The mainstream media, blogosphere, and Jewish mothers alike (mine specifically) have been up in arms over Louis Farrakhan's endorsement of Barack Obama.  This frenzy began with Richard Cohen's WaPo Op-Ed last month.  Cohen stated that Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ (to which Obama and his family belong), runs a church-related magazine that gave Louis Farrakhan an award last year.  

Though Obama has both rejected and denounced Farrakhan's support time and time again, this storyline has still snowballed.  It's not surprising that FOX News has taken this thread and gone hog-wild, given their propensity to spread smear.  What is frightening, however, is how some members of the Jewish community have fallen for this neocon ploy to paint Obama as an enemy of Israel.   Even Danny Ayalon, the recently retired Israeli Ambassador, has questioned Obama's plans for dealing with Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Earlier this week, Obama set the record straight when he met with 100 members from Cleveland's Jewish community.

Obama said:

It is true that my Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who will be retiring this month, is somebody who on occasion can say controversial things...I have been a consistent, before I go any further, a consistent denunciator of Louis Farrakhan, nobody challenges that. And what is true is that, recently this is probably, I guess last year. An award was given to Farrakhan for his work on behalf of ex-offenders completely unrelated to his controversial statements. And I believe that was a mistake and showed a lack of sensitivity to Jewish community and I said so. But I have never heard an anti-Semitic [comment] made inside of our church. I have never heard anything that would suggest anti-Semitism on part of the Pastor... So the point I make is this that I understand the concerns and the sensitivities and one of my goals constantly in my public career has been to try to bridge what was a historically powerful bond between the African American and Jewish communities that has been frayed in recent years.

The larger issue at play here is why should Obama be held accountable for Wright's loose affiliation with Farrakhan, since he has repeatedly denounced Farrakhan's support?  Is the question, as my mother has suggested, the fact that Obama still attends Trinity United with his family?  Obama has said he's disagreed with the pastor on many issues, including this one, and that Wright will soon be retiring.  

This raises the larger issue, though, as to how accountable our presidential candidates should be when it comes to endorsements from fanatics.  John McCain just received the endorsement from conservative Pastor John Hagee, that "friend of Israel" who once said the Jews have been responsible for their own persecution because they didn't properly accept God.  Of course, the big difference between Obama's support from Farrakhan and McCain's  support from Hagee is that McCain actively sought Hagee's edorsement and accepted it.  Together, McCain and Hagee want to lead a preemptive strike against Iran... the media, blogosphere (and my mother) ought to be going nuts!

Next, we'll hold Hillary accountable for Ann Coulter's support.