Rev. Wright's church responds--this is really funny

That, of course, is a ridiculous premise. As somebody noted further on up the thread, the church Obama goes to is a force for good on the South Side of Chicago. Some overblown rhetoric from a pastor does not equate to hate groups meeting there.
But I have to give you guys credit -- you'll persist in pretending that it does, and maybe you'll get lucky again, like you did four years ago, when picking nits over a candidate's service in Vietnam became a "scandal" that dwarfed his opponent's failure to go anywhere near Vietnam while there was fighting going on.
Rev. Wright isn't running for president. Obama hasn't said any of the things attributed to Rev. Wright. These are fairly simple concepts.
I would add that I also don't care about Rev. Hagee, unless somebody has a tape of McCain saying he endorses those views.

 

True, but it's going to serve as a reminder to people who aren't sure yet whether or not to vote for him that Obama is black and this is the baggage that comes with a black president. Maybe, some of the less-enlightened aren't going to handle that so well.

 

Two were from 2007. Sorry for the quick miscount. So seven stories in 12 twelve days on Wright and his comments and his standing with the Obama campaign. Front page today. "Buried?" Please try again.

 

jg with all due respect I think you have your head in the sand on this one. As said I like Obama. I love his message "Audacity of Hope"- even read the book.
It does concern me that as it should everyone else that the phrase comes from Rev Wright.
Does it mean that I would not vote for him - no, but I do think its not unfair to ask for more of an explanation of Obama's relationship with Wright.

From what I have seen so far Obama has failed.

 

The investment bankers' destroying the country -- and the new NY governor -- are above the fold. Given the NYT, I'd say that's legit.

 

Boom, I grant that Obama's relationship to Wright may differ in both depth and breadth from McCain's to Hagee. And I agree that all statements by all relevant parties under discussion are fair game for coverage and examination.

I'm no Obama man, either.

Rather, I took up this thread more in the spirit of fairness than anything else. If the vampire press is going to bring such rigorous scrutiny to one candidate on a matter as inconsequential as this, then they need to bring that same sharp focus to bear on the other. Which they have not done.

 

On a side note try saying "I'm an Obama man" 10 times fast- it's fun.

Agree there needs to be fairness, but at this point Obama is more in the spotlight because democrat primary is still going on.

 

It is 100 percent ridiculous that this Rev. Wright crap is still a story. It is ridiculous that it was a story in the first place.

It is nothing more than race baiting and playing to the grossest and most irrational stereotypes and fears of many white people, who are not necessarily racist but just ignorant -- and polls suggest this is true as Hillary has magically begun to widen her lead among white people in states like Pa.

This is an absolute disgrace and there is no question it is an attempt by the media to influence the elections in order to keep them interesting for a few more months.

I said the same thing about Hagee, I said the same thing about many of the shady people who hang around the Clintons and say stupid shit -- like Rosie O'Donnell -- this is absolute and pure bullshit only it has racism wrapped in it as well.

 

I buy Obama's "crazy uncle" comparison because my wife's family, who grew up poor in the city of Chicago (including some time in the projects) are around the same age as Wright and saw the racial tumult of the city in the 1950s and 1960s from their white, South side of the tracks. They certainly make plenty of crazy racist statements that drive my wife and I nuts, but we love them and aren't going to disown them. They're generally good people who themselves were victims of Chicago's inability, even still, to come to terms with absorbing the massive amount of black immigration during the Great Migration. They're Irish who still have the chips on their shoulders from the days when blacks and Irish competed for the same shit jobs, and were both seen as shit people. They themselves weren't in Gage Park screaming at Martin Luther King Jr. as he marched for housing there in 1966 (my 10-year-old son has played soccer in that park, and it was weird to think about what went down at that time as I watched two kids' teams play in peace), but they certainly felt blacks were a threat. The local political establishment was ready and eager to aid and abet that opinion, and stoke those fears, at any opportunity.

Like Wright, they haven't absorbed that times have changed, a neighborhood doesn't automatically "change" the moment a minority family moves in, and that racial polarization from both directions helps no one. I forgive Wright more because blacks were much more the victims, but I forgive my older relatives somewhat because they were victims of their times. Not that I like it, and my wife and I request they keep a lid on it around our kids (my mother-in-law tends not to get going in this direction, but she's far more tolerant than her siblings). But I'm certainly not going to kick them out of my house.

So I completely understand Obama's position on Rev. Wright. Maybe you say it's different because he chose to attend that church, and Wright isn't a blood relative. Whatever. But there is nothing in Obama's legislative or public track record that shows he is some sort of crazy, America-hating white bigot, and to me that matters a lot more than whatever a "crazy uncle" says. Just like how with GOP candidates who prostrate before Falwell/Roberston et al. It doesn't make me believe that they think 9/11 was God's revenge for AIDS. It's their personal track record I'm worried about.

 

Listening to Obama's live speech as he tries to explain his way out of this....'Rev Wright reflects the complexities of racial problems country, yada yada yada...' Can't disown the pastor, this is family to him.

For folks out there looking for reasons to dislike Obama, this is Christmas.

 

And I agreed with that in my second post on the first page.

 

I guess my question is: Will Clinton still be able to count on the black vote after the holidays?

I can't help but think that it was her camp that released the hounds. Are folks going to be willing to come pack and pet the puppy after its chased them down the road?