Back in June, I wrote about the idea that the church should be the moral compass of America, and it should not abdicate that position to the government.  However, between then and Election Day, I became increasingly alarmed at the incivility and the rumor mongering of the rank and file of the conservative Christian movement.  This is the largely the responsibility of the leaders of this movement even if they weren’t specifically part of the rumors about Barack Obama’s religion and birthplace.  The rank and file were simply trying to do whatever they could to defeat the people they were told would ruin the country.

Since the rise of the Christian Right starting with the Moral Majority in the 1970s through the domination of the Dobson-Robertson crowd of the 2000s, the conservative Christian movement has invested heavily in the Republican party.  That investment has not just been a monetary one.  It has also been an investment of its time and, more importantly, the majority of its votes.  This has had numerous negative effects, with relatively few positives.

“Obama’s church” is the Trinity United Church of Christ.  Trinity United Church of Christ is “a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.” (from their website) Their theology is progressive but generally what most Christians would consider Biblical.  Not everyone would agree with everything they do and say, but at least they’re doing something in the name of Jesus to help rid the world of injustice and oppression, which is more than I can say for most churches I’ve been associated with in any way.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. is the senior pastor at TUCC, and he has gotten Barack Obama in trouble politically by making inflammatory statements over the last several months.  There’s no need to rehash those here.  I wrote about them back in March.  Last week, though, the last straw was a guest speaker, Catholic priest Rev.

Take a good look.  This might be the last time you see Hillary Clinton on a national stage for awhile.  If she loses today’s primary in Pennsylvania, she is most likely out of the Democratic for the Presidential nomination.  Trailing in delegates, popular vote, and number of states won, and, maybe most importantly, out of money, she would have very little reason to continue her quest for the Presidency.

Now, the good news for her:  She is leading in the polls in Pennsylvania by 5-10 points over Sen. Barack Obama.  However, even that isn’t untainted good news because she was leading by 20 points just a couple of weeks ago!  If she wins big, she’s on the comeback trail.  If she wins by fewer than 10 points, look for her to limp on to Indiana and North Carolina in two weeks.  If she loses, that’s the end for her and her bid to be the first female President (If you’re thinking she was already President, get some new jokes).

By the way, if you can’t figure out why the picture doesn’t quite look life like, even for Hillary, the portrait was painted when Sen.