Late getting here, but:

"I came to appreciate what Tavis is saying above. Which, in a nutshell, is "thanks for throwing Wright under the bus, in order to reassure your white liberal money base."

What a stupid, cynical thing for EITHER Tavis or anyone else to say!
Wright was way off base in his harangues and needed someone to say so! I can barely watch Smiley, for as near as I can tell, in spite of his intelligence and pretense at covering general issues, his hobby is 'being black'. He reminds me of a cleverer Al Sharpton, condemning anything which could be made to sound like criticism of any black individual or movement.

Yes, I know I'll take heat for this, but Obama came nowhere NEAR "throwing Wright under the bus". He praised the good and rebuked the bad aspects of his old pastor. I am pretty tired of the attitude that some topics are off P.C. limits and that ANY person can say the kinds of things Wright said without being called on it.

I respect Obama even more for having the courage to be honest about it.