It's been a busy Wednesday starting with an early morning run to Lowe's for venetian blinds for the vacant condo I'm trying to get rented. It's been painted and looks so much better than it did. After the carpet is cleaned, it will look good as new. I've only had 3 inquiries, 2 have come to see it, but no takers, yet. I probably should have waited until all the work was done to show it, but it's not hard to tell what it will look like. The Madison renter decided to stay through the whole term of her lease. That was a huge relief.

Then Pam and I went to the gym, while Jean stayed home to putter some more with her plants. I went to lunch afterwards with the Water Lilies at the Tex-Mex Restaurant in Flowood on Lakeland. There were fewer complaints today than last week when we went to Biaggi's, the Italian restaurant at the new Renaissance Shopping Center in Ridgeland, several disappointed diners at that outing, so I was not embarrassed that Tex-Mex was my suggestion.

I was sorry to hear about Steve's loss to his opponent in yesterday's run-off, but if the report I heard on Dan Abram's show last night is correct, the results were skewed by cross-over voting by Republicans creating mischief. Now that they've voted as Democrats in the primary, they will not be allowed to switch back and vote Republican in the general election, something Rush Limbaugh neglected to tell them. I wasn't aware that it worked that way, but if that's right, and I hope it is, the joke's on them. Serves 'em right!

I just watched Barack Obama on Hardball's College Tour. He is so personable and intelligent. He will make a great president. I've given away two of my Obama bumper stickers, and still have some left; if anyone needs one, just let me know.

I'm getting really weary of the commentators bringing up the Jeremiah Wright remarks. When Chris Matthews asked about it tonight, I wish Obama had said something like this:

I didn't leave that church for the same reason that most Catholics didn't leave their church when some priests were discovered to be pedophiles. Most Catholics knew that pedophilia isn't a true representation of the whole Catholic church.

I didn't quit that church for the same reason most Christians didn't quit the Christian religion when anti-Semitic remarks were made by prominent ministers including Billy Graham. Most Christians knew that anti-Semitism is not a true reflection of the whole Christian religion.

If all I knew about Jeremiah Wright were the 30 second soundbites that have received excessive airplay in the last month, then yes, I might have walked away, but there is so much more to the man, his ministry, the Trinity Church, than those snippets. It would have been terribly irresponsible for me to base my decision to remain in that church on such minutiae. I'm sorry that most people have such a shallow knee-jerk reaction to those news clips. It wouldn't take much investigation to learn that my pastor is not the hate-monger being portrayed, but is a highly esteemed theologian and scholar among his peers and is well loved by his flock.

But it's okay for you to ask, Chris, because everytime someone attempts to embarrass me about it, my numbers go up in the polls. Most Americans realize the unfairness of the charge, and it seems to help my popularity when I have to defend my choice of churches.

Next question.