The Israeli paper Ma’ariv took heat for publishing the prayer Barack Obama left in the cracks of the Western Wall on his vistit to Israel. The fact that anybody would grab his private note in such a holy place is disgusting, no doubt. But all along, Obama’s message had a certain made for publication quality: “Lord – Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.” Now, a spokesman for Ma’ariv says that the Obama campaign revealed the note to reporters before placing it into the wall:

Barack Obama’s note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put in the Kotel [Western Wall], a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

The Obama campaign is denying the report, so it’s a he said, she said, situation. But what’s sad is that Obama’s campaign was supposed to be about making people less cynical about politics, and yet I find it completely believable that the Obama campaign would leak his “private” prayer to a newspaper for publication.