Behind The Scenes Of The Obama-Wright Split

CBS:

Chicago friends of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Sen. Barack Obama say both men are simply sad following a controversy and eventual falling out that came to a head Tuesday. Just how did the battle of wills play out behind the scenes?

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Obama felt betrayed and Wright felt sand-bagged. Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church said he has been speaking to both men as the events of the past 24 hours unfolded.

Read the whole story: CBS

Comments

[nellie]

Can we put this to rest, now? This is a sad personal situation that the press has CAUSED and is now EXPLOITING.

Honestly, I say again. The media is a mob of cruel children pulling the wings off butterflies.

[Pammy1151]

Thanks Nellie you are always right on point here. I suppose all the "nasties" will make fun of us.

[bessie1]

It's not sad and it's certainly not personal. It shows a total lack of judgement on the part of Obama. It's inconceivable that someone could know someone for 20 years and not know his innermost feelings. He won't own up to the fact that Wright was definitely his spiritual advisor and mentor, which he has acknowledged in the past. He is an absolute phony.

[vippy]

Reverend Wright is not running for president! Enough already. Keep religion out of
politics. Look at the current one in the WH! Enough is enough.

[butchie65]

Take a look at Hillary. She lived how many years with Bill and did know his inner thoughts and stayed with him. When she looked for him, she would tell someone to go get Bill from one of his whores. She knew exactly what he was doing and didn't care. Her own Secret service men knew what she said and did. She even treated them like crap and called them names. She would be the,"Liar In Chief," just what we have now.

[Olbaman]

Look bessie1, we get it! you want Hillary to be the nominee. That is your right. However, please don't distort what the man has said. He said he was aware of his political views but didn't agree with them. He defined his relationship based on the worship of Jesus (not my thing, but to each his own). Can a person love someone and not agree with their politics? Of course! What is with all these zero sum, black/white, all or nothing thinkers around here? If Barack wins the nomination, I hope you will not let your disappointment turn into a grudge. I hope that both you and I agree that either Hillary or Barack will be far better than Mcsame.

[pagopago]

Amen - boycott MSM CNN, FOX, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, NBC May 12 - 16!

[dagnew]

None of us has the right to be judge and jury in this situation. It's a personal matter between Barack Obama and Rev Wright. ABC should be totally ashamed for starting this whole mess by putting those snippits on Youtube. It's outragous. We can now see why religion has no place in a presidential election. If it causes Barack Obama the election, how sad that would be. We'll either end up with four years of McBush, or a tense four years with Hillary while she tries to fight off the Republican machine at every turn like Bill had to. Can you imagine the stink the repubs will try to stir with her in the white house???? Come on, PEOPLE, let's use some common sense. I'm ready for a whole white house cleaning, and Barack will clean it good!

[ctbutte]

Like his Mammy taught him?

[dagnew]

Your ignorance is showing.

[ErnieBush]

No, your MAMMY!!!!

[iBgood]

Flagged

[lefthandedrn]

It is scum like you that keep people separated. That comment was very offensive to me and totally uncalled for.

[Veman]

You're lost man, simply lost. God help you.

[BassMent]

It is Obama's and Wright's blackness, and only their blackness, that keeps this in the headlines.

McCain's got Hagee, who is beyond angry... he actually advocates for the destruction of the entire Muslim religion (and we're just the country to do it!).

Hillary's got The Fellowship, which puts her in league with fundamentalist neo-cons who admire Adolph Hitler. This should be the NUMBER ONE story in this campaign about religion and politics colliding in a most disturbing way, yet it's not:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/ehrenreich
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer.html

What McCain and Clinton do not have, however, is a scary black man who is angry and yells. When Wright gets ginned up on some topic, he could be reciting the instruction manual from a DVD player and it would sound scary to white folks.

Whites don't like angry, yelling blacks. It's okay if you're a candidate who's aligned with genocidal maniacs or neo-con Nazis. We can take quite a bit of that. But if you're black, and you're angry, and you're yelling, that's news because it makes us nervous.

I've lived long enough to remember the civil rights and social movements of the late 50's and the 60's. I sometimes kid myself that we've made progress. But way deep down, we white folks are still a bunch of unrepentant racists.

[Nommo]

Whites don't like any Black people. There is no need to qualify, whether one says anger or militancy, it matters not. Some are just more tolerable than others. Hell, as long as you can blame Black people for everything, there's no need to deal with "mission accomplished', snipers in Bosnia, stolen elections, the mortgage crisis, gasoline prices, NAFTA flip flops, Hagees and Parsleys, and whatever have you.

Any white person capable of real reflection should begin to comprehend the real value of Black people to this country. Subconsciously speaking, of course.

[ritamary]

BassMent, speak for yourself.

[journey80]

I think it is important to remember that the person who set up Rev. Wright, and who probably had input on what questions he would be asked, is a longtime Clinton ally.

Errol Louis, columnist with The New York Daily News, says that Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington was engineered by Barbara Reynolds, a black author and minister who is a vigorous supporter of Clinton.

I hope Rev. Wright will at least figure out who sandbagged him.

[punkingale]

According to Lynn Sweet, of the Chicago Sun-Times, the invitation went out two years ago.

[hmmmmmer]

Headlines should read "News media pits black community against one another using religion, God knows they wouldn't do it with the white community even though there are just as many religious white whack jobs supporting McSame because it is too boring and not as divisive." A little long, but true.

[hubbstan]

The whole thing shows me how masterful Hillary is at play divisive games. And the racism and MSM also fan her way big time:
Read This: Three Candidates, Two Sets of Rules - Is It Racism?
Posted 5/1/2008 8:40 AM CDT
Bob Cavnar
http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=eljefebob&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aeljefebobPost%3abf4be408-5c74-49e6-bba2-72c4b8aa42a7

[5thGenDem]

There is no comparison between the Wright-Obama and McCain-Hagee relationships, so stop whining about the lack of media coverage of the latter and focus on the excessive coverage of the former.

[toby25]

Very true. There is a huge difference between the 2 situations. McCain was NEVER a part of Hagee's church and had nothing to do with him. He only said he was a good spirtiual leader...not his...but in general. Barack Obama wished to have only that kind of relationship with Wright.

Obama's supposed ignorance on what Rev Wright has been preaching about for 20 years just doesn't pass the sniff test. Obama is LYING about this situation and now he has made Wright mad. Don't think this egomaniac Rev Wright is going to go away. He will cause more trouble for Obama...just watch.

[BlackMagicWoman]

McCain SOUGHT OUT his endorsement. I could see if Hagee endorsed McCain and McCain just accepted it. No, McCain ASKED for Hagee's support.

Obama isn't lying about anything. Unlike people like you, it is possible to have a mind of your own. I sit and eat lunch with my friends who have very different religious ideas than I do. We talk about religion all the time. Do I not associate with these people because we have different views?

[k6007]

I've been a member of my church for 30yrs....I attended 4 times last year, once this year.
I'm sure State/US Sen. Obama have more important things to do than attend church every wk.

idiot!!

[Nommo]

If one is Black, one does not even get the right of association. One does not even get to choose what church one attends, as long as it ain't one of their churches. Hypocrisy unbound.

[Pammy1151]

McCain doesn't even go to church. What are the Repug's going to say about that???

[Aywaller]

Which, to my mind, makes his continued acceptace of Hagee's endorsement even worse. He had no personal relationship with him and just sought out his endorsement for political expediency. And to praise him as a "good spiritual leader?" That's craven pandering to the right to the utmost.

[standforpeace]

Farakhan was not Obama's spiritual leader either, but Hillary stood right on that stage and demanded that Obama both reject and denounce the man and his endorsement. Why isn't she and the mainstream media making the same hay out of the fact that McCain is accepting endorsements from the kinds of folks who say that God sent a hurricane to kill the mostly poor, old, or sick residents of New Orleans who couldn't leave because the city was hosting a gay pride parade? Not only does this suggest that these lunatic ministers have private conversations with God where he (or she) explains his purposes just to them. It also envisions a meanspirited God who strikes down the most helpless members of society as punishment for supposed sins that they had nothing to do with. All of that beyond the obvious crack pot justification for treating gays and lesbians as lepers. Not the kind of folks I would take an endorsement from -- but then again, I'm not busy kissing the arse of the Religious Right in order to win an election.

[sandiaview]

This is so over; the press is so lazy.

[casey70]

This is so sickening... the MSM has part of the responsibility for this. They have demonized this church, the people that attend, and the Rev. How would you feel if you were a member of that church! What about Pastors’ Hagee’s church? He is preaching that the Catholic Church is the great “whore”… is anyone offended about that? How about the fact that McBush raced over to his parish to beg for his support? There is clearly a double standard going on here.

[BassMent]

Right... and where is the coverage of Clinton's intimate and long-standing association with "The Family," a pseudo-Christian clique of neo-con Washington insiders who praise the methods and tactics of Hitler and the Third Reich?

I mean, I've always felt that playing "the Nazi card" is about the stupidest thing you can do in any political contest, but I've got to do it. Read it here (this is in THE NATION, folks, not some fly-by-night conspiracy blog):

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/ehrenreich

[bessie1]

Boo hoo - so sad.

[mnnice]

I wonder if wright new he was invited there by hillarys campaign and I wonder what was going on before the speech ,Ican just imagine

[ritamary]

Invited by Hillary's campaign??? You Obamabots are deluded. And I suppose Hillary put the words in Rev. Wright's mouth and made him dance around at the podium and look like a complete fool.

[rssrai]

Obama should come out and say he and his wife still love the church, but are leaving the church and are undecided about what church they will be going to. Obama could say that the controversy has put a heavey burden on the welfare of his chruch and it now right thay he move on.

[Charmed]

Obama should just find another church....I can't beleive the members supports what Rev. Wright did on Monday. I believe he defended himself on Friday and that was good enough but nooooooo he just had to do a press conference on Monday to do a bunch of ranting.....The media started it but Rev. Wright is just socking up the limelight....he's an embarrassment.

[jakie]

I HAVEN'T FOUND A NEW CHURCH WHAT COULD BE WORSE PRIEST MOLESTNG BOYS AND GIRLS YES I SILL BELONG TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BUT I WANT GIVE THEM ANY OF MY MONEY AND I DON'T GO EVERY SUNDAY LIKE I USE TO. I HAVE HEARD SOME THINKS FROM MY PRIEST MOUTH AND I DID NOT WALK OUT.

[situationcritical]

Psst...god is following you around with a report card. I peeked. He's giving you a D-minus.

[BlackMagicWoman]

Hahaha.

[wm1066]

You are yelling and your post makes no sense. Is english a second language for you? Not that thats a bad thing, but we, who have to read it, can't understand what you mean, or what we think you mean.

[Tom95134]

What ever happened to "Christian" charity?..... "I don't think Obama will still be welcomed here," said Odean Lathan, 80, who was attending a bible study session.

The United Church of Christ is one of the most open and welcoming churches and the attitude expressed in the above astounds me. Obviously Mr. Lathan must have been out sick or sleeping when they discussed that idea in his bible studies class.

[situationcritical]

By open and welcoming do you mean "gay marriage ceremony" open and welcome? Or another kind of open and welcome?

[Bertha40869]

I don't think Obama went that often, which is probably why he didn't know about a lot of Wright's comments. This man is trying to run for public office-why would he have time to vet a pastor he probably didn't see that much?

Anywho, I guess for Clinton it is "mission accomplished". She managed to cause a rift in the black community. Win at all costs, she says. What a witch.

[TommyBobama]

The actions of Rev. Wright were not a creation of Hillary Clinton.

[mnnice]

The actions of wright were not a creation of baracks either.Is that all these people have to undermine him.Somebody elses actions.This shit is getting old.Find something new .You are boring me to death.

[apresdeluge]

Exactly which of Rev Wright's words and Obama's lies about them and his 20 year relationship with his spiritual mentor are attributable to Hillary?

[BlackMagicWoman]

What exactly did Obama lie about?

[ritamary]

For Obamabots their Dear Leader can do no wrong. Hillary put the lies in his mouth, Hillary helped him choose what church to attend...

[frustratedinohio]

Do you really believe that he didn't know about Wright's comments? I'm asking because he has said that he didn't know and he has said that he did know. As an Obama supporter, when he says things that contradict what he said before, how do you know what to believe?