All media outlets will be full of coverage of Barack Obama’s speech today on racial issues in America. Entitled “A More Perfect Union,” it does much more than respond to the inflammatory statements made by the (now) former pastor of Obama’s church, it is much broader and worth reading in full.

For those in our community, particularly concerned with Rev. Wright’s statements regarding the U.S. – Israel relationship, here is a key passage from the Obama speech:
**But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
_