Bill Clinton And Jeremiah Wright Photo Uncovered

**UPDATED**

Politico is reporting on a recently uncovered photo of Bill Clinton and Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene.

And an anonymous blog set up to defend his church offers some compelling photographic evidence of this: A photograph of Wright and President Clinton, which it says was taken on September 11, 1998 -- the date of a White House gathering for religious leaders.

Hillary Clinton, according to her recently-released schedule for the day, was present at the gathering.

That's where Clinton reportedly told the assembled clerics, at the depth of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, that he had "repented."

Clinton Campaign Statement:

Less than 48 hours after calling for a high-minded conversation on race, according to the New York Times the Obama campaign is peddling photos of an occasion when President Clinton shook hands with Reverend Wright. To be clear, President Clinton took tens of thousands of photos during his eight years as president.

Obama Campaign Statement:

After their top surrogates pushed this story line and Senator Clinton's campaign outlined this as a central strategy in her plan to overturn the will of Democratic voters, I can see why they wouldn't want such a photo out there that shows the respect even President Clinton has for Reverend Wright.

Comments

[TheInsomniac]

Caption: In Bubba's inimitable voice, "hey, you there, photographer, are you getting this shot? You know he's black, right?"

[Bystander]

Wright is asking Bill about "ridin' dirty." Ha!

[LAJonathan]

Great post. Of course there is a picture. As Obama said, Pastor Wright is a well respected top-level cleric. If people would just watch the whole video of the sermon, they would understand the situation. But they won't. Of course there is a photo, because he has a good reputation overall. He was invited to the White House by the Clintons. Barack released the photo to prove yet another smear and double standard.

[FollowTheLeader]

Here's Rev. Wright full in context sermon, the medias hit job on this man is appalling. Pedaling hate for no good reason what so ever. Wake up America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw

[thetruth3]

Stop making excuses for Wright's words. And stop pretending that the Obama campaign works any differently than any other. They released the photo with Clinton as a 'gotcha' attempt, as if a photo op is remotely similar to getting two decades of spiritual advice from someone who reveres Louis Farrakhan. It's politics as usual. The wolf in sheep's clothing.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

Thank you. The "Messiah" is nothing more than a politician, as usual. You folks blinded by his smile need to look at that.

[VicPerry]

Actually, I just went and watched Wright's words, a nice long ten minute sermon that was a great deal more adult on the subject of America and Terrorism and The Other than anything I've heard from Hillary Clinton. I'm a white guy and I'm not offended by Wright. I think I can handle it. It's absolutely infantile that people need to ignore all the terrible things that the United States has done in order to get up in the morning and feel "proud to be an American".­....grow up, deal with it, and make our country a better place, one that doesn't need to stomp on the defenseless to make a buck or feel safe.

[ZBlake]

It is during these times when i realize how truly blind Americans can be.
All of these questions and political tactics are really making us blind to the true sickness that plagues our country. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS. we can not pick political candidates. there are millions of people in this country and we decide from 3? Are we saying that there are only 3 people who are capable of becoming President of the United States? We have over 50 toothbrushes to choose from and 3 candidates to select from? Nadar, Mckinney..­.. come on, they don't have a chance. they aren't true options. It's like putting a toothbrush in a glass container next to other 50 that is being displayed and not being able to purchase it, take it home, and use it brush your teeth.

Wake up!

This photo is a tactic. I'm focusing on real issues.

who cares about a photo? what does this say? it says nothing.

[vschicago]

It doesn't matter how much you rant, Clinton supporters. There are preparations being made right now for a write-in campaign, if the DNC screws up and allows Clinton to steal the nomination.

[Mapleave]

I just saw "political expert" Joe Scarborough "laughing" and discounting this photo on the TODAY show with Matt Lauer--calling it a "rookie" mistake by Obama's camp. Ha, ha, ha he chortled ( dutifully repeating Howard Wofson's talking point: "Big laugh")

I disagree. I think the photo is psychologically important.­..

ABC reported that The Clinton camp was pushing the Wright story relentlessly--part of the kitchen sink strategy. Moreover, when Senator Clinton was asked about this "pushing" yesterday, she would not respond.

This photo, taken at the White House in what appears to be a rather small scale and congenial setting (not the typical "line-em-up and pose shot) during President Clinton's "time of need"simply illustrates that Wright was not quite the one dimensional fulminating creep endlessly presented to the viewing public for a solid week, 24/7.

It tell us that Wright had credibility and stature in order to be invited to this cleric event breakfast with POTUS. This helps neutralize - or balance the rampant nut-job storyline. Having worked in Public Relations, the photo release was prudent. Photos are powerful and work all different ways.

[mradamfam]

Is this the best they can do? Huffington Post, we all know you've drank the Kool-Aid. This seems a bit desperate from both the Obama campaign and Huffington.

[TrueThis]

And the Clintons' can't have it both ways. Lets stop the division and lets get back to the issues. We are tearing our party down. Shame on Howard Dean.....b­e a leader.

[BoThomasReed]

Absolutely, it's time for the leadership of the Democratic Party to step in and stop the attacks.

[luckyoldson]

Good lord...the­re were over 100 preachers at the breakfast.­..and Clinton is somehow guilty of something.­..because somebody snapped a picture of him standing with Wright...1­0 years ago??

This is beyond the pale...eve­n for Huffington.

[KidMeNot]

Why is it beyond the pale?...so­rt of speak...Wh­y is it OK for the self-righteous among the Clintonistas to use a few lines from a sermon to try to destroy Obama's credibility as a candidate? But when Bill Clinton needed his black base--especially the black Church-- to shore up his support during the Lewinsky scandal...­that was alright? There is obvious hypocrisy. It also makes me suspicious that the conservative wing of the Democratic Party seems fine with taking the support and votes from African-Americans, but are willing to through their black supporters under the bus if they make any controversial statements. Ask Lani Gunier and Jocelyn Elders.

[LorettaSingbiel]

"and Clinton is somehow guilty of something.­..because somebody snapped a picture of him standing with Wright...1­0 years ago??"

As it turns out...ther­e is nothing to be "guilty by association" about. Refer to the above poster, ChiGuy, who Posted 11:49 AM on 03/21/2008 ...

"I decided to pull of the video of Reverend Wright's sermon in which he allegedly made the comments blaming America for 9/11, and guess what I found? He was quoting Ambassador Edward Peck, who made those comments on FOX NEWS (oh, the irony) the day after the 9/11 attacks. Here is the evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

"Around the 3-minute mark, Reverend Wright asks the church members if they saw the ambassador on Fox News, and what he had said. Then he proceeds to pull out a sheet of paper, and read the words of ambassador Peck."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/21/9599/74572/652/481424

Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta

[MouseNuts]

By itself this picture does seem petty and desperate for the BO team.

In context (the back story of the event where this encounter took place - Bill's Jimmy Swaggert repent and revival session) and in reality the picture is confirmation that Bill Clinton likewise embraced and had no discomfort with Pastor-pissed-off and in fact conveyed status by inviting him to the white house. And, as further evidence of this comfort, the MSM is now showing a BC note of appreciation to the good Rev.

Distributing the picture is a brilliant strategic move and pre-emptive. HC and her strategists are so predictable that the BO campaign knows their next moves before her crew can conceive of them on their own.

They know HC will (is) use the preacher dust up to scare super- delegates. BO is simply saying "what's the problem, we all agree with the Rev., right Bill?....a­nd no doubt there is a Hillary photo in reserve in case they need to slap it down further.

It's worth the short term pain of hearing Joe Scarborough purposely misinterpret the picture for the winning manuever to blunt HC's nauseating hypocrisy. It's chess, not checkers.

Crazy democrats, so many groups who can't stand each other trying to pick their candidate. I never understood how a pipe-fitter, union guy from Bayonne New Jersey can co-exist with a rich Hollywood Jewish guy, neither being too fond of minorities­...and the minorities saying it's our turn, God Darn it!

Can't we all just get along? Please fix health care, immigration and the war.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

Did he do all of this before he parted the Red Sea or afterwards?

[desertclair]

The media gave us Bush and the war, and now they are trying to give us Obama. I hope people don't listen this time. The Obama's campaign dug up that picture of Clinton shaking Wright's hand. Obama sat in Rev Wright's church for 20 years. There is no comparison. That is dirty politics! He has risen to a higher level as he promised. In my opinion, Obama can not win the general election now that his pastor's words are all over YouTupe. McCain's campaign sent out a link to this video: "Is Obama Right?" http://youtube.com/watch?v=72B3tUAqpo4 BTW: I'm also glad Ferraro and Bill Clinton have exposed Obama's campaign tactic of calling them racists, even though they clearly are not and have worked their entire political careers working for racial equality.

[TrueThis]

How can you compare Obama with Bush......­..Obama is very intelligent and the other one.......­...can lead us into a war that American are suffering from and you want display this trash. Boy you're smart ....so smart you're you rather spead hate to see if it sticks.

[LAJonathan]

Another sad day in America. Watching the parrots spread hatred instead of facts, so small-minded that the truth doesn't matter to them. Talk about kool-aid, talk about a cult. Sad, sad, sad...The actual definition of cult is the leader has to have power over the followers, regardless of the truth, blind faith and no critical thinking on the part of the followers. By golly, I think we have ourselves a member.

[mooph]

Context of Rev. Wright's sermon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

Time to wake up. And by the way, McCain fired the guy on his campaign who was forwarding that email.

[CraigMM]

Bill Clinton was POTUS and had his picture taken with thousands of people. Yeah, that seems to be equivalent to having a 20 year relationship with an ignorant and hateful pastor and having him marry you and baptize your daughters and referring to him as you spiritual guide and mentor and appointing him to a position of power in your campaign.

Yeah, only at HuffPo and in the Obama supporters minds.

[EricGoldman]

THIS is how Barack Obama's campaign moves beyond playing the race card? THIS is the politics of hope? How does releasing this picture do anything to foster positive debate about how to build a better future for all of our children?

Nice speach, Senator Obama, but you keep proving that you're nothing more than an ambitious politician who thinks the moral high ground is best used as a better vantage point for lobbing cheap shots.

[McSnarky]

Exactly. It's understandable why they're desperate to throw out anything that diverts attention from Pastorgate. But it sure smells like the same old politics to me...

[Carolanne]

You people make me sick. Bill Clinton invited several clericals to the White House and it's only gracious to have your picture taken with each attendee. How could he possible know of the hatred the Rev. Wright spewed to is congregation when Clinton didn't even attend that church. Come to think of it, Obama is a member and was in attendance to hear some of this vitriol and did nothing. He just considered at one man's opinion on the difficulty of race relations in the U.S. at the time. Just because Obama makes the "speech of the century" as some are calling it doesn't make Bill Clinton a scapegoat for the media to dig us something totally illrelevant to the campaign as is necessary today. I want to hear about the issues, not the miscues of the past. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can change their way of thinking and actions. Only problem here is Republicans call it flip-flopping. I call it challenging the problems of the day and going forward. Get a life, you people!!!!!

[Roose]

Now we find out that Hilla prays with right wing nut jobs. Oh the hypocricy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/hillarys-nasty-pastorate_b_92361.html

[dawlishgal]

Clinton invited almost every clergyman on the planet for photo ops to prove his (bogus) repentence over the Monica thing. In other words, he was trying to use Wright and whatever credibility Wright had before the Clintons used him to slime Obama.

[meltingpot101]

Perhaps there is more to Pastor Jerimiah Wright than those soundbites constantly played on news stations. First we hear he is actually being honored somewhere for his work within the church and now he was invited to the Whitehouse by the Clintons, hmm. Has anybody seen his sermon entitled "The Audacity to Hope?"

[TrueThis]

I think what's bothering me is that as I watch CNN, FoxNews ABC or Morning Joe excluding Mika that it's no way that they didn't look at the full footage of the ministers speech and not realize that he quoted what Ambassdor Ed Peck said on FoxNews right after 9/11. Rev Wright wasn't spreading hate. Have WE as American are that afraid to find out the truth? I'm challenging you American find out the facts first before throwing the first stone.

I just went onto Youtube this morning to see exactly what the Rev Wright said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ

There' s also a letter and a picture on Politico.com from Physician George G. Burkley where he thanks Rev. Wright for assisting him in the surgery of President Lyndon B. Johnson back on December 19, 1966: http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/

We need to start looking at ourselve and not be so.....qui­ck to judge one another and find out the fact first because we sometime can't rely on the media to provide us the truth and they not doing it.....and it's sad. But we do know that our economy is bad due to a war that our children, husbands, and mothers are dying based on a lie but we rather stand in the shadows and not face that we are all american and it's okay to defer but to hurt this man's campaign based on lie bothers me and I don't know if I can watch the new and hope they are being honest with US American. I'm not a divisive person and I love all races and I love this country but when will this stop? And mixing religion with politics rather than worring about our neighbors? That the question we need to ask ourselves I respect Huffingtonpost for being so.....neu­tral on both sides but we need to get this right this time because I'm tired of being afraid.

[mix2007]

Why does this matter?

1) It shows Wright is not a "kook", but a respected black church leader. He's mainstream. If his views are outrageous, it is because many in the black community are angry.

2) It shows that while Clinton used Wright and the black church when he was being attacked by the rightwing, the Clintons offered no aid to Wright when he is being attacked.

The Clintons should have stood up and defended Wright against the Rightwing Smear Machine.

That they didn't, is an act of political cowardice.

[MSaldana]

Mixy, Ya' got me absoolutely dizzy with that spinnin'..­.

-MS

[petey64]

I am dizzy reading that bit if non-sense as well and to think of who is on deck on this years election it is funny watching you Dems rip each other apart over two candidates who are proving themselves unelectable, the Dems snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...­..........­..if you folks can't function amongst yourselves in primaries do you really expect the country will choose your party's candidate to be president?­....be honest with yourselves now.......­.

[cf864]

Many in the black community need to move forward like Obama mentioned in his speech. I don't think Wright's comments reflect moving forward. People want to keep brow-beating America for slavery. It was terrible and is a stain on the country as Obama pointed out. But I have a news flash. The black community does not have a monopoly on discrimination and hard-knocks in America. There are no laws in place keeping them down. There have not been in a long time. They are not the only poor people in this country struggling to get ahead. If you live in modern America (no matter what your race) and willing to educate yourself, work hard and exercise your mind and talents the world is your oyster. The power structure in this country has bent over backward to make amends for past injustices. There are actually laws that help these people get ahead. Look at Obama's position now. Is this not a sign of progress in America? Wright needs to take Obama's advice and move forward. One of his own is currently favored for the White House. That makes me proud of America. But when I heard Wright's comments I was shocked that Obama would have been a part of that church because it's theology is opposite of what he himself proclaims. Oprah was a member for a short time and left. He should have done the same. And I am not naive enough to believe these comments were only a few and that Obama never heard them while in church

Go read the charter statement for the Black Liberation Theology's website. That does not preach tolerance and doesn't sound too much like moving forward and finding what we have in common rather then what is different?

Right Wing Smear Machine? Didn't ABC air it first? Come on. If the shoe were on the other foot it would have been 10x as worse in the media for a white or republican candidate with ties to white supremacy or kkk values. Noone can rationally excuse Wright for those comments by indicating he is a product of his time.

[LorettaSingbiel]

"I don't think Wright's comments reflect moving forward."

It wasn't REVEREND WRIGHT'S comments in that snippet of video, meant to SLIME Obama. It was Rev. Wright READING from a quote made by AMBASSADOR EDWARD PECK, who made those comments on FOX NEWS (oh, the irony) the day after the 9/11 attacks. Here is the evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

"Around the 3-minute mark, Reverend Wright asks the church members if they saw the ambassador on Fox News, and what he had said. Then he proceeds to pull out a sheet of paper, and read the words of ambassador Peck."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/21/9599/74572/652/481424

READ IT AND WEEP!!!

Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta

[gwhizz]

So he visited the WH. Show me pictures of Wright marrying Bill and Hillary, pictures or Wright baptising Chelsea, pictures of the Clintons sitting in his pews ever week for 20 years, or show me where any Clinton has called him a mentor and/or uncle, THEN we'll have something to discuss.

[LAJonathan]

watch the whole sermon. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself.

[gwhizz]

He made that exact same sermon every week for 20 years including at the Obama's wedding? Wow.

[bmnehls]

How does shaking someone's hand relate to attending a church for 20 years?

[UrbanWorldOnline]

I just wanted to help spread the video which shows the FULL Rev. Wright Cermon. Why are some people so easy to fool? Don't you guys know that politics is a dirty game? When are we going to realize that the only colors America is about is GREEN. And I'm black...we­ll brown actually lol. Obama doesnt play the "race card". And now we can see...neit­her did Jeremiah Wright in this cermon. Hillary played the race card knowing the reaction it would give people. But doesnt that show you how low Hillary thinks of you? When someone tries to fool you...that means they think that YOU are dumb enough to fall for their joke. Obama tries to speak to Americans as adults...b­ut the majority of people that understood him live outside of America. Wakeup! You Just Got Punkd!

http://urbanworldonline.com/updated-jeremiah-wright-cermon-lies-of-omission/