Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Obama and J Wright

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Obama and J Wright

    That was quite a performance that Jeremiah Wright put on at the National Press Club today.

    For all the talk of reconciliation, Jeremiah Wright could care less about a post-racial approach that many Obama supporters are hoping for. He's an old-line liberal, a Black Liberation theologist that basically holds the American government and anglo-Americans in contempt.

    The largely non-Christian, liberal press corp got an earful from him this morning as the Q and A time turned into an opportunity for J Wright to mock them and broader American society as well. The members of the press gave him a standing ovation after his opening remarks but little did they realize what they were in for when the Q and A started.

    A couple of highlights:

    - He again suggested that America got what it deserved on 9-11.

    - He implied that America and its armies control the world and are imperialistic.

    - He said the U.S. government has never apologized to blacks for the sin of slavery.

    - He put forth a religious universalism seemingly to contradict the exclusivism of a John 14:6 quote mentioned in a question to him. The obvious conclusion is there are many pathways to God besides Christianity.

    - He reiterated that it was entirely plausible that the U.S. government created the AIDS virus to kill blacks.

    - He basically again portrayed Obama as a politician that will say anything to get elected.

    - He mocked the female presenter and press members' written questions. At one point he snatched her notes out of her hand in a confrontational way.

    - He made many silly gestures to his cheering supporters as a way to mock the press members even as the presenter was reading the next question to him. He perpetuated an obvious black versus white atmosphere while his supporters encouraged him on.

    - He had his bodyguards on stage with him, Black Muslim-style (minus the bow ties), as if the press members would actually harm him.

    - He insulted "white" Christians as basically calling themselves something that they are not as if he had the monopoly on spiritual truth.

    - He complained several times that the Bill Moyers interview edited out key parts as if to suggest that Moyers manipulated the video to deliberately portray him in a bad light.

    - He defended and would not denounce Louis Farrakhan.

    - He suggested himself as a suitable Vice-President candidate.

    Bottom line, Obama will get 90% of the black vote no matter what to go along with many liberal whites that are going to vote for Obama simply for the "change" aspect.

    However, many others who might be considering to vote for Obama will turn away from him after hearing the extremism and seeing the contempt that J Wright has for much of America.

    Jeremiah Wright says that the Black Church is being attacked by the press and he is defending it. However, the underlying message he communicates is that white America is the main problem for black people today and has been since the very beginning. In other words, almost all whites, including democrats really just don’t get it. There is an inherent moral bankruptcy with whites that is readily evidenced.

    Obama has a problem. He had better denounce and distance himself from J Wright and fast. This guy is not going away and he seems to relish the attention. The press that has practically anointed Obama as President and are trying their best to see him elected will not take today's public spanking by Jeremiah Wright very well at all. You will see some in the media swing back to Clinton.

    J Wright is nothing but trouble. He is divisive and he doesn't care. If Obama wants to bring people together with a message of hope and change then he better come out and disassociate himself from his former pastor very quickly.

  • #2
    He certainly isn't helping the Obama cause.

    From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
    *** You’re so vain, you probably think this campaign is about you: After addressing the NAACP yesterday in Detroit, Jeremiah Wright travels to the heart of the media beast -- the National Press Club in DC -- where he has been speaking this morning. At this point, no matter one's political inexperience, Wright has to know he's not helping his friend; his decision to go public and defend his reputation at this point in the campaign is doing nothing to help Obama, if anything, it's leading some to believe he's actually trying to sabotage him. He's hurting him and hurting him very badly. Frankly, it’s as selfish of a move as we've seen in some time. Imagine, for example, if Norman Hsu or Vicki Iseman were doing publicity tours right now. Maybe, if there's a silver lining for Obama, he's giving Obama a very easy chance to simply walk away. Remember, Obama didn't toss Wright under the bus, but Wright appears to be doing that to Obama’s candidacy. Still, if Wright Vol. 1, “bitter,” and Pennsylvania didn’t move superdelegates, what will? Nevertheless, Obama seems to be starting off this week in about as bad of shape as we've seen in him in some time.

    Comment


    • #3
      I think it may be time for Reverand Wright to move on to his just reward. The Clintons would know how to deal with this problem.

      Actually I doubt the Rev is doing much damage at the moment, any Dem who cares about Wright has already accounted for him. He will be a piece of the smearing next fall.

      Comment


      • #4
        Now if Hillary would just play 'nice'

        Comment


        • #5
          Wrights doing this so it tanks Obamas campaign, letting Hillary win, and then he'll really have a bunch of shit to piss and moan about
          The Bottom Line:
          Formally Numb, same person, same views of M3

          Comment


          • #6
            Clinton has waged a more negative campaign than Obama, but the Obama supporters have been FAR dirtier than Clinton backers. The press smear her 24-7, then ironically claim the moral high ground. See above article referenced by PackinPatland. Clinton has not engaged in dirty politics, she's criticized Obama's genuine weaknesses as a leader.

            Obama will win the nomination, but his rightous, starry-eyed followers have alienated too many people to pull together a winning coalition for the general election.

            I dearly hope that Clinton continues to kick Obama in the nuts all the way to the convention.

            I notice that Obama declined the opportunity to debate Clinton without a moderator. That would have been a great opportunity to see what he is made of!! Obama is a smart, smooth, professorial guy, but he's second rate in discussing issues. He's wise to run and hide!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Harlan Huckleby
              Clinton has waged a more negative campaign than Obama, but the Obama supporters have been FAR dirtier than Clinton backers. The press smear her 24-7, then ironically claim the moral high ground. See above article referenced by PackinPatland. Clinton has not engaged in dirty politics, she's criticized Obama's genuine weaknesses as a leader.

              Obama will win the nomination, but his rightous, starry-eyed followers have alienated too many people to pull together a winning coalition for the general election.

              I dearly hope that Clinton continues to kick Obama in the nuts all the way to the convention.

              I notice that Obama declined the opportunity to debate Clinton without a moderator. That would have been a great opportunity to see what he is made of!! Obama is a smart, smooth, professorial guy, but he's second rate in discussing issues. He's wise to run and hide!

              The type of debate Hillary wanted was a 'Lincoln-Douglas' .........

              Comment


              • #8
                Obama disassociated himself from Wright's comments, but refused to throw his former pastor under the bus. Unfortunately for Obama, Wright hasn't been nearly as gracious. He has been given a platform to voice his views, and doesn't seem to care if doing so hurts Obama.

                Unless this torpedoes Obama's nomination, I don't think it will end up being a huge issue. Will all the serious issues in the world right now, I think voters will resent it if McCain tries to make this an issue in the fall. I don't think McCain will, because he is vulnerable too if this turns into a dirty campaign. Obama and McCain both have the qualifications to be President in my opinion, but neither is a great candidate fir sainthood.
                I can't run no more
                With that lawless crowd
                While the killers in high places
                Say their prayers out loud
                But they've summoned, they've summoned up
                A thundercloud
                They're going to hear from me - Leonard Cohen

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Joemailman
                  Obama disassociated himself from Wright's comments, but refused to throw his former pastor under the bus.
                  yes, Obama tried to have it both ways. He's all for his pastor, and he didn't know about the bad parts.

                  Obama's claim of ignorance is not plausible. Rev. Wright says Obama is not being straight, he's just saying what he has to say as a politician.

                  Is the public wrong to hold Wright's views against Obama? There are good arguments on both sides of this question.

                  I'm just now listening to a panel discussion of three guests on PBS Newshour. All three on the panel believe Obama is simply a victim of Rev Wright, and they offer advise on how Obama can get past this challenge. When is the last time you saw a panel discussion with zero difference in opinion? The press has dropped all pretense of journalistic integrity and are simply working to salvage Obama.

                  With all the support Obama gets from the press, today I see Clinton has gone from 5 points behind in Indiana last week to 9 points ahead. Just one poll, but why is the public going against the press so strongly?

                  Obama cravenly ducked-out of the Lincoln-Douglass style debate, claiming he is too busy. Not a peep from the mainstream press. Just some laughter from conservative columnists like Bill Kristol: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/opinion/28kristol.htm

                  Originally posted by Joemailman
                  all the serious issues in the world right now, I think voters will resent it if McCain tries to make this an issue in the fall.
                  Presidents aren't elected on issues. It's mostly likeability and personal identification.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Strip away the media hype and spin and none of the three top candidates (I'll leave out Ralph Nader and Ron Paul) are really appealing choices.

                    Some people vote strictly on party affiliation, some on identity, some on ideology, some on more selfish "what's in it for me" reasons, etc. Many simply vote for who is the lesser evil of the others.

                    However, as forgiving as people are, a sizeable segment, IMHO, will not vote for someone whose loudest supporters flat out label them as racists simply due to historic injustices and the citizenship they hold.

                    Individuals who try to treat everyone fairly are being tarred with the racist label for no good reason and can't help but be offended. They are perpetually judged because of what their or someone else's ancestors did.

                    And there is no middle ground with extremists like J Wright. Black Liberation theology doesn't allow for it. The ship won't be righted for them until financial reparations for slavery have been paid. That's it. That's the full measure of what "reconciliation" means to his ilk. Like J Wright said this morning, integration isn't even the highest benchmark in racial reconciliation, white America acknowledging its sins and then paying for them are.

                    Obama will have a hard time winning over offended supporters who are widely regarded by other Obama supporters as racists and held responsible for most everything wrong in their lives.

                    J Wright represents a militancy within the black community for which there is no moderation. They are right and you are wrong. Peace and harmony only progresses as others compromise and accept their worldview.

                    Obama really does need to choose which group he will court because he simply can't have it both ways.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Looking for Mr. Wright
                      The minister reveals that he's as radical and bigoted as his critics insist.

                      Jonah Goldberg, April 29, 2008

                      God bless the Rev. Jeremiah Wright!

                      After Barack Obama gave his big race speech in mid-March, many critics noted that the Illinois senator had thrown his own grandmother under the bus to defend his controversial pastor. Well, Wright proved over the last few days that he would not be outdone. He not only threw Obama under the bus, he chucked much of the liberal and mainstream media under there with him. If this keeps up, to paraphrase Roy Scheider in "Jaws," he's gonna need a bigger bus.

                      For six weeks, Obama's biggest supporters have diligently argued that to so much as mention Wright is in effect racist. When Hillary Rodham Clinton said that Wright wouldn't have been her pastor, Andrew Sullivan gasped on his Atlantic blog that this was "a new low" in the election. When Lanny J. Davis, Clinton's consummate spinner, defended her on CNN by describing what Wright actually said, CNN's Anderson Cooper lambasted Davis for daring to even repeat Wright's comments. Newsweek's Joe Klein chimed in, "You're spreading the poison right now."

                      Obama and his defenders have repeatedly insisted that the bits from Wright's sermons that got wide circulation last month had been taken "out of context." His infamous sound bites were grounded in concrete theological or factual foundations, they claim. He was quoting other people. He's done good things. Nothing to see here, folks.

                      And so God bless Wright because he's left all of these folks holding a giant, steaming bag of ... well, let's just call it a bag of "context."

                      Let's start with the news out of his speeches Sunday and Monday: Wright, Obama's mentor and former pastor, is worse than we thought. He's a bigot, at least by the standards usually reserved for white people such as former Harvard President Lawrence Summers or "The Bell Curve" author Charles Murray.

                      On Sunday in Detroit, he explained to 10,000 people at the Fight for Freedom Fund dinner of the NAACP -- an organization adept at taking offense at far less racist comments from nonblacks -- that whites have an inherent "left-brain cognitive, object-oriented learning style. Logical and analytical," while blacks "learn not from an object but from a subject. They are right-brain, subject-oriented in their learning style. That means creative and intuitive. The two worlds have different ways of learning."

                      Blacks even have better rhythm, Wright explained.

                      CNN carried the speech live, and news anchor Soledad O'Brien reported from the scene that it was "a home run."

                      Then, Monday morning at the National Press Club, Wright attempted to clear the air about all of the supposedly deceptive sound bites he's been reduced to.

                      So, does he stand by his "God damn America" statement?

                      Well, yeah. He explained that until American leaders apologize to Japan for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as to black Americans for slavery and racism, we will remain a damnable nation.

                      What about that bit about America's chickens coming home to roost on 9/11? Yep, we heard him right. "You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it not to come back on you; those are biblical principles," he explained.

                      Asked whether he stood by his assertion that the U.S. government created HIV as part of a genocidal program to wipe out the black race, Wright mostly dodged but ultimately offered this nondenial denial: "I believe our government is capable of doing anything." He also offered a zesty defense of Louis Farrakhan -- "one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century" -- and dismissed criticism of Farrakhan as an anti-Semite.

                      To cap it off, Wright threw Obama under the bus. First, the pastor explained, Obama himself had taken Wright out of context. Moreover, Obama neither denounced nor distanced himself from Wright. And, besides, anything that Obama says on such matters is just stuff "politicians say." They "do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls." So much for Obama's new politics.

                      On Friday, Wright appeared on Bill Moyers' PBS TV show, in which Moyers all but shouted "Amen!" every time Wright took a breath. The impression viewers were supposed to take away: Wright is on the side of the angels, not like those "Swift-boating" crazies at Fox News.

                      But then Obama himself told "Fox News Sunday" that he considers Wright fair game -- as long as you don't quote him out of context.

                      It's a deal.

                      Wright is every bit as radical as his detractors claimed and explodes Obama's messianic rhetoric about standing foursquare against divisiveness. Which is why that chorus you hear rising up from the John McCain and Clinton campaigns sounds an awful lot like this: "God damn Jeremiah Wright? No, no, no: God bless Jeremiah Wright!"

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        So now you've taken up with Jonah Goldberg?

                        I think Bob Herbert wrote a better article. But that's just me. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/op...ml?ref=opinion
                        I can't run no more
                        With that lawless crowd
                        While the killers in high places
                        Say their prayers out loud
                        But they've summoned, they've summoned up
                        A thundercloud
                        They're going to hear from me - Leonard Cohen

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Jonah Goldberg is an extremely smart columnist. He's very right wing, but so what, that doesn't mean he is always wrong. I think he has done a beautiful job here of nailing the landscape.

                          All of the liberal columnists are in the tank for Obama. Bob Hebert wrote a column a couple months ago calling Clinton's "as far as I know" comment the dirtiest moment of the campaign. I beleive Hebert was sincere in thinking this, but it shows how biased he is.

                          The liberal columnists are now rallying against Wright. Too funny! Hebert and Eugene Robinson think they are being couragous and even-handed by taking this position, when in fact they are just scrambling to save Obama. They praised Obama when he stood by Wright a month ago, and that move was also just a cynical political calculation.

                          The only interesting columns about Wright are being written by the right-wing columnists. There is zero critical analysis of Obama in general from the left. Kristol hit a homerun:


                          The liberal columnists who are calling on Obama to completely repudiate Wright are just wrong. It is too late. Obama stuck by Wright and his weekly sermons for 20 years, he can't now credibly argue he just discovered he's a kook. Obama's best play now is to say nothing and let the situation die-down as best as it can.

                          Obama is in no-win situation. He calculated the risks & rewards when he chose Rev. Wright's church to advance his political base years ago. You might say that Barack Obama's chickens have come home to roost.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            There are a number of good conservative columnists, but Goldberg ain't one of them. But I realize you've gotten to the point where any columnist critical of Obama is a smart columnist, and only conservative columnists have anything interesting to say about the Wright situation.

                            There are all kings of columnists of all political stripes writing about why this is hurting Obama, and what he should, or should have, done about it. Nobody seems to be writing about how this affects the average person worried about the war or the economy. Probably because it doesn't matter to the average person as much as it does to the media hordes.
                            I can't run no more
                            With that lawless crowd
                            While the killers in high places
                            Say their prayers out loud
                            But they've summoned, they've summoned up
                            A thundercloud
                            They're going to hear from me - Leonard Cohen

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              What the hell does it matter what the Reverend said when we all know that Obama is a Muslim?
                              C.H.U.D.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X