I've just been watching Barack Obama on the hot seat at Fox News -- doing his best to defend himself in the face of the Jeremiah "GOD DAMN AMERICA" Wright stuff. They're running the Wright videos over and over and Obama is clearly feeling the heat.

Some of the commentators raised the issue of the Reverend Rod Parsley and the Republicans, and played some especially outrageous statements by Parsley. Once again, I don't think candidates are responsible for positions and remarks of people who endorse them, but in egregious cases (which Wright is), the candidates should denounce them.

FWIW, I think the timing of the Wright videos on national television is a long-term disaster for the Republicans. I've known about this stuff for a long time, but I think the media focus right now will do little more than help Hillary. It also puts her in a great position to later slam McCain for Obamanations from the penumbra of the innumerable bigoted endorsers -- like Parsley and Hagee -- that he will have accumulated. Quite disingenuously, Mother Jones is calling Parsley "McCain's spiritual guide" when he's nothing of the sort. But he's sure as hell a bigot, and there will be plenty of videos like this. Whether it's honest won't matter.

Yes, I question the timing. The Clintons have known about this Jeremiah Wright stuff for ages, but its release right now couldn't be better planned from a strategic standpoint, and it will make for very effective campaigning.

It would have been easy for McCain to beat Obama, but at this point I don't think he'll get the chance.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, many Republicans want Hillary Clinton to be McCain's opponent.

If Hillary wins, only some of them will regret it.

UPDATE: Republicans for Hillary Should be Careful What They Vote For.

MORE: Via Glenn Reynolds, a very insightful post from Instapunk, who thinks that the video has doomed Obama, and possibly Hillary as well.

...the video excerpts from the sermons of Jeremiah Wright are the only significant revelation that occurred this week. (Ferraro's faux-pas will be as insignificant as she is in two weeks time.) They are also fatal to Obama's chances of winning the presidency. They are probably equally fatal to Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the presidency. It's up to the Democrat Party to figure out how to deal with the catastrophe, but catastrophe it is, and there are multiple reasons why.

Timing is everything. Had the release of the videos been occurred after Obama's nomination, they'd have assured McCain's victory. As it is, Hillary has the most to gain, and I think the dust will subside, because as I've tried to make clear, nothing really hurts the incredibly dirty Clintons.

Regardless of the merits of any of the arguments about the videos (and I think Wright is a despicable character), I think Instapunk is right to say Obama's candidacy is doomed. This is not good for the Republicans.

More here.

And Rick Moran sees a "scorched earth" policy:

The Clinton campaign has declared total war - on Obama, on the party, on the media, on basically anyone who is in their way. It is a campaign quite unlike any the Democrats have seen since perhaps 1860 when Stephen Douglas refused to step aside for the good of the party and ended up driving the Dixiecrats out of the convention to put up their own candidate thus assuring the election of a Republican.

No one will walk out of this year's Democratic convention (we think). But Hillary Clinton's tactics from here on out are apparently designed to cleave the Democratic party in two and bulldoze her way to the nomination by any means necessary.

And just in case she falls short, she is going to damage Obama to the point that he will be "unelectable" in November.

The "unity" -- and the "healing" -- after a horrible campaign will be oh-so-touching.

(Forgive my cynicism, but I see it coming.)