Reverends dime out Obama

Mix two crazy reverends and Barack Obama, shake, and you have a Tuesday story that is going to be uncomfortable for the Obama campaign.

Several Illinois bloggers, including this one, have been writing about Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, and its controversial pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Church doctrine smacks of black separatism and Wright uses flamboyant and sometimes crude language from the pulpit. A Rolling Stone article Feb. 7 described the church as "radical."

Well, it looks like Reverend Al Sharpton dropped a dime on the New York Times, telling them Obama shouldn't have disinvited his longtime pastor hours before he was to give the invocation at his presidential announcement in Springfield.

The reason for the last minute disinvitation: The Rolling Stone article, it turns out.

Mr. Wright said that in the phone conversation in which Mr. Obama disinvited him from the announcement, Mr. Obama cited an article in Rolling Stone, "The Radical Roots of Barack Obama."

Wright dropped another bombshell in the Times article this morning, one that won't help Obama in the Jewish community he just courted.

"When his enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Mr. Wright recalled, "with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." Mr. Wright added that his trip implied no endorsement of either Louis Farrakhan's views or Qaddafi's.

Even though the Times article tried to label Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, as "mainstream," each day seems to bring a revelation that makes that assertion difficult to defend.

As for Sharpton, mission accomplished. He slapped down Obama a bit and got more attention for himself. I'm sure that for Al, that's his idea of a perfect day.

Technorati Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Illinois, liberals