears on the talk shows, the coverage is always accompanied by the same videotape of Wright's fire-breathing, anti-white screeds, which much of America finds way over the top. There's preaching like that in some pentecostal and evangelical churches, but most mainstream and evangelical churchs have a much more easy-listening style and find Wright to be out of bounds, at best.

Obama has never satisfactorially answered questions about whether he agrees with Wright, and that's why he stayed at the church 20 years, allowing him to conduct his wedding and baptize his children. Numerous big name blacks found Wright an embarrassment they didn't need as they got famous, like Oprah Winfrey, and left the church. The only other answer is that Obama attended church so infrequently, or slept when he did, that he missed what Wright had to say.

Wright is friends with many Muslim bigwigs, like Louis Farrakhan and African dictators, who he has honored at the church. Obama has been oblivious to this as well, and in fact, has been endorsed by Farrakhan.

Obama doesn't need this controversy percolating around the internet, and providing fodder for fall GOP TV spots. His equivocating and doubletalk haven't made the problem go away, and Wright resurfacing in public only reminds voters of one of Obama's bad associations.

Whether Obama realizes it or not, Wright is one of the major factors keeping Hillary Clinton's campaign alive. Just as he has suddenly kept his sharp-tongued wife Michelle away from microphones, Obama needs to do that with Wright as well.