Imagine his surprise at finding that his spiritual mentor of 20 years is a preening, hateful, attention whore. I missed the beginning so I don’t know yet if he did indeed disown the man he could no sooner disown than disown the whole black community. Video is coming; in the meantime, the boss is liveblogging. Sound off below.

Update: Here’s his statement, slightly edited for brevity. I have to go back and see if there’s anything worthy in the Q&A; if there is, I’ll update with more vid. Ace reports that Pope Andrew, shill of shills, has already pronounced St. Barry redeemed, so let the word go forth and the healing recommence. The bottom line: After 20 years of friendship, if Obama didn’t know Wright held these beliefs he’s a moron and if he did know he’s a fraud.

Link: sevenload.com

Update: Can’t remember if it’s in the Q&A or in the clip I posted, but at some point in discussing Trinity Obama mentions how wonderful the new pastor, Otis Moss, is compared to Wright. Here’s a little flashback for you from last month, of Moss equating the media’s criticism of Wright with a lynching. Exit question: Where exactly does that analogy leave Obama now?

Update: Speaking of people Sullivan shills for, remember when TNR broke the news about Ron Paul’s neo-confederate newsletters? The big knock there wasn’t that Paul necessarily held those views himself but that his carelessness in letting them be published under his name called his judgment and competence into question. How is this any different? Unless someone wants to argue that Wright’s militancy is something he came to only recently, then Obama somehow spent 20 years in the pews without ever noticing that his preacher wasn’t particularly fond of America, white people, “Zionism,” etc etc. Exactly how many sermons did he miss?

Update: Geraghty asks the question of the hour: What’s Wright’s move now?

Update: Rich Lowry speculates that Obama’s team must have some awfully bad polling numbers on Wright to warrant this spectacle today. Jon Ham, North Carolina resident and father of Mary Katharine, says he got a call just last night. Last week’s numbers from Survey USA: Obama by nine. Today’s numbers: Obama by five.

Update: I was planning to track down the “white folks’ greed runs a world in need” quote but the Standard beat me to it. Read Obama’s own account of Wright’s “Audacity of Hope” sermon to see for yourself how plausible it is that he didn’t know Wright spoke this particular brand of “truth” to power.

Update: Here are the highlights from the Q&A, in quick-hit, heavily edited form. Wright’s insinuation that Obama only pretends to disagree with him to preserve his electability — which is itself, of course, highly damaging to Obama’s electability — is a predictable sore spot.

Link: sevenload.com