The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, now retired as head of the church Obama "attends" in Chicago, may be, in fact, Obama's former pastor, as the Presidential candidate characterizes him. But Wright certainly is not Obama's former problem. Not by a long shot.

Run, Barack, run. From Rev. Wright. He says he'll come after you if you are elected President because you will then be the leader of a nation whose foreign policy Wright detests.

But it does not appear the Rev. will wait until Inauguration Day. He appears to be coming after Sen. Obama in the here and now. Wright's arrogant appearance Monday at the National Press Club in Washington -- on the eve of a key Democrat primary in Indiana -- can not be misinterpreted. He denies interest in the political process, but make no mistake about it, Rev. Wright is exacting his revenge on Obama.

Obama distanced himself from Wright after revelations of Wright's past ranting from the pulpit. Obama denounced the anti-American, inflammatory passages from various Wright sermons. Obama claimed he did not often hear Wright when Wright was going off on subjects such as AIDS and America's racist tendencies.

So now it is time for Obama to pay the price. The Rev. says he is raising his public profile to protect the dignity of his church, and the so-called Black Church community. Yet it is obvious this is only about Wright getting back at Obama, getting back at the mainstream media and about the care and feeding of Wright's massive ego. He is not attempting to soften his messages of contempt toward the United States and its policies. At the National Press Club, Wright actually sought to advance and sharpen those messages.

First, Wright granted a sit-down with ultraliberal commentator Bill Moyers to take a few swings at Moyers' softballs. Then he spoke before the NAACP in Detroit, pounding the podium, or was it Obama's political future he was smacking down? Why would Wright include a rant in his Detroit speech in which he called the candidate "Barack Hussein Obama"? Not once, but several times in rapid succession. The Obama camp abhors the use of Obama's middle name.

Then it was off to D.C. for a contentious Q&A at the National Press Club. Why now? Why not?

Obama must pay. If Obama falls, Wright rises. Wright will not see Obama in the Oval Office after Inauguration Day 2009 because Obama will be back home in Illinois, regrouping as a defeated man must do. And Wright wants it that way.

The Rev. is so completely delusional he would rather turn up America's racial tension a few notches, he would rather reassert the power of the Black Church and its doctrine, and he would rather become a rising celebrity. He'd rather have all of that than see Barack Obama become America's first black President.

The Rev. Wright has come home to roost. But voters on the fence may soon be leaving their perches to re-examine Hillary Clinton or John McCain, and leaving Obama with plenty of time to shop for a new house of worship.