But anyone who says the government wouldn’t do that kind of thing? Refusing to face the facts.

And it’s understandable why someone like Jeremiah Wright, who has had first hand encounters with casual and institutionalized racism, would believe it is possible.

Those who think that embryonic stem cell research is a slipper slope to eugenics have very short memories.

There may not be evidence that the US Government is involved in some way with the spread of AIDS, but it certainly is not inconceivable that they would do something like this.

I have it on good authority that the Rev. Wright once dined at Denny’s and chose lemon meringue pie instead of apple.

I have it on good authority that Rev. Wright dined at the same Denny’s that Louis Farrakhan once drove past, so Obama is clearly the leader of the Nation of Islam.

Oh, and there is no bus. Stop with the bus already.

I haven’t read Obama’s book. Have you? (That’s a rhetorical question. Your credibility on this is near 0 so even if you said you did I’d be inclined to not believe you, or at least to assume you’ve again intentionally misunderstood what he’s said to support your preconceived conclusions.)

Does Obama actually say he joined Wright’s church because of sermons he gave damning America and saying AIDS was a government plot? Because those are the sermons Obama is disagreeing with. Quote a passage from the book (or any other writing or speech of Obama’s) where he says it was those sermons that lead him to choose Wright. Go ahead. We’ll wait.

See, right there. You’re making up a starting position that has nothing to do with reality just so you can support the position you want to take. When Obama began is relationship with Wright he didn’t think he was vile or despicable.

You’re also, as SpiderJ notes, requiring the Obama of 20 years ago to know exactly where the relationship would be now. Which, BTW, is still not one where Obama thinks Wright is “so vile, so despicable”.

SaveFarris, in your own relationships is everyone you’ve ever been friends with either a good person or a vile person? Is there no middle ground? Have you never had someone you liked who subsequently changed, or turned out not to be the person you thought they were?

Why does Barack Obama hate apple pie?

Let’s dissect this slowly.

Twenty years ago, Obama joined the church of Reverend Wright. Wright was known for fiery sermons, and for his iconoclastic nature and social progressivism. Trinity United is a church committed to the rights of homosexuals, for example, and that’s Wright’s doing. You have no proof that Wright was espousing his current poisonous rhetoric 20 years ago, so asking why Obama chose to relate to him at that time is essentially asking Obama why he didn’t look 20 years into the Future and know that Wright would say the things he’s saying today.

And your continued “only blood makes family” nonsense is tiresome. If you’ve never had a deep and personal relationship with somebody that goes beyond mere friendship to the point that you consider them family, fine for you. You have my sympathy.

Obama was the one that brought family into this when he compared his racist pastor to his racist grandma. Trouble is, Obama’s grandma is going to be Obama’s grandma no matter what. They’re blood. They’re family. If Obama thinks Rev. Wright is so vile, so despicable, then why voluntarily enter a relationship with him? Obama didn’t HAVE to be Wright’s friend. He CHOSE that relationship.

I’ve been to Chicago, and I remember there being more than one church within city limits. Obama made a concious decision to attend that particular church and associate closely with that particular pastor. And if you read Obama’s book, you’ll see he chose Wright exactly because of the firey sermons that Obama is now disavowing and saying “That’s not the man I knew”.

“Disown” is something you do to somebody when you banish them completely from your life, and in this particular case it would have been disownership of a man Obama views as a member of his family. It’s a harsh and terrible decision to disown your family even when they do worse things than say something you disagree with, and the people who wish Obama had “disowned” Wright have either never been through it or are so cowardly and thin-skinned that they’d turn their backs on their family members for practically nothing at all.

Something you, Hannity, Limbaugh, and others fail to highlight is the part of the speech where Obama notes that he chose to talk with the Reverend about his remarks, man-to-man, instead of turning his back and saying “You’re dead to me.” Considering we’ve had eight years of an administration that thinks diplomacy means “I tell you what I want and you agree with it, bitches,” Obama’s maturity is refreshing.

The fact that Limbaugh and his ilk had a field day by taking one snippet out of a very well-constructed and graceful speech and then misinterpreting it ad infinitum means nothing. That’s what they do, that’s what they’ve always done. Look how they turned a rather simple and human request to be able to finish breakfast–the “waffle” nonsense–into a story about how whiny and spineless he is.

I expect it from them. I am not surprised by any of it. If Hannity did a program on how Obama’s handshake is slightly limp and therefore implies he’s a homosexual, I’d be annoyed but not shocked. What shocks me is Democrats like you who are willing to grab onto these antics just because the horse you chose to back in the primary failed to steamroll the competition like you expected her to.

“…And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions — the good and the bad — of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, among many others, had a field day with these quotes yesterday.

Not strong enough. How about, “Get the fuck off my planet.”

I have one thing to say to you people: Get the fuck out of my country.

He did do it a month ago, with tact and grace.
THERE IS NO FUCKING BUS!!!!
I’m with you, mambo

BTW, Oliver, I wanted to thank you for posting the whole of Obama’s remarks. You are one of the few that do so.

Well, I got six words for you, Hannity: f*ck off, you lousy Mick bastard.

God DAMN it, Wellstone, what the fuck is your problem? Did you not see Spider’s comments on this? How Obama repudiated Wright’s comments a month ago, and then did the same here? You really seem to have a personal problem with the man, and aside from you being buried halfway up Hillary’s large intestine, I cannot see what your issue is with him.

Wellstone: “This is EXACTLY what Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and the rest of the Right-wing scum were oping Obama would do.”

Fuck those guys. They have shit-for-brains. Anyone listening to that group of assholes isn’t going to vote for Obama anyway. But besides that, how could Obama coming out and denouncing Wright’s statements hurt him any more than how he was being injured in the first place? Why does him coming out against Wright’s statements hurt him via right-wing media?

The media and a lot of idiotic people have been trying to crucify him for a month for another man’s words. What more does Obama have to do? This is all so much bullshit, it makes me absolutely furious.

God, DARE WE think of dignity and honesty cohabiting the White House? For FOUR or even EIGHT years? He’s brilliant, but being triple-teamed AND gangbanged by the scandal-mongering press may be too much–the superdelegates may lose their nerve and redound to politics-as-usual.

I’m old enough to remember the noble black character who had to get killed off in the first reel…too good to last the whole film. Someone tell me we’re not trapped in a B movie.

OTOH, I liked Obama answering questions of the press–peeps can see him looking effortlessly presidential. Such a good fit.