Obama disowns Rev. Wright in press conference

[Concerned Citizen]

He chose to be Baptized by the man and to say nothing. He chose to be married by the man and to say nothing. He chose to have the man Baptize his Children and to say nothing. He chose to bring his Wife and his Children to hear the man preach and to say nothing. He chose to name a book after a sentence from one of the man’s sermons and to say nothing. He chose to pray privately with the man before he announced his run for the Presidency of the United States and to say nothing. And, he chose to make the man a part of his Presidential Campaign and to say nothing.

Finally, when Conservative Commentators like Rush Limbaugh broke the story in the media, he STILL chose to say nothing.

For more than 20 years, he chose to sit in the man’s Church Pews and to listen to the man spew Anti-American hatred; and, to say nothing.

But, when the MAINSTREAM Media -- first ABC News and soon thereafter Fox News, CNN and others -- finally began reporting the man’s hate-filled words, one month before the next Presidential Primary, BARACK OBAMA finally stood up, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and, he lectured the American People on race relations.

But, then, once again, Senator Obama chose to say NOTHING. That is, he chose to go back to saying nothing until he lost that Primary, the Pennsylvania Primary; and, until the man, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made three public appearances with three public speeches in the course of just four days with the final public appearance and speech being before the National Press Club in Washington DC; and, with such third public appearance and speech being broadcast by CNN just barely one week before Indiana and North Carolina were set to hold their Primaries. ONLY THEN, did Barack Obama break his resumed silence on the subject of Jeremiah Wright. And, ONLY THEN, did he (claim to) disavow and disown Jeremiah Wright and Wright’s statements.

To my way of thinking, Senator Obama’s words and actions are a classic case of too little, too late. And, for at least once, Rev. Wright IS RIGHT about SOMETHING, i.e. in disavowing and disowning Jeremiah Wright and Wright’s statements at this very late juncture, Barack Obama is merely speaking as a POLITICIAN:Obama is saying what he’s now saying merely as a means to an end. And, in trying to have us believe that Rev. Wright is "not the person that I met 20 years ago"(does he think that Rev. Wright has suddenly come down with Alzheimer’s Disease), Barack Obama is merely trying to insure and lock down his bid for the Democratic Nomination for President; or, to borrow a phrase from his opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama is TRYING to “close the deal”. And, to that end, Obama is apparently, willing to say and do anything, even, after all of these many years, to throw his longtime Mentor, Minister, and Friend, Jeremiah Wright, under the bus by trying to convince the American Public that ‘Uncle’ Jeremiah is just "not the person that I met 20 years ago".

[kombayn]

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound stand off-ish or condescending, I've just seen my share of people who don't understand the world outside of a big city. It's nowhere near as progressive out there as you'd like to think.

Anyhow, time will tell. The economy will have an impact, but I don't think it's going to be due to any amount of explaining about the war causing it. Either people will feel the pinch or not. If it hurts bad enough, Obama's likely electability goes up. If we recover or don't worsen any more I think it puts them about even and we're looking at a close one like '00 or '04.


....and it's not so much agreeing with Wright so much as his association with the man for the past 20 years and the 5 or so different stances he's had on him since the general public has found out about him. First he denied being in the church and knowing about any of the sermons, then he tried to rationalize them, then he denounced the sermons and praised the man, now he's denouncing the man and for what reason?

Yeah I hear what you're saying, but he now has to denounce this man because of what you said earlier, people will think since he's associated himself with that church, they think he'll share the same hateful comments made by Wright. Obama isn't perfect, he's said some really stupid things already, he's learning the game of politics. I agree this will be a close election, I really hope though we don't see McCain take office. As long as we get out of Iraq by the next year, 4 years later we can elect a Republican with respect *cough*someone like Ron Paul*cough*, that's if Obama has a bad presidential term.

[TankRizzo]

Originally Posted by kombayn

Yeah I hear what you're saying, but he now has to denounce this man because of what you said earlier, people will think since he's associated himself with that church, they think he'll share the same hateful comments made by Wright. Obama isn't perfect, he's said some really stupid things already, he's learning the game of politics. I agree this will be a close election, I really hope though we don't see McCain take office. As long as we get out of Iraq by the next year, 4 years later we can elect a Republican with respect *cough*someone like Ron Paul*cough*, that's if Obama has a bad presidential term.

He has nobody to blame but himself. He didn't seem to mind the things that other people found offensive until he was "personally offended" a couple days ago. He went out of his way to not mention anything specific, he wrote him off as "that crazy uncle", he said he was in church when inflammatory things were said yet he still went to church. The fact he was DEFENDING the man until the other day should be more than enough to raise a few eyebrows. It's not like Wright and Obama only saw one another in passing, Wright has clearly influenced him.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Concerned Citizen

He chose to be Baptized by the man and to say nothing. He chose to be married by the man and to say nothing. He chose to have the man Baptize his Children and to say nothing. He chose to bring his Wife and his Children to hear the man preach and to say nothing. He chose to name a book after a sentence from one of the man’s sermons and to say nothing. He chose to pray privately with the man before he announced his run for the Presidency of the United States and to say nothing. And, he chose to make the man a part of his Presidential Campaign and to say nothing.

Finally, when Conservative Commentators like Rush Limbaugh broke the story in the media, he STILL chose to say nothing.

For more than 20 years, he chose to sit in the man’s Church Pews and to listen to the man spew Anti-American hatred; and, to say nothing.

But, when the MAINSTREAM Media -- first ABC News and soon thereafter Fox News, CNN and others -- finally began reporting the man’s hate-filled words, one month before the next Presidential Primary, BARACK OBAMA finally stood up, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and, he lectured the American People on race relations.

But, then, once again, Senator Obama chose to say NOTHING. That is, he chose to go back to saying nothing until he lost that Primary, the Pennsylvania Primary; and, until the man, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made three public appearances with three public speeches in the course of just four days with the final public appearance and speech being before the National Press Club in Washington DC; and, with such third public appearance and speech being broadcast by CNN just barely one week before Indiana and North Carolina were set to hold their Primaries. ONLY THEN, did Barack Obama break his resumed silence on the subject of Jeremiah Wright. And, ONLY THEN, did he (claim to) disavow and disown Jeremiah Wright and Wright’s statements.

To my way of thinking, Senator Obama’s words and actions are a classic case of too little, too late. And, for at least once, Rev. Wright IS RIGHT about SOMETHING, i.e. in disavowing and disowning Jeremiah Wright and Wright’s statements at this very late juncture, Barack Obama is merely speaking as a POLITICIAN:Obama is saying what he’s now saying merely as a means to an end. And, in trying to have us believe that Rev. Wright is "not the person that I met 20 years ago"(does he think that Rev. Wright has suddenly come down with Alzheimer’s Disease), Barack Obama is merely trying to insure and lock down his bid for the Democratic Nomination for President; or, to borrow a phrase from his opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama is TRYING to “close the deal”. And, to that end, Obama is apparently, willing to say and do anything, even, after all of these many years, to throw his longtime Mentor, Minister, and Friend, Jeremiah Wright, under the bus by trying to convince the American Public that ‘Uncle’ Jeremiah is just "not the person that I met 20 years ago".

nice first post, welcome to the board

[SoFlaJDM]

looks like it's just not as big of an issue as some make it out to be... actually, people are more concerned about mccain's ties to bush:

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by SoFlaJDM

looks like it's just not as big of an issue as some make it out to be... actually, people are more concerned about mccain's ties to bush:

of course 40%+ of people are concerned about McCain's ties to Bush, they ARE DEMOCRATS.

[SoFlaJDM]

(CNN) -- Now that Sen. Barack Obama has denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, many of his critics, especially those who call themselves conservative, are happy he has put the dashiki-wearing, American-criticizing former Marine in his place.
See, these same voices, many that are allegedly Christian, have reacted with glee by calling Wright a prophet of hate and a race baiter.
They hold themselves up to be so concerned about their fellow brother and sister, yet if you looked at their personal lives, I doubt you'd find many with African-American friends and associates (and I doubt their staffs are the most diverse in the world, but that's another story).
But be careful what you ask for.
Now that has set the so-called standard for what isn't acceptable for religious leaders, let's see these same critics take their own kind to task for making absolutely outlandish comments.
But don't stop there. Demand that candidates don't seek counsel from them. Demand that Republican candidates not go to their churches and sit in their pews and accept their contributions. And if elected, make sure those same candidates don't allow them access to the White House or halls of Congress. Turnabout is fair play, and that means guys like the Revs. Pat Robertson and John Hagee should not be sought out for their endorsements, and should be removed from any committees associated with a candidate or a political party.
Oh, I can't wait to get the e-mails from folks who will say, "Yeah, but Obama was a member of the church."
True, very true.
But if the marker is now saying anything unacceptable to the masses, then that should be the standard for any pastor: white, black, male, female, conservative or liberal. And any candidate, member or not.
I've read many of the columns and listened to the shows of these so-called conservative patriots, and few, if any, have said a word about conservative white pastors who have called for the overthrow of the government for not following Christian values (the late Francis Schaeffer, a little "g" God on the Religious Right), or who have called for the destruction of the Islamic religion of a number of Americans (Pastor Rod Parsley) and folks worldwide.
Over the weekend, Bill Moyers of PBS; E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post; and Frank Rich of The New York Times have all spoken or written about this double standard that exists in America when it comes to who can speak and about what, and they -- all white men -- were focusing on the leeway white pastors are given.
OK, take race out. Take ideology out. If comments Wright made seven years ago are now a part of the standard, let's see these so-called American-loving conservatives use their radio and TV talk shows, columns and Internet platforms to hold their own accountable for their post-September 11 comments.
Trust me, I won't be holding my breath.
Why? Because conservative religious hate has been deemed a winner at the ballot box. In fact, the more you hate, the better chance you have of getting access to the White House for tea or to be feted by the usual assortment of conservative interest groups. What these conservative media elite do is say, "Oh, poor man. The liberals just don't like you."
For them, Wright's "hate" was a stench. Their "hate" comes up smelling like roses. But to every politician, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican: Beware. The die has been cast. The repeated denunciations of Wright will now lead each and every single one of you to have your pastors' oral and written words examined. If even one thing is said that can be construed as criticizing America or deemed hateful, then expect to see it on YouTube and replayed for millions to see. I suggest you go to your pastor now and say, "Please, watch what you say. I don't want to have to denounce you on national television."
To my media pals who are part of the conservative media elite, we'll be watching. And listening. Let's just see if you're as willing to tear apart one of your own.
Trust me, I won't be holding my breath.


very interesting article... martin raises some very good points