Barack Obama’s greatest cheerleader writes:

“Wright is doubtless a complex figure: you cannot deny his theological depth, his intellectual gifts, his service in the Marines, his contribution to his community. But he is also clearly an ego-maniac, as some preachers often are. And he has succumbed to bitterness, envy, paranoia and racial polarization.”

I beg to differ! I certainly can deny his theological depth and intellectual gifts. Even a cursory read through his sermons, his National Press Club tirade, and his NAACP speech should remove any doubt. Wright’s assertions that AIDS was created to destroy African-Americans, that Israel has created an ethnic bomb, that African-American brains are wired differently to be more musical, and that Israel is a “dirty word” show that he is not theologically deep but a crank. Even Obama now says:

But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS; when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century; when he equates the United States’ wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses.

So if Obama can now admit Wright is spouting “a bunch of rants that aren’t grounded in truth,” isn’t it time for Obama apologists to stop making excuses? But that would be to admit that their candidate had been an atrocious judge of intellect and character.