I wonder if one of the reasons Obama wouldn’t repudiate Wright the first time around was that he worried what Wright’s reaction would be. Maybe Obama thought there was an implicit bargain–I don’t disavow you, and you go quietly off into retirement until at least November. If so, the deal’s off. But if Obama were to go further in rejecting Wright, would Wright swing into full opposition and tell reporters that, “No, actually, whatever Obama the politician is saying now, he heard me preach many times what is supposedly so ‘controversial’”? Put aside Wright’s views for the moment, doesn’t all this tell us that Obama is a terrible judge of character? He was friends with Wright for twenty years and didn’t realize what a ridiculous popinjay he is, happy to damage the campaign of his parishioner if it means some TV time for himself?
Here’s my column on Wright for today.