U.S. Senator Barack Obama did a stupendous job today in a speech addressing the touchy issue of what someone else said in a country that lauds free speech and goes around the world shouting how it is a champion of freedom. Today he has shown America and the world that he can condemn the sin and still love the man who sinned and offended. Isn't that a cornerstone of Christianity? Why isn't Obama's very public demonstration of what he has learned from Christ's teachings held up as an example of virtue. Why isn't this Christian and statesman-like display lauded more after all the fuss and bother about his religion? Not only has he shown us how to be both a Christian and a statesman, he has also shown us that he is a man of honour and principle. Why should he throw away a friend just because they don't see eye to eye on everything? America is a country of contradictions after all. Life is full of contradictions and so are people. If I threw away all my friends when we disagree, I would be a lonely person unless, of course, I viewed life through rose-coloured glasses. Obama was never going to get an overwhelming amount of votes from working class white males anyway. This is America after all, and colour is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS a factor-- the proverbial pink elephant in the room that lots of people don't want to acknowledge. Ohio proved it, right? Some people want to pretend that Rev. Wright's comments are an aberration in a country where black people have suffered the brunt of white bigotry for years and continue to suffer from it despite significant gains. Has anyone watched any films about the fight for civil rights lately, or the images and aftermath of Katrina's onslaught? I have had white friends tell me that I was overreacting about bigotry, and then retract what they said after they heard other white colleagues in unguarded moments who spewed things that rival or surpass anything Wright has said. Provocateurs exist on all sides of this debate about an American problem that some people would prefer to have closeted. We live in a culture where a person with one white parent is still called black and treated poorly oftentimes because his/her white heritage is ignored and discounted. The focus on Obama's colour is proof that America still has a long, long way to go, but it's heartening to see that some Americans support real "Change" epitomized through Obama's quest for the Democratic nomination and the presidency of the United States. Blessed are the peacemakers . . . I'm the KeenEyedTruthSeeker telling it like it is.