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

[ddc]

Have you seen the TRUE version of the G*D America speech? Here it is! You will be amazed at how Faux News made everything seem so nefarious. I am/was.

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

Put it on every blog for the mainstream media you can find.

[CaptainVideo]

All this emnity between the Obama and Hillary camps is going to do is to saddle us with senile old War Monger McCain, who will then bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran.

Perhaps it would be best if both Obama and Hillary stepped aside and the Democrats ran Al Gore as a compromise candidate.

[Counterglow]

With all those millions of dollars in campaign money both candidates are throwing around, it would be good to spend a few of them looking for evidence of similar rhetoric from right wing church leaders. Whoever wins, they're going to need it in a few months when the Republican smear machine starts up.

[ltyr2002]

SO WHAT! Bill Clinton shook hands with hundreds of thousands of people.

He wasn't a member of Wright's church. He wasn't married by Wright. He didn't have his children baptized by Wright, and Wright is no "Uncle" to Bill Clinton!

This is pure PANIC on the part of the Obamanites.

[meese]

The point here isn't to smear anyone. It's actually to say "look, Bill Clinton was president, and a well respected member of the Christian community, and Rev. Wright was well-respected enough himself to be invited to the Clinton White House." The goal of them releasing this is not at all to say anything bad about Bill Clinton, but rather to dispel the myth the media has been pushing that Rev. Wright is a hateful ideologue.

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

And Bill Clinton was the best they could do?

[nick1936]

You are so wright this photo means nothing now if it were of Bill sitting in a pew while Wright god dammed Almeria that would be different but Bill wasn't not like Obama who sat there for 20 years and kept his mouth shut. So maybe we can take from Obama's actions just how he would defend America

This is going to be the REPUK"S attack ads if Obama runs against the Old man

[Melissa]

Obama camp is desparate!

[kiga]

You have go to be kidding me with this picture!!! I am sure more than a million people have taken their picture with Bill Clinton, so what? Obama goes to this crazy man's church for 20 years and calls him his "spiritual leader", and used the Rev. to get where he is and then all of the sudden there is a picture of Bill and Rev. Wrong! Is this journalism? Really? How about if you guys start reporting on how first Obama said he never heard the Rev. Wrong be this crazy and then in his speech he said he was there? how about reporting that Oprah left this church and why couldn't Obama be as smart as her?

[SayonaraSnot]

The point is that this photo shows Wright is no "fringe" figure - he was respected enough as a pastor to have been invited to this gathering.

[imsosure]

What next pics of them watching edddie murphy's raw and some don rickles?

[ResidentChimp]

HuffPo is desperate to change the subject from the racism and anti-semitism that Obama supports.

[timinhi]

HuffPo is shameless. My response to this story and photo is "So what?" What exactly is the point they are trying to make? Gee--Did Bill also attend services at Wright's church for 20 years? I don't think so . . .

[strifeknot]

Please show us where Obama has expressed racism and anti-Semitism or supported it by others. And don't try to tell me Reverend Wright is a racist or anti-Semite.

[Vergadoce]

Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell said America deserved 9-11 b/c of our embrace of homosexuality and anti-Christian values. Let's see, McCain spoke at Falwell's graduation. GW Bush was/is buddies with both of these blowhards. So by this logic, Bush and McCain believe America deserved 9-11? If Obama is responsible for all the foolishness Rev. Wright says, the same applies to the others. But of course, there wouldn't be a double standard at play here b/c Wright is a black man? Of course not {sarcasm}

[Anastasia]

According to TPM:

"Rev. Jeremiah Wright was a guest of the Clintons at the White House in 1998 at the gathering of religious leaders where Clinton described his contrition over the Lewinsky scandal".

Not only was the Reverend a guest at the WH, he was invited to the Atonement Fest.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

[abot]

I don’t think the Obama campaign is trying to insinuate some sort of relationship between Clinton and Wright. I think what the photo demonstrates is that Wright is not some weirdo fanatic on the fringes of society, but someone who was mainstream enough to be invited to the White House. Bill Clinton, like Barack Obama, thought he was acceptable. This doesn’t excuse Wright’s ridiculous comments — it just shows that Obama was not necessarily ridiculous for choosing him as his pastor. The guy obviously has been doing something right to get invited to the White House.

[meese]

Exactly - Rev. Wright may be a bit fanatical, but he was not outside of the mainstream if he was invited the white house. The media has played truncated video clips to make a story out of this (that's what they do, after all)...

[rustedspear]

Obama needs to keep fighting back against lame attacks against his patriotism.it is his biggest issue with the blind limbaugh, fox and cnn fed masses.

He needs an add featuring squeaky clean white supporters of reknown with working class cred voicing support for him. Vicky eisenhower, daughter and scion of Dwight's line and a repuber is supporting him. so is lincoln Chafee one of the few or only repubs who voted against the war....peo­ple like this

they should say. he is for all americans.he is not running for pres to give handouts to people who lack personal responsibility. but for all the stand up people who work hard. he is here to make the government work hard for them. to help them keep their jobs. to reward the military families and vets for their sacrifice and bring a sensible and reasoned end to the war..

they should say he is not running for an old divisive america. but an america that treats all people with respect. where everyone accepts and fulfills their responsibilty to themselves, their community, their family and their country and expects the same from their government.

he needs a slew of people like this... respectable and thoughtful people to appear in an ad for him and voice their support openly... so those nitwits who cannot think for themselves will see who the choice of the thoughtful and informed is. and maybe then we can put these non-patriot, black panther, manchurian muslim demons to bed.

[FollowTheLeader]

HERE ARE REV WRIGHTS SERMONS IN ITS FULL CONTEXT. THE MEDIA CONDUCTED A HIGH TECH LYNCHING ON THIS MAN. WHEN YOU SEE THE SERMON IN THE PROPER CONTEXT, YOU WILL FIND THAT IT IS NOT ANTI WHITE OR AMERICAN. THE MEDIA DISCUSS ME AND OWE THIS MAN AN APOLOGY

http://uk.youtube.com/user/TRINITYCHGO

[BigSid]

By your choice of words I assume you may be trying to draw a parallel between the treatment of Obama and Justice Clarence Thomas. They're not the same, because in Thomas's case -- the events simply did not occur.

[Anastasia]

From Wiki:

"Hoist with his own petard" -

"to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall in one's own trap", literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoisted, or blown upward) by one's own bomb. Shakespeare used the now proverbial phrase in Hamlet.

[SDgirl]

If your an Obama supporter go to the KOS and watch the unedited versions of the clips they've been playing on the news. Rev Wright is wonderful. OMG the media has totally taken out of context and slanders this man. I haven't been to church since I was confirmed and I now want to see every sermon this guy has given. Go watch it will enrage you what the media has done and totally set your mind at ease about Obama.

[unsolved999]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/20/224958/631/841/481227

Here's the link!

[RButler]

Then, maybe Obama should embrace Wright and have him campaign for him.

[theswirls.blogspot.com]

THE PICTURE ORIGINATED ON THIS BLOG: http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/

Although I do not condone Rev. Wright's remarks, it is unfair to label him as a racist. He is speaking what he considers to be the truth, from a spiritual point of view. He is a well-educated, distinguished man, who has served in the US army.

There is NOTHING wrong with shaking hands with Rev. Wright. The purpose of the pic is to show that we cannot CRUCIFY Obama for being his church member; after all, he also shared the company of Pres Clinton during the white house event (also attended by Hillary)

HUFFINGTON POST, can you post this video. It is a white pastor Rod Parsley, who sounds just like Rev. Wright. So does that make him racist too? Be the judge.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=IMaaDbGgsKA

[lemonv]

He is toast now. Obama just lost the GE. No speech could undo the irreperable damage that he has done.

Maybe the Wright controversy is one of the reasons why he and his surrogates have been pressuring Hillary to bow out for the democratic primary race. And that is one of the attributes that I admire in Hillary. She does not easily succumb to pressure. Very presidential.

[amanda85]

"She does not easily succumb to pressure. Very presidenti­al."

Nope, very dictator-like. I bet you admire Bush for the same reason.

[lemonv]

I said " She does not easily succumb...­" which means she has the ability to change her opinion if it is wrong. Bush does not succumb to pressure even if it is wrong.

[anythinggoes]

DONT LET WHO BECOME PERVERTION AND CORRUPT AGAIN NO SLICK WILLIE

[MacDaffy]

Do you really believe that the media, the right wing, and the Clinton campaign can ride this horse from right now until April 22nd?

Do you?

Because people are going to get tired of it. People who don't even LIKE Barack Obama are going to get tired of hearing about Jeremiah Wright. And the other thing? The more people hear directly from Senator Obama, the better he does. This controversy has taken all the oxygen out of Hillary's campaign in favor of repeated requests on the part of media for Obama to make his case. And it's doing nothing to bridge the almost insurmountable delegate gap he's amassed. With Michigan and Florida out of play vis-a-vis re-votes, the watchword is desperation for the Clinton campaign.

Hillary Clinton can stay in the race as long as she likes. The result isn't going to change.

[PrairieDog]

She does not easily succumb to pressure
-------
It's called waffling and evasion.