Here’s Barack Obama on June 5, 2007, at Hampton University, praising Rev. Jeremiah Wright in such an effusive way that it’s obvious they were personally very close. It strains credulity (snap! was that my credulity breaking?) to maintain that Obama has only recently become aware of Wright’s more “inflammatory” statements.

(Hat tip: NewsBusters.)

UPDATE at 3/16/08 3:02:38 pm:

Wow, that was fast. YouTube blitzed my short clip within minutes. The full video is here.

UPDATE at 3/16/08 4:02:07 pm:

UPDATE at 3/16/08 5:43:16 pm:

YouTube didn’t pull the clip, despite the dire red warning banner; it’s showing up now.