Today I learned that there's no escape from Pastor Jeremiah Wright.

I didn't watch his live appearance before the National Press Club on C-SPAN, nor did I check my email until after he spoke. But since Pajamas Media had been nice enough to ask me to cover the event, when I finally saw their email I emailed back and said I'd try to watch it on video anyway, even though it would probably be too late for a piece.

Was I ever in for a grotesque afternoon! I found the 6 part video on YouTube and rarely have I been more disgusted with a speech by any public figure. To call this guy a demagogue is an understatement. Really, I found it hard to sit through, but I did.

Finally, it dawned on me that if I couldn't stand to watch a single speech by this master of malevolence, how could Obama have sat through 20 years of it?

So even though it was late, I wrote my post for Pajamas Media, and I hope you enjoy it.

My thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the linking the piece in his roundup. After I wrote the PJM piece, I learned that a number of commentators are now wondering whether Wright might be sabotaging Obama. Glenn asks whether " the whole thing [is] being cleverly staged" to give Obama a Sister Souljah moment. (Plus, it might mean that Bill Moyer wasted his time over the weekend!)

Even Andrew Sullivan (long a Wright defender) has had it, saying this makes "any further defense of him impossible.":

This was a calculated, ugly, repulsive, vile display of arrogance, egotism, and self-regard. This is an outright attack on the stated beliefs and policies and values of Barack Obama in a secular setting.

All in all, not a good day for Obama.

Wright does seem to be going out of his way to create problems.

I'd almost think he was being paid, except I know there's no corruption in Chicago.