Obama's handling of Wright shows his exceptional ability to judge context and intent of whacky leaders, not just their words.

In 2002, Saddam Hussein provoked this nation in to war with just words - saying infamously this will be the "mother of all wars" among other things.
Today we have lots of inflammatory leaders, Iran's Ahmadinajad of Iran, N. Korea's Kim Jong Il and even Russia's Putin who are all trying to provoke America in various ways. We need a leader who can judge intent before he commits the country to action or even categorical condemnation. It gives a chance for more sane action on all sides.

“I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos,” said King in 1967 speeches on foreign policy, “without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.”...LBJ and others in government saw this an unpatriotic. Was MLK a radical hate-monger? Nor was Rev. Wright, when he said similar things within a broader transformational message to his own congregation.

But there was a clear change of intent when Wright used theatrics to say the same things to a national audience at the National Press Club. Obama recognized this difference, unlike many who categorically condemn all inflamatory language regardless of intent or context. In that light, Obama's first response in Pensylvannia showed even more wisdom and courage - it struck the correct balance between the needs of the congregation and the needs of the country, opening the door for Wright to bridge the divide in his own time. Obama's great disappointment was that Rev. Wrigtht could not do it. By the time Wright spoke to the National Press Club, his motives had clearly changed to vindictiveness and Obama had to condemn him.

Obama was one of the very few who recognized Saddam's words as nothing but show-boating that would have grave consequences for the US. In 2002, he said
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech
"Now let me be clear, I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity....But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, ...I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda."

In contrast, Hillary talks about "totally obliterating" Iraq if they used nuclear weapons to attack Israel. (This was a bait - since Israel has nuclear weapons and Iran does not.) Would her “total obliteration” include 40 million women and children? Ahmadinajad used her statements to get sympathy from the UN and his own people, who generally thought of him as a nut-job.

Did these polls consider a person voting in the Democratic primary to be a "Democrat" (versus only those registered as Democrats before showing up at the poll yesterday)? With an open primary and with Rush Limbaugh urging Republicans and Independents to vote Democratic, such an assumption from imprecise exit polling will skew the results on both sides.

A Republican or Independent voting for Clinton or Obama in the primary, and who always intended to vote for McCain in the fall will answer the question about whether s/he plans to vote for the other Democrat in the fall as "no." But of course that was never a Democrat general election vote in the first place, and its inclusion will improperly inflate the supposed discord within the Democrat ranks.

Thus, Rush gets a twofer: mischief in the primary selection of a nominee AND the appearance of a greater division in Democrat ranks than really exists.

I AM a Democrat, and I'm no big Hillary fan, but I just won't be able to bring myself to vote for Obama if he's the nominee. He can't relate to the average joe. He's sat in a church for 20 years obediently listening to how the US government created the AIDS virus and deserved 9/11. He says he wants to ditch NAFTA, but then we find out he's just saying political things and doesn't really mean it. And even though he says he wants a different kind of politics he ends up playing the same old game as everyone else and throwing dirt whenever the going gets tough. I don't think he's as great as all the media types think he is. I sure don't trust him and I'll probably just stay home.

I've lived in Louisville all of my 48 years. I've considered myself a "liberal" for most of that time, and voted "Democrat" almost at every chance, the one exception being "Nader" in 2000.I've been told I wasted my vote, and worse..I helped to get us W.
Guilty as charged.
So now I'm having a tough time with deja vous all over again.
I'm a big Hillary supporter. I waited five hours to see her here at Manual High School two months ago, and would've gladly waited longer. She was/is fantastic. I've sent her a considerable amount of money. ($300 is a fortune to a truck driver..especially now!) .
Up until a few months ago, I would've voted for whomever the nominee turned out to be. But no longer. I just can't vote for Obama. The more I learn, the less I like.
And it probably isn't him. I just don't like his "fans"..and that's what they seem to be to me.
So, good luck in the fall, "my friends".

I will never vote for Obama. The Democratic party made a grave mistake by cheating Hillary Clinton. How dare they discount the more qualified better prepared candidate because she is a woman. They along with the media showed blatant bias in favor of Obama because he is black and and devalued Sen. Clinton because she is a woman. I will not be a part of a party that came out to falsely accuse people of being racist because they were either critical of Obama or didn't vote for him. I also loathe the fact that
when Sen. Clinton was called whores and a pimp and when her daughter Chelsea was called a whore none of them came to her defense. So the Democrats are no longer my party of choice. I will be voting for McCain. Eventhough don't really like what he stands for, I like the Democratic party bosses EVEN LESS! I hope the democrats lose big time.

I won't vote for obama just because he's black. He lacks experience and his resume is a joke. I'll vote for the QUALIFIED candidate. Clinton supporters loath obama just as obama supporters loath Clinton. The party has been divided and without the "dream ticket" will remain so. McCain democrats are born.

I will NEVER vote for Obama or democrat for that matter..they've shown their true colors..they don't care about women..and would rather please the black community..so this female vote and ALL of my female friends and community have decided we will show the democrats and obama that "yes we can" insult women...will be "NO YOU CANNOT" mark my words people November will surprise you all..women all around the nation are PISSED OFF...and it will cost the democrats big times and the black vote will not be enough to compensate it!