Looks like the "Wright distraction" has risen from the grave to haunt the Obama re-election campaign.

Ed Morrissey:

Hey, guess who's back?  In his new book on Barack Obama titled The Amateur, Edward Klein caught up with Jeremiah Wright, Obama's minister and friend for 20 years and pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.  The Hillary Clinton campaign nearly derailed Obama's nomination by digging up Wright's incendiary and controversial sermons at TUCC, including exhortations like, "God damn America!" and saying that 9/11 was nothing more than America's chickens coming home to roost -- among many other statements.  Obama later proclaimed ignorance of Wright's rants despite his long association with TUCC, and eventually renounced Wright and TUCC entirely when Wright wouldn't keep his mouth shut.

In his on-the-record interview with Klein, Wright claims that an Obama ally offered him $150,000 to keep his mouth shut and stop preaching until after the election, in excerpts published by the New York Post today.

I found this excerpt particularly enlightening. After the bribe was offered Wright, Obama paid him a visit:

"And one of the first things Barack said was, 'I really wish you wouldn't do any more public speaking until after the November election.' He knew I had some speaking engagements lined up, and he said, 'I wish you wouldn't speak. It's gonna hurt the campaign if you do that.'

"And what did you say?" I asked. "I said, 'I don't see it that way. And anyway, how am I supposed to support my family?' And he said, 'Well, I wish you wouldn't speak in public. The press is gonna eat you alive.'

"Barack said, 'I'm sorry you don't see it the way I do. Do you know what your problem is?' And I said, 'No, what's my problem?' And he said, 'You have to tell the truth.' I said, 'That's a good problem to have. That's a good problem for all preachers to have. That's why I could never be a politician.'

Morrissey points out that this makes Obama out to be a liar when he said he didn't listen to Wright's sermons for 20 years. He knew full well the kind of poison Wright had been spewing all those years. Chillingly, it also shows Obama agrees with his pastor "telling the truth" about America.

In case you haven't noticed, the press is ignoring both this story and the book. It will be interesting to see how the campaign responds and whether or not Wright confirms the allegation.