This could have been posted under LBN, or Editorials & Other Articles. Somehow, I think it belongs here. The point of this response is well taken. I also commend you to an earlier thread noting David Gergen's analysis, which I think in this case got it right:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5091981Obama's church accuses media of character assassination
By MIKE ALLEN | 3/16/08 2:02 PM EST
The Chicago church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a statement Sunday contending that coverage of his pastor’s inflammatory remarks amounted to character assassination and “an attack on … the history of the African American church". . .
The statement begins: “Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe. . .
. . . The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices. This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9062.html