On the Obama - Wright Controversy

After reading various views on the topic I guess I'm more ambivalent about this whole thing than most.  The important thing for me is to ensure that Obama doesn't share Wright's views and in the final analysis, I don't think he does.  I agree with Dick Morris here:

Wright's rantings are not reflective of Obama's views on anything. Why did he stay in the church? Because he's a black Chicago politician who comes from a mixed marriage and went to Columbia and Harvard. Suspected of not being black enough or sufficiently tied to the minority community, he needed the networking opportunities Wright afforded him in his church to get elected. If he had not risen to the top of Chicago black politics, we would never have heard of him. But obviously, he can't say that. So what should he say?

And frankly, I'm tired of guilt-by-association politics. I'm reminded, actually, of the concept used to grant high-level security clearances in this country.  It uses a "whole person" concept that weighs positive and negative information to come to a judgment on an individual's character and trustworthiness.  I guess because of my background I tend to look at others and make similar calculations and Presidential candidates are no different.

I look at some of my lifelong friends and realize that if I were ever to run for office they would be political liabilities because I choose to associate with them despite their flaws.  On the whole, I believe they are good people.  I do not look at my associations with a zero defect mentality and I believe it's unreasonable for me to expect others to do the same with their's - and that includes Obama.