In defense of Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright

Actually, more in defense of Senator Obama's relationship with him. I haven't heard this aspect brought out at all; I didn't listen to the "speech", so I don't know if it was mentioned by the senator. I haven't read everything written, haven't listened to all the pundits. This is just my take on it.
I was a single mother, and even though I had been married to the father of my older children, he wasn't a participant in their lives except sporadically. My father, their grandfather, was the male role model most present in their lives. He showed them how a man treats his family, his job, his friends. He was not perfect, but no matter what, he was their father figure, and they would no more reject him than they would me.
Barack Obama was raised by a single white woman, and his white grandparents were the other stable adults in his life, according to what I know of him. The role models he had for living life as a black man in the US (and trust me, no matter the color of his mother's skin, he was going to live his life as a black man in this country, we are not yet color blind) were few. And he has developed a strong bond with Pastor Wright, as a spiritual advisor and I would imagine in some sense as a surrogate father. The people in our lives who fill those spaces are not easily denounced or rejected. Whether perfect (no one is) or not, we accept their failings short-sightedness, prejudices and anger and love them anyway. Many people have said angry, hateful things but still love the country, still love their friends and children, still do good work. I don't want to point out all the religious leaders that John McCain has embraced, because I think he does that for political reasons. Senator Obama and Pastor Wright have a different relationship. They don't have a bond for political reasons; it seems to be deeply personal. If it were his father saying these things would we expect him to denounce him? It is possible that he didn't really hear these things the same way many people listening to the clips do, because we don't always hear things said by people we love the same way others do. We hear the underlying message, not the rhetoric.
I can't go back and tell you everything my father ever said; I can tell you how he loved me, how he taught me right from wrong, and how he showed me to respect others. I am sure that for Senator Obama, he can tell you all the good Pastor Wright has done, and he would be right.