Obama Misrepresented The Truth

While I'd agree that the subject of Obama, Wright and "The Speech" has been discussed about enough, it turns out that Obama played fast and loose with some important facts and it hasn't yet been pointed out. h/t to reader Paul and this questioning post for causing me to dig a little deeper on this.

Obama led us to believe Jeremiah Wright's anger was justified by resentment born of years of frustration and struggle. Guess what? That isn't the case at all. And stripped of that rationale, it's really nothing more than plain old anti-white racism from a junior member of a highly accomplished black family.

As Krauthammer points out, led on by Obama - Wright is being cast as a man representing a very troubled past.

Krauthammer: But Obama was supposed to be new. He flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor. (Wright)

Obama: (Making excuses for Wright) -- A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted.

The problem is, Wright doesn't appear to have struggled much at all. If anything, he came from something of a privileged, or at least upper-middle class background. Some background on his Mother from an extensive list of her accomplishments upon her death. Also confirmed here and here. The family is pictured on Right here - his sister and brother-in-law are Dr. William R. Miner & Mrs. LaVerne Miner. Point being, Wright is from a family that represents incredible success for people of any color, or race. Obama's offered excuse is really no excuse at all. Based on Wright's Bio and Obama's rationalizations, even today, Obama and any successful black American would have every right to be as angry as is Jeremiah Wright.

WHEREAS, The former Mary Elizabeth Henderson was born on May 26, 1916 in Surry County, Virginia, the last of seven children of the Reverend Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton M. Henderson; in June, 1938, she married her college sweetheart, the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright; and

WHEREAS, She graduated high school at fifteen years of age and graduated from Virginia Union University magna cum laude, with degrees in mathematics and English; in 1949, she earned a Master of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of
Pennsylvania; during the 1958-59 school year, Mrs. Wright was on a sabbatical study leave as a National Science Fellow in the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a Master of Science degree in education; she went on to earn a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Wright had a distinguished 34-year career in the Philadelphia public schools; she taught mathematics for nine years at Sulzberger Junior High School; she was later appointed to teach mathematics at William Penn High School; in
addition, she was the first African-American teacher at Roosevelt Junior High School, Germantown High School, and Philadelphia High School for Girls; Dr. Wright was appointed Vice Principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1968 and remained in that position until her retirement in 1978;

Comments

[jharp]

missy,

"free two terrorist ridden countries"

al Qaeda was not in Iraq until after the invasion

"screw up bin Laden's plans to gain Iraq as a base"

Saddam was doing this for free and how about this crazy idea, let's capture or kill the actual guy behind the 911 attacks.

"sit on the crazy mullah's border"

So I guess our goal is a permanent occupation. Even Bush and the wingnuts aren't stupid enough to make this claim.

[seekeronos]

"--- How about it, how much longer for our $12 billion per month, $1-$2 trillion goodwill mission? ---"

Dunno. Long as it takes for the threat of terrorism to be exterminated from the face of the earth, or about 100 years. Of course, I am not altogether confident that such an open-ended plan is even feasible.

It is a nasty catch-22, in'nit? Stay, and drain the economy, blood, and youth out of our nation. Leave, and see Iraq fall under a mix of Iranians, Al-Qaeda, and whatever other local warlords want to move in (and lose any hope of reviving the oil extraction from Iraq qith it).

And if you care to have us pull out of the middle east and leave them to their own devices, how soon will it be till you Dems have us trying to suppress other folks' ructions in Sudan/Darfur/Somalia/Yugobosnia/etc. again?

Whatever happened to minding our own business to start with, and just having sufficient power to promise that we'd nuke the stuffings out of any enemy who dared to attack us?

[David M]

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 03/24/2008 - A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

http://thunderrun.blogspot.com/2008/03/web-reconnaissance-for-03242008.html

[jharp]

seekeronos,

Long as it takes for the threat of terrorism to be exterminated from the face of the earth, or about 100 years.

I don't see terrorism ever being exterminated from the face of the earth, not even in 200 years.

It is a nasty catch-22, in'nit? Stay, and drain the economy, blood, and youth out of our nation. Leave, and see Iraq fall under a mix of Iranians, Al-Qaeda, and whatever other local warlords want to move in (and lose any hope of reviving the oil extraction from Iraq qith it).

Yes, it is a real quandary we're in with no good solutions. It was a stupid, stupid decision to invade and I must remind you that the position we're are in is EXACTLY how many predicted.

And if you care to have us pull out of the middle east and leave them to their own devices, how soon will it be till you Dems have us trying to suppress other folks' ructions in Sudan/Darfur/Somalia/Yugobosnia/etc. again?

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It is probably the biggest negative resulting from the demise of the republican party.

Who's gonna keep the dems in check? GWB has really mucked things up for what I think is a generation. Just sucks.

Whatever happened to minding our own business to start with, and just having sufficient power to promise that we'd nuke the stuffings out of any enemy who dared to attack us?

What happened was the neocons got too much power.

Again, just sucks and will take a long, long time to mend.

$4 trillion in additional debt in 7 years. Terrible.

Good post, BTW.

[jharp]

From conservative blogger John Cole @ Balloon Juice.

I see that Andrew Sullivan was asked to list what he got wrong about Iraq for the five year anniversary of the invasion, and since I was as big a war booster as anyone, I thought I would list what I got wrong:

Everything.

And I don’t say that to provide people with an easy way to beat up on me, but I do sort of have to face facts. I was wrong about everything.

I was wrong about the Doctrine of Pre-emptive warfare.
I was wrong about Iraq possessing WMD.
I was wrong about Scott Ritter and the inspections.
I was wrong about the UN involvement in weapons inspections.
I was wrong about the containment sanctions.
I was wrong about the broader impact of the war on the Middle East.
I was wrong about this making us more safe.
I was wrong about the number of troops needed to stabilize Iraq.
I was wrong when I stated this administration had a clear plan for the aftermath.
I was wrong about securing the ammunition dumps.
I was wrong about the ease of bringing democracy to the Middle East.
I was wrong about dissolving the Iraqi army.
I was wrong about the looting being unimportant.
I was wrong that Bush/Cheney were competent.
I was wrong that we would be greeted as liberators.
I was wrong to make fun of the anti-war protestors.
I was wrong not to trust the dirty smelly hippies.

I mean, I could go down the list and continue on, but you get the point. I was wrong about EVERY. GOD. DAMNED. THING.

Honestly, folks, and this is from my heart. Try admitting your mistakes. You will be surprised how forgiving most people are and how much better you will feel.

Then and only then can the healing process begin.

[Tom the Redhunter]

Wow, jharp, why don't you want to discuss the subject of this post? Maybe because you know it exposes the hypocrisy of liberals and the lies of Obama?

by harping on Bush and the war you are taking the position that two wrongs make a right (if you believe the war was wrong). Are you really that illogical?

Try admitting your mistake, you'll find it cathartic.

[templar knight]

"Link. I don't believe this is accurate."

Wrong again, jharp. These figures come directly from the UN Office of the Iraq Programme, Oil-for-Food.

18-24 Jan 2003-1.6 million bopd.

I rechecked my figures, and Iraqi oil exports for the month of February were on average 1.93 million bopd, which is higher than prewar levels.

[templar knight]

Here's what I said about the war in Iraq and the occupation, jharp.

1. We should not have invaded Iraq.
2. But after we did invade, we didn't have enough troops to occupy Iraq.
3. Bush/Cheney tried to win the war/occupy Iraq on the cheap, therefore they did not send enough troops to do the job.
4. It ended up costing way more money in the long run. We would have had to spend more money up front, but it would have paid off long term.
5. After we were there, I said it was important for us to win.
6. The dirty hippies encouraged the insurgency in Iraq, and reminded our enemies that if they just stayed at it long enough, we would abandon our allies.
7. We were greeted as liberators, but the looting and lack of security soon turned a large part of the populace against us. The lack of law enforcement and security has always done just that. Hitler himself arose from the same type of chaotic background.
8. I was wrong about the Baathists and the Iraqi Army. Some should have been allowed to stay.
9. I was wrong about the Shia. I felt sorry for them after all the years of abuse they had been subjected to under Saddam. Their thirst for revenge should have been foreseen.
10. I was wrong about the Shiite militias. Mookie should have been taken out immediately.

Those are just a few of my observations. I'm probably like most people, wrong about some things, and right about others. But I have never claimed to be infallible, and I have no earthly idea where you liberals/Leftists get that idea.

[jharp]

"UN Office of the Iraq Programme, Oil-for-Food"

Ah, the old pinko commie defeatists leftists UN, huh.

Just kidding and I'll take your word for it.

However, it would be more accurate to assess the total shipments from the start of the invasion to today in order to judge the effect it has had on oil supplies.

[templar knight]

True, and that would be less over the period in question, no doubt. But I maintain that the emergence of China/India and the rising demand for oil would have driven the cost up regardless of the war in Iraq. Whether it would be $100 a barrel is subject to debate, but I'll agree and say more like $80.

[jharp]

templar,

So we agree. The war has caused an increase in oil prices.

You say it would be $80 without the war.

I say you pulled that number out of your ass and you have no idea.

[DANEgerus]

The new hate-speech from "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's replacement, "Reverend" Otis Moss III, demonstrates that this Barack Hussein Obama lie about "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's background being "tough" does matter because "Reverend" Otis Moss III is too young to have experienced anything except indoctrination by "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright.

[templar knight]

Well, I've worked in the oil business for 20 years, but other than that and a degree in geology with strategraphy and sedimentation my specialty, no, man, I don't have a fucking clue.

[LOL]

no, you really don't have a clue. I'm pretty sure you were a lousy businessman too.

[jharp]

templar,

Being a gas station attendant does not count as working in the oil business.

Sorry, but couldn't resist and only meant to be in jest.

Always was interested in geology and wish I had pursued it. To be honest I didn't think I could master it. I settled on accounting and have never practiced it for one day.

Though I respect your ability as a scientist it has nothing to do with economics and I still think you pulled the $80 per barrel out of your ass.

[templar knight]

"I'm pretty sure you were a lousy businessman too."

Really. Well, I'm pretty sure you still live with your mommy. But, hey, that's conjecture, just as your statement is. In all seriousness, you don't have to be any kind of businessman whatsoever to make money in the oil business right now.

[seekeronos]

Ya know something, jharp?

You are a pretty insulting gal... not that we can fault you for not knowing (or paying attention to details - a key deficit in many liberals) to what Templar Knight's line of work is... but even after he gives his basis for where he might get an idea about the price of oil, you and LOL (I'm not addressing his snot-mouthed remark, as his numbskullish trolling is well established here, and nobody pays that empty-headed twit much mind) both continue with your assumption that TK's making up his figures.

I would even go as far as to say that you have accused him of being a liar - no small charge, but I'll withhold that, as TK qualified his statement as an estimate.

Yet, If anyone is more likely to pull numbers out of their bodily cavities with regard to a reasonable estimate of the oil price, I reckon TK's word will tend to be more on the mark than what you *think* it might be (unless you are a secretly a commodities trader and have more of an inside angle to this).

Please, we can see that you are in solidarity with some of the other D.Kos Kool-Aid drinkers that like to haunt this blog, but try not to lower yourself to their level of false presumption.

[templar knight]

Thank you for those kind words, seek. The mendacity of these leftists is almost beyond compare, but it is nothing new. We deserve what we get, as Willie said on the other thread. But the Lefty's are going to be in for a big disappointment, no matter who wins the Presidency, as none of the three will be as radical, nor introduce and pass the legislation these dimwits desire. Nothing short of Marxism will satisfy these twits, and that ain't gonna happen, to borrow a phrase.