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Rev. Wright clowned in the Q&A.; That's his right. He seemed to enjoy himself immensely. Good for him.
But he suggested both on Bill Moyers and again in the Q&A; that Obama is really just posturing.
Know that Rev. Wright has hired NOI security. That's also his right.
But let's be real: if Wright had as much concern about moving us ahead as a nation and if he honestly believes that Obama is the candidate to do it, then his behavior yesterday is unconscionable.
And I didn't need the MSM to tell me that.
I'd like to hear from Michelle Obama.
I watched it live. I know what I saw. He clowned. He erased the previous 2 nights with that 'performance'.
I am really, really disappointed. I knew that Obama would disappoint me eventually, as all politicians do. But if feels like he in effect has thrown black people under the bus.
A bit of hyperbole, yes. That's just how it feels right now. Especially seeing how many white people are saying that he did the right thing. What he should have done was to change the paradigm. He let the MSM define the frame. He just did what any average politician would do. He was positively Clintonian.
Look, I'll vote for him happily in the fall just as I did in the primary- he's head and shoulders above the alternatives. But let's not lose sight of, or fail to deplore, what happened here. This is why our country makes so little progress- "moderates" always yield to pressure and pile on along with the right to squelch any open expression of dissent from our brain-dead national mythology.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/louis/index.html
Jack -- Roland Martin said that even Rev. Wright's close friends were disappointed with his performance at the NPC event.
To add insult to injury, guess who organized yesterday's NPC event? A Clinton supporter! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/29/clinto...>
She's also from Chicago and she's saying how members of the the church for 20 years are stating how surprised they were by Wright's performance yesterday.
Sorry to anyone here who's a member of his church, but that's my concern.
I hope I'm wrong.
Personally I also feel that Wright has a right to say what he wants when he wants. But the media spin added a lot of fuel to the fire. Not sure how I feel about this. I have to let this stew a little bit.
Again -- very disappointed.
She's also from Chicago and she's saying how members of the the church for 20 years are stating how surprised they were by Wright's performance yesterday.
Listening to Roland Martin this morning, several of Trinity's members called up...they all sounded as if they were on the brink of tears.
I do know that the media will try to provoke the man into doing or saying something that can be ran on tv or online for a while.
Its been a long time coming--Gramps is brillant but he needs zip it for awhile
obama's my candidate, but i have always known that my personal politics are far to the left of his.
that's okay. we're not going to get a social democracy in this country, so i'll live with what we have.
what i hate hate hate hate is that we have continually moved further to the right since reagan, such that today's "liberal" (he's so liberal! the most liberal member of congress!!!!!) is not much different from the republicans of the '50s and '60s except on race relations.
we've let the right wing zealots and corporate shills define the agenda for too long.
i wish we had an active, outrageous, screeching in your face, BIG movement of true lefties in this country taking up the evening news, grabbing headlines everywhere.
a "shockingly" aggressive leftist movement would have the effect of moving our country out of the right wing and back toward the middle. an aggressive left makes progressives look like the softer, gentler, more reasonable way. in the absence of radicals on the left, the right just sweeps us along and drowns out the message of progress with their for-the-rich political agenda.
anonymous,
WRIGHT threw Black people 'Under the Bus' with that 'performance' at the NPC.
Barack stood by him, when everyone told him to cut him loose.
And in return, he turned on him.
I'm pissed.....so many of us in the blogosphere defended Wright..it seemed like we were the only ones. He spit on us too at the NPC.
Personally I also feel that Wright has a right to say what he wants when he wants. But the media spin added a lot of fuel to the fire. Not sure how I feel about this. I have to let this stew a little bit.
Val,
You act like that NPC 'performance' was in isolation.
IT WASN'T.
We had the Moyers Interview and the NAACP Speech.
There was nothing ' inauthentic' about either one of them.
Nothing.
He did that NPC performance ON PURPOSE.
let's not be afraid. a serious and sincere discussion is under way. there is nothing inacceptable in what wright says.
well, we've got to let him speak and listen. certainly, that much effort is due. we want to be adults, don't we.
There is absolutley no way that the media and our society was going to leave Obama or Wright alone once they labeled Wright crazy and dangerous.
You all act like the media, GOP whoever would have stopped criticizing Wright or attacking Obama for their relationship.
Since when does our white controlled media ever take it's fangs out of the neck of any black person that they have decided offends them especially when that person speaks the truth.
That's why i can't be but so disappointed in Wright's behavior.
He was screwed no matter what.
I think he just decided to go out on his own terms mocking the fools criticizing him all the way.
And maybe giving Obama just what he needed to let him go completely.
The bickering about whether Wright is wrong continues yet...hello everyone...Obama is NOT the nominee yet and he has not won the GE yet.
Are we that lost in the wilderness to forget that work needs to be done?
We are all so on the defense about Dr. Wright at this point that no matter what the man says we are going to nash and weep.
Agree. Don't agree. But this conversations sounds eerily like the great number of folks who told Anita Hill to shut up too--so we could get another black man on the SCOTUS.
His reputation has been destroy, his manhood villified for months. He has recieved death threats and all kinds of lewd and licivious things through the US mail. As far as I am concerened he has every right to defend himself. AND KEEP SAYING WHAT HE HAS BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS.
And at the end of the day, the truth is Barack can throw him under the bus--but a 20 year relationship with someone really tells the truth. And at the end of the day, though I am ardent supporter I am not foolish enough to think that Barack is not a politician--although the best one I have ever seen.
The following news cycle will prove whether or not this was just about Wright.
For me, it was never about Rev. Wright or any of his statements. It was about tying Obama to a racial stereotype to damage his candidacy. The target is Obama. Meanwhile, the media sees no trouble in treating black culture and expression as collateral damage.
If it's just about Wright, then fine. Today's press conference was the most Obama could do. All questions should end there.
But we all know it won't end there. Afterwards, Fox News wanted even more. Next step. . . disown the church. Next step . . . publically chastise some black pathology to pivot to the center and ease white discomfort.
As pointed out by others. It would have been something else if Wright wasn't around. The media would have found some other association. . . some other boogey man to terrorize white America and play the Willie Horton role.
Wright fit that role perfectly. Loud. Powerful. Arrogant. Defiant.
Still, Wright is not a complete victim here. I thought his speech yesterday was great. However his conduct during the question and answer portion gave critics all the amunition they needed to paint the narrative they wanted.
Bottom line: Play the game. But at least know the rules. Speak truth to power. But stay focused and don't let your ego get the best of you. Keep focus on the bigger picture. Wright didn't do that.
"I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality."
Jim Geharty writes:
"In light of events in the past 72 hours, a lot of this looks ridiculous now.
Can we dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue? Yes we can, no irony intended. Those of us who were shocked and appalled by those first clips of Wright's sermons were right, and Barack Obama, and all of those who accused us of judging Wright unfairly, were wrong."
Obama put himself in this situation. It is unfortunate, but not unexpected. Wright forced his hand and spoke out now to climb over Obama and become the self-proclaimed leader of the 'black church.'
Obama is too naive. Too ambitious. Too much hubris, no humility.
Martin said Wright's people BEGGED him not to do the NPC event. BEGGED! But he didn't listen and look what happened.
I feel so bad for Obama because he looked so disappointed and sad that he had to go there today. I also feel bad for Rev. Wright because I think he was speaking the truth in a lot of things he said, and Americans can't handle the TRUTH about this country.
And he did that in the Moyers interview and the NAACP speech.
But, the NCP performance was something altogether different.
He's covering his ass. How Clintonian of him.
Just trying to make sense out all of this..
lastly, The Rev. is a genius--and most do not have the greatest social skills. They are always considered strange, a bit OfF and aloof and oftentimes crass.
ITA. Please note that all of the negative attention Wright is receiving is not because of the Moyers interview, the NAACP speech or even the NPC speech. IT'S THE Q&A; SESSION AT THE NPC EVENT!
And if even Wright's crew and parishioners are saying he went too far, then......
Isn't that how you wanted John Kerry to respond when he was Swiftboated.
I would dream that Kerry would man up and say to GWB just one time, "AT LEAST I WENT M___F____".
Very slick.
We're supposed to assume that for 20 years, every week, Rev. Wright came to the pulpit and shouted "God D*mn America" for 2 hours straight.
It gets spun as though he did this every week for 20 years. Yet, despite this "abundance" of damning evidence, we still get the same 20 second soundbites with the exact same comments from the exact same sermons.
Wright speaks the truth. He also speaks a lot of out-of-date, factually incorrect bullshit.
But I'm with rikyrah: Wright's performance was on purpose. He was indignant, flip, arrogant, clownish, sarcastic, mocking and very playground.
Wright had given two speeches in two days and a great interview on Bill Moyers, but that wasn't enough.
He had to go all the way there and he chose to reinforce the notion that Obama believed what he believed but couldn't say so because he was a politician.
I don't think the American government invented AIDS to kill unwanted citizens. I didn't believe it when the founders of ACT UP said it while we watched our friends die in droves from "gay cancer," I didn't believe it when Bill Cosby said it, and I don't believe it now.
I know what our government is capable of. And I'm not saying our government can't create biological warfare.
But HIV is a RETROVIRUS.
It's been here before. No epidemiologist worth their weight will tell you that a RETROVIRUS can be INVENTED.
IF you want to criticize the government, then CUSS OUT Ronald Reagan for spending two terms in the White House as the epidemic raged in the US and for all those 8 years, he never even uttered the word AIDS.
Speaking truth to power is speaking truth to power, not preaching speculation.
I know about Medical Apartheid and the Tuskegee Experiment, but HIV isn't an experiment.
It's a RETROVIRUS.
But I digress.
I have no idea what the blowback, if any, from all this will be, but I feel for Barack and Michelle today. When betrayal enters the soul, the heart explodes.
I'll pray for their healing today.
With all due respect, I watched it in its entirety, and I was appalled! Let's go back a little...the Bill Moyer's interview was terrific the intial speech at the press club was sufficient, but the Q&A; was a spectacle! He showed his ass! It was the most UNChristian! He did a dis-service to Senator Obama, but more importantly to his church and the Black church.
As Roland Martin, someone who has previously defended Wright, said yesterday, he knew what he was doing. He was implored by Reverend Moss the President of UCC and many others not to do it, but he did it anyway. Without saying it expressly, those who had communication with Wright in the last month were very well aware that the Reverend was on get back time. And it showed!
I said it a year ago when he ran his mouth to the NY Times that he was arrogant, petulant and petty. And my opinion was only cemented yesterday.
Reverends, pastors and clergy of all faith are NOT Gods; they are mere mortal men with the same failings as all humans. And Reverend Wright's failings were on display for all the world to see yesterday.
Amend, Brotha!!!!
I just can't see how he or Obama were going to be able to "stay on message" anyway.
I'm not saying that he couldn't have played this out better but I can definately see how a person could just be fed up hearing from Obama's campaign and supporters that he needed to be quiet "It's not about you!" while your reputation, military service and ministry are being shit on day after day.
Having your name dragged through the mud does make it about you.
It makes me wonder what support did Wright receive from Obama behind the scenes.
Because you can ask Wright to see the larger picture, the need to help Obama get into the White House, but how would any of us like to be the human sacrifice needed to ensure someone else's success.
I'm not naive enough to think that after being beaten down enough I wouldn't give a rat's ass at some point.
You took the words right out of mouth! I'm not a good enough word smith to describe how I felt yesterday watching the Reverend's performance with my white colleagues, all of whom support Obama. If our windows weren't sealed, I think I would have jumped!
If it's just about Wright, then fine. Today's press conference was the most Obama could do. All questions should end there.
____________________________________
ronnie b,
You are off base on this one.
It is about Obama's judgment. That has always been the issue.
Politicians and especially candidates for POTUS are highly scrutinized and held to high standards. Voters look for an individual with whom they can identify, trust, agree with.
Americans are people of faith. Faith binds many diverse people together. Perhaps voters were looking to identify with Obama on these grounds. If Wright had in anyway echoed in his sermons, the themes of Obama's campaign, it would have only benefited Obama.
Obama KNEW this pastor and his church was considered by some to be controversial. He could have left at ANY time. Yet he stayed.
He could have put this to rest sooner, but instead he chose to affirm and defend Wright.
Obama's judgment will continue to be an issue in this campaign.
He has made his choices. He must live with them.
Voters want a president to exercise good judgment.
Don't push Obama's mistakes off onto cries of 'racial stereotypes' and denigration of black culture.
It's about one man, his judgment and his desire to be President.
Now that's speaking truth to power!
Baltogeek said --
Having your name dragged through the mud does make it about you.
It makes me wonder what support did Wright receive from Obama behind the scenes.
Because you can ask Wright to see the larger picture, the need to help Obama get into the White House, but how would any of us like to be the human sacrifice needed to ensure someone else's success.
I'm not naive enough to think that after being beaten down enough I wouldn't give a rat's ass at some point.
Crabs in the barrel
Obama is a politician. A damn good poltician and the best one running for president, but he's still a politician. We, as black people, have put a lot of pressure on him to not only win this election, but also rise above politics completely. It's the same sort of pressure the media is putting on him.
Think about that.
www.ravingblacklunatic.blogpspot.com
Most blacks veiw Wright as a MAN OF WISDOM, speaking truth to power. However to most whites, the image of Wright is more like a COURT JESTER. He speaks the same truth to power, but is viewed as a FOOL.
Now I don't pretend to know the motivations of the rev. But as a man of God I'm sure that Rev. Wright has read the book of ecclesiastes where it states;
3:1-22 " To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven."
Ggoing before the NPC was not the time nor the season for Wright to vent his frustrations with this country, or Obama.
Who knows what the internal polls look like.
Big man is on point.
In reality, Dr. Wright might have just done Barack a favor by forcing him to 'Sista Soulja' him.
But I stand by my belief that the mans legacy and life is much greater then the 4 months we have all-left or right--been obsessed with him. Because whether we like it or not Barack being president is not going to solve the many ills societally. And it is going to be the jobs of those activists and community folks to challenge him.
I wonder how Mrs. O feels today? I will pray for them today. It is hard to leave your church family.
It cost so much to run for POTUS. I am not cool with SBO dumping his rev, but I am trying to understand. I hope that it is worth it for him.
The Dr. Wright that was on TV yesterday was either on drugs or losing it. The man that is good friends and a mentor to my own pastor is a reasonable, brilliant theological scholar. That was a hurt and confused man on TV the past few days. Dr. Wright knows how to play the game and he chose to go against the grain for some reason. It is not all about SBO, but about Dr. Wright not helping himself or the church that he built.
I am so disappointed.
Back on March 18, Obama declared that we were being unfair in concluding Jeremiah Wright was "a crank or a demagogue" because we didn't know him the way Obama did. We were reaching that conclusion based on "snippets" and "soundbites," whereas he could take the full assessment based on a close relationship of 20 years or so.
He was, he assured us, in a better position to make a better judgment.
Today, Obama tells us, he doesn't really know Jeremiah Wright at all.
And now, it seems, we're in better position to make a judgment about Barack Obama."
The question of Obama's judgment will be the most dominant, prominent issue of the campaign.
After Wright, the media will refocus on Ayers and Rezko.
Critics will say...Obama was wrong about Wright, maybe he's wrong Ayers and Rezko... maybe he's wrong about _______________(insert any issue.)
I just want this to end but thanks to Faux News and thanks to the Repugs, this will never end. Nonetheless, by Obama stating clearly that he can't stand by this, it will draw a line in the sand for future swiftboating hatin'.
Somehow, by having an audience of supporters @ the NPC, pushed the Rev. to act on the stage. I happen think that if that room were filled with press and a few supporters, he would have been in better form for the national media. (sigh)
This is such a disservice to TUCC but it can be put behind them. No matter what, Rev. Wright is brilliant just not media savvy. In fact, he probably does not desire to be nor should he have to...
He took all the seriousness out of the issues he had so strongly fought for.
As we all know, you must speak to your audience and audiences are different. That act should have played for a different audience than the one he played for yesterday.
AND, he definitely lead people to believe that Barack was not authentic, that he knew something that the rest of us didn't know. In keeping with his vigilant truth mantra, if he knew something he should have just said it instead of leading people to believe that Obama has told him something different than what he has told the public.
Also, he alluded to the fact that Obama had heard those sermons. Again, he should have said that if it were true instead of letting people draw their own conclusions.
I supported him and I didn't like what he did.
What if Wright purposely acted a fool to force Obama to disown him?
I simply cannot come to grips with the fact that someome with two masters and a PHD can be such an imbecile.
Barack Obama was loyal to the man who brought him to faith even at the risk of political detriment. That man betrayed him. Publicly.
Obama has no said no mas.
Obama's judgment is fine.
Of the candidates left in this race, his judgment is, in fact, superior.
And the mention of a possible book is even more anger.
After Wright's performance, he has lost a lot of good will nationwide. He knows it.
I am hoping he sit the hell down and shut up. My sister is a former member of this church, she is in Minnesota now, and is just angry as all get out.
He took his butt on national TV and clowned. He took all the good will of the Moyers show and NAACP dinner and diminished it.
Enough of him. And for me, for life.
icebergslim
i agree that it's important to view the Q&A; differently because it's what was different. I watched the Moyers interview and the NPC speach (missed the NAACP).
I do wish he hadn't treated the NPC like it was his personal pulpit. He got a bit carried away in his responses.
But I also believe that had he spoken nothing but the queen's english and stayed very much "under control" the media would find another way to attack him.
It doesn't matter what he says or the context. It just doesn't matter.
Max Cleland lost his job because folks were made to believe that this Vietnam vet who left three limbs overseas was somehow "unpatriotic."
Rev Wright dodged the question on HIV/AIDS. He said he thought the gov was "capable" of anything. By not saying what he believed specifically with respect to his conspiracy statements on AIDS, he let that particular sound bite continue to fly.
Outside of that, I'm less concerned with his performance because he would have been interpreted as a performer regardless of what he said or did.
Cleary, my break was not nearly long enough. The world isn't exactly waiting for me to make sense of it :)
The only thing "wrong" with Rev. Wright is is color.
The white corporate media won. Obama lost. America lost.
Rev. Wright did not need to make his appearance when he did. His timing and his actions were suspect and hell and since Rev. Wright is a smart man, we have to assume they were both planned consciously.
Rev. Wright is always going to be a boogeyman for fearful people. But he didn't need to make himself the center of attention to enhance the problem.
It is true that the media was going to paint Wright which ever way they wanted him to be seen, but he didn't have to aid them in this mess.
Leave the press out, campaign out and he betrayed the people who supported him.
Ya know, Wright could have been party to driving a stake through the heart of the bs stream coming through my tv on a minute-by-minute basis. Instead, he fed these Greek chorus members -- paid meddlers in the media -- enough fodder for a week.
And, as for this from anon:
The only thing "wrong" with Rev. Wright is is color.
The white corporate media won. Obama lost. America lost.
You are so wrong. The only thing wrong with Rev. Wright is his lack of understanding of how reconciliation is created STARTING RIGHT NOW -- at this very moment.
And, no, the white corporate media may have "won" but in no way has Obama lost nor America lost. In fact, we may have gained our nominee and in a nuance way, gained our composure for more battle for the General Election.
Which made the front page of the New York Post.
You took the words right out of mouth! I'm not a good enough word smith to describe how I felt yesterday watching the Reverend's performance with my white colleagues, all of whom support Obama. If our windows weren't sealed, I think I would have jumped!
nmp,
I hear you. I hear you. I was feeling so good after the Moyers interview. I was feeling better after the NAACP speech, realizing that they got no soundbites, but it was still all him. I was even ok after his speech at the NPC. Still- no soundbites.
And then, it all went to hell.
Please forgive me for what I am about to say, but it must be said:
To all you mofos speaking that judgment bullshit:
Reverend Wright is a preacher - dramatic and loud - but he is not the fucking Unibomber. He has not aided in any attempts to overthrow any governments. None of that bullshit. So please stop with the judgment bullshit - you're wearing me out with your ignorance.
It doesn't matter what he says or the context. It just doesn't matter.
::
I disagree. It mattered that he strongly insinuated that Obama believes what he believes. That's one of the reasons why Obama spoke out today. He felt betrayed by a man he was loyal to. The personal is political.
Seems he's the only Obama supporter who will come to his man's defense when under the most controversy.
I'd like to also hear from the Governor of Kansas, a white woman, about this. And the Governor of Wisconsin, a white man.
Right on. We are feeding this ridiculous frenzy.
Dr. Wright might have behaved foolishly but in the larger context this is but a moment in pretty good history.
How bout we talk about The Good Reverend John Hagee--how bout we make some noise about that? Instead of sitting around here trying to figure out the best way to further "Repudiate" Dr. Wright.
Amen.
Wright was wrong for what he did to Obama, but he hasn't done anything that would make me question Obama's judgment.
Some of you are letting Obama detractors play you like a fiddle!
Let's...focus...on...Obama winning the Dem Nomination and then the General Election.
Furthermore, Wright can not act so undoubtedly clownish. He himself has said that the MSM is after their sound bites, yet he keeps giving them sound bites. We live in a culture where most people for the simple reason of survival do not have time to research what the MSM says. All they have to go on is the MSM, that’s more a social commentary than anything else, but the point is Wright should know better. For example, his use of the heralded “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” portion of JFK’s speech is cut down, so all you see is him looking like he is mocking JFK. Wright focused on JFK’s unique New England accent, he asked what “eeeeesk” meant and how do you spell it. Wright’s entire point there was the language is treated differently when spoken by whites or blacks. But will the majority of the populace do this research? Doubtful. All the people will see is reverse racism or some other BS the MSM is going to pull out of their asses.
I just can not for the life of me understand why Wright would act a fool at this time. In a time when history can be made for either women or minorities, specifically African Americans, he should be praising Obama, not himself. He can praise himself all he wants in his book, hell, that’s what it’s for. It is as if Wright can only see a foot in front of him and all he sees are pages for his book. I say that because the more outrageous he is the more the MSM has to work with and the more the MSM go after him the more he can denounce them in his book.
Wright isn’t all wrong. He speaks the truth that a lot of America doesn’t approve. But he includes ridiculous statements with the truth. Yes, I know America is a racist country, but I do not think it is near the levels that Wright would have folks believe. It’s this duplicitous message that he spreads that is harmful. Yes the Tuskegee Experiment was an atrocity on the level of Unit 731, wikipedia it, but to say something so blatantly false, AIDs was created by the government, is just foolhardy and vitriolic. Wright’s church also does massive humanitarian work around Chicago, that is why, I believe Barack joined and stayed at his church because while there were negative aspects they were greatly outshined by the good the church did. The MSM won’t latch on to the good parts of his sermon and his service, that isn’t their motive nor the narrative they wish to write.
That’s the end of my rant, got to go to dining hall for dinner. To summarize this thing, Wright should focus on the positives and stop giving the MSM the sound bites they crave.
So why is Obama appalled today. Is it because Wright's statements are lies or are those truths that make white people uncomfortable.
what pisses me off is that the black people who are screaming for Rev. Wright's pair are the same one will say out the sides of their mouths that Obama has to say what he needs to say to win. He's a politician.
How many times has that been said on this board?
Are you how pissed because Wright actually uttered that to MSM.
WTF?
She's willing to take us to another war (Iran) while our citizens are crippled with gas prices, food prices, foreclosures and a national health care crisis.
Nobody is talking about that but the Republicans. They are praising Hillary for her strength and willingness to take on their causes.
Has anyone noticed this during all the hoopla about Wright?
Wright is WRONG! He seems to be on some type of ...uuhm I can't put it into words but it doesn't seem very Godly to be all about SELF! I mean don't get me wrong, I had no problem with him taking up for himself but ...what happened???? He seemed so arrogant, so cocky, so full of himself, so.... Again, he was Ok to a certain point and the whole Obama is a "politician" comment had to be said to hurt Obama. For God's sake, the man is too smart to have "misspoken" or have spoken that loosely. Uh I just don't get it! JEALOUSY????
Against Race Politics
I sent you an email. Let me know what you think.
AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO HEAR NEGROES WINE ABOUT THEIR ISSUES!! THEY HAVE NO TOLERANCE FOR IT AND WE ARE IGNORANT FOR EVEN BEING UPSET THAT FOLK DON'T CARE!!
Negroes in this country TRULY OVERESTIMATE the importance of their "story" to the Majority of Americans--of all colors. No body wants to hear it, yet we want everyone to think that its the most important thing in the world.
Frankly, Pat Buchanon should have got up during the Jeremiah Wright questions and said N##%GA you and your people only make up 12% of this population... Your opinion REALLY ISN'T THAT RELEVANT. It would make more sense for us to be worried about latinos than you people...AND ON SHEER CYNICAL POLITICS HE WOULD BE WRIGHT.
Negroes overestimate their importance, get furious when they find out the world doesn't care and don't realizie that trying to MAKE THEM VALUE US IS NOT THE GOAL..THE GOAL FOR US TO LEARN HOW TO VALUE OURSELVES!!!
Obama is a politician NOT JESUS CHRIST!!!
Rikyrah: JEREMIAH WRIGHT DID NOT DAMAGE BLACK AMERICA BY GOING AFTER OBAMA!! OBAMA IS NOT THE EMBODYMENT OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY!!
HE SHOWED US ALL TODAY AS I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN: He's just a POLITICIAN. A good one...which makes him the BEST SCUMBAG IN TOWN... Since we know. ALL POLITICIANS ARE SCUMBAGS!!
Now people are gonna be like... No but he's different....BULLSHIT!!
For me that silence on the real danger their bigoted religious zealotry represents deserves more attention than this crap.
Hey everybody how about we turn this around to something that will actually be useful.
Instead of ranting about Wright and Obama we start a real campaign to hold the media and the right accountable for their support of the religious nuts who have destroyed this country.
In no way was this about bringing a country together- to explore our differences. Rev Wright for is not a politician and right about now he seems like an apathetic citizen as well. He has hurt the American's public to understand Obama's position -on anything- because of Wright's narcissistic antics on the stage. He could have said his peace and let it go, but he didn't.
He made light of the seriousness of the issues by throwing up Q symbols and being dismissive of the reporter's questions. Some of them were stupid, so in that he allowed himself to be unprofessional.
I really wonder how the history books will speak of the fall of a great campaign. Obama should have distanced himself from Wright and I'm glad he did. I only wish added to a CONSTRUCTIVE discussion on the Black Church's social gospel.
Here's something I just wrote in response to this turn of events:
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"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. "
...
"Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
"And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
"But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."
-- Genesis 19:17, 24-26 (KJV)
If the Obama campaign entails a fairy tale, then my own bit of magical thinking involves the conviction that if we could only collectively suspend our disbelief for just long enough, if we can just have faith that something new can transcend what was, then we can cross the chasm that divides our nation. But like all magical thinking, there's also a catch: to walk on thin air we must, all of us, believe it together. Open our eyes, and the magic breaks. The hopes that buoy us halfway across proves more fatal than staying exactly where we are.
Rationally, of course, I don't quite believe this story. All politics are in the system, and all our politicians merely players. But I also believe in mankind's occasional capacity to transcend itself and its own institutions. I've always considered JFK a rather bad President by the merits, and yet his overall power to inspire was clearly greater than the sum of his policies and actions.
Presented with the opportunity to move forward and leave behind our place of damnation, how many of us would nonetheless do as Lot's wife did -- whether out of fear, doubt, perhaps even mere nostalgia? How many would look back?
This Presidential campaign isn't a battle between black and white: it is, as Obama himself observed, about the past versus the future. And the forces of the past -- whether in the guise of Hillary Clinton or Jeremiah Wright -- keep shouting, "Look back! Look back! You are doomed by the weight of the heavy hand of history."
Perhaps we are. But I will keep walking this chasm, my wide-open eyes firmly forward.
Is it me???? Anybody??? Anybody???
Read the posts from Anonymous on the recent blogs. Wolf in sheeps clothing.
not damage Obama with Christians, who may only see the soundbites, and resent Obama for throwing over his pastor.
Wright is in love with his own voice and he simply doesn't know when to shut up.
Yes! ..Moyers was probably trying to protect Wright from himself.
Almost everyday in this campaign he's been charged by the media with having a political reason for the decisions he has made up to and including his speech on race in Philadelphia and now he acts all brand new when Rev. Wright says the same thing that's taken for granted as acceptable discourse.
I believe there is a fault line where there is this fundamental disagreement between Obama and Rev. Wright, philosophically/ideologically but "vision of America" LIE gets put to rest here: Obama's supposed issue was Wright's outdated view of America. This is the same Rev. Wright who said "governments change."
So Obama can't seem to speak honestly about Rev. Wright in context and it's about the easiest political pandering there is. It's always open season on Black folk and no matter how Rev. Wright gave him the self-fulfilling prophecy and perfect opportunity to be that "crazy uncle" (remember that shit? talk about insults)... Obama has crossed over the line with me with his fundamental disrespect to Black folks humanity in the face of the age old "responsible Negro leader" test-game White America loves to play.
Rev. Wright could clown on his critics (and even, in the end, clown himself) because he was free to do so. Obama is a "bound" man. The problem is he's bound to a sorry narrative that's as played out as he willingly tried to frame the frustrations and anger of Rev. Wright and "the men and women of Rev. Wright's generation."
IMO, Rev. Wright more than earned his right for an error. Obama has used up a lot of the extended credit he's been given.
Bishop Brazier would have never thrown you under the bus nor given you cause for concern politically.
Ironically, Bishop Brazier and Barack share a more similar world view than Rev. Wright.
As a WW2 veteran, Bishop is without question a patriot, as a member of the greatest generation. He never fails to mention, from the pulpit, despite all our governments failures, this is still the best country in the world. (Which is usually followed by a joke about how he would suit up again and go serve @ 85 if there was a CREDIBLE threat to our safety).
Besides that he would NEVER, EVER use such inflammatory language behind the pulpit or anywhere else.
His message is always about loving one another and forgiveness, no matter our differences or background. Respect is always shown.
And as a deeply moral person of conscious, he preached against the war in Iraq from jump. Making many of the same arguments as Barack regarding the invasion.
Such a shame - Bishop Brazier represents the best of the Black Church tradition a la MLK. Deeply spiritual, with a rational and historical analysis of scripture and how it can better our lives and sustain us. His is a message of unity along with Black self-development and our church does much of the same work in our community as Trinity.
As a member of ACOG who strives to walk the same path led by Bishop Brazier, I won't judge Rev. Wright's actions. I just wish we lived in a society where more Americans understood the word nuance. If they did this wouldn't be the controversy that it is nor would Barack's so called elitist comments about PA.
Sorry y'all if this comment is more in praise of my pastor above all else. With so many questionable preachers with agendas other than Christ behind the pulpit, I'm again reminded how fortunate we are at Apostolic.
A girl from Chicago -
He's said a million times "you don't change who you are because of where you are." and "you knew who you were inviting when you invited me" so don't get surprised when I come with it.
What is unusual is Jeremiah's speaking to the press. In all my years of being a member, the only political statements I heard him make were in the pulpit. He was not on TV, in the Tribune or Sun Times,etc.
Oh and Brazier supporter, Trinity doesn't lock you in a room until you shout after you join the church. Brazier's a hack...give it up.
As a child growing up in the middle-class neighborhood of Beverly Hills/Washington Heights in Chicago. A neighborhood that prides it self on community and property and who embraced their community. I am a 40 year old Black male from this neighborhood and I am grateful for all the Efforts that Rev. Wright and Rev. Dr. Johnnie Coleman gave to us. Rev. Wright was one of the first ministers to start the flight for us to visit Africa in an era from 1968 to present when our parents' were being able to enjoy the fight from the 1960's era. What Rev. Wright stated was taken out of content, just like the state Michelle Obama stated, too. Being an Black American and especially Chicago, we can relate to their statements when you have been beaten down and not given a fair chance in a language all our own. First and foremost, Mr. Obama.. a lot of us Black Chicagoans hadn't heard of him as well as he did some work with the Housing Project Groups in Altgeld garden Housing projects. Our Black forefathers, Mr. Wright and other Black Americans paved the way for Mr. Obama to be where he is now. Mr. Obama forefathers never shed Black Blood on this land..like our Black forefathers did and I believe Mr. Obama is more accepted because America doesn't feel threatened because his mother and grand parents' were directly traced to present White America genes. Mr. Obama should have stated (out of fairness), " Rev. Wright is my spiritual advisor and people have a right to their own viewpoints." Our community embraces Mr. Obama, a community that was already established before he entered Rev. Wright's Church, A community that migrated north "to the promised land" for better opportunity after years of being oppressed in the southern parts of the USA, a community that migrated via "Historic Pullman Porters", rode the back of the greyhound bus from the south and was only able to sit up front once they crossed the Mason/Dixon line in Cairo, Illinois. A community that wanted better for their children and worked hard to keep their lawns manicured and prove the whites wrong in Chicago about panic selling and 30, 40, 50 years later the community is still manicured and beautiful. Rev. Wright stated the truth because this land was built on free slave labor of our forefathers..not Obama's..maybe Michelle's. My question is..will Mr. Obama really do anything for we Black Americans in America? And, this is the first time that I will not be voting because birth candidates I am not satisfied. The only reason I can vote is because my forefathers made it possible for me to have this choice not Mr. Obama's