Huckabee Defends Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Via Ben Smith:

An assist from an unexpected quarter:

"[Y]ou can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do," Huckabee says. "It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what ... Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable, years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Rev. Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you'd say 'Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that.'"

Later, he defended Wright's anger, too:

"As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say 'That's a terrible statement!' ... I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names..."

Watch the video:

Comments

[Bushgirlsgonewild]

.

Wow. I'm a sarcastic gnostic - and usually think the worst of conservative Christians but he said some very nice things ...he can't be such a bad guy.

[booksnmore4you]

Yep, a preacher understands. Most don't.

[waitomo]

Mike Huckabee grew up in the segregated South and seems to get it. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, first lady to the supposed "first black president," remains remarkably silent on issus of race, only commenting when her supporters get too vile and the uproar too deafening. It is remarkable that Mike Huckabee is light years ahead of anyone on the Clinton campaign on this issue. It's not just about race, Hillary, it's about moving our country forward. It's also about decency, Ms. Clinton, something you and many of your supporters and staff seem to lack.

[DoAsISay]

waitomo, you are so right. Clinton knows she has lost the black vote, but she has a lot of black superdelegates. I am sure she wants to attack Obama right now, but is probably concerned that she might lose those black superdelegates who probably go to segregated black churches.

[kettletop]

too true. Hillary, please. STOP. HURTING. AMERICA. Do the right thing.

[oracle99]

That's because her "so called love of blacks" is phoney. She and her husband use blacks for their votes. Bill Clinton only attends a black church when it's election time...and he has been exposed by his race baiting comments.

[2008andbeyond]

Between his response and McCain's defense of Barack over the Rev flap, I was wondering where did Republicans get their political courage from.

Then I remembered: the Rove wing is helping out Hillary.

[awmaz]

Huckabee is not being so generous. He has kept his own sermons under wraps, presumably because has something to hide.

The other assymmetry between Obama and McCain is the difference of not dumping a longtime difficult friend vs. actively embracing bigots for political gain.

[KYJurisDoctor]

That's NICE!

[Lbama]

That is so refreshing. I always looked forward to seeing Huck on Morning Joe. (when I used to watch Joe before his own chip started showing-- he's better than that and I still think he'll get it)

[uffa]

He always seemed to me the kind of guy you would want for a neighbor. A true good neighbor, and a good, very winning, man.

[BetterDays]

I love a politician who doesn't follow the talking points and can follow their own heart.

[CGrace]

Thank you Gov. Huckabee. Thank you Bay Buchanan, but your brother is a different story. He just
won't let it go. Neither will Joe Scarborough. It's time to move on people, but no one at Fox is listening.

[DoAsISay]

I think Huckabee may just have been banned from Fox for being so generous.

[xargaw]

Potential Obama voters are not paying any creedence to the Pat Buchannans and Joe Scarboroughs of this world. However, I did think that Wolfe Blitzer and Campbell Brown were beyond reprehensible yesterday. Last night, whenever someone came to Obamas defense, Brown tried to turn the conversation negative. Later, Jim Wallis was on for a short bit. He really gets it. I wish the whole world could have heard his take.

[SeekerOne]

Campbell Brown is married to Ari Fleisher. But I'm sure she's objective.

[DietrichMoody]

""Let him who is without sin cast the first stone" Nice save, Huckabee.

Its refreshing how Senator Obama is not saying "Don't Cast Stones on me" using religion as a shield.

But check this out. Giuliani: Don't Cast Stones At Me
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/28/politics/main3308154.shtml

[Juden]

i do not thinking picking a spiritual advisor who several months ago
'honored' louis farrakhan shows judgement. using the black experience
in the united states as an explanation for someone else's vitriolic attacks against our
government is not acceptable for a U.S. Senator let alone someone who
thinks he should be President of the United States. Sorry to interrupt
the feel good strategy but had Rev. Wright been Rabbi Wright the country
would, correctly, be up in arms against any American leader who made
excuses for his vitrolic attacks against everything that this country represents
and made this individual their spiritual advisor.

[haxman]

Mike had to say this. Prior to his dropping out of the race there was a concerted effort to conceal his sermons by his parishioners. He had taped extremely inflammatory, racist and anti-semitic sermons and gave copies out to friends and parishioners. Word of these tapes spread during the campaign and Hucakbee instructed those who had these tapes to hide or disavow the presence of the tapes. Efforts by various media members were thwarted. Nonetheless, it was gracious of him to empathize with a fellow pastor.

[kettletop]

prove it. I don't believe it.
I heard Obama was a Muslim....­no wait. that was a stupid rumor.

[AlaskaJunkie]

Yeah, prove it HillBot. Don't just say and manufacture stuff. Prove that huckabee said something wrong.

The guy is decent and I don't care what he said in the past. He is a decent man and he sould be Obama's VP to get the evangelicals.

[oracle99]

That could be good...wha­t's his stance on the war?

[MartinEdwinAndersen]

DISPATCHES FROM THE GROUND WAR ...

MIKE ISIKOFF OF NEWSWEEK IS REPORTING ...

The schedule is considerably less revealing when it comes to more awkward episodes of the Clinton presidency. Consider the afternoon of March 9, 1995, when Johnny Chung, a businessman and soon-to-be­-notorious Democratic Party fund-raiser, made a fateful trip to the White House carrying a campaign check for $50,000. For many critics, Chung later became a symbol of the campaign-finance abuses of the Clinton presidency, a mysterious Chinese businessman who managed to be cleared into the White House on 49 occasions. (He also later pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and testified that a sizeable chunk of his illegal campaign cash came from a Chinese military-i­ntelligenc­e operative.­) Hillary Clinton made a special trip to the Map Room that day so she could have her picture taken with Chung. "We handshake, and then she [Hillary Clinton] said, 'Welcome to the White House, my good friend'," Chung later testified, describing the encounter with Hillary Clinton. Right after that, Chung hand-delivered his $50,000 to Maggie Williams, who was the First Lady's chief of staff at the time and now manages her presidential campaign. ...

[AreYouFibbing]

Huckabee spouts what many say. Obama can't be held accountable for what Wright said and totally missed the point. The question is about Obama's judgment, or lack of it. And frankly, why should anyone care what Huckabee has to say.