Video: Obama Speech on Race, Wright

Below is video of Barack Obama's speech today in Philadelphia about the racist, anti-American statements made by his pastor, Rev.Jeremiah Wright.

Obama said some important things during this attempt to quell the firestorm that threatens to incinerate his hopes for the Democrat presidential nomination.

Obama said Wright "...professed a profoundly distorted view of this country...that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right about America."

He also said, "Rev. Wright's comments were not only wrong, but divisive. Divisive at a time when we need unity." (I might say the same thing about the anti-American, anti-military, anti-victory statements made by many in the Democrat Party amidst the Iraq War).

Obama says there is more to Rev. Wright than these statements which have gained so much publicity, and it is this "other" that has motivated him not to disassociate with Wright.

While it is true that each of us is more than the sum of a single comment or even a single opinion in a given area, I cannot imagine myself continuing to worship at a church which is obviously so ethnocentric and anti-American.

That is not to say that Obama should have ostracized or shunned Wright completely, but I find such a close association as pastor/parishioner, and advisor to Obama's campaign, as impossible to justify if there were so far apart on their views of race and America.

When you couple them with comments made by Obama's wife Michelle, where she said that "...for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country...", I find that Obama is a little too surrounded by disdain for America for me to believe that it hasn't rubbed off.

And simple common sense tells me these comments could not have been isolated expressions.



Will this artful and eloquent speech be enough to salvage Obama's campaign? Only time will tell.