Clinton and Wright, sitting in a tree...

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Ah, so the Rev. Jeremiah Wright (a.k.a., Obama's pastor) was invited to a prayer breakfast at the White House -- the Clinton White House, that is -- on September 11, 1998, and we have the photographic evidence to prove it.

I guess this means that Hillary, who was present at the event, endorses everything Wright has ever said.

Seriously, can we please stop talking about this? The Republicans will do enough smearing for all of us -- and, indeed, they've already started. I appreciate the fact that the Clinton campaign is refusing to make the Wright controversy an explicit campaign issue -- it assumes (correctly) that it is already an issue without having to make it one, which could backfire -- but it is long past time to put this controversy to rest. If anything, let's continue to talk about Obama's brilliant speech on race, and about how we can address race and racism in a mature and meaningful way.

Unfortunately, it seems that it was the Obama campaign that released this photo, and for that it deserves to be criticized, even if it was only doing so to direct some attention Clinton's way, given that she has been benefitting from the ongoing controversy -- and happily so.

Enough already.