Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Jeremiah

I asked my pastor for a favor on Palm Sunday. I respectfully requested that, in the event she is planning a sermon full of anti-American sentiment, she should let me know ahead of time. After all, who knows when there might be a Presidential campaign in my future?

By now, I am sure you have seen and/or heard some of the vitriole coming out of the mouth of Barack Obooboo's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and his last name is clearly "wrong." The guy is absolutely 120% vile in his Afro-centric and anti-American rants. But, drop a robe over him and stand him up in front of a Gospel choir and he allegedly becomes a respected member of the clergy. Frankly, the only way I really want to see him is wearing a blindfold in front of about 20 loaded rifles. Let's face it. If my pastor got up in front of a church that has the word "Christ" in its name and preached all this hate, our council would be meeting by 1PM and her bags would be packed by 3PM. But, instead, in Wright's parish, the congregation reacts with the same wild-eyed glee usually reserved for Kobe Bryant.

Wright is a horrible excuse of a human being, but, really, his actions are not what we should question here. No, what we need to decide is how much of his message of hatred has been absorbed by the good looking guy wearing the Armani suit in the front row. The dude that happens to be closing in on the United States Presidency.

Once ABC News released all the transcripts of Saint Jeremiah's preachings, which would have made Adolf blush behind his moustache, Obooboo had to act fast and distance himself from all the venom. He countered that he probably wasn't in church on the days where Wright was at his nastiest. But, at the same time, all this verbal vomit from the Wright reverend was culled from over 75 different Sundays. Okay, so I guess the one thing we can deduce from all this is that Mr. Obama is either sleeping in a lot or looking to duck the offering plate. The notion that Ba-lack has avoided most of his pastor's oral diarrhea is about as likely as my purchase of a two bedroom condo in Harlem.

Alright, let's assume that Osama Bin Laden has been there in church soaking in all the hatred right along with the other parishioners all dolled up in their "go-to-meeting" finest. How do you sit there and listen and not absorb? Or accept? I go to church every Sunday and have heard probably close to 400 different sermons from her. I pretty much get that she is a liberal feminist, who is a big fan of Hillary Clinton and totally committed to expanding religion on a multi-cultural level. I don't agree with her on a lot political issues, but I respect her viewpoint and appreciate the fact that she is not expecting to adopt it as my own. So, essentially, you could make the correlation that Obooboo can sit and listen to his maniacal demagogue of a pastor and use his mental filter.

You could, but probably can't.

My pastor doesn't rant and rave in front of a frenzied congregation. Indeed, Sundays in my church are about as animated as a re-sorting of the card catalog at your local public library. If I sat there in Obooboo's church and listened week after week, I couldn't help but be swayed and impacted. Ba-lack says that his minister doesn't represent his own personal opinions. Actually, he has hastened to add that he is repulsed by them. So, indeed, you love to go to your favorite restaurant despite the fact that you don't like the food? I've been frequenting Carlo's Italian Restaurant in Yonkers since I got out of college. I don't go there simply because the silverware is clean. There is obviously something there of substance that draws me back time and time again. For me, it's the sausage and peppers.

When it comes to Obama's regular churchgoing, what is it that has brought him to Wright's temple year after year? And how much of it goes beyond a freshly washed knife and fork?

We don't know. And it's just one more mystery surrounding somebody who should be raising so much more speculation at every single turn over the next several months. The more people I talk to, the more I hear folks being suspicious about his past, his conviction, and his financial backing. More and more, smart people I know are starting to believe he is in this race for reasons that are totally contrary to the pledges of unity we have been hearing. As for his potty-mouthed pastor, Obooboo can denounce and distance and deny all he wants. But, at the same time...

He was sitting right there taking it all in. The Wright message. Which clearly isn't.

Dinner last night: Hamburger and salad.