"Senator Obama's speech was a mixed deal. First, the positive: he was right that race remains an unresolved problem on both sides. The senator was also correct when he said Jeremiah Wright's statements were misguided and driven by an obsolete view of the country. However, Obama was weak in explaining why he continues to publicly support Wright. A sitting U.S. senator simply can not lend his stature to hate speech by publicly attending Wright's forums. Senator Obama says he wants to represent all Americans, wants to heal the divide. That is an excellent sentiment, but do the senator's deeds match his words? When the Congressional Black Caucus joined with Fox News to sponsor a Democratic debate last fall, Barack Obama boycotted the event. Is that not divisive? Talking Points believes Obama caved in to pressure from the far left Move On organization. As I've stated, Barack Obama has been a positive force in America, but many questions remain about him. A president must speak to all the people and must understand hateful rhetoric and distance himself from it. You will decide if Barack Obama has done that."

News Link: Full text of Obama's speech on race

The Factor was joined by Tanya Acker, an Obama supporter who effusively praised the senator's speech. "Senator Obama did a fantastic job," Acker asserted, "of putting some of Wright's comments in context. I take him at his word that not every Sunday was some anti-American diatribe, and Barack and Michelle Obama are able to separate Wright's statements from the positives they're getting." But FNC contributor Angela McGlowan called Obama's speech insufficient. "Not all black churches are like Reverend Wright's church. If you're in a black church like Wright's that is preaching hate and racial division, run, don't walk. It's irresponsible for Michelle and Barack Obama to go to this church." The Factor reminded Acker that Obama regularly took his two young daughters to Wright's sermons. "Are you telling me that the stuff Wright says is suitable for a 9-year old and a 6-year old girl? If any politician sat in a forum where David Duke spewed his racial hatred, they would be finished."

Featured Book: Bamboozled: How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda by Angela McGlowan

Continuing on the Obama speech, The Factor asked political observer A.B. Stoddard whether the senator will regain his momentum. "He hasn't had momentum since February," Stoddard replied. "I don't think he's going to win Pennsylvania, and I don't think he's going to get the momentum back for a while." Stoddard also selected the best and worst aspects of the talk. "He really showed courage in giving a speech that held nothing back, and you felt he was being brutally honest. But he needed to repudiate the anti-American statements of Reverend Wright more strongly." The Factor again criticized Obama for backing out of a debate on Fox News. "He says he wants to be a president of all the people, yet he refused to debate on this network. He folded to MoveOn, a far-left organization that threatened him."

News Link: Obama's lead over Clinton narrows

Charles Coulter of the Kansas City Star, one of Obama's many supporters in the media, wrote that Obama has no need to distance himself from Jeremiah Wright. Coulter entered the No Spin Zone and defended his opinion: " Senator Obama chose that church for a reason, and part of it is Reverend Wright, who is very important in his life. Just because some white Americans have trouble with that association, are we going to ask him to give up associating with a man who means a lot to him and his family?" The Factor argued that Obama's loyalty was unwarranted and damaging. "You have a problem when a sitting senator is there in the pew, thereby empowering the reverend. Among undecided voters in this country, he's losing and he's losing fast. I don't think you understand the dislike many Americans have for Reverend Wright."

News Link: Outrageous Kansas City Star editorial

Some Hillary Clinton supporters are boycotting the far-left DailyKos web site, where many posters regularly malign the senator. Clinton adviser Jehmu Greene elaborated on the hate speech that is common on Kos and elsewhere. "All over the Internet," Green lamented, "people who are passionate about their support for Hillary Clinton are being targeted. I've been called a 'race traitor,' and black elected officials who support her are threatened with losing their seats. There are people so filled with hate." The Factor told Green no one should be surprised. "Last summer I criticized Senator Clinton for attending the Kos convention, and now you see who they are. The Daily Kos is a hate site that does horrible things on a daily basis."

News Link: Civil war at Daily Kos

FNC legal experts Megyn Kelly and Lis Wiehl began with the question of whether Jeremiah Wright's church will lose its tax-exempt status for overtly supporting Barack Obama. "He definitely crossed the line," Kelly said, "but I don't know if it'll get him in trouble with the IRS. The IRS doesn't go around revoking a church's status - they've only done it twice in fifty years." The legal duo turned to the Supreme Court, which will decide whether a District of Columbia law banning handguns is constitutional. "There's a 1939 case," Wiehl reported, "where the Supreme Court said the right to bear arms doesn't apply to individuals, so I don't know how they're going to get over that precedent. The DC gun ban will be upheld." But Kelly predicted the exact opposite result, arguing that the "little phrase 'the right to bear arms' mean you and I have a right to bear arms in our homes."

News Link: SCOTUS takes up 2nd amendment

Barack Obama pointed out that anger is prevalent in some black churches, but just how prevalent? The Factor welcomed professor R. L'Heureux Lewis, who elaborated on the black church. "It's a social and a political experience," Lewis said. "I wouldn't call anger unusual, but it's not typical. On any given Sunday, you're going to have your standard discussions about morality, ethics, personal responsibility, and occasionally politics." Lewis described Jeremiah Wright's theology as more radical than most. "He embraces an Afrocentric point of view, but his statements are there to raise questions among the congregation, they're not conclusions." The Factor countered that Jeremiah Wright is a typical demagogue. "If you look at history, a lot of people who have done evil did exactly what Reverend Wright did."

Tuesday's Patriot: American Idol judge Simon Cowell, who is paying off the mortgage of a couple whose daughter is battling cancer. And the Pinhead: Actress Nicole Kidman's bodyguard, who leapt from her car and assaulted a paparazzo. Nominate a Pinhead or a Patriot by sending an email to pnp@billoreilly.com.

News Link: Simon Cowell shows his kinder side

News Link: Video: Nicole Kidman's bodyguard attacks photog

A sampling of your recent e-mails:

Nancy Borden, La Quinta, CA: "When a black preacher damns America, Bill, you can't judge him because you're white. You are a racist."

Matt Essig, Highland Ranch, CO: "I'm puzzled why some people continue to point to the good things Reverend Wright has done. They didn't point to the good things Imus has done."

Pat Evans, St. Louis, MO: "Bill, everyone who criticizes America is not anti-American. Get real."

Paula Weinstein, North Miami Beach, FL: "Bill, you may be right that Obama does not support Wright's views, but I personally question his judgment if he allows his daughters to hear that."