Washington post

Wright's Voice Could Spell Doom for Obama
by Dana Milbank


The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, explaining this morning why he had waited so long before breaking his silence about his incendiary sermons, offered a paraphrase from Proverbs: "It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Barack Obama's pastor would have been wise to continue to heed that wisdom.

Should it become necessary in the months from now to identify the moment that doomed Obama's presidential aspirations, attention is likely to focus on the hour between nine and ten this morning at the National Press Club. It was then that Wright, Obama's longtime pastor, reignited a controversy about race from which Obama had only recently recovered - and added lighter fuel.

Speaking before an audience that included Marion Barry, Cornel West, Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam official Jamil Muhammad, Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, defended the view that Zionism is racism, accused the United States of terrorism, repeated his view that the government created the AIDS virus to cause the genocide of racial minorities, stood by other past remarks ("God damn America") and held himself out as a spokesman for the black church in America.

In front of 30 television cameras, Wright's audience cheered him on as the minister mocked the media and, at one point, did a little victory dance on the podium. It seemed as if Wright, jokingly offering himself as Obama's vice president, was actually trying to doom Obama; a member of the head table, American Urban Radio's April Ryan, confirmed that Wright's security was provided by bodyguards from Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.

Wright suggested that Obama was insincere in distancing himself from his pastor. "He didn't distance himself," Wright announced. "He had to distance himself, because he's a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American."

Explaining further, Wright said friends had written to him and said, "We both know that if Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected." The minister continued: "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls.

Did Obama's mentor just call Obama a fake?!

Wright also argued, at least four times over the course of the hour, that he was speaking not for himself but for the black church.

"This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright," the minister said. "It is an attack on the black church." He positioned himself as a mainstream voice of African American religious traditions. "Why am I speaking out now?" he asked. "If you think I'm going to let you talk about my mama and her religious tradition, and my daddy and his religious tradition and my grandma, you got another thing coming."

That significantly complicates Obama's job as he contemplates how to extinguish Wright's latest incendiary device. Now, he needs to do more than express disagreement with his former pastor's view; he needs to refute his former pastor's suggestion that Obama privately agrees with him.

Wright seemed aggrieved that his inflammatory quotations were out of the full "context" of his sermons -- yet he repeated many of the same accusations in the context of a half-hour Q&A session this morning.

His claim that the September 11 attacks mean "America's chickens are coming home to roost"?

Pete - maybe you ought to share your radical ideals with him! You know, the one devised to "get a rise out of me!"

Wright defended it: "Jesus said, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic divisive principles."

His views on Farrakhan and Israel? "Louis said 20 years ago that Zionism, not Judaism, was a gutter religion. He was talking about the same thing United Nations resolutions say, the same thing now that President Carter's being vilified for and Bishop Tutu's being vilified for. And everybody wants to paint me as if I'm anti-Semitic because of what Louis Farrakhan said 20 years ago. He is one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century; that's what I think about him. . . . Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy. He did not put me in chains, he did not put me in slavery, and he didn't make me this color."

He denounced those who "can worship God on Sunday morning, wearing a black clergy robe, and kill others on Sunday evening, wearing a white Klan robe." He praised the communist Sandinista regime of Nicaragua. He renewed his belief that the government created AIDS as a means of genocide against people of color ("I believe our government is capable of doing anything").

And he vigorously renewed demands for an apology for slavery: "Britain has apologized to Africans. But this country's leaders have refused to apologize. So until that apology comes, I'm not going to keep stepping on your foot and asking you, does this hurt, do you forgive me for stepping on your foot, if I'm still stepping on your foot. Understand that? Capisce?"

Capisce, reverend. All too well.

Maybe it will spell doom and maybe not. But one thing it does do is allow shallow neo-cons like you to distract the real problems this nation is facing and the poor job that the current administration is doing to help this nation survive. And it also distracts from the candidates from debating solutions to our problems that throwing borrowed tax dollars at will not help.

I believe the doom scenario is, at this point, still in the category of some people's wishful thinking.

I, for one, am VERY glad that the Rev. outed himself.

Now, we can all have a nice uncivil conversation about his allegations, in PUBLIC!

Most religious leaders are nut jobs anyhow.

I watched the telecast myself and I think if it sinks him that is fine. I mean if a guy cannot find it within himself to seperate himself from such one sided conspiracy theories, Black panthers, Farrakhan and the likes. If he cannot find it in himself to disagree strongly with Wright's tainted views of government, (the gonernment that he himself intends to be at the helm of). How can he truly say he is an educated, unbiased, fully american leader with the best in mind for all?

I've never seen a meeting being held out by the burning cross behind the White House. I am sure if they have those there that the media would have showed us by now. There is a reason that other world leaders want Obama in office and not McCain or Hillary. I am not really impressed with any canidate this year so I don't have a reason to shoot down anyone of them more than the other but this is a little silly that we as Americans are giving this even one ounce of understanding or tollerance. I mean this guy wants to be president. That is an office that is to be "without reproach" (not that some have not brought it but we should not elect it knowingly)
I guess if his views stay and he is elected we can expect Farrakhan and the Black Panthers to take over security for the Prez while he tours the globe huh? Maaan just think how cool those guys will look all around Obama in Black BDU"s, sleek shades and barets, Kewl.
I mean the first thing we need to do for the economy is focus on the African American infant mortality rate right? Or perhaps we can focus on not being afraid of change? both of those have been big ticket items in his campaign. I can just feel the cooperative juices flowing within the confines of the Senate and Congress now. Yessiree It won't be anytime at all till we are bathed in a literal hum of gleefull bipartisnship.
I mean what next if he is elected? Is he going to size up the Whitehouse windows for plywood to prove he identifies with the mistreated crack dealers in lower D.C.?

Well anyway....back to your regularly scheduled broadcast.... (I couldn't find a smiley with a kewl baret..(darn)

Spell doom backwards and you have mood, perhaps you have Obama wishing his mentor/pastor would use his amendment right's to remain silent, to keep the mood calm.

Very well orchestrated words today by Marxist-Obama about Wright with press releases so quick they almost appeared before the speeches were finished! Amazing how in sync Obama appears to be with the media!

So now we can assume the next time Wright is mentioned liberals will feel this is put to rest.

quote:

Originally posted by leftcoastlooker:
I mean what next if he is elected? Is he going to size up the Whitehouse windows for plywood to prove he identifies with the mistreated crack dealers in lower D.C.?

It appears that you have confused Obama with Rev. Wright, perhaps because you have not actually watched the progress of the Senator's campaign over the recent 15 or so months... or perhaps because you are among those who are unaware of the stark differences between black liberation's philosophy and Obama's?

Oh I've watched it, and he is smooth as silk and a lot of boneheads are believing it. He is a polished politician nothing more and I don't see in him what it takes to handle being one of the most powerful men on earth. He sat under that for 20 yrs and did nothing but nod his head in proud admiration of Big J. I just cannot believe some folks believe that he didn't know all this or hear it all before (and worse) while sitting in agreement till it became important to look like he was no longer in step with Mr Wright.

You are wondering if I have actually watched the progress of the Senators campaign? Yes I certainly have and remember, it is a campaign my friend and it is made to make believers of the week minded like every other peice of propaganda that these well paid spin doctors have produced in campaigns long before we were old enough to vote.

Thusfar, to my eye anyway, the man seems to be guileless and genuine.

He has some ego, but that's pretty much a necessity for anyone who imagines they can lead this nation of self-centered cranky opinionated Live Free Or Die flag wavers!

The one thing this flap has done effectively is to demonstrate the extremes to which the Clinton campaign is willing to go to gleefully join hands with their conservative arch-enemies to win the Presidency for Billary, at ANY cost.

Obama is gonna have to show some true grit now, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. This ain't half of what he'll face between August and November from the Right.

He'll either survive, or not. I hope he does.

quote:

Spoken like a true dork.

This coming from a person who can't spell "outer."

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin Cline:

quote:

Spoken like a true dork.

This coming from a person who can't spell "outer."

LOL!

leftoastlooker touches on it -
It is hard for me to imagine anyone could sit and listen to someone like Wright for twenty years. (let alone in a church of all places!!!!!) 20 YEARS with a guy you call family! That's huge!

And now, only now (when he is running for the most important job in the world), he is "disturbed" and "cutting ties." !!?!?!?!?!?

You call that genuine?

quote:

Originally posted by Proud American!:
...You call that genuine?

Well, I call Obama genuine, but THAT I call a hideous convenient distortion called "guilt by association."

I'm reminded of how we lived honoring the service of, for example, Presidents "I am not a crook!" Nixon, and Bill "I did not have sex with that woman!" Clinton. Or, Jimmy "I have sinned against thee My Lord!" tearful Swaggart, and Orenthal "Absolutely 100 percent not guilty, your honor" Simpson... by way of comparison.

In any case, the GOP and Clintons now have the pivotal hangman's noose they hope to string Obama up with, and are going to dangle it in front of Americans for at least the next 3 if not 6 months. And, if we should be so fortunate as to elect Obama President, then it will be brought up some more at every possible opportunity to change the subject throughout his entire tenure.

So, yeah, we could do a whole lot worse than Obama.

The GOP wants to destroy him because they know (as do I) that they can easily and cheaply whip Hillary in November. Hillary's Hellions want to destroy Obama because she and her hubby liked living in the White House and think they're entitled to a double-dip.

At this point, after several months of repetitive propaganda, the GOP and Hillary have a short list of talking points that have been conditioned into the daily dialogue of the most impressionable Americans... and are bound to take some votes away from him.

Time will tell if it will be enough, and if he will be tough enough.

America tends to sadistically devour its most decent of public servants.