In the Jeremiah Wright affair, Barack Obama is most certainly lying about something. 

He now insists that he is “shocked, shocked” (in the style of Claude Raines in “Casablanca”) to hear that anti-Americanism had anything at all to do with Wright’s ministry. 

He has also claimed to be a “devout Christian” who attends church every week and is deeply involved in the life of Wright’s congregation (where he’s been a member for twenty years). 

It’s simply not possible that he could be an active member in the church without hearing something about sermons in which the pastor blamed 9/11 on America’s past sins, or called down curses repeatedly (“God D---n America!”) on his own nation. I’ve been involved in synagogue life for more than thirty years, in three different congregations in two different communities. If any of the rabbis who served those congregations ever delivered sermons that were even vaguely controversial, I would have heard about it without question (even on those occasions where I wasn’t present to hear the talk myself). Given the number and intensity of wildly offensive Wright sermons, it’s ridiculous to argue that the first Obama learned of the anti-American bent of his self-described “mentor” was last week in news reports. 

And if we assume for the sake of argument that it’s true that he had no idea how Wright really felt about crucial questions like the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, then how can we accept Obama’s insistence on his devout faithfulness and active church membership.  

Hey, Barack—it’s either one or the other: either you were lying when you talked about your deep, soul-changing involvement in Trinity United Church of Christ, or else you’re lying when you say you never had any idea (until last week) about the crazy and offensive and sickening contents of the pastor’s diatribes from the pulpit.  

My guess is that Obama is actually telling the truth about his deep involvement in the church, but lying (very badly) about knowing nothing about its pastor’s excesses.

The idea that he didn’t realize until a few days ago that mainstream America would view Wright’s remarks (which even Barack himself now describes as “appalling”) as explosive and unacceptable is a troubling indication of Obama’s enclosure in a politically correct bubble, and his profound estrangement from the faith and patriotism commitments of ordinary Americans.