Posted on 03/14/2008 2:35:48 PM PDT by Anti-Hillary
OsamaObama won’t even be able to Clinton his way out of this one.
post #36
Obama Disavows Pastor’s Remarks
Looks like Barack Obama is kicking his crazy uncle out of the basement.
The Democratic presidential hopeful has compared his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, to an “old uncle” with whom he doesn’t always agree. But with the controversial preacher’s racially inflammatory remarks and sermons burning up the Internet over the past 24 hours or so, the Obama campaign had to respond with some tough love.
In a posting on Huffington Post, Obama called Wright’s statements “inflammatory and appalling” and said, “Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. 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. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.”
Among his most controversial statements, Wright said African Americans should sing “God Damn America” instead of “God Bless America.” And he suggested that the Unites States invited the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with its own “terrorism.”
Wright just retired from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Obama, his wife, Michelle and their two young daughters attend. But Wright’s sermons have been immortalized on the Internet — unfortunately for Obama.
In one, Wright told his congregation the reason why “so many folks are hating on Barack Obama” is because he doesn’t “fit the model: He ain’t white, he ain’t rich and he ain’t privileged.”
“Hillary [Clinton] fits the mold,” Wright said, delivering a fiery tirade on how “Hillary never had a cab whiz past her and not pick her up because her skin was the wrong color,” and how “Hillary never had to worry about being pulled over as a black man driving” and how “Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home.”
He also said Hillary has never been called the “N word.” (Wright used the actual word.)
On Huffington Post, Obama wrote, “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. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church. “
As you can see in this mocked-up YouTube video, which came from Fox News, Republicans could have a field day using Wright as ammunition in a general election contest against Obama.
Todd Harris, a veteran GOP political strategist, tells us, “There are hundreds of churches in Chicago to choose from but Obama picked the one with a racist preacher who is anti-American and anti-Israel. This guy makes Louis Farrakhan look like Hello Kitty and we’re going to have a field day with this.”
Obama’s “crazy uncle” problem is particularly troublesome for his campaign as he seeks to allay Jewish voters’ concerns about his commitment to Israel and his endorsement from Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan.
ABC News reviewed dozens of Rev. Wright’s sermons and found “repeated denunciations of the U.S. based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans.”
Before the senator commented Friday, the Obama campaign put out a statement saying, “Senator Obama has said repeatedly that personal attacks such as this have no place in this campaign or our politics, whether they’re offered from a platform at a rally or the pulpit of a church. Senator Obama does not think of the pastor of his church in political terms. Like a member of his family, there are things he says with which Senator Obama deeply disagrees.”
By Mary Ann Akers | March 14, 2008; 4:51 PM ET
Let’s us all enjoy watching Barry spin.
Let us start a drinking game. We take a shot every time that he says “politics of the past,” or “this is guilt by association,” or “I don’t agree with everything he says,” or “we must turn the page,” or “hope.”
Which begs the question, doesn’t it? Why NOW for Obama? Why does my suspicious brain see something else at work here? I always thought the DNC could always get their people to go Lock-Step with what they wanted - which makes me wonder why the higher ups didn’t take Obamanation aside and give him the lay of the land - “you have no experience, you have serious problems which some of your previous statements and you’re far too liberal” - and advise him he’d be offered the VP spot and could run on his own in 8 years.
What, can’t a guy get a blintz now an again? :-)
Does this raise this to the “hugh” and “series” level yet?
“Before the senator commented Friday, the Obama campaign put out a statement saying, “Senator Obama has said repeatedly that personal attacks such as this have no place in this campaign or our politics, whether they’re offered from a platform at a rally or the pulpit of a church.”
Dear Senator Obama: Welcome to the NFL.
This “Pastor” Wright character is the biggest, America-hating, bigot that I’ve ever seen in my life. He would have made a GREAT Nazi.
Uncle Jerimiah? Homeless and alone on the streets? Damn You Barack Obama! you heartless bastage!
Now perhaps we can understand where Michelle Obama got her negative view of America
What about the videos of him in the audience while Wright is ranting?
I have not seen video of Obama in audience, you gotta link?
That aint gonna wash Barry
I’ll break my self-imposed exile to post. I refuse to have Obama get on television and call anyone who disagrees with this pastor a racist.
I grew up in Chicago and visited this so-called church at the urging of a former friend, who is still a member. I left before they passed the plate I was so turned off. That was about 6 years ago. That moment and my outing as a conservative ended a 20+ year friendship.
Couple this with Obama speaking at the ANSWER anti-war/anti-American rally in Chicago (I think it was 2002) and I’d heard enough.
This man and the ideology he espouses are dangerous - make no mistake. Many in IL know this.
Do I have to mention that I am a conservative American who happens to be black? It doesn’t matter to me but this is for the drive-bys who lurk here.
Back to my exile.
Oh, please tell me that’s true.
Of course, Obamalamadingdong will say it’s edited - that someone is playing fast and loose with the videotape.
He’s listened to his “mentor” for 20 years and written reams of questionable thoughts and now wants us to believe that in a 10 second soundbite he’s not associated with the racist?
Oh please. We aren’t stupid.
Paint my fence then I will fix you a couple of blintzes
Obama also never saw Ayres plant a terrorist bomb in his presence.
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