Who Obie Is

Pastor Pfleger. Another one of Obie's "Spiritual Mentors". I'd mention that he's white, which I guess could be a plus given the racial nature of this campaign...except I don't want to be associated with this gasbag nutcase on any level including skin color.

He bobbed up from the Obie swamp of secret inner-circle loonies recently thanks to Christopher Hitchens.

Volokh Conspiracy covers it as well.

If you surround yourself with crazy radicals, could that possibly mean you're probably a crazy radical yourself?

I know it's a tough concept to grasp. Apparently nobody ever told the Obie disciples—including the press— the old saws when they were young:

"You're judged by the company you keep."

"Show me your friends, and I'll tell you who you are."

Oh, wait, they must have heard them, because they excoriated Romney for being a Mormon...because he therefore "kept company" with every single questionable thing any Mormon ever said or did in the history of mankind.

Oh, wait, they must have heard them, because they pilloried George Bush for being a Christian...because he therefore "kept company" with every single questionable thing any Christian ever said or did in the history of mankind.

Yet somehow...when Obie's handpicked favorite's screech hate and violence at the top of their lungs from pulpits, on television, on DVDs, to newspaper reporters...they fail to make the connection.

If I didn't know better, I'd suspect they are not being entirely honest.

The Gunslinger