As usual, Chris is right on with his analysis. I watched Obama's very smooth speech and his eloquent reversal of the subject matter, which was supossed to be his "answer" on Wrights outrageous comments. His "brilliance" was his ability to totally distract us from his answer (there was none), and actually turn the tables back on us, by having US question our own sense of morality, right and wrongness and or own predisposition for prejudice of any kind. I STILL have no clue as to WHAT EXACTLY Obama did or did not agree with regarding the Reverend Wright's comments. He never did say. But that was the point. No one who watched that speech, could point to anything that remotely told us WHO OBAMA IS, WHAT HE THINKS and that, perhaps, is most dangerous of all. What is truly scary is that he has hoodwinked alot of people into believing he is actually qualified to be president. Very few know that his wife Michelle(and her family) was extremely close to Jesse Jackson (Uncle Jesse to her) growing up, and perhaps that explains her apparant "dislike" for the country that we love. Very scary stuff.

His reply was:

I'm not going to denounce this person

I don't agree with everything he says and am able to befriend or have relationships with people without agreeing with everything they say

and then he told you why Wright said those things

and still you don't listen.

Correct, southern quill. Now if people would read the book...

Perhaps it is you, Southern Quill, who isn't listening. If I said i didn't agree with a white racist demagogue but am able to befriend or have relationships with him even so, you would count that as an acceptable answer? And if I explained the socio/economic context within which white racism developed, you would accept that as a response to the question, what are you doing with that fella? You're easy. The problem is that rational adults can recognize subterfuge, evasion, denial, and outright lying when they hear it. I count Hitchens among the more sane and rational voices in print. It's clear who you think is being rational and that's truly scary.

What's truly scary is how at_david doesn't listen. He's too concerned with being "right." He clearly has not read Obama's books, nor listened to any more of Jeremiah Wright's sermons than he has seen on You Tube. His ignorance informs his inability to discern subtlety and complexity. If only he would actually take the time to read, listen and think, rather than seek out people to simply confirm his uninformed opinion.

at_david,

Depends. If you had a history of doing racist things, or of saying racist things, or of marginalizing groups of people, then I might see your association with a white racist demagogue as telling. But if I was certain by your words and deeds that you weren't racist, I might be open to the idea that you could be close friends with someone you disagree with. It really depends, though - I think it always matters who's involved, what the context is... there's not really a good way to completely answer your hypothetical because there are too many variables. We can't equivocate between black and white, because if we wanted to truly do that, we'd have to pose a hypothetical country where a black majority had enslaved whites, who were still struggling and angry, etc. etc. etc...

But the thing I've really been trying to say is, Wright is not a black demagogue racist. You ought to see his remarks in context:

<link>

I'd also recommend:

Part 1) <link>

Part 2) <link>

You might come away with a better impression of the guy. I am a rational adult and please don't try telling me otherwise (it happens every time!) because I'm just going to keep coming at you with rational responses and it's going to make you look bad.

PS: I'm also a Hitch fan, an atheist too, and one of my favorite things about him is the way he strips public figures of their mythological personas... No one is above reproach. I just happen to disagree with his arguments on this one.