photo credit: OhioProgressive
The mainstream media, conservative media, and the Clinton bloggers are trying mightily to cast Sen. Obama as some sort of black radical. Today’s version of the attack is the video of the inflammatory rhetoric used by Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Obama’s former pastor. The problem is, this is not someone like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Barack Obama is the poster-boy for black politics 2.0, not born in the fires of racial animosity and legalized oppression, but of the next phase of equality. Barack Obama is going to issue thundering denunciations – not of external forces on the black community, but about internal and external fissures affecting all of society. The attacks will fall flat, because they’re trying mightily to make a family man from Harvard Law look like a gun-toting 70s-era black nationalist.
Does not compute.
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See? I told you that Ben Smith was a good-for-nothing.
I guess “reject and denounce” has its limits, huh?
But you would agree that Rev. Wright is “someone like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton” in that they are each “stirring up racial animosity”. Problem is, Wright isn’t some unpaid staffer in the junior ranks at some podunk campaign office in Nowheresville. He is (or was) Obama’s pastor. Which tells us a lot about what Obama believes.
Funny how Oliver claims Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, James Dobson, Bob Jones, et al. represent ALL Republicans, but Obama ISN’T represented by the guy who preaches at his church.
He is (or was) Obama’s pastor. Which tells us a lot about what Obama believes.
Sorry Farris. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Explain, please.
He is (or was) Obama’s pastor.
Was is the operative word here.
All those other guys go out of their way to say that they DO represent “family values” (i.e., Republicans). when we all know they really don’t.
Duros, what the heck is your gravatar? Looks like Charles Krauthammer in a wetsuit.
It is Charles krauthammer. And Davros from Doctor Who. See it here.
I don’t know who the eff Jeremiah Wright is. Focus On The Family, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc. are on my tv nonstop telling me they’ve got the key to God’s magical city and here’s the Republican du jour I’ve gotta vote for to make it happen.
It’s interesting that you posted this today. I just had a shocking revelation here at work with people smoking this idea and just going on about it. A friend here at work sort of took issue with my support of Obama over Clinton and her reasoning was that she felt if Obama were elected he’d be assassinated and this huge race war would start. I thought well maybe she’s right, there would be a lot of pissed off white people that are still racist and she said she was more worried about the black people. Confused I asked what she meant and she started going on and on about how black people would feel empowered and try to justify rioting and attacking people because they didn’t support the new black guy as president. I was so shocked my jaw dropped. To think that she actually believed that black folks would rise up and cause violence to increase just seemed so ass backwards of an idea to me. I mean are we still living in a day and age where people still fear black people like that? As I tried to calm her fears by saying that there really isn’t any proof that something like that would happen she accused me of being against white people. Well I’m a white dude. Why would I be against white people? I told her I wasn’t against anybody, I was for equality and something like Obama getting elected would be a good step in that direction. Needless to say this didn’t provoke the reaction I expected and the tension got so thick that I’m glad she had to leave to get back to work.
I know that racism is still a big issue in this country, but is it really so pervasive that in today’s day and age people are afraid to let the black guy win? Not because of some agenda or some policy issue, but because of real fear for the safety of society? How messed up is that?
Indeed, if Jeremiah Wright was on Hardball EVERY FRIKKIN’ DAY it might mean something.
Sadly, no.
dr4lom, if I understand, your friend does not want to see Mr. Obama elected because if he is, something bad might happen somewhere later on.
Not because of some agenda or some policy issue, but because of real fear for the safety of society? How messed up is that?
Very. Tell your colleague (probl’y not friends after that, huh?) that, left untreated, her st00pid can cause cancer.
I have a co-worker here who is convinced that Obama is working for Saddam Hussein because he once said he would destroy us from within.
or something.
“He is (or was) Obama’s pastor. Which tells us a lot about what Obama believes.”
Right. This is more of the same line of reasoning which would suggest that Obama is a secret muslim with plans to bring sharia to America. All that’s required is to ignore what Obama actually says and does — even when he says that he “deeply disagrees” with some of the things his pastor preachers — and to hint at some hidden purpose behind his candidacy. It’s ridiculous.
I’m not a religious person but I’ve been to church enough times in my life to know that not everyone in the pews could agree with everything their pastor says, especially if that pastor is prone to political statements in the guise of preaching. It’s like with anything or anyone. You balance the good against the bad in what you hear, measuring words against deeds. if on balance you feel the good outweighs the bad, you stick around, because you know you’re never going to agree with one hundred percent of something anyone in a leadership position says, whether it’s a pastor, politician or professor. if the bad outweighs the good, you find a new pastor or whatever.
McCain did the same thing with Hagee, essentially saying he didn’t support one hundred percent of Hagee’s statements but overall thinks he’s doing good in the world. Fine. Who gives a fuck?
I don’t know who the eff Jeremiah Wright is. Focus On The Family, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc. are on my tv nonstop…
You’ve hit the nail on the head. Let’s put Wright on TV as much as Falwell, Robinson, etc. and let the American people decide.
All that’s required is to ignore what Obama actually says and does — even when he says that he “deeply disagrees” with some of the things his pastor preachers
Except that what Obama “said and did” is continue to attend Wright’s church for over 2 decades. You don’t do that if you “deeply disagree” with the Pastor. He only stopped going when … he started running for President. Some coincidence, huh?
if on balance you feel the good outweighs the bad, you stick around, because you know you’re never going to agree with one hundred percent of something anyone in a leadership position says
100%? Maybe not. But for most people, it’s about 90-95%. Picking which church you attend is just a little different than picking your favorite TV show: the agreement threshold is just a WEE bit higher. This is your faith, after all…
Besides, if Obama really “deeply disagrees” with Wright, he should be able to articulate exactly what those differences are instead of the boilerplate “we don’t agree on some stuff”.
McCain did the same thing with Hagee…
The difference being, of course, that McCain wasn’t a voluntary member of Hagee’s congregation for over 2 decades.
Probably 50% of Catholics disagree in whole or in part with what the Pope says. Does this make 50% of Catholics dangerous? Should we go peacemeal through the Catholic community and get them to “reject and denounce” the Pope?
Folks, we choose our pastors and places of worship for a number of reasons which have nothing to do with our philosophical connection to their teachings. Can we finally put 1959 behind us?
John Kerry circa 2004: “We don’t need to respond to the Swift Boat crap because everyone knows I’m a war hero and they won’t believe it.”
That strategy worked really well didn’t it?
When will you people wake up and realize that LOGIC has nothing to do with politics. All people will have to hear is “Barack Obama’s pastor said ‘God Damn America’” and, WOOSH!, there goes 5-10 points in the Fall election.
The GOP realized long ago that you don’t need to fool all the people all the time. You just need to fool enough of the people enough of the time.
If Obama doesn’t respond forcefully on this then he WILL suffer (as will the rest of us by proxy).
dr4lom: “I told her I wasn’t against anybody, I was for equality and something like Obama getting elected would be a good step in that direction. Needless to say this didn’t provoke the reaction I expected and the tension got so thick that I’m glad she had to leave to get back to work.”
Your first mistake was trying to use logic on her. Politics isn’t about logic. It’s about emotion. She was expressing an emotional argument. You needed to respond with an emotional counter-argument. Not an ANGRY argument, just one that makes an emotional appeal.
This is the hardest thing for Democrats to understand and absorb. They keep trying to argue the logic of politics and they keep hitting a brick wall.
This is why I think it would be monumentally stupid for anyone to think the Wright video is no big deal because it can be argued away logically. Sorry, if you believe that you will be destroyed in any political argument.
Your experience is just a preview of what is coming if you don’t adjust and learn.
Get your red hot pretzel logic right here, folks.
Piping hot, coming right out of the oven!!
Probably 50% of Catholics disagree in whole or in part with what the Pope says.
Which is why the less Orthodox folks like Kerry, Kennedy, et. al. attend churches where the Priests aren’t hard-liners.
Thanks for proving my point!!!
Still waiting Farris.
Waaaay back up there, you said Obama’s membership in Wright’s church “tells us a lot about what Obama believes.”
I guess I’m just not quite as perspicacious as you. Explain please, what this tells us.
SaveFarris, you are a dunce. Perhaps in your little world, you agree with all of the people in your environment: your pastor, your neighborhood bartender, your boss, your co-workers and your subordinates.
In the real world, the world in which the rest of us live, we interact with different people and don’t necessarily support or endorse all or even some of their positions. I happen to attend services at a very liberal church with my wife in San Francisco and a very conservative Catholic church with her family in the California Central Valley. I don’t agree with the Pope and don’t even agree with my very liberal pastor all the time. But this is where you just don’t get it – probably on purpose. People are free thinking and act on free will. Obama’s former pastor has said hateful things. It is his right to do so and it is Obama’s right to reject those things. Is this really so hard to understand?
“Except that what Obama ’said and did’ is continue to attend Wright’s church for over 2 decades.”
Save, you’re sort of assuming that every Sunday for 2 decades Wright was at the pulpit shouting “God Damn America.” I would venture to guess that he probably wasn’t.
Obama was pretty clear that he didn’t agree with Wright’s statements about 9-11 but that he agreed with Wright’s philosophy of, what Obama called, the “social gospel.” I’d be willing to bet that the fiery shit was the rarity and the social gospel stuff was the norm.
You weren’t so perspicacious when we were talking about Mitt Romney’s church, were you?
Going to a hard-core Evangelical church (like Bush) tells you something about him.
Going to an easy-going not-so-Orthodox church (like Kerry, Kennedy) tells us something about them.
Going to a church led by Dr. Wright tells us something about Obama, no matter how much you don’t want to hear it.
I happen to attend services at a very liberal church with my wife in San Francisco and a very conservative Catholic church with her family in the California Central Valley
I see. So you CHOOSE to go to a predominantly liberal church when it’s just you and your (presumably lovely) wife. And your more conservative inlaws CHOOSE to go to a more conservative church … Thanks for making my point again!!!!
Wright isn’t on TV because he isn’t pushing to go on tv. Now, if we maybe saw preachers like TD Jakes, Jim Wallis or even Joel Osteen being the go-to guys for punditry like the right wing preachers are you might have a point. The MSM automatically assumes that values=right wing, yet you claim to be the aggrieved party. Please.
And for the person above, Obama is responding quickly and forcefully to this nonsense. He’s not John Kerry or the old-line Democrats.
“… no matter how much you don’t want to hear it.”
And yet you still haven’t articulated what it says about Obama …
“Going to a hard-core Evangelical church (like Bush) tells you something about him.”
As to this, I don’t think anyone here really gives a crap about what church Bush or Romney or any politician goes to. It’s when politicians try to legislate their morality on others that people get upset.
Only the right seems to want to equate mere attendance at a church as some how suspicious. All a politician has to be is a muslim for the right to raise questions about their loyalty and patriotism.
If you’re suggesting that Wright’s controversial comments reflect Obama’s true feelings about America, you’re just being an ass.
By the way, what church does Bush belong to? Since no one has really seen him in church other than photo ops that is. What church did he belong to in Dallas, his pre-White House home?
z_adura, you’re right about that. People join churches mostly for social reasons. Sometimes a pastor comes through that they don’t agree with on some points but who still benefits the mission of the church. Many friends and relatives don’t even care for the pastor at their church but still go because that’s where their friends are.
I don’t believe in god, but one thing I wish we had was the fellowship, seems like a good place to make friends. That being said I wish it didn’t matter what church our presidential candidates went to and it did matter what their position on issues is. But a lot of the public are dolts like farris and don’t give a damn about the issues as long as their candidate follows the same invisible man that they do.
“But a lot of the public are dolts like farris and don’t give a damn about the issues as long as their candidate follows the same invisible man that they do.”
I think it’s safe to say that idiots like farris don’t even really care about god or pastors or church or any of that shit. It’s just about being a dick. That’s it.
EL, if you are ever in the San Francisco area, I’ll take you to our place of worship called Glide Memorial. If you saw the Pursuit of Happyness, Glide is where Will Smith and his son lived for a short while. The church feeds thousands of people a day and provides jobs and outreach programs throughout the city. Good times.
Once again, Mr. Farris declines to answer. What does Mr. Obama’s membership at Trinity “tell us about his beliefs,” Farris? You made the assertion, but you won’t explain.
I’m no mind reader, but I’ll guess the reason you don’t want to answer is because you don’t have an answer.
As for the church preferences of Mssrs. Romney, Bush, and Kerry, I have offered no opinion, perspicacious or dull. Thus, your witty rejoinder misses its mark.
Neener, neener!
Woah, woah, hold up.
What, did they force him to go?
Why is it that ALL Obama supporters practically ignore every little distinguishing negative factor in Obama’s life? Obiviously the few of you reading this will realize I am referring to the infamous Mr. Wright. Now, all the racist slander and enraged comments toward the majority of the population that flew from his mouth cannot be so easily ignored now, can it? Hmmm… FOX news just seemed to have proved my wrong. But the teenagers, whom have absolutely no political interest whatsoever, that make up a good chunk of Obama’s votes are merely being directed by their rebellious and reguarly misguided behavior. (I took up a great interest in psychology when I was younger, and it pays off even to this day to manipulate many people just by being analytical and deductive.) How in this holy land of ours can people see him as some sort of a savior? Or even an asset to this country in any way? Unlike many people that will vote for him, I will NOT ever, as long as I breathe, vote for Barock Obama. How can I when the flag that I and millions of patriotic Americans nearly and did die for, won’t even recieve a simple possitve gesture from Obama. It is a sad, sad day when people pick the person that spits on the homeland of the free, as their leader.