Obama said he could not denounce Wright before. Now he has. As one commentator put it, what was said by Wright this week that has not been said in the past? Obama knew what Wright said on the Youtube videos, and Wright basically reiterated those points yesterday, adding only that Obama was a politician and implying that Obama did not necessarily disagree with him.

Why denounce now? In one sense, Obama can be seen as flip-flopping on this issue, as was beginning to be seen at the PA debate. In another sense, Obama's situation parallels Clinton. He says he has the better judgment because she voted for Iraq yet regretted her decision. Now he has had a spiritual advisor for 20 years and regrets it.

Everyone Tweety's had on this afternoon has said its dead. Flat out.

I don't subscribe to Single Spook animism and have long waited for the return of secular goverment in America. Perhaps this reverend-what's-his-name thing will give Senator Obama an opportunity to distance himself from crazy religious people generally. Then the Republican-Party-sponsored Confederate States of the New Middle Ages can pass away, giving Americans the chance to join the modern world and elect someone agnostic and sensible to the presidency.

I've certainly had enough of "higher fathers" instructing "leaders" like Deputy Dubya Bush to go and "smite" some country or other for not attacking America. Enough with the Single Spook animism already! I really wish Senator Obama would reject and denounce the more insidious mental illness of religion itself, but I suppose I'll just have to settle for him putting one over-the-hill-preacher behind him where the deluded man belongs. Too bad we can't simultaneously work in a denuciation and rejection of crusading popes, altar-boy-buggering priests, jewish rabbis, islamic imams, and evangelical protestant Elmer Gantries as well. We could make some real secular progress here, but we probably won't.

There were two things going on here: one with regard to Jeremiah Wright was his anger (and rightly so) at having been damaged by a lazy media that refuses to put any kind of context to his earlier sermons or understand him.

Any of us would be pissed off royal if our words were taken out of context and distorted as Wright's were. So yes, part of this is "restore Jeremiah Wright's good name and reputation."

Second, is the conflation in the media of Jeremiah Wright's words with Barack Obama. Barack is pissed as hell that that meme continued.

The part I don't think most of us get yet is that Wright created an environment that made it easier for Barack to sever ties with him, and did it in a way that saves face for Wright (high profile and in good standing with his supporters (and as a "pastor")) and for Barack to end his relationship with Wright in a way that shuts up his critics (the political Barack -- and there is nothing wrong with that) and as "son" and "father." That break is more painful, but necessary.

Don't be too hard on Wright. He pushed Obama to do something he was reluctant to do all along. In awhile, Barack Obama will actually thank him for what he did yesterday.