Billed as an "important speech about race," presidential candidate Barack Obama condemned some of the remarks of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. But Obama refused to denounce the man himself, considering him family. Commentators gushed over this "groundbreaking," "stirring" speech about the "state of race relations in America."

Funny, some people actually thought that Obama might explain why he chose and attends a church led by a hateful, anti-Semitic, racist America-condemning pastor, a man whom Obama refers to as his "spiritual advisor."

Long before the blowup over Barack Obama's pastor, I wrote about this angry, "Afrocentric" church in my new book, "Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card -- and Lose."

"Barack Obama," I wrote, "attends Chicago's popular Trinity United Church of Christ. He described its minister, Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., as his 'spiritual mentor.' On its Web site, Trinity United Church of Christ describes itself: 'We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. … It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.'

"Consider the grief President George W. Bush attracted when he gave a speech at Bob Jones University, an institution that formerly banned interracial dating. Imagine a Republican attending a church that professed 'Caucasian-centric' Bible readings. According to an article in Rolling Stone, Reverend Wright said, 'Racism is how this country was founded and this country is still run! … We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional KILLERS. … We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. … We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. … We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means! And. And. And! GAWD! Has GOT! To be SICK! OF THIS SHIT!'

"Jeremiah Wright also helped to organize the Million Man March, spearheaded by the anti-Semitic, homophobic, anti-Catholic Minister Louis Farrakhan. Wright also, accompanied by Farrakhan, visited Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. In an interview about whether this kind of activity might hurt Obama's prospects, Wright said, 'When his enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli (to visit Qaddafi) with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell.'

"At the first Sunday service following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Wright preached that the attacks were a consequence of violent U.S.

policies. And four years later, Wright wrote that the 9/11 attacks were proof that 'people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just disappeared as the Great White West went on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.'"

Wright's musings -- part David Duke, part Louis Farrakhan and part Moe from the Three Stooges -- include the following:

-- "We started the AIDS virus. … We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. …"

-- "God damn America … for killing innocent people. God damn America for threatening citizens as less than humans. God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and supreme."

-- "We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki. And we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because of stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own backyard. America is chickens coming home to roost."

-- "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied."

-- "Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary would never know that. Hillary ain't never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a nonperson."

Obama gave a soaring speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, in which he said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There is the United States of America. … We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Once upon a time, Obama actually told "60 Minutes'" Steve Kroft, "I think if I don't win this race, it will be because of other factors. It's gonna be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace."

Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

Larry Elder is a syndicated radio talk show host and best-selling author. His latest book, "Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card -- and Lose," is available now. To find out more about Larry Elder, visit his Web page at www.LarryElder.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
CREATORS SYNDICATE COPYRIGHT 2008 LAURENCE A. ELDER