No brainiac, he

Jeremiah Wright is on his Great Normalcy Tour of 2008. This is good for Hillary Clinton; even better for John McCain. Maybe not so much for Obama. In fact, I’d be inclined to believe that Obama more than kind of wishes that Jeremiah has simply shut up and gone off to live quietly in his mostly-white and expensive gated community.

Wright is a gift that, well, you know, just keeps on giving us campaign goodies to use. Just when the poisonous clouds of the “God-damn-America” and “Government-genocide-of-blacks-through-AIDS” preacher had somewhat dissipated, he’s back. In full flower, explaining how we all misunderstood him, it’s all just a matter of context, blah blah blah.

So, now we have some more grist for the mill. From ABC News’ Political Punch,  in a story titled “Rev. Wright Delivers Fiery Address to NAACP.” Now, when you see the words “fiery”  and “Rev. Wright” in a headline,  you just know some good stuff is coming your way.

Indeed. Here is one gem from Brother Wright:

“Africans have a different meter, and Africans have a different tonality,” he said. Europeans have seven tones, Africans have five. White people clap differently than black people. “Africans and African-Americans are right-brained, subject-oriented in their learning style,” he said. “They have a different way of learning.” And so on.

First question, class: since Obama is half black, half white, which side of his brain is favored?

Second question in three parts: how much black blood is required before one gets to favor one’s right brain? Is it that old “one drop” criterion used by white racists? How stupid does Wright think we are to believe this nonsense?

Final question: Is Wright attempting an insanity defense for his prior nastiness? This may be credible; may be playing into that “crazy old uncle” defense used by Obama.  If so, too clever by half.  I don’t think it will do any good.

Now here’s a thought experiment: a conservative white pastor who has been a Republican presidential candidate’s “spiritual mentor” for 20 years gives a talk, claiming inherent biological differences between blacks and whites, differences that cause the two races to think differently. What do you suppose the reaction of the media, and, for that matter, most Americans, might be?

I’ve got to think that Obama wishes Wright had simply kept his own counsel. Because of Obama’s own bad choices, over many years, rather than transcend race, he has made it the focal point of the campaign.