Barack Obama's Pastor in the Crosshairs

Photo from source, Huffington Post

Oh, dear. This Barack Obama did not need. Apparently, Obama's pastor is of the fire and brimstoney sort, with the extra slant of a black-centric perspective. Sean Hannity has been beating this horse for quite some time, and I suspect his minions have found a way to blow it into today's "big story."

Hannity himself was practically gleeful on his radio program today, declaring this the end of Obama's political ambitions. It also hits Hannity's sweet spot: proclaiming outrage toward racism (or reverse-racism, if you prefer) by using his own (barely) veiled form of racism. There are countless examples, but I'll leave it to you to check for yourself in the archives of Media Matters and News Hounds.

In any event, I view virtually anything that Hannity champions to be inherantly suspicious. Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a distasteful guy to me, no question. So is Pat Robertson, James Dobson (heavily involved with many Republicans), or Rod Parsley and John Hagee (eagerly embraced by John McCain). I abhor almost all attempts to mix religion and politics, really. Unfortunately, a huge amount of the voting populace actually weigh their vote with a heaping helping of religion.

I personally have felt that Barack Obama may not be quite as religious as he is portrayed. I have no idea how often he went to church, or if he was engaged while he was there. But outside of some campaign invocation of religion (which is probably necessary), I don't get that "God told me so" vibe from him. I don't get it from Hillary Clinton either. As I've said in the past, I long for an atheist or agnostic President, so that we can get past all of this nonsense.

[Excerpt]

On My Faith and My Church by Barack Obama

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post