Bill Clinton, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. photo appears

Big deal

Sorry, but it IS a big deal. It shows that Rev. Wright has been perceived as part of the mainstream in pastoral circles, so much so that he is invited to the WH and has his pic taken shaking hands with the POTUS.

It's remarkable that the reason for the picture's circulation this morning is so misunderstood. Those who practice politics as usual seem to think it's meant to tar the Clintons. Those with better angels see it as more proof that gotcha sound-bite journalism is not the way to define the 40-year career of an AA preacher like Rev. Wright.

And what does the just-released HRC calendar show for the morning of 9/11/98? Perhaps a prayer breakfast involving respected mainstream ministers and pastors from all over the county? And if so how did a "racist hatemonger" get invited, much less have his picture taken shaking hands with the President of the U.S.?

Perhaps Rev. Wright is not really the fringe lunatic that the neo-con extremists are trying to claim, a claim the sheeple are lapping up right and left, so to speak?

Hannity and you plausibly deniable McBush people...this is for you:

In the midst of this frenzy of guilt by association and character assassination, when will some respected public figure with a knowledge of the 20th century history of this sometimes deeply flawed government of ours finally say "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

Sorry, but there is a BIG difference between having a picture taken and being a member of the church, listening to Wright's nonChristian hateful sermons week after week, having Wright marry you and baptize your kids. BIG BIG difference, but that makes no difference to the secondvbiggest crime machine in Chicago, the ever-increasingly corrupt and dirty Chicago LIBune.

How much did the Obama pay you folks to write about this?

Wait for the cries of..."Shame On You Barack Obama!"

Honestly! I think this does something important by accurately presenting the way that Rev Jeremiah Wright was not some sort of crank, fringe character, as he has been portrayed.

Hillary and Bill obviously had no objections to him being there.

another double standered for hillbillary camp she will lie through to get to the top

Like Obama said this is getting to be silly season.

can you please post the pic of Rev Wright tending to President Johnson? why cant we show his human side, a Marine taking care of a President?

http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/

Tit for tat?

It's time we talked about race in an intelligent manner. Let's not let this opportunity get away. Obama is the one to make it happen, if he will.

Hey thanks Obama! Keep up the good work! Love John McCain XXXOOO

Mistake on Obama's part. Let it go. I don't think the "if he's so bad, why did Bill take a picture with him?" approach is all that smart.

I remember that event. The Black Preachers and the Black community were the largest group to stand behind Clinton. He utilized one of the most controversial Black preachers REv. Jesse Jackson to be his spiritual advisor at the time. How soon we forget. If the Black prachers were worth courting during his improprieties including Rev Wright, why is Sen Obama's membership in his church so troubling?

Ok. Enough with the Rev. Wright smear crap.

The man has been preaching for over 30 years. Bored "reporters" and some haters are misrepresenting the man.

Go here for the context of the remarks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw

I'm not sure why Clinton with Wright is a big deal? Just stop.

Lynched, burned alive, beaten to death, dragged behind vehicles till dead, subjected to Mengeleian medical experiments by their own government at Tuskegee, denied the right to vote, denied the right to hold office, in both world wars sucked into manufacturing jobs only to be put on the street when the war was over, forced to live in ghettos. I'm sure there is much more that can be added to the list.

I am of Irish descent, far removed from that benighted land, but when I read the history of it's relationship with England I must admit to feelings akin to the Rev. Wright.

As to why he didn't get up and leave or chew out the pastor? Hey, church is church. I don't go there to listen to anybody. And when I do I am amazed at the remove from reality.

I wonder if, maybe, Clinton made the Reverend a "special" protein shake at that breakfast and gave it him, telling him he put a little extra something protein-wise in there for him?

Maybe that's what the Rev was talking about when he said that Billy was doing to the black folk what he did to Monica? Dunno, just maybe providing a little perspective is all. :-)

Look, the world of politics is dirty business, and is impersonal to anyone who engages in this process. If a candidate elects to run for a national office, then the personal scrutiny is par for the course. However, the reality of politics rings true: If you live in a glass house, don't throw any stones. The Clintons also live in a glass house with respect to their past dirty laundry, and if the Clintons can scrutinize every aspect of Rev. Wright's ministry today, I feel assured that they had the security staff at hand to scrutinize who Mr. Clinton invited to his White House breakfast when he needed the support of every clergy--regardless of race, creed, or theological indoctrination--- to help save his presidency. The Clintons are pretentious and they are convenient users of people. Rev. Wright's presence at this prayer breakfast was okay with the Clintons as long as he represented a warm body to support Mr. Clinton when he was facing a call for his impeachment.

Just shows JW isn't a big crack pot nobody, he's a repscted black preacher that touched many people including Clinton. Funny though how pics of Resko and Wright show up w/ Bill and "oh he's met thousands of people". It's true, people in power meet all kinds of people and deal with all kinds of people, so move on already.

The Rev. Wright is proving to be not such a big deal after much 'vetting' by the Clinton campaign.

Whatever will Hillary come up with next...she surely is blowing a head gasket as her options at the ultimate power grab are in a tailspin.

Let's see how her 'character' holds up in these difficult times.

This certainly explains why the Clinton campaign has basically remained silent during this whole fiasco.

Why is this news? That day in 1998 was a meeting of scores of religious leaders from around the country. According to news sources, Bill Clinton had his picture taken that day with hundreds of people. Is this to suggest that there is some sort of parity, e.g. Obama goes to the racist church for 20 years and calls the racist and anti-American pastor his "mentor and spiritual adviser"; however, look,
Bill Clinton met the guy once, too. Come on!

Let's see, 20 or so years, wife and family attending, spiritual advisor and mentor; against 1 prayer breakfast with other clerics present and "OH my goodness" Hillary was there. Doesn't even come close to comparing. obama's campaign is really clutching at straws. He cannot make Hillary look recist because of this. I wonder who the other clerics were that were at the breakfast.

Big freakin' deal!

This further cements my suspicions that this Obama con artist will say anything snd do anything to win the nomination. Does he now expect this one photo to mitigate his indefensible 20years of listening to the hate filled speeches of his mentor, Jeremiah Wright?His attempts to also equate Geraldine Ferraro's comments with Wright's was low down and cheap.
He may be gifted with oratorial skills but he certainly is not presidential.

For all those who keep banging at Obama for not quitting his church: how many of us Roman Catholics stormed away from our parishes because pedophile priests were draining the credibility from our church?

And how many had the courage to confront our pastor with the question of criminality and the transfer of so many prelates to other parishes, where they simply continued to violate kids?

Would someone please ask that question of Pat Buchanan?

Why did the Obama campaign release the photo? If it shows anything, it's only that Rev. Wright was a charlatan who preached to his congregation how awful America and the Clintons were while happily accepting invitations to go get his trophy photo at the White House.

This photo is NOT a big deal. He was at a huge function at the WH. BFD! Clintons did not attend his church and continue to attend his church after he proved himself to be a racist pig. The photo was taken in 1998 before 9/11 when it appears that Wright went bonkers.

The photo is truly relevant when one is given the nature of the conversation. By all appearances Mr Clinton is preparing an invitation for Mr Wright, perhaps something along the lines of, "Sure, I can introduce you, she's right over here. Her name is Monica."

Oh, so NOW Bill Clinton's picture surfaces with Rev. Wright and I hear cries of "Big deal" and "Let it go" and "Enough all ready." I say let's drag this fiasco on and show this photo as many times as Rev. Wright's sermons have been shown. Why stop now? Hillary has some explaining to do!

If Rev. Wright is such a black militant anti-Semite, how did he make it to the White House during Bill Clinton's "difficult time"? It seems that the Clintons thought that having a pillar of the black religious community attending this event would help Clinton's image. Can you say political opportunism and hypocrisy?

Clinton supporters are a bunch of HYPOCRITES!!!!

OBAMA '08

Obama is our Savior! Obama and Reverd Wright are RIGHT! God D*** america. Obama will apologize to our Muslim brothers for an arrogant america. Let us choose now to rally around Barak and Michelle and make them proud. No more so called "elections" which your "typical white person" votes for clinton. They are racists!

Ignatz: I've heard this argument from Obama supporters, and frankly, it's getting a little stale. Your attempt to use your analogy regarding the Catholic church to defend Obama is false, and is an insult to Catholics. The scenario you suggest would only apply to Obama's situation if someone went to a Catholic church for 20 years where the priest admitted he was a pedophile and spoke about it on a regular basis; and if the churchgoer considered the pedophile priest his "mentor and spiritual adviser."

HYPOCRITES!!!! Just keep making excuses for Hillary, you guys do it SOOOO well.
HYPOCRITES!!!!!

I am sure the Tribune will show this picture of the "reverand" (or at least having it hanging next to the Obama shrine in their editorial boardroom)over and over. You would think Obama was the next messiah the way the lefties at the Trib treat this racist anti-white anti-american marxist. Colonel McCormick must be spinning in his grave knowing he left his beloved newspaper to a bunch of left wing hippies. No different then the New York Times....such a shame.

I see the Clinton supporters are talented at working the 'OL CLINTON SPIN. BOO HOO, it's not fair to the people of MI and FL. BOO HOO, they should have a voice. BOO HOO, Obama shouldn't have released the photo and what does that prove anyway, it just a picture. Please all of you, just SHUT UP and go away! CRY BABIES.

Ignatz,
No one would be banging Obama if he had not himself said he would have quit that church if he had been witness or heard any of those hate filled speeches by his twenty years long mentor Jeremiah Wright. So you see why we are justified in being dissappointed with Obama. It is not only just those hate filled speeches. Obama exercised poor judgment and told us a pack of lies along the way.

Senator Obama: "We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that....

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, 'Not this time.'"

David Axelrod: "Well, maybe one more time. Let's send the NYT the picture."

Rather than Obama sneaking this meaningless photo to the NY Times, Americans would rather he address the big questions that remain unanswered and cut to the core of his credibility, character and judgment:

Mr. Obama, if you truly believe in a united America and are "post racial," why for the last 25 years have you aligned yourself and your family with the hateful, anti-America, anti-white, anti-semitic rhetoric of Jeremiah Wright and the Black Nationalist movement?

Mr. Obama, if you are truly the great uniter, why have you donated tens of thousands of dollars, including $22,500 last year alone, to Jeremiah Wright to further his message of hate and diviseness?

Mr. Obama, why did it take the media and plummeting poll numbers to jolt you out of what can only be described as a racist stupor to begin addressing your association with racism and hate?

Mr. Obama?

Now I'm waiting for the photo of Pastor Wright with Tony Rezko.

Anyway, it's not like anything Wright has said is worse than what John Hagee, McCain's favorite pastor, has said.

The Obama campaign is grasping and showing signs of desperation.

I thought Obama was "a different kind of candidate?" I thought he above "politics as usual?"

Releasing this photo shows he just another political hack willing to try and stir up trouble if he thinks it will benefit him.

Childish. Ineffective. I must say, however, that the events of this week have begun to shine light on the real Barack Obama and for that, I am thankful.

At least, the Clinton family didn't sit in the pew for 20 years listening to Anti-American, anti-Semitic and racial hatred from the pulpit. You are judge by the company you keep, Obama . Richardson endorsement isn't going to give you the Latino Vote you need.

I am losing more and more respect for Obama with each passing day. 1st his typical white person comment and now this. There is a huge difference between meeting with someone and attending their church to hear their hate filled sermons for 20 years. I voted for Obama in IL and now I am ashamed taht I ever voted for him. Goodbye Obama it seems we hardly knew the real you.

Truth is main stream America/media wanted to take Obama down. This Rev. Wright was the ticket. Does anyone else wonder how much footage they had to go through to get the few sound bites they came up with?

Isn't it splitting hairs to say it's o.k for pictures with these Rezko and Rev. Wright people than what is being said about their connections to Obama? The reason I ask is because until we see pictures we don't know what the Clintons have done with these two and others. They surely don't reveal much just like those tax returns that are coming.

And as far as McCain is concerned, he's shared stages with the likes of Rev. Hagee seeking endorsements and no one questions his association to this pastor. Again, until we see footage it entirely exceptable. We split hairs.

The point of the Rev. Wright and Bill Clinton photo is to point out that in his atonement after the the Lewinski incident he sought out forgiveness from religious leaders and now he would leave Rev. Wright hanging out to dry. Is that hypocracy?

OH, PLEASE.......in that photo you can see a LINE OF people waiting for the same photo-op with Clinton. Now, if Clinton had been meeting with him every week, that would be a different story......

The Clinton photo is no big deal; nor is the fact that Obama was a long time Wright congregant.

=======

How many Catholics quit The Church when Pope JP II opposed the Iraq invasion as immoral?

To johnsilverstone, it feels good to hear these comments going the other way for a change. I am tired of Hillary getting all the bashing. When obama said he was going to get more negative, he should have added petty. To all those people commenting on Hillary not commenting on the Wright fiasco, come on now you know if she uttered one word you would crucify her. She is smart for keeping mum on this and letting obama burn himself, which is certainly is doing.

The important thing it shows, to me, is that Reverend Wright is clearly (as Obama has said repeatedly) a tremendous amount more of a person than the ugly, hateful comments being blasted on YouTube. Should he be taken to task for those? Absolutely and he has. But to make that the sum of the man's accomplishments/life? A life that has seen him do so much good?

No less a man than Ghandi said, "Love the sinner, hate the sin".

Sorry, but there is a BIG difference between having a picture taken and being a member of the church, listening to Wright's nonChristian hateful sermons week after week, having Wright marry you and baptize your kids. BIG BIG difference, but that makes no difference to the secondvbiggest crime machine in Chicago, the ever-increasingly corrupt and dirty Chicago LIBune.

How much did the Obama pay you folks to write about this?

Posted by: John D | March 21, 2008 8:53 AM

And how do you know that Wright gave "hateful sermons week after week"? Did the sound bite snippets in the MSM "prove" that to you? Or is it the neo-con drumbeat of Hannity, Limbaugh, Faux News et al., convincing you and millions of other sound-bite fanatic sheeple of "facts" that are actually disproven with a little bit of open-minded research.

The ADD-plagued electorate is, by blog evidence this morning, unable even to grasp the point that this picture is not meant as negative to the Clintons, but rather as rehabilitation of the trashed reputation of a respected mainstream AA preacher who's found himself used and abused as a political tool of Hannity, McBush et al.

Distribute the photo far and wide and lets see if it sticks. (Clinton campaign strategy)

I know this is hard for many to understand or believe, but when Bill Clinton was fighting being impeached, a lot of members from Pastor Wright's church was praying for Bill Clinton not to be impeached.

I am not sure if that was as a request from Pastor Wright or not. That is another thing that Black Churches are known for....

Ouch, I'm not sure what the Obama camp is trying to prove with this lame tit for tat gotcha photo. Is the implication that Bill and Hillary Clinton embrace the same bigotry as Senator Obama? The more play the Wright story receives, whether in photos with President Clinton, the more Senator Obama's poll numbers will continue to slide. Dumb move, Obama camp.

Racism and immorality is not a "one way street." You cannot excuse the racism and immoral lifestyles (high crime rate and number of abortions) by African Americans while condemning the racism and immorality of Caucasian Americans. To gain the respect they desire and the peace they seek, Black Americans must first look inward, rather than outward for answers, and renew their faith and trust in Almighty God.

Rather than attempting to place the blame on the current generation for things that happened in the past, Blacks must learn to accept personal responsibility for the negative attitudes others may have concerning their actions and lifestyles, and seek to continue to improve through education and expecially by a deepening of their faith.

--- Vincent Bemowski - Webmaster/Editor
Catholic Messages USA

Has Senator Hillary and Bill Clinton considered the abuse that they are doing to their daughter Chelsey?

What Bill Clinton did in the white house is clearly an example of how she and he feel about child abuse.

What is more important to her, her child or being a president.
The treatment of her daughter is a good example of how much she cares about the American people.

"what's good for the goose is good for the gander." how much more democratic can that be. clinton camp, "play dirty -- get dirty."

It's really sad that people can't look beyond Insignificant things such as this in order to see the real person. How many family members do we have with different views of race that we don't agree with? How many time we have debated with them to shed light on their negative views? Do we disown that relative? I can't believe that today's Americans will risk an opportunity to change the world with unity just because a of another person's views on racism. Look into your own hearts and do what is right for this United States of America.

John Wayne Gacy was photographed with First Lady Carter. It did not mean endorsment for a serial killer. Give it a break people

A big deal indeed! Especially considering the fact that it came right after their much finger pointing at Obama, calling 'guilt by association' etc. Using their own logic, the Clintons are also guilty by association here. Another fine example of the Clinton duplicity.

Woody Allen strikes the Hillary Clinton posture in this video.....
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/03/21/woody-allen-parodies-hillary/

So what next? Will the Obama camp dig up a photo of Rosyln Carter with Rev Wright a la Mrs Carter's photo with John Wayne Gacy? It's one thing to have a photo with someone who cuts through the crowd and it's another to sit in church and listen to someone like Rev Wright and let it slide for 20 years. Hillary Clinton didn't do that--Obama did. I was a supporter of Obama but have gotten fed up with Obama getting a double standard that apparently he thinks he is above simply because of his words. Obama is a great orator but I don't think he is quite ready to be President. Had he shown the maturity to wait another term as Senator, I would have voted for him. His "mentorship" by Wright and his insistence he is already the winner (instead of current front runner)shows he lacks the proper sense of humility and maturity to be President.

Obama's minister is a hater. He can't stand anyone being in the limelight but himself. If I was Barack, I'd be so angry that I would leave that church if they didn't keep that loud mouth idiot out of the pulpit.

To johnsilverstone, litsen you, that is what the Clintons do, the real masters of con-art.

No wonder Hillary has been so quiet about the Wright thing. It shows that pastor Wright was so respected that he was invited to the White House. They just don't invite anyone to the White House. All the judgemental people out there need to realize that a sound byte can never summarize a 35 year career as a pastor. I already see the tides turning and once heads cool people will see that Wright is not the enemy. I still support Obama and he shouldn't be blamed for what his pastor has said. Obama wasn't even there when he said it! Now that we can't find anything personally with Obama we're now going after everyone he knows and blaming Obama for what they say. Who's next? His college roomate? Third grade teacher? If they said or did something bad is that Obama's fault too?

I thought that Bill was ALREADY labeled a RACIST during the South Carolina primary. Is this photo from the Obama people intended to confirm that???

Looks like Obama is finally throwing Granny AND Uncle Jeremiah under the bus!? How many more family members can he afford to trash???

What some people refuse to acknowledge is the fact that Obama sat in this church for 20 years seeing things that occassional visitors do not see. Oprah left this church because of Wright being radical. Obama agrees that the views of Wright are unacceptable. Then why is he choosing to raise his two daughters in this environment if he is the agent of change? Why is he not in an integrated church unless he wants to contribute to the separatist mentality of particular black populations? I wasn't the least bit worried about him as a black president until I saw this hate mongering. Clinton's picture is so different than 20 years of a close relationship and it just enforces the fact that Obama is being elected because he is black, not because of anything else. The stupid comparison of Feraras comment and Wright and comparing Obama's grandmothers private remarks to Wright is insane. His speech would have been wonderful as a civil rights figure, but does little to answer questions that Wright has raised concerning Obama's beliefs. Wright is continuing the race war in the black community, he in no way is encouraging the future with fairness for all.

I was a Barack supporter, but the more I hear from him, the more I change my mind. It's ashame that he burst my bubble.

"All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."

- Rev. John Hagee, major McCain backer, on Hurricane Katrina

So please, tell me, who is the Hater?

"Let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone."

I think obama started the "silly season" with his crying racism at every comment made during this campaign. It is not silly, he is rediculous, trying to have it both ways. Crying racism and then touting his white background.

Hillary is not the one to point out Wrights connection with Obama. ABC and Fox are taking credit for that. Funny how Obama has released the picture of President Clinton and Wright. If he really wanted this to go away, shouldn't he have not sent that picture out?

Wow, definitely sounds like BO's MO. First there is the Rezko scandal and when it got too hot BO released a Clinton/Rezko photo. Now Wright and he releases a Wright/Clinton photo.

Is there anything more hypocritical then him saying he is "standing by Wright" but now releasing a photo of Wright/Clinton as if it's a virus? This is your friend, confidant, advisor, and preacher. You couldn't disown him but now happily use it to smear Clinton? Does the BO campaign honestly feel that this diminishes his 20+ year support of Wright? A picture?

Example

True Story: I have a friend who has a picture with John Wayne Gacy as a clown. Does this somehow undermine his credibility as a caring, loving person? Is the picture in anyway reflective of my friend? Now I understand Wright isn't Gacy but they are both wolves in sheep's clothing.

This proves that Rev. Wright is an opportunist who sells out to the highest bidder. He was a Clinton fan when Clinton was in office. Then he turns around and stabs him in the back when Obama launches his campaign. Rev. Wright is a betrayer!

A photo of President Bill Clinton with Rev Wright means nothing. Pres Clinton took photos with many, many people and he was certainly not a member of Rev Wright's church. Barack Obama as we all know was a member of the church for 20 yrs and was also a close friend of Wright.

I hope you print my post this time

This was a nice attempt by the Obama camp to try and divert the attention away from themselves. But the question still remains as to why for the last 20+ years has he aligned himself with the hateful, anti-America, anti-white, anti-semitic rhetoric of Jeremiah Wright?

Let's get on with the issues that count. Who gives a rat's about Obama's preacher. Has anyone ever heard Obama say anything negative about America!! Let's talk about bringing our troops home, the economy. Forget this sideshow circus!!! Doesn't the media have anything better to write about. You can have the perfect person running for President, and if no one can find anything negative on him, they play the Guilt by association game. We waste more money and time on Obama's preacher, while America is going in the wrong direction. I'm sure that Rev. Wright is not the hate mongering preacher that the media is making him out to be from a few sounbites from his sermons over the last 30 years. Do you honestly think that the Clintons would invite a hate mongering preacher to the White House. Absolutely not.

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/ for more info on the whole sermon instead of the snippet. Rev Wright was quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq about "chickens coming home to roost". It's too easy to criticize when you only hear short sound bytes. Judge not lest you be judged.

We love the Black guy as long as he is timid and smiling. As soon as he fights back, he doesnt know his place. Race wasnt an issue until we made it one, not Obama. Let's just forget about this Obama guy, and in the next election we can ber in the same place we are now, confused and angry...

Big difference between a single photo opp and a twenty year close relationship. Was Wright spiritual advisor to Clinton??? Laughable effort.

There is more where that came from! Give it a day and another picture of the Reverand and Bill will surface. By next week we might have a video of Bill attending one of Rev. Wrights' sermons i am sure.

It is chilling to read some of these comments. They seem quite hateful. Are the writers really hateful or do we not see the whole person?
As for what has been shown about Rev. Wright's sermons: 1) they are only a tiny bit of the total and are taken out of the context of the whole sermons, the traditions of some black preaching, and the traditions of "prophetic" preaching (hellfire and brimstone stuff). I viewed the whole sermon of Dec. 25. He was NOT railing on Hillary. The total comments were addressing BLACK people who thought Obama wasn't black enough and asking (rather energetically in the way of fiery preachers) whether Hillary as a white person would ever have had the negative experiences Obama would have to have had as a black man in American or have anyone ask her if she was "black enough". Remember this was in December while a majority of black voters were still in the Clinton camp. And he wasn't telling them who to vote for, just that it shouldn't be based on whether Obama was black enough.
2) Obama has said he himself hadn't heard the most seemingly negative anti-American remarks (like the 9-11, damn America, or HIV blaming), but has acknowledged that he had haeard other controversial sermons during his time at Trinity, that he has talked with Wright at times about those he felt needed addressing (Larry King live interview), but also that they don't represent the whole and the valuable part of Pastor Wright. His positives outweighed his negatives (ask his church congregants and other black ministers). Not only that, the pastor's anger at the effects of some whites behavior on humanity and the black race is based on reality. 3) As Obama says, unfortunately this pastor's ministry has been static (stuck, not progressing) instead of seeing the possibilities of change and movement for the better. 4) I am a 62 y/o white woman, raised Episcopalian and currently attending Presbyterian Church. My Christianity can embrace Pastor Wright with all his faults. I still root for Obama.

I am hoping to hear from honest intellectually curious, kind bloggers who come from families with members’ who hold horrible views about another race and disagreeing with the views, distanced (in words and deeds) themselves from the views without "leaving" the family. I would like to know why they believe Obama should be criticized for remaining a member of the church, which is what Obama non-supporters want you to believe is their objection with him. And I can tell the intellectual curious, kind persons from persons swelling with anger/hatred. The former clearly is a nicer person with whom to speak. Thanks to those who can have this conversation without sounding like you are ready to club somebody.

All the comments here are in total interesting. Here’s my thought about the Obama /pastor issue. And let me say that I’d like to think myself intellectually curious and nice. I am a manager on my job and work with black and white people to whom I try real hard to be encouraging, fair and kind.
The ability to accept people, admire people and even learn and grow from people who hold very different views from our own is an amazing ability to have. My mother was not kind in her speech about many races. As a child of maybe 5 or 6 years old (almost 40 years ago) I remember my mom saying we need to lock the “gates” and send them all back where they came from. Although I do not agree with her on this issue, I do understand what in her life experiences guide her to this way of thinking. And I figure if I keep trying to bring more information to my mother, then she just might become open to a different way of thinking. To this day while I am in my 70 year old mother’s company I still have to listen to her not-nice-at-all views. Our time is precious together. So I am happy to listen to whatever she has to say. She is not able to do any harm to people through her views, and I make sure to keep a close watch on her when I take her away on trips. I want to make my apologies if she does say the wrong thing in mixed company. But guess what, I still love my mother and even respect her. Now perhaps my relationship to my mother is not a fair comparison. But having my experiences I identify with Obama.

Going forward, I think one’s happiness in life, will depend more heavily on having the ability to learn from others, even if it is learning how not to be/behave. I wonder who among this crew of bloggers can say that they have experienced this kind of learning / flow / realization.

If as a member of the pastor's church, O'bama listened over a twenty year period to the pastor's racist sentiments and walked away from the church a good man, or perhaps a better man, a man who seems to judge others by what they do, doesn’t this reveal Obama’s true strength. I bet that most of the negative comments here (and wherever else they can be found) come from bloggers who family members hold an equally negative view of many races.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new "ladders of opportunity" for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for "deserving" white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

posted bt a typical white person

One almost envisions the Obama campaign scrambling to come up with anything, ANYTHING, to shore up the confidence of white voters in his campaign.

First, it was "I never heard those comments from the pew. But that won't work because someone might dig up a tape where I'm the pew clapping to something similar."

Then it was "I'll give a speech and throw Grandma under the bus. Well, that didn't work, because I never really came clean about why I sat there for 20 years, and besides, people were a little annoyed at that 'Grandma under bus thing'."

Then it was "I know how to get white people back on board! Hey everybody, O.J. did it!!!" Shucks, that didn't work either.

"Hey have we got any photos of Wright with any of the Clintons? Let's try that. And keep feigning outrage about that passport file thing while we're at it. Something's gotta work..."

Ding Dong!! House Lands On Hillary
http://wetpaint2008.blogspot.com/2008/03/ding-dong-house-lands-on-hillary.html

Is there now low point to which the Obama supporters won't descend?

Pushing a photo of Clinton and Wright?

Disgusting. Obama. (But that's redundant.)

This whole mess about Reverend Wright could have been avoided if Fox and Chris Wallace had simply told the truth. No wonder Wallace walked off the set of Fox&Friends this morning. He's the showpiece, the Face Of Fox. And the Face Of Fox Lied For Fox.
The 9/11 'chickens coming home to roost' comment? It turns out Reverend Wright was quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq

Watch the entire sermon. Since this isn't being covered at all the way the comments were. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related This issue isn't over. Fox and the rest of the media need to apologize to Obama like Condi, make it big, and do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and and and.

From You Tube - i love how the media framed it as this dangerous angry black man saying these "horrible" things about america, when it was actually him quoting a white US ambassador. good times! this is why i don't watch the TV news, I don't like being lied too.

After the Rev. wright soap
opera's the cables channels
Gone fishing again,like always they mostly feed from
the BOTTOM,now (TIPYCAL WHITE PERSON is sensetive to
the cable jockies what are u
all AFRAID OFF,HE'S ONLY A
MAN AND A GOOD ONE,,YOU ALL
NEED TO STOP MAKING YOURSELF
sound as if he is wrong about race u know your thought about persons that
does not look like u .
it's time to look at your self,don't change,just look
at yourself and PRAY NOW DO
YOU GET?, PROBALY NOT....
PRAYER IS WHAT YOU NEED IT
SURE HELP THE BIGOTS ON THE
CABLE CHANNELS. GOD BLESS
ALL OF YOU, LET US PRAY.
OH'YES WE CAN

I have been Black all my life, grew up in La., daughter of a Baptist minister, B.S. degree, lives on the west coast, attends a Black church, and work in corporate america.

I am a little younger than Pastor Wright, but in his defense, I've heard sermons that I didn't agree with from ministers and have walked out on some of them, BUT, I WASN'T ABOUT TO CHANGE MY CHURCH'S MEMBERSHIP because of his belief on certain issues. I am intelligent enough to use rational in order to arrive at my own conclusions.

White america's experiences are like night and day when it comes to racial issues, and I wouldn't expect Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity to understand them, or most of white america.

I'm only a few years older than Sen. Obama, and your hair would stand on ends if I told you some of the things I've witnessed growing up in La. I've had Black people tell me "oh, you're too young to know about that", but these things were real then, and some are just as real TODAY !!!

It's time to talk about them. We work together on our jobs, but we don't discuss Race at our jobs.

I agree with most of what he said, as do most Black americans, my problem is that he said it in Worship Service. My church's Deacons and Trustees's would have advised my Pastor to choose another venue to talk about the experiences of Black Americans, as it relates to a member of the church who's running for President.

I've heard members of all groups speak negatively regarding another group, come on, we all have and sometimes we're a part of it, but it's done in the privacy of our homes, or at the watering hole, etc.

So try to take a look at the Black experience, and try to understand that we deal with Racism each and every day, whether blatant or suttle, it's there. We need to talk, and see if we can improve the relations, it's never ever going away, but we can open a dialogue and start to understand one another.

By the way there are several members of kindreds family who are Caucasians,by blood, and I love them DEARLY, so this is not a biased statement.

I JUST WANT THINGS TO CHANGE FOR ALL OF US !!!

I'll promise you this, you won't find one with him and McCain together.

you hate mongers get over
your pain.. have MR.OBAMA
did any thing to u ?. did he
increase your cost of living
in any way,? did he spend any of gas money did he STEP
ON YOUR IGNORANT WAYS THAT U
WAS BROUGHT UP WITH? SOME OF YOU ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR
UPBRINGING, MR OBOMA DID NOT
DO THAT TO YOU. YOU are sick
now because you have found out you were lied too....
we have a MASTER LIER IN THE
WH NOW. AND U ARE BEING LIED TO EVERY DAY AND YOU
LOVE IT. 2 TERMS OF LIES AND
MOST OF US CANT KEEP OUR HOMES LET ALONG FEED OURSELV
REACH OUT AND TOCH SOMEONES
HAND MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE IF YOU CAN.STOP
HATEING. STOP HATEING, TELL
SOMEBODY U ARE GOING TO BE
ALRIGHT... LETS US PRAYY...
YES WE CAN
of

Well, whadya know, Barack Obama, the modern day "Abraham Lincoln of political speakers", is actually in the same oratorical league as the original Mayor Daley. Some 30 odd years ago, the late mayor's press secretary implored the media, "Don't print what he said. Print what he meant". Now, Mark Silva wants us to to the same with the Illinois senator. Obama adamantly insisted he never heard Rev. Wright say any of those mean, nasty despicable thing. Barack claimed he only heard his minister preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, once the pundits started to pin down which Sunday services Obama attended, the senator suddenly remember he actually meant that Wright said some "controversial" things. What's the difference between the merely controversial and the despicable? Apparently, it depends if Obama was in church that day or not. Later, Obama told us about his racist granny. When that didn't go over too well, he decided he really meant she was a "typical white person". This didn't exactly calm the multitudes either, so Barack said he meant...heck...I don't know what he meant. Maybe the American people need some of those old magic decoder rings from the 1930's to try and figure out what the heck this wonderful orator is talking about. Better yet, the next time Obama gives a speech, he can stick Saturday Night Live alum, Garrett Morris" in the corner of the TV screen to "interpret" what the senator is really trying to tell us. Ya know, when Michelle Obama talks about "magic beans", I kinda wonder if she's trying to clue us in on what her husband is really selling.

In context, Wright's comments aren't really all that radical or offensive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ. People just always interpret criticism of US policy (& policy makers) as meaning all Americans. Throw in a spirited African American preacher & you got a 'racist' I guess. On a side note, why is religion so important in public life? Whatever happened to separation of church & state? Leave religion to their personal lives & focus on their actions.

John McCain is a Baptist. When will he completely disavow the sexist Baptist church, denounce his pastor and drop out of the Presidential race?

http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/national/2008/03/21/Baptists.Woman.Professor/

How can he lead all Americans as long as he remains part of a faith which discriminates against women? All those years siuitting in the pews of a church listening to sermons women aren't allowed to give. Disgusting how he associates with such hateful discriminatory people, isn't it?

"On a side note, why is religion so important in public life? Whatever happened to separation of church & state?" JD

I tend to agree with that JD -- except that some months ago one rather pedantic, freshman senator from the great state of Illinois sanctimoniously scolded his fellow Democrats at length about their supposed fear of a political dialogue that embraces faith. Well now Senator Obama's wishes have come to fruition, haven't they?

Ironic.

For a campaign that claims to transcend race, they sure seem to want to keep Wright in the news. Either Wright is significant or he isn't. I see arguments based on smearing Bill Clinton with Wright and arguments based on redeeming Wright with Clinton. You cannot have it both ways.

But then again, Obama is our savior and can unite us even though he cannot or would not even unite his own church. Maybe he can make this paradox true, too.

Jeremiah Wright is a racist, anti semetic, unpatriotic bigot. That's a fact. Would you want your president having such an association? Just the truth

As soon as Hillary blew away her big popularity leads in Ohio and Texas that was the end of the race. The rest is a MYTH and deception game to raise money. Even if Hillary was allowed to have a re-votes in FL and MI she would have needed to win all the remaining states by 60%. Without a re-vote in FL she would needed 62%. And without a re-vote in both MI and FL she needs at least 64 %. It is insurmountable task, especially taking into account her spotty performance. She has never won 5 states in a row. She is expected to LOSE in NC and Oregon but WIN in West Virginia, PA and Kentucky, where blue color workers are predominant.

In terms of popular votes, she is 700,000 voters shy. The highest popular votes she has so far received were in only in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Arkansas. She won by at least 56% of the popular votes. Even if she had the most popular votes, it would not matter much. The first tie-breaker is the number of pledged delegates gained. Popularity comes into play when two candidates have an equal number of pledged delegates. Unless a candidate is caught with his pants or her skirt down, super delegates will simply award nomination to the candidate who the most pledged delegates. Nancy Pelosi, the 2008 DNC convention Chair has recently re-emphasized this point.

Hillary is not staying in the race because she is a fighter or stubborn but to repay her financial losses and the anger she has recently developed against her own party members. At month’s end, her debts were nearly $9 million out of the $ 135 million dollars that she had raised! Hillary needs to have an exit strategy after the PA primary especially, if her expenditure exceeds the total dollars donated. Her strategy is not good for her or her party. She needs help to overcome her loss. This is the responsibility of her peers including Bill. He should show his color where his party desperately needs him! The party is to have precedence over a selfish ego.

Politics is a fat cow especially, if you have voters who have a stronger passion for a candidate rather than their party. It is a blind reality. It allows cash to be collected from the poor masses to enrich a few. A fool is born every day but I am not one of them

Hmmm...a week ago Democrats here were parroting the talking points of their own candidate to try to tear down the other. Now they're parroting the Hannity/Limbaugh/McBush neo-con talking points. What's going on here?

To answer my rhetorical question, IMO a lot of Democrats are falling for a classic McCarthy-like smear by character assassination and guilt by association. The neo-con's will smear and laugh all the way to November, no matter who the Dem nominee is, unless and until some latter-day Murrow or Welch dare to speak out and say, "At last, sir, have you left no decency?"

My comparison of the current smear campaign to McCarthyism has been labeled "nonsense" on another blog. I would only note that those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

The Truth about Wright’s Comments: They were made by a US Ambassador! Time for the media to apologize to Obama and Pastor Wright. This from an article on Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/meet-the-white -man-who-_n_92793.html

So, how about it, ChiTrib, NYT, WaPo, Fox, CNN, MSNBC...

Why do we have to read about this in a web post rather than in a comprehensively objective investigative MSM story on the blatant falsity of the neo-con slime machine? Some are suggesting corporate media self-interest kept the truth from coming out in the dead-tree media...give me a reason not to believe it.

First of all, when did it become so offensive and surprising that politics are discussed within the Black Church (remember, the good Dr. MLK was a PREACHER and an ACTIVIST!) Historically, the church was the centerpiece of the black community. It was where black citizens could meet, discuss and organize. Folks that are outraged that politics were discussed in Rev. Wright's pulpit and a multitude of other pulpits, black and white, are completely delusional.

LASTLY, you all have been DUPED BIG TIME BY FOX NE