Obama Responds Weakly As Wright Problem Worsens

Drudge links a WSJ item with some of the worst rhetoric from Wright, yet - 2006 at Howard University. Meanwhile, Wright came up in a Pittsburgh journalist's call with Obama yesterday. The response appears to be less than satisfactory. Does Obama really think he can wait this one out?

No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body."

Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."

Obama questioned briefly on Wright:

Q: I don't know if you've seen it, but it's all over the wire today (from an ABC News story), a statement that your pastor (the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's South Side) made in a sermon in 2003 that instead of singing "God Bless America," black people should sing a song essentially saying "God Damn America."

A: I haven't seen the line. This is a pastor who is on the brink of retirement who in the past has made some controversial statements. I profoundly disagree with some of these statements.

Q: What about this particular statement?

A: Obviously, I disagree with that. Here is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor. There are times when people say things that are just wrong. But I think it's important to judge me on what I've said in the past and what I believe.

Comments

[joeb]

The MSM really needs to stay on Obama about this black racist pastor. If anybody is "cherry picking" from that racist bigot numbskull they are surely going to get a lot of "cherries".

[Caleb]

So do you think Obama is wondering if there is any video of him in the crowd clapping during one of Wright's rants. That would be a killer.

[Jeffersonian]

Anyone who think that these flaming nuggets from Wright are out of character or somehow anomalies from a body of work otherwise pastoral and conciliatory is fooling himself. The most casual glance at Trinity UCC's website will show any fair-minded observer that Wright and his church are a racialist/racist organization peddling Black Nationalism, anti-semitism and radical politics in a steady, polluted stream. Let's remember, too, that one of these stem-winding sermons preaching racial loathing was a **Christmas** service. Lord have mercy...

Obama is trying to distance himself from this, pretending these remarks were unusual and unsupported. The videos we've seen show that Wright's flock was anything but condemnatory of the sermons and it is increasingly clear that this is this church's central theme, not a digression from it.

[JohnnyR]

Are there any series of sermons from Wright (let's say four or five weeks in a row) that are, you know, Christian? That are not diatribes against whites and America?

Apologists (including Obama) say that this is just cherry-picking a few statements. Even though it's unimaginable that the MSM would accept this explanation from a Republican in a similar circumstance, is it possible to see if Obama's own explanation is correct? Or did Wright do this basically ever Sunday?

[Fred Beloit]

I wish this Wright business would have been saved for the general election. By then it will be stale and Obama will say, as Hillary and Bill often do: "That charge is old news and was answered a long time ago". You know, like the miraculous cattle futures speculation, as if it were not a concealed but outright bribe.

[MD]

Agree with comments above. Cherry-pick? Um, Senator Obama, that statement is not cherry-picking. It is a quote that represents a very particular view of the world and is expressed as such by the Reverend.

Too clever by half. No, no, no. The question is: does Senator Obama think that Reverend Wright has engaged in similar inflammatory rhetoric in the past, and does he think that inflammatory rhetoric impact the community he is serving? He wants a new politics of conciliation, a new era of bipartisanship, a new era in Washington, but thinks this kind of talk is okay? How much harm can that kind of stuff do in the community the Reverend serves? I would imagine quite a lot.

[Ennis]

He apparently thinks that his "charisma" will make this all fade away.

Memo to Barak: The effective half life of charisma is very short. Be prepared for a very rough ride. The MSM and your BFF Oprah may coddle you but the public won't. You see, the MSM is no longer the gatekeeper of information and your BFF Oprah is losing her audience due to her support of you. BTW-if you supposedly disagree with this racist pastor why the hell do you give so much money to this guy and why does your wife parrot what this guy says? I think it is because you agree with him.

The next items you are going to have to answer for are the following.

1. Earmarks and your wife's job-isn't it amazing that she gets a "new position" at her job which pays her alot more for essentially doing the same thing she was before. And isn't it amazing that the place where she works just got a ton of money from an earmark sponsored by you. Coincidence? I think not.

2. Kenya, Islamofascism, Sharia and your relatives-Why are you using your position as a US Senator to aid the institution of Sharia law in Kenya? Could it be because your relatives (including your Islamofascist older brother) are the ones who are trying to institute Islamic rule over Kenya? Your relatives are using all sorts of "fun tactics" like gang raping little girls, genocide on almost Rwandan levels, etc. Why do you remain silent? Is it because you condone these acts? Is it because the ones doing it are from YOUR tribe?

Pamela over at Atlas Shrugs has your number on this one, Barak. http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/kenyas_killing_fields/index.html

[MD]

Also, Sen Obama profoundly disagrees with *some* of these statements? Why did he throw in the *some*? Verbal tick? If not, what are the statements he does agree with?

[MD]

Wow, that's a little overboard there, Ennis. I guess one set of inflammatory rhetoric deserves another....

[LogicalSC]

What is becoming more and more clear is that Obama is a anti-American racist in a shiny package.

From his racist church and "spiritual" leader, to his American and man-hating wife, to his terrorist Weatherman friends, it can longer be ascribed to a "misstatement" or they weren't really close. Everybody and every aspect of life from his church to family life is encase in this hatred.

But here is the kicker, he should be the Democratic nominee because he perfectly represents the platform of 85% of today's Democrats which they constantly had to hide from America for the past 3 decades to get elected.

So lets get it over with nominate him and finally see if America truly wants this America, "white", and man hatred to be it's representive to the world.

[Paul B]

It's "weak" to say he "profoundly disagrees" with the Pastor's controversial statements? You've set this up so that any answer less than crapping all over the man who married him and baptised his children is "weak." Any fair minded person would find Obama's answer completely reasonable and diplomatic. There is no evidence that Obama believes or agrees with Wright on these statements, and there is abundant contrary evidence that he doesn't. Obama chose this church because of it's proximity to the community for which he was an activist - hopefully more educated and religeously moderate blacks will follow Obama's example and join these congregations to provide a better influence on these devastated and neglected inner city communities. Doubtful it will happen if the Right is successful in smearing Obama. Heckuva job guys...

[The Ace]

and there is abundant contrary evidence that he doesn't.

Funny stuff, really.

You mean "evidence" like continuing to go to the church, right?

Obama chose this church because of it's proximity to the community for which he was an activist

wow, you have really swallowed all the Koolaid.

Would be interested in some property in Florida by chance???

[Dan Riehl]

LMAO - God, Paul B - can't anything ever be a liberal's responsibility? Must everything be "our" fault? Your nonsense is ever more weak than Obama's. It's beyond ignorant; it's pathetic.

He was inspired enough to entitle a book after one of his sermons because ... well, the church was close to where he worked!! Freakin priceless. Only a hopeless ideologue could even entertain your silly ideas.

[Jeffersonian]

Right, Paul B, it must have been the only church in that entire state senate district.

It won't work, pal. This sort of racialism/racism was the core of TUCC, not a deviation from its message. If Obama "profoundly disagreed" with this sort of thing, he wouldn't be there. Period.

[LogicalSC]

Paul B:

I see you are a "kool-aide" drinker for Obama. Like the rest of his campaign, he says nothing and you hear what you hope he means.

Have you heard and read his wife's thoughts? She certainly has similar feelings as Obama's "spiritual advisor" and you write it off as Obama joining the church 20 years ago to "change" this ugliness? His children were raised attending these sermons? They were raised and "baptized" into this church. Are they going to be the ones to provide a better influence? Where would they get the idea that is was wrong? Not from their mother, as she feels the same. Obama? Nobody knows because the truth is virtually nothing is known about his ideas or philosophy. He certainly didn't reveal any "hope" with his dealing with Rezko's slum or his choice of associates, Ayers.

But as I said, he is the "perfect storm" candidate for today's Democratic party which is controlled by the America-hating adolescent left. He hates all the right things, America, men, and "whites".

So get on with it.

[HitNRun]

A: Obviously, I disagree with that. Here is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor.

I've had a few pastors in my much-shorter-than-40-year life and I don't believe picking his tree would reveal any "cherries" like those.

40 year career? Damn, we've only been looking at the last three weeks.

[MarkJ]

"So do you think Obama is wondering if there is any video of him in the crowd clapping during one of Wright's rants. That would be a killer."

Caleb,

I agree. Obama must be sweating bullets right now, because the Clinton Campaign is indubitably, and feverishly, looking under every friggin' rock for this kind of stuff. And, for the right offer, they may very well acquire it.

In short, if the Clintons can pin down Obama as having attended at least one of Wright's rants, then Prince Charming's campaign is D.E.A.D. Imagine Hillary saying, "Mr. Obama, your attendance at these sermons means you either approve of Reverend Wright's hateful rants or are turning a blind eye to them. Which is it?"

[Harvard@Cal]

I never knew the Westboro Baptist Church was in Illinois. And I didn't know Fred had changed his name to Wright either. But, judging from the speeches, that's got to be the case, no other explanation I can think of.

[s sommer]

The pastor is nuts, but he does express frustrations and ideas which I have heard others agree with... people who feel that they have been kicked in the head and kept down in our society. There's no way for us to know how much of the pastor's rhetoric the Obamas truly might agree with, but he is clearly their friend.

I have friends from both extremes of the political spectrum. The cartoons my friends send me in chain emails slap both sides hard in the face. Sometimes, they make me laugh, sometimes I cringe and cannot delete their jokes fast enough.

There are those who only associate with people with whom they agree on just about everything. Do such people have much influence in their world? Hardly.

By being members of such a congregation, the Obamas are living proof that their pastor is wrong. Do you think that the people attending that church do not know that they have a US Senator in their midst? Two Ivy League educated church members? Their simple presence and participation is a sermon in itself, countering the pastor's angst and hopelessness.

Obama was supposedly an "activist." I have yet to see exactly what that means, what he did, but it implies that he was working in the trenches with people who needed positive input and guidance to change.

I am not shocked by his pastor's words. I have heard rhetoric like his before. Maybe, it is good to get it all out on the table and have America have a conversation about it.

Can it be about a point of view, rather than about Obama? Because, these are not HIS words.

HIs words seem to be completely the opposite of what his pastor has said. Does that count for something?

[tree hugging sister]

"...I don't believe picking his tree would reveal any "cherries" like those."

Oh, God, I'm DYIN' here!!! And once I clean the coffee off the monitor, will post my own deep thoughts...

[Jason]

Obviously, this quote is not just one statement in a sea of Christian love. They should have played the entire sermon for Barack. The other thing is that Obama agrees with this guy by just being a member of this church for decades. If I ever heard my priest say anything like this, I would be gone in a heartbeat. Maybe Chicago doesn't have any other churches though. I certainly wouldn't have the guy baptize my kids, marry me, and steal his line to title my book. In typical Democrat style, they rode emotion without doing any background checking. Now they are in trouble.

[JorgXMcKie]

Let's see. Obama's been going to this church for 20 years. I suppose that means Wright hasn't been spouting this stuff over that period? It only happened once (or maybe twice) fairly recently and maybe Obama wasn't present so he didn't know?

Does this mean that moonbats like Paul B will now give conservatives and Republicans a pass for their relationships? Of course, right?

I just love to watch such pathetic meltdowns as Paul B's. It re-inforces my observation that Lefties inhabit a different universe than the rest of us.

[Maggie]

Once his daughters came along, Barack has no justification for staying in a church where even occasional hate speech is made. How can he explain exposing them to "God damn America"?

[Joan of Argghh!]

It shouldn't be hard to get every one of his sermons on tape. Big churches with influential pastors pride themselves on making sermons available on tape, in custom-boxed series, and likely on DVDs and direct download. But my money is that you could dig through some attics and find rafts of cassette recordings from the last 25 years or so.

If I were charged with my country's security, I'd be more than mildly interested in this sort of incitement. My blog has been scrutinized by D.C. for less.

[Paul B]

"You mean "evidence" like continuing to go to the church, right?"

I mean evidence like the entirety of his written and spoken public record.

"wow, you have really swallowed all the Koolaid."

An insult with no evidence disputing my claim - so you got nothin'

"It's beyond ignorant; it's pathetic."

See above

"He was inspired enough to entitle a book after one of his sermons because ... well, the church was close to where he worked!!"

Or he was inspired by a sermon that had nothing to do with any of Wright's controversial statements, and wrote a book which has a message completely contrary to said controversial statements. Weak describes your ability to comprehend, argue, and write - not Obama's response.

"If Obama "profoundly disagreed" with this sort of thing, he wouldn't be there. Period."

Once again because most of you are slow. Obama's goal was to reach out and lead by example in a marginalized urban community. His goal couldn't have been achieved by joining a mainstream, middle class, mostly white congregation. He went where he could help and be with the people he served on a daily basis. He's supposed to abandon them because he disgrees profoundly with some of the Pastor's statements?

[IslamoLlama]

"--How can he explain exposing them to "God damn America"?--"

I think his wife has already expressed her general disappointment in America over the last few decades. Given that the Republicans were profaning the federal government - trying to "drown it in the bath tube" between milking taxpayers for Nowhere Bridges, 'Faith Based' wingnut welfare, and old school kickback schemes - for the last thirty years, you'd think that all those "I hate DEMON-RATS!" and "Bill Clinton is going to Hell!" comments would suggest that conservatives weren't too fond of America either.

But then you remember how old-school tribalism plays out, and you understand that "America" consists of the Republican Party Elite. Being pissed at the Elite when they piss on you is anti-Patriotic. Trashing the economy and embarking on endless foreign wars at the public's expense is "true sacrificial patriotism". Hanging a noose in your office - George Allen style - is freedom of expression. Protesting government abuses that occurred during Vietnam, Iraq, and Nicaragua is racist.

It all makes perfect sense through the wingnut lens. Oppose us and you are a racist/communist/radical/extremist/etc. Support us and we'll give you the privilege of getting crapped on in silence.

And you wonder why Republicans are getting thrown out of office in droves. Denny Hastert - ex-Republican Speaker of the House - now lives in a Blue District. Can you guess why? Perhaps his entire district is full of white-hating racists. Yeah, that's it.

[The Ace]

"mean evidence like the entirety of his written and spoken public record."

Where?
When?
And, why does he continue attending the church?

"An insult with no evidence disputing my claim - so you got nothin'"

It's not an insult, it's true.

Why does he continue attending the church? Especially given he's a Senator?

You can't answer. Clown.

[Jeffersonian]

I mean evidence like the entirety of his written and spoken public record.

You mean we have to read his lips, and we're precluded from watching his feet? So if John McCain regularly attends rallies at the American Nazi Party HQ, we'll just accept his explanation that he doesn't hold to any of that concentration camp stuff..he's just an admirer of the autobahns and VW?

Obama's goal was to reach out and lead by example in a marginalized urban community. His goal couldn't have been achieved by joining a mainstream, middle class, mostly white congregation. He went where he could help and be with the people he served on a daily basis. He's supposed to abandon them because he disgrees profoundly with some of the Pastor's statements?

Are you contending that his is the only black church in his district?

Pardon me, Paul, but this stuff is the central message of TUCC, not some digression from it. Just visit the website and you'll be disabused of your mealy-mouthed apologia.

[The Ace]

Obama's goal was to reach out and lead by example in a marginalized urban community.

Really? What is your proof of this?

And, um, I'd say he's been spectacularly unsuccessful. You're going to hold that against him, right?

" He went where he could help and be with the people he served on a daily basis"

Help what?
Because you say so? Where is your proof?

"An insult with no evidence disputing my claim"

Actually, your silly statements prove the point.
Your reaction is in line with a Koolaid drinker.

By the way, clown, how does it feel to be a whitey supporting a black guy who despises you?

[Jeffersonian]

I see, Islamollama...one only need have affection for one's country when the government is in the hands of one's political allies.

See also: Kenya, Rwanda, Burma

[Ennis]

MD,

I am sorry if the truth hurts, hun.

Those are just a couple of things that Obama will be questioned about in the coming months, along with the Rezko affair which he will be subpoenaed to testify at the trail and possibly indicted. There is simply no way out of it because those stories are too widely known and he will not be able to spin his way out of being questioned about them. Tossing the race card like ninja throwing stars at any and all who dare question him will no longer work, either.

Quite frankly, if the Rezko affair doesn't do it the Kenyan stuff will effectively end his political career. Even the Chicago Democratic party machine will turn it's back on him which means he will be a one term Senator. I am just totally surprised at how stupid the Democratic party has been in trying to push Obama for a national office. They are not that blind not to know about the massive baggage that comes with this guy and his wife. The only reason I can think of is that those who are still left in the Democratic party are so spychologically debilitated that they have lost all rational thought and the ability to think logically.

[Scrapiron]

So Hussein Obama says to believe him, not your own lying eyes. Like in Iraq under Saddam you should just go ahead and jump in the wood chipper, the last thousand who died were accidents, we've got it fixed now, you'll come out the other end in a new suit.

[The Ace]

"Given that the Republicans were profaning the federal government - trying to "drown it in the bath tube" between milking taxpayers for Nowhere Bridges, 'Faith Based' wingnut welfare"

And another easily misled dupe arrives on the scene.
Do tell us, which party presided over the largest earmarks in the history of Congress this year?
Explain that. Please.

Then, when you're done avoiding that question, tell us why President Clinton, Democrat, signed welfare reform and how that fits with your silly assertion.
Please.

"I think his wife has already expressed her general disappointment in America over the last few decades."

Is this what the "reality based community" tells themselves in order to get through the day? Really? That, THAT is what she said?
Otherwise, when has she been proud of America? Why is so difficult for you "patriotic" people to express pride in your country?

"and old school kickback schemes - for the last thirty years,"

You are simply delusional. Hey, want to guess which party had the most members involved in the Keating 5 and Abscam?
Go ahead champ, take a guess. Then, please explain why William Jefforson has so much cash in his freezer, John Murtha's son in law runs a contracting firm recieving millions in earmarked contracts, and Alcee Hastings on the Intel Committee.

Go ahead. Please.

"and you understand that "America" consists of the Republican Party Elite."

Really? Um, so the Clintons aren't in America? Bill Clinton was never President? Jimmy Carter? Nancy Pelosi, the Clintons, Senator's Kohl, Boxer, Feinstein, and Rockefeller aren't multi-multi, multi millionaires?

You
are
delusional

[The Ace]

"Obama's goal was to reach out and lead by example in a marginalized urban community. His goal couldn't have been achieved by joining a mainstream, middle class, mostly white congregation. He went where he could help and be with the people he served on a daily basis. He's supposed to abandon them because he disgrees profoundly with some of the Pastor's statements? "

Uh, yes:

"Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty"

Captain Koolaid drinker. Just imagine, IMAGINE, if McCain or any Republican attended a "church" where the pastor said blacks are dumb and are to blame for all America's problems. And went for 20 years and offered a tepid "I obviously don't agree with some of his statements."

I sure, no certain, clowns like you would accept that and move on.

[Basil Duke]

This sort of association would surely be toxic for any candidate OTHER than the messiah. But, since the lordly Mr. Obama is running on an historic, splinter-free platform of "hope" and "feelin' GREAT!" and uh, well, did I mention "hope"? - he'll skate, at least with the Paul B's of the world. Unfortunately, the Paul B's of the world have wormed their way deep into the MSM and won't be having any of this right-wing hate talk about a man potent and hope-filled enough to give his lady supporters a collective case of the vapors. He is truly a living god - and don't you forget it, you hope-deprived right-wing bad people!

[Jonathan]

"His words seem to be completely the opposite of what his pastor has said. Does that count for something?"

No, they aren't. It's one thing to say "I disagree with some of what [person X] says." It's quite another to say "[Person X] is flat-out, 100% dead wrong about [issue a, issue b, issue c]. And so is my wife. America has accomplished far more good than bad in its short 200-year history and if elected I will serve with humble recognition of this fact."

An American politician too ashamed of America to wear a flag lapel pin or place his hand over his heart during the National Anthem doesn't logically deserve the benefit of the doubt when the pastor he supports aligns with our enemies, wouldn't you agree?

You can't change family members. You can change pastors quite easily.

[MD]

Ennis,

I respectfully disagree. It still seems waaaay to out there for me, that stuff about his relatives gang-raping little girls. Come on! Ever read the Anchoress blog (I never link to anything. Too lazy)? I think she was getting at that today; don't let emotion cloud your thinking when there is plenty of the plain old Chicago machine about this guy to work with.

Anyway, Rev. Wright is hurting the community he's supposed to be helping with his wild talk. It's not responsible and why won't Senator Obama call him on it? That's not very brave, is it?

[Paul B]

"So if John McCain regularly attends rallies at the American Nazi Party HQ, we'll just accept his explanation that he doesn't hold to any of that concentration camp stuff..he's just an admirer of the autobahns and VW?"

"Just imagine, IMAGINE, if McCain or any Republican attended a "church" where the pastor said blacks are dumb and are to blame for all America's problems. And went for 20 years and offered a tepid "I obviously don't agree with some of his statements."

These responses might have some merit were it not for the historical record of race relations in this country and the consequences of that record. Since these hypothetical stituations are not populated by a people from a community that has suffered the legacies of slavery and segregation, marginalized by the economy and devastated by the "War on Drugs" then they aren't, even in imagination, close to equivalent. The failure to recognize this most elementary fact proves what a moral sewer you inhabit.

[Jeffersonian]

I see, so slavery justifies all, including racial hatred, conspiracy-mongering, anti-semitism and cuddling with lunatics like Qaddafi. The one-size-fits-all excuse. You can paint yourself as a racial healer, even as you support bug-eyed racial separatists.

Take a look around, Paul, and know what the moral sewer looks like.

[Aye Chihuahua]

"These responses might have some merit were it not for the historical record of race relations in this country and the consequences of that record."

You're not really pretending to believe (or trying to convince us) that the Dims have a better record on race relations and Civil Rights are you?

Surely not.

Unless of course the "B" stands for Brain Dead.

[foxforce91]

I see, so slavery justifies all, including racial hatred, conspiracy-mongering, anti-semitism and cuddling with lunatics like Qaddafi.

Of course it does. And they are also such uniters, aren't they? They (Democrats) are truly going to bring this country together, right? Because they are so good at it and because they care. /s off

I guess Paul B. and his comrades don't realize that it is the Democrats that actually own most of that opressive history.
Oh, and I hate to keep bringing up the much lauded Democratic Senator from West Va who was, (??) a Kleagle for the KKK. You do know the history of the KKK, don't you Paul? Are you aware of what they've done to the black community?

[M. Simon]

HIs words seem to be completely the opposite of what his pastor has said. Does that count for something?

Yep. They count for a lot. He says one thing his church and wife say another. Big disconnect.

BHO says this guy is his spiritual mentor.

You know I think we are looking at pieces of two different puzzles. It just doesn't fit together. Which counts for a lot.

[M. Simon]

Yep. Republicans are getting thrown out of office right and left.

Take that Republican Spitzer.

[K T Cat]

There's another aspect to this that isn't getting any attention as far as I can see. What kind of people go to this church? Wouldn't you expect racist, hateful people to be attending these services? Unless Barack has been getting in and out of the church as fast as possible for the last twenty years, unless he's just been going to this church to "check off the box" every Sunday, if you will, he's been voluntarily socializing with this kind of person for two decades. It's not the pastor that's the biggest problem, it's the entire environment of the church.

That leads the issue of Sunday School for his kids. Were his children going to Sunday School here? If so, he can no longer distance himself from Rev. Wright's lunacy. How can you distance yourself from the church that you rely on to give your children moral teaching? It just doesn't make any sense at all to claim that Barack disagreed with some of the sermons, but kept going anyway. Rev. Wright is clearly a toxic nut. You wouldn't put your children anywhere near him unless you didn't mind what he was saying.

[J'hn1]

When you have a disagreement with the local church leader of a national faith, you look across at what the traditional doctrine of that faith espouses (not always confining yourself to national as in the case of the Anglican community). If the local religous leader is in disagreement with that traditional doctrine you could, in decently good conscience, stay at that church while trying to reconcile the local beliefs with the traditional faith there as the local is "not really what the faith believes".
When you attend a local church that does not have a national or traditional (international) rooted doctrine, you have to limit your acceptance of what the believed doctrine is, to what the local preaches on the local pulpit.
If you disagree with it, you either have to
1) admit you are wrong and the preacher is (W)right or
2) accept that the local preacher isn't all that bad, not enough to stop supporting them. or
3) find another church to attend and support

That is it.
Those are your only choices (well variants on those like lying about which one and/or how bad)

Whether Obama's actions were #1 or #2 are not as relevant as the appropriate need to bring up that historical fact that one of those two is true, and both possibilities reflect in a public way on his judgment. WE are supposed to elect a President that we trust his or her judgment. Barack Hussien Obama's judgment is completely appropriate for discussion in this, or any other election cycle.

Either he agrees with Wright, or does not find such loathsome statements too bad (certainly not bad enough to have even spoken out of before it was rubbed in his face)

[Roy Mustang]

Those who truly believed Obama would bring racial unity will abandon him.

That being said, I don't see Obama's support in the Democratic primaries dropping more than a few percent.

[Paul B]

"I see, so slavery justifies all, including racial hatred, conspiracy-mongering, anti-semitism and cuddling with lunatics like Qaddafi."

How mornoic of you to take the most historically remote example and restate it as the entirety of my argument. Justification is not the same as explanation - there are reasons why controversial statements like those expressed by Pastor Wright have gained traction in the urban black community whether you chose to aknowledge them or not.

"You're not really pretending to believe (or trying to convince us) that the Dims have a better record on race relations and Civil Rights are you?"

"I guess Paul B. and his comrades don't realize that it is the Democrats that actually own most of that opressive history."

During the Civil Rights era, the Democrats do have better record on race relations and civil rights than the GOP. In fact, the Democrats embraced the Civil Rights movement with the knowledge that it would lose its southern white constituency for generations to come, an act of principle with no equivalent on the other side. The Republicans sure were happy to accept them and appeal to their worst instincts, you should be SO proud...

"Take a look around, Paul, and know what the moral sewer looks like."

This is surely correct in a way you didn't intend, LOL!

[Ken McCracken]

After inventing Jim Crow, segregation and poll taxes, supporting the institution of slavery, committing treachery against United States during the Civil War, and in every way being the worst enemies blacks have ever known, yeah I think the least the Democratic Party can do is support civil rights legislation.

Of course, Democrats were the most hardline opponents of that legislation and it couldn't have been passed without Republican support, so don't break your arm patting yourself on the back for being a Dem, Paul B.

[Jeffersonian]

Excuses for failure always gain traction in their target group, Paul, since it absolves the group of responsibility while providing a scapegoat for all one's ills. It also has the political advantage of empowering those who manufacture the excuses. Whites, Jews, Koreans and now, Hispanics have been fingered by guys like Wright for decades. How lucky Mr. Wright's flock is to have someone dispensing these bromides with such efficiency.

Unhappily, to those of us not infected with terminal leftism, his diatribes, his lunatic conspiracy theories, his racial vitriol look a lot like an particularly unhinged form of hate and racism. All with Obama in the amen corner. I'm happy to let America watch these clips and decide for itself.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"During the Civil Rights era, the Democrats do have better record on race relations and civil rights than the GOP."

Yes, I have to agree with unca paulie having lived through that time. I distinctly remember those awful repugnicans George Wallace, Lester Maddox, Bull Connor, Robert Byrd, Strom Thurmond.....damn I could go a while here. Yes, I remember them with teir axe handles shouting segreation forever!! All thos awfulrepugnicans who controlled the south from 1866 until ????
who made the jim crow laws. Yes, they were ALL repugnicans!!!

Read another book Dipwad........I was there.