Obama is finished, thanks to his 'spiritual mentor'
Posted 1 year 47 weeks ago byDespite Herculean efforts to defend Barack Obama, he is simply not going to be able to run away from the political albatross of his "spiritual mentor," the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
There's a lot to say about this issue, and I've weighed in on other discussions earlier here, here, here, here, here, and here.
But some additional points:
Jeremiah Wright is a racist. Plain and simple. There is no other interpretation of his comments. It is pure poison. Deplorable. His philosophy is, to employ an overused term that in this case is actually apt: Beyond the pale. What other politician would get away with such an affiliation, let alone be defended with pathetic spin, as Obama is now?
Let's also remember, again, that Obama chose this church. He chose to be married by Wright. He chose Wright to baptize his children. He chose to attend this church for 20 years, and give tens of thousands of dollars to it -- all the while whining about the student loans they had to pay back. These are not small things. They are windows into Obama's judgment, character and, yes, his morals. The term "spiritual mentor" implies "moral guide." And since Obama has very little public record to examine, his big life choices become larger -- because they are all we have to go by.
Obama's very-late coming denunciation of Wright is carefully worded. So it warrants parsing.
Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy.
Ok. What about when other deplorable, hateful statements are made public? Are we going to go through the dance of statement/denouncement ad infinitum? If so, that's going to be one long song.
I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies.
Fine. Great. But it is simply inconceivable that Wright's statements that "disparage our great country" were rare. Merely the passion in Wright's voice makes that clear. So why stick around, Obama, if this was common and you "categorically denounce" it?
I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit.
But Wright's M.O. was hardly to denounce individuals -- though we can guess that Bush earned the dishonor. Wright denounced whole groups of people -- whites, middle-class people, the "rich," Israel, and "sell-out" blacks. So, that sentence is pretty worthless.
In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.
Again, Obama qualifies -- which leaves the presumption, for now, that other statements that have not yet made the YouTube parade are OK.
It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.
Which reminds me. Wright thinks the racist, white power structure of the United States invented AIDS to kill black people. Do you agree, Mr. Obama?
In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor.
If Wright has never been your political advisor, why have you consulted him before every political move in your career?
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.
This is simply not believable. Every time Wright went off the deep end, Obama was not present? Did he not talk to other congregates over post-service coffee and donuts about what he might have missed? But, yet again, we hear Obama qualifying about the statements that are "the cause of this controversy." What happens when other comments come up?
But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, ...
What the hell does Wright's imminent retirement have to do with what he has said for years? Completely irrelevant.
There is a part of me that almost feels sorry for Obama. I have the feeling that he joined the influential church -- so influential that it counts Oprah herself as a member -- to boost his political fortunes when he was just getting started in his career. It is certainly a smart political launching point as a black politician in Chicago, as long as your aspirations remain relatively small time. Even members of Congress can get away with this kind of affiliation.
But Obama is now in the Big Time. He wants to be president of all the people. And Obama's spiritual mentor sees a bitter, racially divided America. Obama is now learning the dangers of picking racist, hateful friends and "spiritual mentors." And the Democratic party is going to learn the dangers of picking this man as their nominee.
Thoughts
...........
Submitted on November 18th, 2008 by AnonymousAnd Obama is your next president. Suck on it, suck it hard, suck it long.
Game Over?
Submitted on November 9th, 2008 by AnonymousWhat do you say now?
Game over Obama. You simply
Submitted on March 20th, 2008 by AnonymousGame over Obama. You simply can not be trusted to be the President of this great nation. The same great nation that your church puts down on a regular basis. No freakin' way!
retirement has nothing to do with it
Submitted on March 17th, 2008 by sunshine308Jim..just wanted to add some thoughts again.. you are so right about trying to defend Obama by saying the minister is retired now..after 30 years of spewing this crap it is amazing that this did not come to light earlier..however, it is now being reported on fox that there is evidence that Obama was in fact in the pews nodding approval on at least one of these occasions and that would confirm his status as liar and hypocrite which is becoming more clear with every day that goes by.. not that there should be any doubts about the believability of his claims of ignorance of Wrights speeches.. and that in fact was also a lie because now we know that it was over a year ago when he admitted he would have to "lose" Wright eventually.. He waited too long..and Americans are not going to forget this ugliest of demonstrations of hatred and bigotry any time soon.. however, as someone noted recently, Obama could blow crack live on TV and walk away unscathed.
omg..should not reflect on Obama???
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by sunshine308then you are saying you condone hate mongering, bigotry and racism.. See that is what is wrong with your statement.. is that it can't help but reflect on Obama..because he did NOT TAKE A STAND... He did not let us know that he had PRINCIPLES.. that stood for values we treasure.. being as he did not.. we assume now that hate mongering, bigotry and racism is ok with him too..
He needed to have denounced this evil man Wright and this racist church.. I dont care how much good he has done..this is the worst demonstrations of hate and racism that I have ever seen and it was so repulsive and dispicable that it will remain in the minds of many Americans for many many years..and it will never be erased by any amount of good deeds he may have done. Obama needed to have done his denouncing many years ago for it would not take long to find out what this man Wright was about and being as he mentored Obama for over 20 years there is not a reason in the world to doubt Obama knew every substance of this mans thoughts and feelings and attitudes. Now he has said that some of these statements were not acceptable .. but it is too little too late.. Obama has no excuse now and his credibility is about zero.. I feel bad for him but he has done it to himself.. the truth always wins..he should have known that.
Religions & Politics
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by MercyphotographyYou have to look at this from an historical perspective.
You can pretty much pin point any " crisis zones" on the globe based on some religious intolerance( a perfect example is radical Islam).
One of the great virtues of the US Constitution,thanks to the like of Thomas Jefferson, was to try to create the base of a society, where anyone would be free to pursue any religious believes. This was in memories of the constant religious wars and persecutions between Catholics and Protestants in Europe.
The other idea ( inspired by Voltaire & Diderot) was to make sure Churchs could not control Public life.
Government was intented to be run by reason and rational principles as opposed to faith based ideas.
In other words, nobody should care about the " ideas" of Pastor Wright. It certainly should not reflect on Obama.
Mercyphotography
yes but
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by sunshine308this has been going on for how many thousand years now??? The two inextricably complicated and somehow connected to the soul of man issues, politics and religion.. It would be nice if they could be kept entirely separate..but how.. when our conscience that is impacted by our religious beliefs is what guides us to pick a political leader.. I think there is not much chance.
Religions and US politics.
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by MercyphotographyObama needs to distance himself from Pastor Wright.
However, Mc Cain has a bit of his own problems with some of his own radical Evangelists lunatics new friends.
One of them having stated after Katrina, that the hurricane was an " Act of God to punish New-Orleans from it sins".
In my opinion, religions and pastors of all stripes are playing too much of a role in American political & public life in general.
Mercyphotography
Glass house
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by AnonymousHave you seen all the glass littering the streets of the CNN building?
He has only just begun
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by AnonymousAsk the good people at CNN if they think he is finished. Now that a higher power has weighed in.
Re: Wright's wrong
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by Jim LakelyI'll tell you why. He built his political career on that church -- its influences, its connections, its popularity in Chicago's black community. If he fully denounces it, quits the church, he is turning his back on his base -- his people. He is selling out the "black community" -- the kind of thing that Wright seems to be especially angry about.
He simply can't do it. Obama is politically hurt if he stays, and hurt if he leaves. So, he's stuck spinning, pathetically.
Hear, hear!
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by AnonymousTwo other things greatly trouble me about this story. First, in the video clips, when Rev. Wright says his ugliest comments, the crowd roars its loudest approval. The entire congregation ate this stuff up.
Second, Michelle and Barack didn't just choose this church for themselves. They wanted their children raised in this toxic environment. To be taught of a black separatist "god" who hates whitey and the Jew and uses Al Qaeda to teach America a lesson.
If Obama wants to boast of his judgment, let's start with the choices he made for his own kids.
Wrights wrong
Submitted on March 15th, 2008 by sunshine308I agree with your thoughts Jim.. I would like to go a bit further.. WHY DID OBAMA NOT DENOUNCE ALL HIS RACIST, HATE MONGERING STATEMENTS AND WHY DID HE NOT SIMPLY DENOUNCE WRIGHT??..That is something I do not understand.. furthermore..why did he not do it long ago..He has been mentored for 20 years by this guy so there is NO EXCUSE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW HIS DEMEANOR OR PHILOSOPHY OR THAT HE HAD NEVER EXPRESSED IN 20 YEARS HIS PERSONAL EXPRESSIONS OF THIS TYPE OF RACISM AND BIGOTRY AND HATE TO OBAMA.. I truly now believe that the statements that Michelle made were as result of her relationship of 20 years with Wright.. that America was mean.. that she had no pride in America.. those attitudes truly come from the spewing of Wright.
I thought a lot about Obama's claim that he had not heard any of Wrights other statements.. to me that is so highly unlikely.. First of all.. he's been involved in this community for many years... Please don't ask me to believe that if you were referred to as black jesus in church on Sunday that someone in this community would not be calling you to tell you about it.. or the fact that your minister called down Bill and Hillary, the Jews, the whole country of America, etc.. Of course..just as a matter of "being in touch" with a fellow church-goer it would make sense.. but in this case..we are talking about a presidential candidate and his wife who have a vested interest in what their friends and associates are doing.. so more compelling reasons to relate this information to them.
I agree that the statement about Wrights pending retirement has no bearing on any of the issues here and that is just diverting attention from the real issue..why did he not DENOUNCE THIS CHURCH, THIS MINISTER AND ALL HIS STATEMENTS LONG AGO??? I believe, and I am sure many others would also.. that Obama truly had a duty to screen his own friends and relationships BEFORE HE ENTERED THIS RACE. .. not doing so shows his inexperience in politics and his very poor judgement in several areas.. we won't go into other relationships here..but they are known.
I believe that Obamas lack of action at an appropriate time has the effect of shooting himself in the foot.. the only thing is that that foot is his achievement of a long time goal that he may never get another chance at..the most prestigious and powerful office in the world.