Obama's Pastor Fallout: Radioactive?

Barack Obama tried to square the circle in his Philadelphia address.  At best, he semi-squared what is, in truth, a non-squarable circle: distancing himself from his hate-merchant pastor, while remaining connected to a church whose own website carries an Afrocentric "liberation theology" that openly calls not only for a God that values blacks and reviles whites, but calls for killing a God that does not do so.  "Liberation" apparently means freeing parishioners from any constraints of law or morality, when it comes to dealing with white people.

Polls probably do not fully reflect an electorate that knows how hateful the theology of Obama's church truly is, else they would show Obama at near-zero voter support outside the black community.  Obama's candidacy would have completely imploded.  Imagine a GOP politician tied to a white evangelical congregation whose website called for killing blacks--and any God that recognized blacks as equals.  How long would it take for MSM to explode that candidacy?  Ann Coulter nails the one-sided race pseudo-dialogue:

Obama gave a nice speech, except for everything he said about race. He apparently believes we're not talking enough about race. This is like hearing Britney Spears say we're not talking enough about pop-tarts with substance-abuse problems.

By now, the country has spent more time talking about race than John Kerry has talked about Vietnam, John McCain has talked about being a POW, John Edwards has talked about his dead son, and Al Franken has talked about his USO tours.

But the "post-racial candidate" thinks we need to talk yet more about race. How much more? I had had my fill by around 1974. How long must we all marinate in the angry resentment of black people?

The "What about Bob Jones University and the Republicans?"  excuse is not passing muster, either.  As well it shouldn't.  BJU advocates "separate but equal" and bans inter-racial dating.  BJU, to my best knowledge, does not advocate killing blacks, let alone, killing any God that does not favor whites.  BJU lost its tax exemption for its views, but the Trinity United Church of Christ can display at its website the following message (posted on LFTC Wednesday, March 18, put here again, for reader convenience):

Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.

Apparently, a black church with this message still manages to qualify as a charitable institution eligible for tax-exempt status.  Inter-racial dating bans might qualify, too, if a black church or educational institution had such a policy.   Such a policy hardly equates to a policy that calls for believers to "accept only a the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy" and states that "[The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community."  The former is anti-social behavior; the latter is genocide.

We have seen such sentiments before.  Sounds like militant Islam, doesn't it?  And thus it is no coincidence that Pastor Wright is chummy with the likes of Louis Farrakhan and Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddaffi--the latter, at least, when he was sponsoring terror against America.  And it is equally no coincidence that Pastor Wright hates Israel and embraces the Palestinians.  What are Americans to think of a congregation that accepts such a pastor?  Cite his military service and good works in the community?  Would such an excuse resonate for a white supremacist who helped poor whites in Appalachia obtain medical and social services?  Hamas and Hezbollah both do community social work, but does that excuse their acts or terrorism?  The Mafia in Sicily does social work, but does that excuse their conduct of organized crime?

Well, America, it seems, has spoken.  Obama may not yet be radioactive, but his magic carpet ride is over, and the "celestial choir" Hillary complained had been singing for Obama has been replaced, by a choir singing Afrocentric racial hatred of whites and Jews.  Polls taken by Zogby - Reuters show serious damage to Obama.  His 14-point lead over Hillary was 3 points earlier this week (47 - 44); his 7-point lead over McCain in February (47 - 40) has reversed to a 6-point edge for McCain (46 - 40).  (McCain's 50 - 38 lead over Hillary in February has narrowed to 48 - 40.)

There is more bad news for Barack: RCP's 5-poll average now has Hill up 16.8 points over Barack in Pennsylvania, 52.0 - 35.2.  Her leads in the 5 polls range from 12 to 26 points.  It gets even worse for Obama: The polling dates in the average span March 5 - 16.  The most recent poll, taken March 15 & 16--and thus the only poll that significantly--perhaps not even fully--reflects the pastor's video firestorm--is the one showing the 26-point margin, 56 - 30.

Now, suppose Hill wins Pennsylvania by 25 points.  This very possible, for three reasons: (1) Hill has squared her position on withdrawal from Iraq with Obama, and the war is, in the event, an issue of diminishing salience; (2) Hill matches, indeed exceeds, Obama's strength on economic issues; (3) the stench of Obama's pastor mess is not the kind of  stink that erodes easily.  How credible will Obama look after a 25-point shellacking in a key industrial state?  Increasingly, Democrats are looking at the ultimate rock versus hard place dilemma: (a) deny Obama the top spot, thus alienating their most loyal core constituency (blacks); or (b) give him the top spot, and have a candidate whose inability to separate fully from his pastor makes him no longer a post-racial candidate, and thus unable to win enough white votes to beat Bag Mac come November.

The pastor videos are beginning to look like a spreading mushroom cloud.