National Public Radio announced in April that "Senator Barack Obama publicly denounced his former pastor Jeremiah Wright...for what he called 'destructive remarks' on race."

       "Obviously whatever relationship I have had with the Reverend Wright has changed.  I don't think he showed much concern for me or what we are trying to do with this campaign or for the American people," said the Senator from Illinois.  Some who heard the Senator's words wondered if this is a change we can believe in.

       Religious ambition and political ambition often go hand in hand. Grigori Rasputin, sometimes called the "Mad Monk," was a Russian mystic who influenced the later days of Czar Nicholas II, his wife and their son Alexei.  Opinions about the monk are mixed.  Some see Rasputin as a saintly man. Others see him as a religious charlatan.

       Spin the wheel of the world.  A century later and on an opposite continent the Reverend Jeremiah Wright enters center stage.  The TimesOnline reports, "Barack Obama was a religious skeptic with an identity crisis when he first heard the Reverend Jeremiah Wright preach back in 1982.

       ''During the sermon something strange happened: the pastor's words of hope stirred Obama's insight that the stories of ordinary black people were his own story, and he felt a profound desire to 'give oneself up to God.'  Tears streamed down his cheeks."

       Those tears have now changed to icicles.  Senator Obama has changed his mind about Reverend Wright.  About what else will Senator Obama change his mind?  The faithful wait to see.

       There is a corruption in Chicago that goes by the name of the Democrat Party.  It is a corruption so pervasive few outside the city notice it. It is the salt no one tastes because it is everywhere.

       Some in Chicago politics only believe in power.  Others are so indifferent to corruption they forget there is a difference between preaching Christ crucified and proclaiming Christ as a representative of the proletariat.  Still others, as Thomas Jefferson remarked, because they believe nothing, will believe anything.

       David Axelrod is Obama's chief political and media adviser. He is also an advisor to Chicago's Mayor Daley.  Axelrod says he believes that Obama is something different: a "trailblazing" figure who "represents the future."  Axelrod is supposedly an expert in marketing black politicians to the white community.  How could David Axelrod have overlooked Reverend Wright?

       Could things get any worse for Mr. Axelrod?  Look what happened. The Democrats tried to bar the door against a Rasputin, but now he is coming in through the window. Such audacity!

       Many understand that in both religion and relationships, first impressions are lasting.  If that's the case, what is an impression that lasts twenty years?  That is a long time to attend a church and not become aware of what it teaches.

       Twenty years, including a marriage and two baptisms is a long time. That's about as long as Richard M. Daley has been mayor of Chicago. You could grow close to someone and learn to trust them after twenty years.  Who tells a lie for twenty years?

       Perhaps Reverend Wright saw in Senator Obama not only an ambitious young man, but also someone who would put his preaching into practice.  Old age is made sweet by such a disciple.

       Because of his relationship with Reverend Wright, there is a serious concern that Senator Obama is not who he claims to be.  The issue is now not Reverend Wright's heresy, but Senator Obama's duplicity.  Has the Senator been corrupted more by Chicago's politics than Reverend Wright's preaching?

       The love that draws men together may be mysterious, but it is no mystery how betrayal tears men apart.  We have not heard the last from Reverend Wright.  The time may come when we may hear more about his disappointment than his theology.

       And for Senator Obama, how he has changed--from someone we believe to someone we doubt.  This is the corruption Chicago Democrats drag in their wake the way a slave drags his chains.

       Could it be that Reverend Wright harbors jealous thoughts as well? Sensing that David Axelrod may have more influence over the now forsaken Obama presidency, Reverend Wright may feel spurned.

       Axelrod's candle could burn brighter for Obama than his pastor's. This may mean only one thing for a jealous man.  "I will burn the whole house down with my candle."  And so he may.  Stir the ashes later and you may discover why Senator Barack Obama did not become President of the United States.

       If Reverend Wright feels betrayed, he is not mistaken in that feeling. After twenty years, Reverend Wright's protégé turned and walked away. Even if Senator Obama does not look back, the sweet has become salt.