All through the endless election of ’08, I was annoyed by the Republican habit of scritching, sniffing and scratching around Reverend Jeremiah Wright in their efforts to find a cudgel to wield against Barack Obama. The results at the ballot box were a testament to the lack of traction that line of attack bought for them, but I always disliked the argument on principle. It’s a sad fact that there are still divides which stretch between various identity groups in our country, be they along racial, religious, gender or other lines, and sometimes those wounds show up at the pulpit. So I wasn’t particularly surprised or put off by some of the brimstone sermons I heard coming from Rev. Wright, nor was I about to hold it against Barack Obama for attending services there.

However, we now have a horse of a whole different color. (No racial pun intended.)

In an interview on a liberal satellite radio show, Rev. Jeremiah Wright attempted to clarify his comments to the Newport News, Virginia. Daily-Press about “them Jews” preventing him from speaking to President Obama.

“Let me say like Hillary, I misspoke,” Wright said. “Let me just say: Zionists.”

Wright said “I’m not talking about all Jews, all people of the Jewish faith, I’m talking about Zionists.”

I get labeled as an antisemite all the time here because of my objection to our government’s policy toward Israel and I try not to let it bother me. (Particularly the one recent comment where I was called an “anti-semantic” for some reason.) None of our Jewish friends seem to feel that way, so I’m ok wth whatever barbs my readers care to send my way.

With that said, Reverent Wright’s comments are several leagues too far even for me. When you get to the point where you think “the Jews” are stopping you from seeing the President, you’ve drifted off into the zone of the guy who shot up the museum this week. That’s just off the charts in a direction I can’t even plot on any map. And trying to walk it back by saying you meant “the Zionists” are conspiring against you doesn’t really make things any better.

Sir, there most certainly are a group of people conspiring to keep you from talking to the President. But they’re not “the Jews.” They are known as “the political consultants who would like Obama to have a chance of getting elected again three years from now.” And one thing “they” most certainly do not want is their candidate taking meetings with people who speak into microphones about how “the Jews” are holding him down.

Last I heard, Wright was supposedly retired, even from preaching. Perhaps it’s time to take that seriously and go do some fishing or something.