This Tuesday, Indiana and North Carolina voters pick their presidential favorites, and among the Democrats, it is against the backdrop of the Jeremiah Wright controversy that is imperiling Barck Obama's candidacy.

Wright sees America not as the arsenal of democracy but as a 21st century colonial power, imposing its military and economic will on the poor and vulnerable. 

Frankly, given our near rock bottom popularity in many parts of the world, it’s not just Reverend Wright who is questioning his country’s moral standing and maybe he’s using his newfound national stature to make sure his famous parishioner doesn’t go too mainstream in his campaign for the White House.

That frankly is Senator Obama’s foremost challenge.  Half Kenyan, half white, well traveled, more in tune with the dispossessed than any candidate in our history, he knows that he will not win in November unless the nation believes he is exactly what we need after eight years of George Bush.

The prospect of four more with another flag waving Caucasian president who believes America needs no mid-course correction is what Obama will campaign against.

Jeremiah Wright is therefore giving us a forecast of the pressures Obama will face if elected.   Will he become the change he promotes or just more of the same, which ministers like Jeremiah Wright can’t abide?

As a pasty white guy, I don’t claim to understand fully the debate raging among black ministers about Barack Obama, but I can see how it’s tearing this talented young man apart.