You can be honest, but I need you to lie about it.

Now that a week or so has passed and everyone has had a chance to chew on both Rev. Wright's comments and Obama's speech, I figured I would give my two cents.

I find it interesting how race in this country is a big white elephant. For some reason it is always an issue, but few people want to talk about it. The feeling seems to be that if we just pretend it isn't there, it will go away.

We get the occasional news piece about Obama's upbringing and some references during debates to the historical significance of his candidacy. But, generally, everyone is scared to go too far for fear of being accused of racism. So it all stays bottled up inside a pressure-cooker.

That is until a former Congresswoman makes some questionable statements and some videos surface of Obama's maverick pastor. It then explodes to the front-page of the news and for a period of time, the media can freely acknowledge that Barack Obama is black without fear that they are raising something they shouldn't have. After all, the media didn't bring it up. Geraldine Ferraro did. The media didn't expose Reverend Wright. You Tube did. The media just reported the news, as they should, and they got to do the stories that they had been wanting to report but were afraid to.

So here we are. We have a black man running for President and now the country has to officially acknowledge this and consider exactly what that means. For most people, it doesn't mean a whole lot because it really has nothing to do with his policies or how well he can lead this country. For others, it makes all of the difference and seeing the inner-workings of a black church will permanently sway their vote to Hillary.

There are people in this country that would never in their life vote for a black man. There are people in this country that would never vote for a woman. There are people in this country that would never vote for a Catholic. There are people in this country that would never vote for a Jew. There are people in this country that would never vote for a Californian. Or a Baptist. Or a Mid-westerner. Or a Floridian. And on and on and on.

While I think basing one's choices on such petty things is a shame, such is the nature of a free society. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and feelings. Some people will just be ignorant and will never see past the superficial layer to realize that the black man they would never vote for, might just be the one that will keep their job from being shipped overseas. It is their right to think whatever they want to think and do what they want to do.

Now, Obama gave a speech last Tuesday where he talked about race in this country. He was quite candid. Many felt it was a watershed moment in this campaign. Others felt it was just an example of how poor a choice for President Mr. Obama is. I personally think the best thing about the speech was its lack of outright political posturing.

Obama did not simply make a speech designed to put race out there and then neatly shove it back in the closet lest it cause more trouble. He made a speech about race and challenged everyone to deal with it openly. He did not pander to anyone by disowning his pastor of 20 years. He acknowledged the nature of his pastor's sermons and put them in context. He then left the audience to draw their conclusions, even if those conclusions hurt his campaign. To me, this shows great respect for the American people.

He recognized that one speech is not going to change the opinions of anyone, so why try. This was not a topic to be playing around with. This was a serious moment, there were some points that needed to be raised and clarified, and I think he dealt with it exactly how he needed to.

Can we move on now?