First Obama said he could no more disown Wright than he could disown his own grandmother, or the black community. Leaving aside the fact that, in retrospect, this was an insult to the black community and his grandmother, the decision to distance himself now begs the question, what changed? Wright had said horrible things about this country and many of the ethnic groups that comprise it, but all this was initially dismissed by Obama as an unfair caricature based on soundbytes taken out of context. Wright was just like a crazy uncle, we were told–harmless. But all of a sudden, Obama recognizes Wright as the malefactor that he truly is. Why the change of heart? Says Ana Marie Cox (she’s respectable now, right?):