Barack Obama Sets the Record Straight
At the gym today I saw Fox News on one of the monitors as the Republican mouthpiece constantly ran footage of Reverend Jeremiah Wright preaching followed by footage of Senator Barack Obama with the aim of creating a strong visual bond between the two men.
With Fox News apparently converted to the "all-Reverend Wright-all-the-time" channel, and the Hillary Clinton campaign throwing a "kitchen sink" worth of racially-tinged innuendo his way, Barack Obama gave a brief interview tonight with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown" where he set the record straight on his decision to distance himself and his campaign from the views of Reverend Wright.
Senator Obama spoke of the passion that many African Americans feel, including Reverend Wright, who were among the pioneers of the generation that fought for their fundamental civil rights in America. He implied, (in my impression of the interview), that the injustices of the Jim Crow South are fresh in the memories of many black civil rights activists, which sometimes leads to heated rhetoric. Obama acknowledged the debt he has to those activists who broke open the doors of opportunity for him, and he is clearly deeply grateful for their struggles and their contributions to American life. He reiterated his love for his country and his strong sense of patriotic duty, (which has led him to run for president).
Senator Obama should in no way be held accountable for the impolitic utterances of his former pastor. It is unfair to engage in guilt by association. Obama showed good judgment by distancing his campaign from the more radical views of Reverend Wright and relieving him of any formal connection to his organization, but Obama also showed an admirable character trait by refusing to denounce Rev. Wright the person.
Obama also acknowledged that Swift Boat 527 groups are sure to use Wright's fulminations against him if he were to win the nomination. His interview tonight and actions taken I think show clearly that Obama is better prepared to take on the inevitable Swift Boating than was John Kerry in 2004.
We should recall that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who is honored with a national holiday and politicians including George W. Bush and John McCain have paid homage to his memory, in April 1967 called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." In my opinion, Reverend Wright says nothing in the taped vignettes I've seen on TV that is untrue about America, despite the "tut-tutting" of liberals and conservatives among the chattering class. Obama showed that he is nimble in taking care of potential pitfalls in his campaign and that shows he would be a great candidate in the general election against the Republican smear-meisters.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
This is why Obama is a statesman and Hillary is such a failure. Obama rises to the occasion and confronts things with a cool head and honesty.
Now he is using it to talk about the racial divisions in this race and to implore people to rise above it.
I have nothing but admiration for this man.
And Middle America loves its intellectuals. At least that's what Adlai Stevenson kept thinking.
Plain and simple, and respectfully to lafrance, Obama is a liar.
Stuttering LIAR at that....uh
"Obama showed good judgment by distancing his campaign from the more radical views of Reverend Wright, but also showed an admirable character trait by refusing to denounce Rev. Wright the person. "
Obama also showed character of aliar. Per ABC News, Rev. Wright gave at least 20 these kinds of offensive sermons. Yet, Obama claims that he never heard any incendiary sermons from him directly or indirectly in the last 20 years. Give us a break. Please don’t insult our intelligence. He is not credible.
Jeez, I hate the democratic party today. They have forced Obama on us by swooning all over him and now, if he gets the nomination we (the country) will be screwed. I just hope that Hillary doesn't agree to be his vp because Obama and her would get burned down by the rest of the non-democrats in this country. Independents, core democrats and conservatives are never going to vote for Obama. He has anti-american baggage. I suggest for Hillary to try to either win the nomination or retain her senate position if her run for the white house doesn't come to fruition. I can't believe that a Racist Obama will be acceptable for the democrat party, We need african american candidates who aren't anti-american to be president.
Hey, don't throw your hate to the party, it's been sold out years ago, blame the ignorant dem voter who lost their liberal ways and threw their support to the two candidates the media told them to support. By the way, we're already screwed, we have a couple liberal fascists leading the charge for the dems.
Jeez, I hate the democratic party today. They have forced Obama on us by swooning all over him
__________
No one has "forced" anything on you. You will have the freedom to vote for McCain or Ralph Nader in November. There is no gun to your head.
Great post.
Don't we all have an older relative who was on the racist or sexist side? You try to tell them and they don't change but you love them anyway.
You are so right Amyd!!! Well said!!
You must have flunked the analogies portion of the SAT just like Obama.
Watch Out for the Stones!
True hypocrits throw the most stones! Everybody at one time or another has been in a position where they totally disagreed or took a different stance with family, friends or pastor. I'm sure those people are still in your live's and some influence alot of what you do. NO ONE is perfect! No one follows everything their family, friends or pastor have said or done! Watch out for the stones you throw as they may have a boomerang effect! This attack doesn't merit the attention it's getting. The reality is we are in a war we shouldn't be in spending 12 Billion a month and getting Americans killed senselessly, we are losing homes at an enormous rate, we are losing jobs by the minute, gas prices are off the charts and the Bush administration in totally responsible. McCain is more of the same, Hillary's so called experience can't even run a campaign good enough to beat an underdog! Obama has come from being the underdog to becoming the frontrunner! He has demonstrated the ability to pull people together in a way like never before, run an effective campaign that's generating enormous amounts of money and stay above having to resort to the negative campaign tactics of the past. Obama is the only candidate bringing true change!
In order to avoid confusion, if in the future you post about the subject of Obama’s bigot Pastor, please be specific. As the list of Obama’s prejudiced pastors keeps growing.
1st, We have Donnie McClurkin, The Anti-Gay Bigot Pastor that Obama hired to represent his campaign during his tour through South Carolina.
2nd We have Jeremiah Wright, The Anti-White, Anti-American Bigot Pastor that Obama has faithfully supported for over twenty years now.
3rd We have Louis Farrakhan, The Anti-Semite Bigot Pastor who seems unable to stop singing Obama’s praises.
Oooh oooh, And we can’t forget Kirbyjon Caldwell, That lovely pastor who runs a “Ex-Gay” mental torture ministry, that has endorsed Obama.
So as you can see the list of Obama’s bigoted Pastors continues to grow. Please reference them by name to avoid any future confusion.
I guest you forgot to add McCain's list.
Reverend Hagee wants to do away with Catholics and he believes hurricane Katrina was God's way of punishing the residents of New Orleans.
Pastor Presley wants to get rid of Islam and all Muslims. He believes Isalm is a false religion.
These men of the church have publicly stood with McCain on the campaign trail. I have not seen any of the ministers you mentioned standing with Obama on the campaign trail.
I guess all of the candidates have people that support them that are less than perfect. Welcome to humanity!
what about all those confederate states traitors all across the southern united states who attacked the US and are still flying the confederate shitrag instead of our beloved stars and stripes?
It would be best if all Americans would take Obama and his relationship to Rev Wright seriously. This is not to smear Obama. This is to know him. Rev Wright is Obama's adopted father. Obama chose him.
Rev Wright's "Liberation Theology" is Obama's foreign policy doctrine. I have been to this church. The religious left is sympathetic to America's enemies in a very naive way because of this anti-American doctrine.
The direction Obama would try to take our country in foreign policy is very radical. Much too radical to maintain stability for our economy and international relations.
Obama is a dangerous direction to go. Rev Wilson's rants against America and against white people are integral to who Obama is and to this new direction he represents. Obama might just be able to deceive enough democratic voters to become President.
But it would be by deception if Obama won the primary. And many of us democrats would have to work hard to defeat the Democratic Party in November to save the country.
I sure didn't hear what you did from Rev. Wright. Our country has been dominated and ruled by rich white folks. True.
We have been a war-mongering nation for decades. True.
Why can't Americans look at what has been done in their name with objectivity?
Obama doesn't scare me. I trust and believe him over McCain or Hillary.
Please shut up.. Rev Wright not Rev Wilson you nut, and he is not Obama adoptive father. he said he was like a Uncle.
McCain has his own Hagee and Parsley minister problems along with "the hug".
Obama will be our nominee and in dueling scandals, Obama is a piker comparted
to McCain whose campaign co-chair was just indicted. There is also the
NYT article allegations of innappropriate contact with lobbyest. (no, not her)
with the telecoms who curried favor and the SCC then was prompted by
McCain to relax business statutes that would allow the merger to go forward.
He will soon find out how the press can turn on the once beloved.
Not this line again.
We all know Hagee is part of the Republican family. We Dems are supposed to be better, not more of the same.
Nobody cares about Hagee; he is part of that cabal of Rethugs. You know, the ones that want to see a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. That party likes this type of person.
There is no comparison, so stop trying to make one.
My apologies for the double post.
Not this line again.
We all know Hagee is part of the Republican family. We Dems are supposed to be better, not more of the same.
Nobody cares about Hagee; he is part of that cabal of Rethugs. You know, the ones that want to see a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. That party likes this type of person.
And when you write,"He will soon find out how the press can turn on the once beloved," are you referring to Obama or McCain?
Friday’s wide coverage across the major news cable channels of the Reverend Wright’s controversial and uncomfortable statements within various sermons was not only disturbing in itself, but how these statements were discussed across the media. In viewing the coverage at the time, and then stepping away today to digest it, several questions came to mind; Can I separate the story and its relevance from the sensationalistic presentation from the MSM? Can I, as a 43 year old white woman understand the innate cultural differences of the African American experience in all of its presentations?
How would E.R. Murrow navigate through today’s 24 hour, multimedia, news cycle of today? I try to imagine what would have happened during the McCarthy investigations with the present media. How frightful and frenzied the state of political and religious affiliation and “guilt by association” in the trials of those who were viewed as a threat to what we knew as establishment. One viewpoint may position the media as the purveyor of the McCarthy dogma, assuming the responsibility to route out and expose those that fall outside the lines of the social norm as we understand it. The power of the mainstream media to position a story and influence a story’s interpretation can not be understated. In recent memory, there have been instances where the coverage of the story superceded the actual content, hence distorting what we accept as news. At what point does a story stop being news, and become an apparition?
Of course, the knee jerk reaction to the Rev. Wright’s rants is shock, awe and disgust. Is it the content of the statements or is it the actual tone of delivery? I believe it is both, and that is where the racial divide affects how we perceive the content. Following the 9/11 attacks, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and other major “white” Christian ministries made sermonic statements that the actions of the United States and its citizens and their debauchery were at “fault” (don’t quote me, but you get my point) and were the cause of the atrocity that struck our country. Are we disturbed by the large number of followers of their ministries? Of course not. It’s the classic biblical argument of the “chickens have come home to roost”, “we are damned” sermon. This analogy is used in many sermons to influence the flock to “fly straight”. In the case of Rev. Wright, can it be a case of his audience, a largely black, inner city, stereotypically “fire and brimstone” type of delivery and what words to use to reach his followers? Does it make us feel uncomfortable – yes! But that was Rev. Wright’s objective to his congregation. What we don’t understand, as white traditional Christians, is the cultural tonal differences in which this message is delivered. In my reaction and taking a step back, I sought out other sermons from Rev. Wright, and to my surprise, heard a calm, thoughtful message of hope, divinity, and servitude. Obviously, like all religious leadership, it all depends on the sermon of the day.
Do I agree with all of Rev. Wright’s statements? No. To inject Mrs. Clinton into his sermon to make a point about discrimination was wrong. Is there discrimination in this country? Yes. Are we self-aware of the subversive discrimination? I think with every conversation during this political year, we as a society are taking a healthy look at ourselves, our neighbors, and our own social, racial, and even religious demons. If anything to take away from this dialogue, it is growth as citizens.
Thank you. Beautifully stated. And thoughtfully written.
The Wright issue isn't ideal, to be sure. But as I see it, there is no perfect person, life, or candidate - so the American people have to choose. Everyone has different tolerances - things they can accept and those they cannot.
Are you going to allow the man who preached at his church to turn you away from what is arguably the most magnificent candidate of this generation? I'm not. You have to pick your battles and issues, people - and I'm not going to let Wright dissuade me from the President I hope to have.
~
Ah, the cover-up continues.
"It is unfair to engage in guilt by association"
Oh brother, Obama the Teflon Man...look
You better believe it! Obama makes Teflon look positively sticky.
Go Obama!
Well, I want to ask PASTOR what was so bad about nuking Japan? If he doesn't like the U.S. giving missiles to Israel to use against civilians, why doesn't he just resign from the Marines? What he said about 9/11 made me sick. He implied that the millions of civilians our government has killed in OTHER COUNTRIES equals the three thousand AMERICANS that Saddaam HUSSEIN personally killed in the World Towers. Does he think we should NOT have killed a few hundred thouand women and children in Iraq when they might have had WMD's? Just because George Bush could not find any when he looked under the chairs doesn't mean they didn't have the POTENTIAL to exist and destroy each and every one of us in our BEDS, here in our HOMELAND.
I guess Barack Obama and Pastor Wright would rather have AL QUEDA bring Jihad to Walmart than have a war where there ARE'NT any Walmarts.
But regardless of whether or not Saddaam Hussein was actually Osama Bin Laden, these same dead women and children that the Pastor is SWEARING about on FOX NEWS are FREE and they can get an EDUCATION.
Our troops are dying so Pastor Wright and Barack OBAMA don't have to and so they can continue to express their racist and ANTI-AMERICAN hatred for WAR, the very war that is making it safe for children to shop in SHOPPING MALLS.
I for one don't believe that Obama has never heard this Pastor swear before. He and his America-hating wife Michelle did not know this was a BLACK church for PEACE? I think they did know and that Obama's association with this Pastor and his refusal to
STOP GOING TO THAT CHURCH proves that he, himself, swears and wishes we had not nuked Japan. Which is much more racist than Geraldine FERRARO could ever dream of being. Obama should either drop out of the church or apologize to the AMERICAN people for not thinking war is romantic. If he thinks war is so bad, oh boo hoo! Go live in SWITZERLAND! And take PASTOR WRIGHT with you.
Your response is very immature. Do you hear what you are saying? Maybe I'm misinterpreting your point, but it seems to me that you are saying that it is okay for the U.S. to bomb other countries at its' will and it should be acceptable. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? You seem to think that the U.S. should go around bombing people, including kids, because we think they might have something.
I don't agree with everything Emma said but the bombing Japan comment by the pastor was ignorant and misguided. To begin with, the Japanese started the war by bombing Pearl Harbor. And after nearly four years of fighting them, it was crystal clear they were not willing to surrender. Dropping the bombs saved untold Japanese lives and potentially a million American casualties. Only a devastating weapon like the A-bomb would bring them to their knees. And if you remember your history there were a few days between the bombs being dropped. The Japanese could have surrendered after the first and saved thousands of lives.
Why are you letting the Media and racial slurs destroy this wonderful election for America? Clinton people, you know Bill and Ferreco both got into the race thing-----
Blaming the Clintons will not do it this time.
Hi, is your post a satire? It has a lot of logical flaws, and maybe you are just joking? If it is, then it was quite funny.
The Clintons opened up this racial flashpoint. They know they have only to throw a lighted match and run.
Check the comment above.
Who's responsible for Rev. Wrong's racist views?
Why of course, the CLINTONS, silly!
M.O.T.S.
more-of-th
How the bad of the clintons is going to better Obama?
Does anyone know where to find the entire text of these speeches? I have searched all day and can't find them. There was a great deal of truth in them and I would like to understand the context. By what I've read the 9/11 remarks chastised the congregation not to overreact in hatred by reminding that we were not innocent. I would like to confirm that.
Either way, Obama himself has never displayed any racism or sexism as far as I can see. But today we see articles on the recession, the surge not going as well as Bush says it is (deja Vietnam), a young prostitute is suddenly a pop icon while many call it a victimless crime and we have learned 1 in 4 teenagers has an STD...I really think we need to focus...
That is actually what worries me about Obama that he has not make any of these comments: He is either a foul or a lier.
First Mrs. Obama and her big mouth, now this pseudo-Farrakhan and his lunatic diatribes. Way t'go, dude.
Obama's toast. Even the press can't save him now. So much for the politics of... what was it? Oh, yeah. "Hope". LOL!
Better yet, "Unity."
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
