No, of course it wasn't the first time he had any inkling of Wright's views. He was pretty open in his speech in Philadelphia a few weeks ago about not agreeing with everything his minister said. When he blew up yesterday, it was clear he thought Wright's most recent statements had crossed a line.

>And of course you are assuming this was the first time he had any inkling of Wright's views? In 20 years?
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>Black liberation theology does not hide it's light under a bushel. *I* knew what Write and Cone and others were preaching 5 or 10 years ago and I'm not black (though arguably as black as Obama) and don't belong to his denomination, let alone his congregation.
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>That being said, I thought he aquitted himself well on Foxnews Sunday with Chris Wallace. Very bright guy, I like listening to him and I don't think he's a loony. If he'd let someone else run foreign policy and pick judges I'd probably vote for him figuring in office he might be smart enough to moderate and in some areas he's probably almost as liberal as I am. <s>
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>>Exactly. Those are the comments Obama spoke out against yesterday. He watched a videotape of what Wright said on Monday and almost immediately gathered up the press corps who were with him and made a statement. You can tell he was really PO-ed. Probably more so for have stood by Wright, more or less, until then, to his own detriment.
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>>I don't blame Obama at all for the way he handled the whole thing. He didn't s**tcan Wright two seconds after he said something unpopular, as Hillary would have done (as most politicians would have done), but when Wright went way over the line Obama had heard enough. Good for him.
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>>>You don't find it disturbing that he says AIDs was created by the government as an instrument of genocide against 'people of color' or the right-brain left-brain dichotomy based on race? Forget racism, this is so intellectually insulting I find it disturbing not only that people would respect him but that they would not openly ridicule him. The Bell Curve and Jimmy the Greeks racial observations are certainly mild by comparison.
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>>>>>I watched the interviews with Reverend Wright (over the past couple of weeks) and I was dissappointed in what he had to say. I watched his entire sermon and I agree that some of the quotes publicized in the past were taken out of context, but in context they were still highly inflammatory and IMHO, very anti-american and racist.
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>>>>Interesting. I didn't see much of the speeches over the weekend, but I did watch the full Moyers program on Friday night. My take was that much of what we've seen as soundbites was hyperbolic, typical of an exhortative preaching style. Wright came across in the interview as bright, sarcastic and committed.
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>>>>The show also made it clear that the church is and has been doing a tremendous amount of good work in the community.
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>>>>Also, for full disclosure, I've learned that I knew Wright's mother in my teens. She was the vice principal of my high school. She was well-regarded, and a tough cookie, but fair. (She was the disciplinarian, among other roles.)
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>>>>Tamar