The latest network report on Rev. Jeremiah Wright, this one from the fabled Brian Ross Unit of ABC News.
« McCain Wants To Seat Full Michigan And Florida Delegations | Main | Preclearing Michigan and Florida » "God Damn America"13 Mar 2008 10:06 am Comments (46)
Those who attack Obama for his relationship with Wright fundamentally misunderstand the role of the church for many Christians. Wright isn't a policy advisor or a spokesman - he doesn't counsel Obama on how to vote in the Senate. He is a spiritual mentor. Pastors are supposed to be prophetic voices, challenging their congregations and reading the Word in contemporary society. It's pretty ludicrous to use Wright's sermons to extrapolate Obama's political views. 
Ha. Good stuff! Wake up you blind patriots. America isn't even in the top 10 of the best countries. You can work to make it that way but you'll have to open your eyes first.
Amen, Dan!!! One of the largest churches in Chicago is Fourth Presbyterian Church. It is pprogressive and inclusive (including a social group for LGBT members), outspoken in its opposition to gun violence, actively involved in urban renewal and global peace/unification. One of its members happens to be Donald Rumsfeld. Should we presume that the former Defense Secretary is a seriously-closeted dove, solely based upon his church membership/attendance?
Actually, Dan, Wright serves on the African American Religious Leadership Committee of the Obama campaign, and the candidate can and should ask him to resign from that position.
The only obama tax return available on the net shows the obama's donated $22,500 to wright's church. page 21:
Amazing how many want to give Obama a pass on this. Can you imagine the outrage oif it was a white candidate and a white religious leader? And spare me the McCain/Hagee nonsense. This is in a whole different league. There's a big difference between guilt-by-association (which isn't fair) versus judging a man by who he associates with (which is completely fair game). This isn't about a reverend who said one thing that was off the wall. It's about the entire AGENDA of this "church"! The moral equivalency arguments really sicken me. Hey alex (post #1) - how int eh world do you equate a harsh critic of Israel (which is fair game) with the RACIST garbage coming out of Wright's mouth? The hypocrisy of the left is stunning. Don't kid yourselves folks - this ia a HUGE issue to middle America. I think the Dems are having a major case of buyer's remorse. Again. Last time it was Howard Dean, this time Obama. I like Obama, but between his background/upbringing, his wife's anti-American and spoiled brat whining, and his associations with certain "radical" elements - he is really far from the mainstream. This primary process has once again shown me that the left is far too irresponsible and radical to give power to. America is at such a vulnerable point right now because of the subprime mess, recession, and global amcroeconomic realities - and it's about to make a HUGE mistake by electing these radicals and socialists. This is NOT the right time to go protectionist (anti-NAFTA and other policies), raise taxes, implement national healthcare. America - what the hell has happened to you? Your society is crumbling. Blame Bush all you want - it was happening long before he got elected. 40 years plus of liberalism seems to me to be the problem. A total collapse of values/morals. A very sick culture. 25% of young women with STD's. Kids without parents. Kids getting abortions. Family unit is toast. Smut has become mainstream. Corruption everywhere you look. Schools turned into warzones. Lawsuits for every real and imagined grievance. No personal responsibility. Soft fascism (bans and control of behavior, speech codes, PC, "diversity", ...) How long can this continue? And without America leading the free world - who will step up to the plate to replace her? Sorry for the rant. I'm usually an optimist. But it's impossible to ignore the signs. An amoral nation cannot survive indefinitely. So please...stop making excuses for this black despicable racist! If Obama is a member of this church, it says a lot about who he is and how he thinks. Bottom line: A man is judged not only by what HE does and says - but also by the company he keeps.
I'm pretty sure you'll hear some far out stuff everywhere.I'm pretty sure you haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. Ha. Good stuff! Wake up you blind patriots. America isn't even in the top 10 of the best countries.Now that's what we want to hear more of from the Obama campaign and its supporters! Why leave it to his wife to beat around the bush? It's pretty ludicrous to use Wright's sermons to extrapolate Obama's political views.That's true, and I'm 100% confident that if John McCain or Hillary Clinton had their own versions of Obama's associations, no one in Obama-land would ever bring them up! Note: If you're inspired to respond, please be sure to call the US military mass murdering Nazis or maybe compare it to the Khmer Rouge, perhaps while quoting some extrapolation of the Lancet Report or Noam Chomsky, designate the US as the world's #1 terrorist, and describe conventional Christianity as a racist and genocidal cult - then sign off with some slogan in favor the Hopeful Change You Believe In.
Of course. For a black man who grew up in the 1950s to have any negative feelings about America is inexcusable.
America is flawed, but it is also true that we are the most generous democracy in the world. We give more than any other nation. John McCain's age, Barack Obama's ethnicity, and Hillary Clinton's gender would cancel their candidacies out in much of the world. People come here from around the world for a better life. So God BLESS America as we continue to improve and grow. This is part of a disturbing pattern of anti-American language coming from people close to Obama. It doesn't sound hopeful at all. Michelle Obama and Rev. Wright are openly anti-American. Obama should remove Jeremiah Wright from his Leadership Committee immediately.
Is there a double standard. Why no outrage with John Hagee's support of John McCain. Anti Catholic Wheres the outrage??
Let's see - Hagee made an endorsement. Wright... led Obama's church, baptized his daughters, presided at his wedding, received tens of thousands of dollars of contributions, provided the title to Obama's political biography, and has an official role in Obama's campaign... among other things... over the course of many years. I'm sure everyone can see that they're just about the same!
All this criticism is, I repeat, rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the church and church leaders in the black community. Black churches have a particular historical legacy that has engendered and encouraged a form of prophetic "truth-telling". These aren't policy prescriptions any more than the book of Jeremiah is draft legislation. I'd hate to be held accountable for the beliefs of any pastor that I've had. I don't hold McCain accountable for the beliefs of his "spiritual mentor", Rod Parsley, but I will point out the obvious double standard. If you're going to hold Wright's beliefs against Obama, you have to be prepared to hold Foundry UMC's beliefs against Hillary, and Parsley's beliefs against McCain. It would seem, though, that only Obama has been forced to answer for his church.
Let's see - John McCain called Rod Parsley "a spiritual adviser" at a rally in Ohio. Wright... led Obama's church, baptized his daughters, presided at his wedding, received tens of thousands of dollars of contributions, provided the title to Obama's political/campaign autobiography (THE AUDACITY OF HOPE), and has an official role in Obama's campaign... among other things... over the course of many years. As anyone can see, they're just about the same! BTW - from what I can tell, if the election this year was between Parsley and Wright rather than McCain and Obama, Parsley would win in a 50-state landslide.
I'm afraid these types of racist comments are spewed in Black Churches all across the country.
Okay, CK. I think you're correct in saying that Wright plays a larger role in Obama's life than Parsley plays in McCain's. But I still don't see the point at which Wright is anything other than Obama's pastor. I mean, is he advising him on policy or even writing his speeches? Far as I can tell, he's simply a pastor, doing pastor things - performing weddings, baptisms, mentoring parishioners. As far as "contributions" are concerned, there's a word for those: it's called tithing. Christians believe that their money isn't theirs, it's God's, and that they have to give it back. Most give some of their income to their church, and that's what Obama has done. Should Mitt Romney or Harry Reid be judged by the beliefs of their church? I don't think so. That's because religious leaders play a unique role in our lives, one that doesn't really extend to the sphere of public affairs. I can't help but wonder if some of this resentment stems from an age-old problem: white folks are always a little nervous when black congregations get the "uppity" notion that they can question the status quo.
Rev. Wright sounds more like he's leading a Black Panther rally.
"Should Mitt Romney or Harry Reid be judged by the beliefs of their church? I don't think so. That's because religious leaders play a unique role in our lives, one that doesn't really extend to the sphere of public affairs." Romney was judged according to his church. If he wasn't Mormon he would have been the slam dunk Republican nominee.
If Hillary had Obama's delegates and money, she'd also have most of the Super-Delegates already sewn up and would be treated as the presumptive nominee by now. The reason that Obama still has to fight at all is the quite justifiable perception that he hasn't been adequately vetted, and that what turns up hasn't been adequately tested. I suspect, Dan, that you know as well as I do that the Democratic Party has good reason to worry about Obama and his connections. The vast majority of American voters would rather not have anything to do with someone who thought the phrase "God damn America," like much else coming from Wright's mouth, was appropriate from a church pulpit. There's a less than negligible risk that, the more that Obama's problematic connections are exposed, in combination with many of his own statements, behaviors, votes, and positions, the higher the risk that what might have been a major Democratic year will turn into a catastrophe. I'm not sure that the Obama campaign itself has yet realized just how easily the whole circus tent could come crashing down, leaving him and his promising career as well as his party injured, perhaps severely. If they have thought about this seriously, they may already be wondering if it wouldn't have been better if they hadn't come as far as they have so quickly, and - I know this will sound far-fetched but I'm not the first to say it - it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to be seeking a way out: He's still very young. Four or even eight more years would be nothing compared to his potential, and would give him a chance to gain experience, prove his "post-partisan" bona fides in a way that he thusfar hasn't come close to, separate himself further from Wright and Rezko - presuming, that is, that he really isn't a completely out-of-the-mainstream phony.
I wonder what pablum Andrew Sullivan will dream up to excuse this particular revelation.
'Of course. For a black man who grew up in the 1950s to have any negative feelings about America is inexcusable." Right. It's not just that black politicians can't protest too strongly against racism--that's playing the race card. They also can't associate with other black people who protest too strongly against racism. Seek the endorsement of people who call the Catholic Church a whore, want to destroy Islam & all its believers--no problem. But go to a black church where a black pastor uses inflammatory language to denounce racism, that's not allowed. Those are the rules of the game, as enforced by journalists--including Marc Ambinder. God damn, am I glad I left that profession.
(But ABC and Mark don't say it's WRONG for black pastors to object to racism & U.S. foreign policy in inflammatory terms--oh no. They're much too objective for that. They're just objectively wondering if it's "a liability." Thus does horce race coverage absolve journalists of any moral responsibility for the rules of the game they choose to enforce.)
I remember when liberals understood that black Americans may have rather complicated view of the country which enslaved them for two hundred years, and have marginalized them for the remainder of our country's history. This is of a piece with all of the earlier comments I've read about the horrors of casual drug use. You people are not liberals; you are conservatives who want free health care.
Of course. For a black man who grew up in the 1950s to have any negative feelings about America is inexcusable. That's not the issue. 99% of the American public couldn't give a flying #@&* about what some misguided preacher says. The issue is that a man aspiring to the world's most powerful office has belonged for many years to a congregation headed by an openly anti-white, antisemitic, anti-american, virulent, hate-spewing racist demagogue. It puts Obama well outside the American mainstream. If this story gets wide play -- a huge "if" given the media's infatuation with Senator Obama -- it could end his chances. God willing.
Obama has for years claimed that Wright was/is his spiritual mentor--not his associate or casual friend--HIS MENTOR! Now of course he claims Wright is like a crazy old uncle. That's quite a spurious fall for the reverend who lead him to his awakening. I have little doubt that, during Wright's indoctrination of Obama, the reverend was speaking the same platitudes of America's path to hell. And I have no doubt Obama came to agree.
Obama has for years claimed that Wright was/is his spiritual mentor--not his associate or casual friend--HIS MENTOR! Now, of course, he claims Wright is like a crazy old uncle. That's quite a dubious fall for the reverend who facilitated Obama's awakening. I have little doubt that, during Wright's indoctrination of him, the reverend was speaking the same platitudes of America's path to hell. And I have no doubt Obama came to agree.
Hagee made an endorsement. CK, just to be clear, McCain sought out his endorsement. It didn't just show up on his doorstep unsolicited.
I think most people would call their pastor their spiritual mentor or leader or whatever. So I'm reluctant to tar Obama with every crazy thing Wright said. (And I'm perhaps a bit more sympathetic than most of you because I've had rabbis who said nutty political things, both on the Left and on the Right). Having said that, this doesn't look good for Obama to voters who haven't had crazy rabbis.
This video is available on the DVD' that Obama's church sell. Obama cannot just disagree with him right now! he was with this man for 20 long years and he held this racist church as a proof for him claiming to be a cristian. Is he really a cristian? or a closet muslim who would say what ever people want to hear for their votes? God Bless America and he only know whats going to happen to america if this man becomes president
This video is available on the DVD' that Obama's church sell and distribute. Obama cannot just disagree with him right now! he was with this man for 20 long years and he held this racist church as a proof for him claiming to be a cristian. Is he really a cristian? or a closet muslim who would say what ever people want to hear for their votes? God Bless America and he only know whats going to happen to america if this man becomes president
This video is available on the DVD' that Obama's church sell and distribute. Obama cannot just disagree with him right now! he was with this man for 20 long years and he held this racist church as a proof for him claiming to be a cristian. Is he really a cristian? or a closet muslim who would say what ever people want to hear for their votes? God Bless America and he only know whats going to happen to america if this man becomes president
Its all over for OBAMA. I am thinking about the white folks who are volunteering for this guy.. its going to be fun.. after the election Obama will bring out his hidden agenda and throw out all the whites and his pastor's relationship will be reinstated. After reading the news and watching the video, its scary. Obama just denounced his pastors words? Still maintain hidden relationship with pastor upon whom he shovered the book? What else can obama do to win election? He flip flopped on his position towards pastor.. imagine half of his life was spent with this racist pastor. Obama has said that this racist pastor is an inspiration to him. He held the relationship with his pastor as a proof of his being christian. Will he denounce his wife? She is not proud of america as well right? Obama lied to america! NAFTA, His relegion, in his book.. and now he is outright lying again (he is just turned to be a bunch of lies) This is rediculous Obama's paster is a dangerous racist who provocate blacks against whites.. God bless america! God save america from these crooks! Volunteers who are working in his campaign, think twice! Vote McCain or Hillary before its too late.
Its all over for OBAMA. I am thinking about the white folks who are volunteering for this guy.. its going to be fun.. after the election Obama will bring out his hidden agenda and throw out all the whites and his pastor's relationship will be reinstated. After reading the news and watching the video, its scary. Obama just denounced his pastors words? Still maintain hidden relationship with pastor upon whom he shovered the book? What else can obama do to win election? He flip flopped on his position towards pastor.. imagine half of his life was spent with this racist pastor. Obama has said that this racist pastor is an inspiration to him. He held the relationship with his pastor as a proof of his being christian. Will he denounce his wife? She is not proud of america as well right? Obama lied to america! NAFTA, His relegion, in his book.. and now he is outright lying again (he is just turned to be a bunch of lies) This is rediculous Obama's paster is a dangerous racist who provocate blacks against whites.. God bless america! God save america from these crooks! Volunteers who are working in his campaign, think twice! Vote McCain or Hillary before its too late.
I believe Jeremiah Wright speaks the truth. Our prisons are full of African American men- not because they commit more crimes, but because they are put in prison for crimes white men get to walk for. If you can't see the racism in our country then you are kidding yourselves. So of course Jeremiah Wright speaks with the intention of raising awareness of those in his church. By the way, there are many white persons who attend Trinity UCC. Jeremiah Wright is a prophetic voice- and we know that a prophet speaks the truth that we do not want to hear.
obama is done the plastered this guys mug on tv for 3 solid days, "god damn america" the guy married obama and his wife, now newsmax follows up with evidence that obama was in the audience during some of these surmons... ouch that gonna leave a mark, plus the resco scandal turns out oh yeah barack was less than forth coming and recieved more money in donations, participated in more real estate than just the million dollar house and in obama's own words he demonstrate poor judgement...ya think?
obama is done the plastered this guys mug on tv for 3 solid days, "god damn america" the guy married obama and his wife, now newsmax follows up with evidence that obama was in the audience during some of these surmons... ouch that gonna leave a mark, plus the resco scandal turns out oh yeah barack was less than forth coming and recieved more money in donations, participated in more real estate than just the million dollar house and in obama's own words he demonstrate poor judgement...ya think?
Interesting that after Geraldine Ferraro steps all over her tongue IN THE PRESENT with race-based comments, NEW news from 2003 comes out about Obama's Pastor. Dr. Wright can think waht he wants and say what he wants. He is NOT Obama's spokesperson.
The ignorance of americans always seem to shock me. This is not a race issue. Race is defined as people of the same color who have the same mannerism, and in America, we don't have race because people in the South don't act like people in the North...no matter what their color is. Let's be completely candid about our country. We are a PREJUDICE, not racist, people who do not welcome change so easily. This pastor preached this sermon in 2003... We are in 2008. WHO RESEARCHED THE ARCHIVES TO MUDSLING? I'm not saying Obama is the best candidate and neither am I saying Mc Caine or Clinton is better. Let's look at the real issues here. MY lovely country is not completely innocent of it's crimes no matter how much WE try to justify it. WE JUST HAVE NEVER BEEN CAUGHT. So I ask are we guilty by association for everything that the U.S. Government does wrong? I mean, everyone associates an American with its president, but yet some of us STRONGLY disagree with Bush although we have served as citizens under him for 8 years... We don't even know the man personally, but we know the IRS, LOL. So why can't Obama disagree with Wright on some of his views if Americans can parade and march with signs calling our President "the Devil" when they disagree? Are we not still connected with the president? I have served on jobs and in a church where I did not agree with everything the leadership said, but I didn't leave because it wasn't a daily basis that ALL things were disagreable.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
God bless the American people not the crooks who run America.
|
Subscribe to this blog by Email Twitter || On Facebook || QIK Live Channel  Recent Posts
Monthly Archives
|
| 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Wright is a complete dingbat. But I wonder what would happen if we videotape the pastors at every religious establishment in the country. I'm pretty sure you'll hear some far out stuff everywhere. And, while it's reasonable to consider a candidate's biography, I don't think it's fair to proclaim guilt by association. I wonder, for example, how a lot of my fellow Jews would react if they knew that Clinton counted Michael Lerner, an exceptionally harsh critic of Israel, as one of her "spiritual advisors."
Posted by alex | March 13, 2008 11:26 AM