Wright's CNN apologists

Hot Air links video of CNN's Roland Martin and Soledad O'Brien making excuses for Jeremiah Wright -- and insulting the intelligence of viewers.

Martin and O'Brien parrot Wright's claim that his comments have been taken out of context -- in "sound bites" -- and that his overall message is not offensive. But to tell people that they are only offended because they are ignorant of the "African-American religious tradition"? In other words:

I apologize for your ignorance. If you weren't such an intolerant, uneducated bigot, you wouldn't be offended.

Millions of Americans will be tempted to reply by quoting that noted sociologist, The Outlaw Josey Wales: "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."

Michelle Malkin:

CNN’s Roland Martin and Soledad O’Brien are now official Jeremiah Wright groupies. . . . Wonder if they’ll be part of his permanent traveling press entourage now.

Their commentary from the scene could in no way be called reporting or analysis. For example, they made no reference to Wright's idiotic "left-brain/right-brain" claims, which Ed Morrisey compares to the controversy surrounding The Bell Curve.

UPDATE: No less an Obamaphile than Salon's Joan Walsh recognizes Wright as a "stone-cold narcissist . . . a man of enormous self-regard" who is "clearly trying to hurt Barack Obama."

It's sad, really. A huge element of Obama's appeal was his apparent ability -- and desire -- to transcend race. And now Wright appears to be saying, "Uh-uh. You ain't transcending me, brother. You're just another crab in the bucket!"

If even a left-of-Lenin liberal like Joan Walsh sees the writing on the wall, the MSM can't be pleased. Here's Dana Milbank of The Washington Post, writing about Wright's National Press Club appearance:

Wright suggested that Obama was insincere in distancing himself from his pastor. "He didn't distance himself," Wright announced. "He had to distance himself, because he's a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American." . . .
Wright also argued, at least four times over the course of the hour, that he was speaking not for himself but for the black church. . . .
That significantly complicates Obama's job as he contemplates how to extinguish Wright's latest incendiary device. Now, he needs to do more than express disagreement with his former pastor's view; he needs to refute his former pastor's suggestion that Obama privately agrees with him.

The thing about the Wright controversy is that Obama failed to deal with it properly when the uproar began in mid-March. Wright was willing to recant or apologize, which gave Obama an excuse to repudiate Wright. Instead, Obama went to Philadelphia and declared:

As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. . . .
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.

Now, Obama's stuck with Wright. And if Obama wins the nomination, the Democrats are stuck with Wright, too.

UPDATE II: If there's a Pulitzer Prize for understatements, Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press is going to be a strong contender this year:

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is going after his critics on an incendiary tour that is doing his one-time congregant, Barack Obama, little good.

Ya think? Pickler continues:

Wright's tour couldn't come at a much worse time for Obama, who is campaigning for white working class voters in Indiana and North Carolina. Many of Wright's most controversial comments are angry condemnations of the United States for its treatments of blacks — thoughts that were applauded by the black church leaders in his audience Monday but risk offending white voters.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Monday suggests the Wright controversy may be hurting Obama among whites.

Hillary beat Obama 55-45 in Pennsylvania, even though he outspent her 3-to-1 in the state, and you need a poll to tell you that renewed media attention to the Wright controversy "may be hurting Obama"? More from Pickler:

Obama said Monday, after Wright's latest comments, "None of the voters I talk to ask about it. There may be people who are troubled by it and are polite and not asking about it. It's not what I hear."

Like nobody will mention your dandruff or bad breath. And now Obama offers his own Understatement of the Year contender:

"I have said before and I will say again that some of the comments Rev. Wright has made offend me and I understand why they have offended the American people. ... Certainly what the last three days indicates is we're not coordinating with him."

LOL!