« Dershowitz on Spitzer | Main | A Clinton-Obama ticket? »

Jeremiah Wright

15 Mar 2008 04:01 pm

Will the storm over Jeremiah Wright seriously hurt Obama's campaign--and ought it to? This is no trumped-up attack, easy to dismiss. (So much for the Clintons playing the race card.) The video clip that has attracted most attention expresses rage against whites and contempt for the country that Obama is asking to lead. Wright is not another Farrakhan--somebody Obama barely knows and whose endorsement he would rather not have. Wright has been Obama's spiritual mentor for many years: "The Audacity of Hope" is Wright's phrase, chosen for Obama's book as a homage to the man who coined it.

Here is Obama's response: first his statement on the subject, then an interview he gave to Fox.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.


Obama does all right in the interview. (It is good that he laughs at one point at the questioner's comically portentous and inquisitorial demeanor. I thought that was funny too.) But does he bury the issue? By no means. His claim in the interview and in the statement that most of Wright's anger and (in my view) bigotry comes as news to him is just not credible. Tactically speaking, that is a transparent evasion, and will keep the problem alive.

But what I most want to know is why the Obama we thought we knew could hold this man in such esteem. Perhaps it is just a matter of loyalty to a father-figure, flaws and all--which is both understandable and, up to a point, admirable. But does Wright's bitter resentment in fact resonate with Obama, despite all appearances to the contrary? That is a question that will trouble a lot of less-than-fully-invested Obama supporters.

A subsidiary question--one I have been asking of myself--is why the most recent Wright videos seemed to come as such a shock, when neither Obama's close links to the pastor nor the preacher's views about the ongoing evil of white America were any secret. Here is an interesting take on that from Politico:

The fracas started Thursday morning, when ABC’s “Good Morning America” ran a Brian Ross expose on Wright that included old video of him saying: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God bless America’? No, no, no. Not God bless America. God [expletive] America.”

On Friday night, there was Leno on NBC’s “Tonight Show” joshing: “McCain was running so fast from President Bush, he ran into Barack Obama, who was running from his minister.”

The story had burst onto the radar screen of average Americans with as much velocity as any other story during the 2008 campaign.

Political reporters and editors were inundated with e-mails from red-state friends and relatives wanting to know why the brouhaha wasn’t getting more instant and constant coverage from every news outlet.

To reporters who had followed the campaign, it was an old, oft-written story. But this time it had video of Wright saying things like “U.S. of K.K.K.A.,” available on YouTube and played endlessly by cable news channels.

Comments (159)

I think Mr. Crook that the Wright story is at heart something that is shocking but illustrative of something fundamental: Jerry Falwell's hatred and extremism isn't something to be denounced. The anti-semtic views Billy Graham has exposed do not lessen his grandeur or the judgement of those who held him in such esteem.

But you are questioning Sen. Obama for finding comfort in a church where such extreme views exisist; while ignoring the fact that homosexual
Catholics live this everyday as do other Catholics who hold seperate views. This is true for Jews who disagree fundamentally with views of their rabbi.

This is, in fact, a common division many church and temple going followers hold.

Sen. Obama rightly condemened such attacks. He has written two books talking about the divisions in this country and his fundamental belief that we must transcend them to grow. He has made a point of inclusion and refused to be pidgeonholed by race.

It is sad that the unAmericanism and rage of his pastor calls his views into question; but Sen. McCain accepting the support of Falwell who declared 9/11 and Katrina retribution from God does not cause one to doubt his moral commitment to the country as a whole.

So why do you question Sen. Obama? I can only see the discomfort being in that angry black man type; because despite times when there's been cause showing and living that anger is felt as a danger by whites and the public at large truth be known.

I have no doubt that Sen. Obama does not hold resentments. I think he's purged them of himself. I think he recognizes racial inequality and gender inequality and sexual inequality and he recognizes that anger feeds the status quo. He seems to have found a peace the Rev. Wright and many have yet to reach and works to move toward actual tangible aid to lift people up.

I do not believe a person who has lived a life of service and legisltated and taught and written as he has can be the caricuture that is being slowly fitted. He is not angry. He does not hate this coutry. And he seems to believe in the good of Americans.

I know that many will doubt that, but I hope the sincerity of his belif will shine through.

Psst--I have it on good authority that Martin Luther King associates with known Communists, homosexuals, & draft dodgers. Does the "civil rights movement" really mean all this talk about peace and unity, or is he dangerously subversive.

Rhoda, your attempt to couple McCain with Falwell is ridiculous. Falwell (before he died) held a long standing grudge against McCain because the Arizona senator once called Falwell and his ilk "merchants of hate".

Obama should stop his campaign. His association with this bigot for 20 years and allowing this bigot to bapatize his kids is sickening. Obama is a disgrace. I'm sorry I ever donated money to him, because it probably went to Wright's Church of Hate.

"But what I most want to know is why the Obama we thought we knew could hold this man in such esteem. Perhaps it is just a matter of loyalty to a father-figure, flaws and all--which is both understandable and, up to a point, admirable. But does Wright's bitter resentment in fact resonate with Obama, despite all appearances to the contrary? That is a question that will trouble a lot of less-than-fully-invested Obama supporters."

You've seen three or four sermons over the 20 - 30 career of a man and you assume that that is all he's about? Is that how you judge the entirety of the man? Much less Senator Obama?

Is it hard to believe that Wright isn't an American hater, that he was especially angered at certain times? Is it so hard to believe that he let his emotions run ahead of this mind, he isn't a politician who's first thought is to sanitize his words.

Do we as a country want to ignore those that feel anger at our country because we don't have the courage of real self-reflection? In all the footage, I never heard him call on his parish to go out and harm. He didn't say that Hillary or white people were worthless, he didn't call for their heads.

He blamed 9/11 on the American governments intolerance and their poor actions. I actually think there's more truth in that, then what other Christian ministers said about it being the fault of the gays, or the jew. But America has always been okay with racism overt and subvert, it's when people question the government that people get up in arms.

It's ashame that people will make excuses for this to hurt Obama because of their own lack of self-awareness.

It takes a village to raise a child.
Obama take his children to learn the secrets of intolerance very Sunday.

These sermons are contemporary not from 40 years ago. Wright is a nut job and Obama is pretty slick using him for political gain in Chicago while distancing himself from Wright nationally.

Quite the gamer. Cute but still a politcal gamer.

Regardless of which candidate becomes President, I am proud to see this huge step past gender and race. Whites have clearly been eager to show that they are ready. But are enough Black Americans ready to also see past race? Having a 20 year relationship with the angry and bitter Rev. Wright can not be dismissed with comments like "former". It may not be racism on the part of whites that will be Obama's undoing. I think the Obamas may need to spend as many years away from this hurt and anger to see all Americans as just Americans.
I am ready for a Black or Woman president, but I certainly would not vote for a white candidate who was a member of the kind of church that preaches racism nor would I a Black candidate, racism and prejudice is wrong for everybody. Obama lost my vote this week. But maybe next time he or another will be ready to show us all the change we want and need.

I notice that the Clinton people seemed to be synch'ed to the same language on every blog: "He's a gamer." "I don't like being gamed." Sounds a little rehearsed.

About Wright's comments on 9/11:

Only the Republicans would suggest that (1) recruiting Usama bin Laden to go to Afghanistan, (2) propping up Israel, and (3) propping up the Saudis -- who beat women for revealing their arms in public and subsidize the Wahhabis that menace the world with their religiosity -- did not cause the 9/11 attacks?

The right-wingers in this country still cling to the big lie, the theoretical basis for the "War on Terror": i.e., that nothing that the U.S. does creates terrorists. Invading countries, torturing people, propping up regimes like Israel and Saudi, playing footsie with the tyrannies in Egypt and Kuwait -- none of it creates terrorists. No, terrorists, they say, simply materialize from the air, like rain; and some parts of the world get more rain than others. The Republican's "War on Terror" is simply to have soldiers wherever the rain falls, to shoot them when they land.

The jihadiyiin that were created to fight the war in Afghanistan are the same ones that attacked us on 9/11, and are attacking us today. The war in Iraq continues to prove that tyranny creates religious terrorism. Cold War ghouls are now back in the White House, playing games with people's lives. The 9/11 attacks were a direct result of this bloodthirsy -- and racist -- imperialism; and from the way it is going now, another 9/11 seems inevitable, unless we change our ways in the Middle East.

Stick a fork in him, BO is done. Black folks should not vote for white folks that hang out with anti-black bigots. And white folks with an ounce of sence should not bote for folks that hang out with people ho hate white folks. His preacher of 20 years, and perhaps his wife based on some of her comments, seems to meet that criteria. nice job Hillary.

This is fascinating, and so typical of both the cynical media and the gullible public. None of you knows anything more about Jeremiah Wright or Trinity United Church of Christ than you see in defamatory articles such as these. So called "journalists" count on exactly that (I would really have expected so much better from the Atlantic), a willfully ignorant public delighted to absorb sensationalistic tripe because it ma

I find it impossible to believe that Barack, who is so brilliant and has such great judgment, had no idea what kind of person Wright is. If he didn't know that he was so controversial, why did he dis-invite him to his presidential campaign kickoff in Springfield, IL? How convenient AFTER 20 YEARS, that all of a sudden, he hears that Wright has said such incendiary things and he "rejects" them. Only when he was backed into a corner did he decide to comment on them. Otherwise, he's preaching change and hope and how he's a "devout Christian" while his mentor and spiritual advisor spews out such vitriol. Now Wright conveniently is on a "sabbatical". Bet he'll be back later once the furor dies down - maybe inauguration day if BO wins. Sounds like Barack is preaching one thing and his wife Michelle, who apparently was listening to the sermons more than Barack, is preaching another. I guess they work together. She tells how hopeless everything is and the Messiah has the hope to give (with a little help from the taxpayers).....

I am more worried about Obama's lack of judgment in having Wright on his campaign staff. He has known the man for twenty years and gives the man credit for being his spiritual leader. Did not Obama realize Wright's potential for preaching, at least at times, racially insensitive rhetoric? Did he not see the potential political and social liability? How did Obama figure that putting Wright on his staff would help him unify and not divide America? Where is the higher level of judgment he claims to have? I have too many questions.

Clive,

Perhaps, when mentioning the fact that Obama named his book after this pastor's sermon, you might want to link to that sermon so that people can get a feel for why Obama holds this man in regard, despite what this truncation of 30 years worth of work into 3 minutes says.

http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/audacityofhope.html

So, if McCain went to a church for 20 years where David Duke was pastor, that would be okay?

Consider this;
If I spent one day a week for twenty years listening to the “Grand Dragon” of the Ku Klux Klan or the head purveyor of black hatred from the local White Supremacist leadership, what might one gleam about me as a person?

It's really scary under the influence of a pastor full of hate. What is your judgement of right and wrong?

It's really scary under the influence of a pastor full of hate. What is your judgement of right and wrong?

It's really scary under the influence of a pastor full of hate for twenty yrs. What is your judgement of right and wrong?

I'd be willing to bet that Hillary and gang are reviewing sermons and tapes to see if Obama was in attendence when Rev. Wright was preaching wrong....if he was ..then he is toast....how can we trust anyone who says he has been a member of this church for 20 years but had no idea that the minister was preaching this kind of hate? I would have gotten up and walked out if this was going on in my church...

OBAMA has fooled this country long enough. Ferraro was crucified for making tepid comments in comparison to fire breathing Jeremiah.

He is no longer an option for me. Now its between McCain and Clinton.

OPEN your eyes and you will see he is in fact a FRAUD.

Over the years, friends, co-workers, and family members have shared with me their distress over a certain religious leader or another on a local level. It's amazing HOW MANY religious leaders have "lost their way". (Is it because they are human?) In many of these cases, the religious leaders have become distracted with personal issues and haven't the tools to cope with the situation they find themselves in. It's strange, isn't it? We entrust educated leaders with our spiritual guidance, and sometimes those leaders forget their training.

If you had a really crappy day, week, or a severe personal struggle and mouthed off to everyone in your family, they have every reason to set you right, but they shouldn't disown you. Instead, they should reach out and do everything they can to uncover the root of your difficulties. Good physical care comes from treating the source, not the symptoms. The same applies to our spiritual health. If there is a problem, we must be diligent in our efforts to offer love to the one who is hurting.

I'm sure the pastor at the United Church of Christ in Chicago is a beloved person. At his hour of need, I would expect that his congregation would want to help him rather than toss him out. I would hope my family, friends, and community of faith would do the same for me.

Wishing you a brand new day...
Bobbie Sue

Hypocrites.

This is so typical of both the cynical media and the gullible public. None of you knows anything more about Jeremiah Wright or Trinity United Church of Christ than you see in defamatory articles such as this one. So called "journalists" (I would really have expected so much better from the Atlantic) count on exactly that, a willfully ignorant public delighted to absorb sensationalistic tripe offered in little uncomplicated doses.

Dr. Wright is obviously angry and could certainly have toned down the dramatic rhetoric for the sake of your delicate sensibilities, but let's not pretend that he has nothing about which to be angry. This is a man who built this church from dozens to thousands by dedicating himself to the service of his parish in both spiritual and practical ways. He spent his life and career fighting the insidious nature of racism in this country, trying to build a people up where cultural forces were tearing them down, and in the waning years of life and career he sees that little progress has been made on any meaningful scale.

Wright is, and always has been, a social critic and a major exponent of prophetic Social Justice. But of course it is just easier and more comforting for us all to believe that racism no longer exists in the great and perfect USA; that we solved all those pesky little racial problems once they were brought to our attention. Why, anyone who feels or expresses anything as impolite as anger over such an obsolete notion must be dangerously crazy.

The salacious and pandering media always seems to be content portraying Christianity as a religion that speaks of Love while condemning millions of people for their lives, their lifestyles, or their life choices. The public seems to be just delighted with this portrayal, as antithetical as it may be to the nature of genuine Christian teaching. But just let some preacher unleash a little righteous indignation at the fallacy of our Holy national mythology and we predictably erupt. Just let some angry prophet call into question the fashion in which our vaunted democracy is dedicated to making the rich richer and the poor poorer or cripples the lives millions with a kind of depraved indifference (very biblical themes by the way) and we get our collective panties in wad.

Such Hypocrites.

Interestingly, Wright regularly cites everyone's misinterpretation of his teachings of Black Liberation Theology. However if you read James Cone, the primary architect of Black Liberation Theology in North America you don't hear the constant hate spewed by Wright. Instead, Cone emphasizes that blacks must take responsibility for their own religion and their own relationship with God.

I can go along with the explanation Obama gave about not being in church when the inflammatory sermon on damning America was made. But he is either lying or ignorant to sit in a church for twenty years and claim not to know the sentiments of his pastor. Either way he is not fit to be president.

I really looked up and respected Obama. But it is too hard to believe that he never heard any of these remarks, or any friends didn't tell him about how his minister is so hateful. How can he represent the USA IF you have doubts about if he knew all along and is hiding it to get elected. I think his campaign is going to go down hill. Americans are not dumb. When hearing this terrible man with such hatred for the white people, it is a disgrace to our country.

I really looked up and respected Obama. But it is too hard to believe that he never heard any of these remarks, or any friends didn't tell him about how his minister is so hateful. How can he represent the USA IF you have doubts about if he knew all along and is hiding it to get elected. I think his campaign is going to go down hill. Americans are not dumb. When hearing this terrible man with such hatred for the white people, it is a disgrace to our country.

BANG! BANG! BANG! I hear the sounds of nails being driven into Obama's political casket. I felt my mouth drop to the ground as I watched the video clips of Jeremiah Wrong in stunned silence. To say that I was absolutely HORRIFIED
over Wrong's preaching is an understatement.

Obama seemed to immediately denounce the vitriolic statements, but upon reflection, it seems to me that he actually denounced them 6 1/2 years too late. This action seems to me to just be a politically driven action towards damage control. At any time in the past several years, Obama could have voted with his feet and left this house of contemptible preaching, and there would not now be a scandal erupting around him. Instead, Wrong was the first one Obama called upon for support as he announced his presidential candidacy, and has been on his team of advisors.

This, along with Wrong's endorsement of Farrakhan, and Obama's friendship with Rezko, as well as known terrorists should be sending up all sorts of red flags in relationship to this man who is seeking to be elected to the highest office in the land.

While Obama is not to be held accountable for the things another person says, he must be held accountable for his choice of people who mentor and influence him. Obama describes Wrong as being his close friend and mentor for 20+ years. For Obama to try to claim ignorance in this type of situation is so beyond credulity that it is simply absurd.

Can you say "Doublespeak?"

It is difficult for those who are very invested in this campaign to understand that millions of Americans have yet to come to the table and even begin to make a choice.
Hillary Clinton has a very real problem establishing sufficient bona fides to sway the uncommitted into believing she is qualified to be president. In all honesty, what has she herself accomplished that merits her selection as president? We know Clinton well, but she has yet to make her case in simple, plain terms.
Barack Obama has a very real problem demonstrating his true nature to the average American voter. We don't have a clue how he will react facing the pressures of the modern presidency. Like it or not, those millions of us in the middle of the road who are actually going to elect the next president are grown-ups. We fully expect that an American president facing the very real threat of modern fanatical Muslim terrorism will not hesitate to always defend American interests aggressively, with force if necessary, regardless of his or her own personal morality or principles. Obama certainly failed to prove that point when he childishly denied knowing the full extent of his pastor's virulent anti-American radicalism. That was an insulting, very big mistake.
And, in the end, while the snarling, yapping Democratic top dogs chew to bits our party's best chance in years to reclaim this nation for working men and women, John McCain practices looking presidential.

A prophet should speak truth to power: Rev. Wright has certainly done some of that in the sermons we see in these videos, and the original of these speeches was by Moses when he saw the Golden Calf. Dancing Around the Golden Calf: do you think it's an accident that the most popular show on television in America at the start of the 21st century is called American Idol?

America drives prophets to extremes: look at Ralph Nader, and now the Rev. Wright. But they are truthful extremes, at least in large part.

However, we don't elect prophets to high office; indeed, it would be foolish for them to run, it would be a contradiction of their vocation. Obama has tried, I think, to be as close to prophetic in his approach as it's possible to be for a modern public figure; but we see now the sheer improbability of carrying off such a role for very long: too many contradictions between the demands of God and the demands of Caesar, and between the prophecies of love and the prophecies of wrath.

Thus, I think the Rev. Gough makes an error charging people who are concerned about the effect of these videos with hypocrisy: it is a reasonable question to ask whether these clips, wholly unrepresentative as they may be, but which will be replayed and discussed endlessly by the Republicans in the fall, haven't damaged the Obama candidacy fatally. And if we believe that it's crucial to elect a progressive president, then these clips and their likely effect on centrist voters, who will decide the election, need to be carefully assessed. To me, now, it looks like the end for Obama, though some miracle might save him.

Would that outcome be wrong? Of course--but so much in America is wrong. And that's why it may be that the biggest mistake people make is to think there's any way to fix our accelerating ills except by the most painful and incremental steps. The return to health of such a horribly sick, riven, and decadent society is in any case uncertain at best; trying to promise anything else, anything easier--as Obama surely has, though in my opinion mistakenly--just takes us further into our far-gone delusional state.

I'm a teacher; I've tried very, very gentle approaches to the kinds of critique Wright makes with students who know me well and trust me--and still, the defensiveness, the sheer cognitive difficulty of seeing how the rest of the world sees the U.S. is overwhelming for almost all of them. And if the Rev. Wright came into my room and spoke this way--forget it. But he will be in every living room in the country repeatedly very soon, if he isn't already. It's hard to see a good outcome from this. Barring a miracle--but we haven't had one of those in a very long time in these parts.

It is impossible for Obama to be near this man and not had heard to kind of above mentioned anti american slurs. Obama said he had not...but this article says otherwise. http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/26491

It is impossible for Obama to be near this man and not have had heard to kind of above mentioned anti american slurs. Obama said he had not...but this article says otherwise. http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/26491

It seems the Democrat Party and the drive by media have gotten themselves into a real pickle. I bet John Edwards is looking pretty good to them right now.


It seems the Democrat Party and the drive by media have gotten themselves into a real pickle. I bet John Edwards is looking pretty good to them right now.


Throughout this campaign, Sen. Obama and his supporters have lauded Obama's judgment - and mocked that of competitors and of a significant chunk of the American people - on the war in Iraq. Come to find out, there's nothing cerebral or balanced about that position - it's the same one that Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan took in 2003, and take today.

Sen. Clinton was right to jump on Sen. Obama's tepid condemnation of "Minister Farrakhan" during their most recent debate. That exchange foreshadowed the more serious problems regarding Wright.

It's not so much about what the guy says every Sunday--it's about Obama's blatant lies. Obama and Wright knew that this guy--his mentor, who actually brought him to religion--was going to be poison for his campaign (God Damn America?!?) yet until these videos came out, did nothing at all about it--was he hoping he could skate thru without this coming out at all? And Obama's rush to dump him makes it even worse. After all, Jesus said to drop people like hot potatoes when they threatened your attempt to become Caesar, right? Not.

New kind of politician, my ass. New kind of politics, my ass. Christian? Nope.

The lies about Rezko make it all worse.

i think he should step down from the race and senanet he is not fit to president . any one that listens to that stuff is sick

Mr. Wright??? No, he is sick and wrong. He is noting more than a racial activest. Regardless what Obama says, there is no way in 20 years of attending this so called church that this is first time Obama has heard off colored remarks. I believe Mr. Wright (so full of hate for whites) and Obama see eye to eye on these issues. How could they not after all these years? Did Obama not understand or pay attention? By the way, Why do white American's still have to pay the price for things we had no power over? And why has it seems we have forgot that thousands of whites gave their lives to free blacks from slavery.

This should have come out a long time ago. He would never have won Iowa or the heartland states if we had known the true content of Wright's "sermons." The media should be ashamed--they didn't do their job--including the Atlantic Monthy and Andrew Sullivan. Shame on you!!!

If I had seen these videos, I would NEVER have voted or volunteered for him.
I'm disgusted.

This should have come out a long time ago. He would never have won Iowa or the heartland states if we had known the true content of Wright's "sermons." The media should be ashamed--they didn't do their job--including the Atlantic Monthy and Andrew Sullivan. Shame on you!!!

If I had seen these videos, I would NEVER have voted or volunteered for him.
I'm disgusted.

One thing noticed about Jeremiah Wright's preaching is the fact that not only the preacher but the entire congregration was truly shouting in unison with what was being preached. This entire congregration along with the preacher are racist. It appears to be a normal preaching ritual for this man to bash whites,damn the country and of all things to use the God==== word from the pulpit which is supposed to be a holy place. Someone who has been a member of a church knows very well what is preached there and to deney that would be a damn lie.

Personally, I think Obama is a Muslim seed.

yours truly

My question is how can this "pastor" keep his non-profit status while preaching government from his pulpit. Aren't their strict rules concerning this. If this was my church and my pastor we would be hung out to dry by the irs..

My question is how can this "pastor" keep his non-profit status while preaching government from his pulpit. Aren't their strict rules concerning this. If this was my church and my pastor we would be hung out to dry by the irs..

Obama knows very well what his preacher rattles from the pulpit. Take notice the entire congregration is in unison with what is being preached. For a person to be a member of a church for 20 years and not know what is coming across the pulpit would be sheer stupidity. A stupidity that Obama must profess in order to win the presdency of the USA. How many preachers do you know that curses God from the pulpit?

Obama knows very well what his preacher rattles from the pulpit. Take notice the entire congregration is in unison with what is being preached. For a person to be a member of a church for 20 years and not know what is coming across the pulpit would be sheer stupidity. A stupidity that Obama must profess in order to win the presdency of the USA. How many preachers do you know that curses God from the pulpit?

I'm amused by all the outrage. Sure, Rev. Wright speaks intemperately, and that's off-putting. But if you pay attention to his actual words, and not his delivery, Wright spoke a truth about America that I have seen myself. I have read newspapers, books, studied a bit of American history, and am somewhat familiar with Scripture, seen movies and television and traveled to a few other countries. You can't tell me that what he said isn't fair criticism of a society that was founded by white men who terrorized and enslaved people of color from the beginning.

The blatant and unapologetic bigotry is laughable. Think of it. Senator Obama MUST apologize, reject and denounce a respected black preacher from a respected black Christian church because that preacher had the temerity to say a few things that made them squirm. Methinks they dost protest too much.

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......WITH MR. OBAMA HE SAYS "WE CAN CHANGE", BUT I DONOT SEE ANY DIFFERENT...IS MORE THE SAME, THANKS, MR.OBAMA, I WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN, IF MR. OBAMA WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, FOR OUR PARTY THANKS, AGAIN ... F. RONDON

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......WITH MR. OBAMA HE SAYS "WE CAN CHANGE", BUT I DONOT SEE ANY DIFFERENT...IS MORE THE SAME, THANKS, MR.OBAMA, I WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN, IF MR. OBAMA WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, FOR OUR PARTY THANKS, AGAIN ... F. RONDON

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......WITH MR. OBAMA HE SAYS "WE CAN CHANGE", BUT I DONOT SEE ANY DIFFERENT...IS MORE THE SAME, THANKS, MR.OBAMA, I WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN, IF MR. OBAMA WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, FOR OUR PARTY THANKS, AGAIN ... F. RONDON

I am very sad and sit in utter disbelief that the masses can be so easily led to the wrong conclusion. All of this controversy helps to sell more advertising. The media in general loves to glorify people and then tear them down. More to sell. I've heard Rev Wright speak and can assure you he is no nut job. He's fluent in several languages even Aramaic. He's more learned about different religions than most men of the cloth not just Christianity.

It really simple. Even in the video above he mentions having patience and love for all, also known as unity!

African American pastors have history of speaking in a loud voice. Some not familiar view it as yelling or a display of anger. It's just caller/response. Basic Speech 101.

How can you justify hearing 30 seconds of a sermon, and label a man a hate monger? Furthermore, do you agree with everything your minister says? You can disagree and not leave your church home based on one person. The church is your community so you don't flee because of a harsh sermon!

More than half of Americans don't even read any religious text once a week. So most could benefit from heaRing any pastor or reading of the scripture.

Dose anyone here remember the speeches Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. gave on the steps of the Washington Monument or his final speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta? I listened to every word he said and before he finished, I was crying. He spoke without notes and the emotion was so strong I could feel it all the way to Boulder,Co, He spent some time in the jail in Selma, Alabama and other cities across the south and he walked for miles picking up other marchers as he went. He urged his people not to use violence and to respond to angry words with kindness. They marched all the way to Washington D.C. and Dr.King lived to see Pres. Johnson sign a law making it illegal to discriminate against someone because of the color of their skin. Maybe that doesn't mean a lot to people who still see where we have failed to get to the Promise Land, but this one man with a strong voice and wonderful heart accomplished more in his lifetime than any person in the history of this country to ease the pain and instill hope to those who heard them.

I just read an article on the Net where both Obama and Jeremiah Wrong were both interviewed. The date is Apr 30 2007, nearly a year ago. The interviewer brought up the content of Wrong's sermon the week after 9/11, so Barack Obama was at least aware of them, and had probably heard them for himself.

In the interview, even at that early date, Wrong states that Obama might need to distance himself from Wrong at a future time, (after the primaries.)

Think about it. Wrong advised Obama to distance himself from him over a year ago!

What a game!!!

I am thoroughly disgusted and outraged.

As a white american I would have left a church that spewed such hatred at the black race or at my country..period. I would have denounced it by leaving it. Hillary Clinton would be dead in the water if she attended such a church let alone called its pastor her spiritual advisor. The race card has been played rigorously by the Obama campaign and they would have demanded she leave this race if this was her church. Yet, when Obama is held accountable his supporters, some of them black, say black americans are entitled to be angry. Yes, they are. But it disqualifies you from being president to have ties to such a hate filled person. Hillary Clinton could not seek the advice of a person who holds a portion of this country's population in such low regard. The hypocrisy of Obama having claimed to be a uniter only makes it worse. His campaign hasn't transcended race, it's been all about race and now we know why. This should end his candidacy and it's up to the remaining states to send that message even if he still leads in delegates the super delegates will get the message.

Of course he said that. Rev Wright is a well educated man and knew that the media would have a field day because he speaks how he feels with the bible as his base.

Don't be outraged. It's not a game. It's our country.

I am a African American and proud to be an American. But when Bush invaded Iraq I knew it was wrong and motivated by someting other than terrorism. When I see the Black community run-over with drugs, I know someone, other than Blacks brought them here for none economic motives. When I sought to buy a house on a 80,000 dollar a year income with great credit and was steered towards a sub-prime mortgage, like 72% of Blacks with similar backgrounds are, by the agent I knew sometihing was worng. But I am not angry and still love my country. So when I sit in church and here a Black pastor peach about these ugly truths it doesn't shock me and make me go out and hate white people. In every thing I have heard from Pastor Wright I find controversal but true, and I am sure most Black people come to the same conclusion. However, I do not agree with him condeming this country, nor do I believe he hates this country. He was a Marine wasn't he? Nor are Black people sitting aroung in some smoke-filled room secretly organizing some type coupe of America. We just have come accustom to racism and have become accustom to Black pastors telling the truth about all issues, including politics. Un-like the ruling class in high places and/or positions who have for many years cultivated and mastered the politics of decet and division. For example, When Michelle Obamma said that it was the first time in my life that she was really proud of my country, Fox News edited-out the word "really" which totally changed what she said thus given the impression that she was never proud of America. The people in high places know all to well that all one have to do is plant a small seed of doubt and the American people will hurriedly cut and run and quickly change their view of their canidate. Another example is concerning Sentor Obama's middle name Hussein. Senator Obamma was born in 1961, I believe, which makes him 46 years old. His name was given to him in 1961, not 2001, by his White mother from Kansas, I am told, who traveled the world helping many people. In 1961, there was no Sadame Hussein in power in Iraq, so how can today infer that Senator Obama is a muslim because of his name. When his mother passed he was reared by his White grandparents in Hawaii, and I am certain they did not teach him to be a muslim, so why infer that from his name. Besides,all of this talk about Senator Obama's Christain Pastor of 20 years disproves the idea that he is a Muslim, I believe.

Eric B.

Rev. Wright does not espouse mainstream values. Obama's attendance at his church and Rev. Wright's membership on Obama's advisory African American Religious Leadership Committee (although Rev. Wright has retired from the former and resigned from the latter) may undermine Obama's electability. Although attention currently is focused on Rev. Wright's inflammatory sermons, there should be more scrutiny of the Committee, its role in the campaign and any agenda it might profess. Obama's campaign encourages the support and participation of people of all faiths (faith.barackobama.com) and yet seeks advice from members of a narrow segment of those faiths. Since Rev. Wright's views on certain issues now are common knowledge, the Obama campaign should provide more information on the direction of its call for a grassroots movement from faith to action.

Robin, Rev Wright is not a hateful man. His many missions can attest to that. You'd have to listen or read much more than a 3 minutes speech to rightfully or intelligently determine that.

The Obama camp didn't bring up race as an issue. The Clintons started that. As a matter of fact that's the reason I began to look at other candidates as an option (including Republicans).
I found it disgusting.

You don't abandon your church simply because you don't agree with everything your pastor says. You become a member for more than one person. The primary reason is for service to others.


The God "D*^#" American Rev wright spoke of was taken out of context. It's a play on words. He saying that if we didn't improve as a country America will be dam*^*.

When did we become so afraid of looking at our actions critically? That is part of the reason we are engaged in an unjust war. Anyone who spoke out was labeled "Un-American".

What's wrong with saying the truth however uncomfortable? We our a great nation with great people and should have our actions and laws reflect that greatness.

Look, the bottom line with Obama was...he looked too good to be true. He sounded too good to be true, but in the end the truth comes out. I feel bad and disgusted that he outright lied to all of his supporters touting change and equality. He duprd a nation and took advantage of of the hope and dreams of the democratic party. He is and has always been a politician. As for most of his supporters who were so quick to get defensive about him ..this was brought up in March of 07 but swept under the rug. We cannot afford a president who takes credit for a vote he made when that vote was made to stay in line with these extremist views. Let's come together and demand he resign his campaign. If the tables were turned and it were a white politician there would be more than just a few blogs about it. Get it together America, Obama has no place in American politics with these radical views. There is no way I am going to beleive he doesn't feel the same/ His wife obvously does. Put two and two together..no American flag lapel..no pledge of allegiance..no hand over his heart..please do the right thing and let him know he is done!!!

Voters determine who the nominee will be, unless an election is stolen.

Not wearing a flag on your lapel, not saying the pledge of Allegiance and the rest of it, doesn't make you unpatriotic, even if that were true.

We are in a terrible war because patriotism has been reduced to mind numbing simplicity. It takes courage and smarts to think critically.

If I heard my minister supported Hitler or Farrakhan, I would leave the church. There are thousands of churches in Chicago. Sen. Obama had to know the views of his pastor, and they have to be something he believes in to a degree. Also, if birds of a feather flock together, then think too about Obama's wife's comments about just now being proud to be an American. Sounds like something Obama's pastor would say! And, this is the woman he chose to marry. There must be common ground here. What we have here is a closet radical liberal. He would bring change, but a scary change, which most Americans would not need. He would be ok as a collegiate professor, but not as US President.

So, just as America does not need a goofy/imbecilic right wing Born Again Christian, it doesn't need change in the form of a goofy left wing bitter theologian, expounder, and closet practitioner. Let's stick to moderate change and figure out which candidate is best for this. All successful presidents have been moderates who can work with both parties and actually get something done.

Read Obamas on words of how much he loves his Preacher
Body: Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated.

"What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice," Obama said. "He's much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I'm not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that's involved in national politics."

http://www. chicagotribune. com/news/politics/chi-070121-obama-pastor,1,149665. story

Nothing is wrong with people of different backgrounds i.e. religious, ethnic, political, socio-economics etc, working together to effect a positive change in the world. It doesn't imply that you support all of their views. Again another problem in our bi-partisian government. You HAVE to work with people different than you!

You don't always agree with the people you work with but, you don't allow that to prevent yoou from helping others. You say publicly or privately (depending on the setting) you disagree and move on.

As for Mrs Obama's words, when a parent tells a child they are proud of their child, does that mean they were never proud before? Not at all.

Yes, Rev. Wright matters. He matters if for nothing else than the Obama campaign was not prepared to deal with the inevitable explosion of attention Rev. wright would attract. The campaign was so unprepared that Senator Obama's unbelievably denied ever being present when Rev. Wright made inflammatory remarks. He matters because Senator Obama returned repeatedly to that church after the first episode of which he became aware. If John McCain regularly attended a church where the minister preached racism, imagine what the Democrats would be saying! How very sad. I fear that the Democratic candidates are not qualified for the Presidency.

Tell Jeremiah Wright to go F--- himself and then get the F--- out of the USA!

I like how when Ron Paul said that the terrorists attacked on 9/11 because of oppressive US foreign policy he was a "prophet" who "speaks truth to power." When Wright says it he is "un-American" and a "race panderer." The hypocrisy is astounding. The bottom line is that US citizens who have found themselves living the good life don't like to be told that it isn't simply because of their superior intelligence, virtue, and hard work. They don't want to hear about structural oppression along the lines of race, class, gender, or nationality. These people prefer to live in a reality where they believe that they have created their own wealth and did so without any head starts, unfair advantages, or any harming of others. They don't like to be told to "know thyself."

Things were so much better before we had candidates of color who "inject" race into campaigns. If Barack Obama would just stop being African American this whole race issue would just go away.

I am a devout Catholic and we believe that Jesus is a man of peace not hatred. Anyone who speaks of Jesus but spews hatred is not a follower of Jesus.

My wife used to go to one church every Sunday morning until we had a bad experience with the priest who criticized one of the churchgoers for singing the wrong song. That is enough for us to be biased against that priest. My wife and I never attended the services at that particular time since then. The priest didn't spew hatred, racism or even unpatriotic words. The mere fact that he didn't have finesse to criticize one of churchgoers was enough for us to be turned off.

I am not running for the highest office in this beloved land of ours but if my priest spews hatred against the same people that our God died for (Catholics believe that Jesus sacrificed his life for all mankind, not only whites or blacks), I have enough conviction and good judgment to determine that it is wrong and that the priest should be outright condemned even after his first sermon of hate and racism.

Get this straight in your heads people: There is a vast difference between the Falwells who proclaim any number of judgments and theories about God's intentions and the mean-spirited screaming against white people and worst of all G-damming America while the parishoners sit there and clap.

McCain, Hillary, Obama and all the others have been endorsed by people who hold views contrary to theirs but for Obama to sit in a church under this man for 20 years and do nothing is beyond belief. I've left a couple of churches because I couldn't reconcile what I was hearing to what I believe; I've never heard anything like Wright was spewing. That was the Christmas sermon? Well, Merry Christmas everybody.

Obama is half white. What is his problem? Is he trying to fit in with this black vitriol? I had planned on voting for him but now, it's Hillary. Oh, I'm white, female and 62 so shoot me.

Obama didn't just go to this church a couple of times ~ he has attended 20 years. 20 years! He has two little girls. I cannot imagine letting my grandchildren (about the ages of his girls) go to church or anywhere else and sit under the teaching/preaching of a man who shouts G-D America and s..t and n..g.r and much more.

Those of you who are trying to compare this to endorsements by right wing preachers, etc are missing the point. All the candidates take all sorts of endorsements but they should all have spine enough to get up and walk out of a church or meeting where this kind of hatred is preached.

Think of it this way if you still don't get it: how would you feel if your child went to school on Monday, attended a convocation, and the speaker shouted g-d America, n.g.er, s..t ???

You would sue the school, the principal, the speaker, and you'd be all over the networks telling everyone how horrible it was.......but you give Obama a pass because of what?

I was going to vote for him but I won't now. He should have picked his family up and gotten out of that racist church 19 years ago. Has he forgotten his mother and grandparents were white? It was the black man who left that little boy and his mom. Racism cuts both ways and if you don't like it, lump it.

Personnally, I think Barack is a good man and I was planning to vote for him . He is brilliant and seems to have good intentions but with a mentor who is poisionous and hates the country that feed him baffles me. JW needs to wash his tongue and reread the bible.Sorry, Barack, you just lost my vote.

How can any American vote for sombody who listens to a pastor that talks and thinks like this. Obama and his wife listened to this man's hate rhetoric every Sunday for 20 years. They allowed their impressionable young daughters to be influenced by this man's rage all their lives! Does Obama expect us to believe that he was not influenced by this man who declares blame and anger against whites and disgust for the country that Obama proclaims to love. Is this the advisor that is to help Obama unite America? I think NOT! Obama's mild rejection of Wright's anti-American views regretfully shows us that Obama is interested in only one race--the one he relates to, cares about and completely identifies with. Obama seems to have forgotten about the remaining 88% of the American people. America is a melting pot of many races and cultures and our leader should embrace all of them. A "unifying" leader should never be a member of an organization that spews hate toward any other race.
Wright should consider himself fortunate to be in this country of endless possibilities, where he can live the life he lives. In the country of his ancestors I doubt he'd have the same freedoms. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to live in America. I am a hispanic American and even though I have experienced discrimination, I would never blame whites or the American people. I thank America for giving me the opportunities that in my country did not exist. Listening to people complain about this country makes me realize they have not lived in or studied other nations. How could Obama be around someone who feels such contempt for the country Obama has excelled in, and the country whose people have given him the enormous opportunity of being their leader. GOD BLESS AMERICA ! Can you say it?

I am tired of writing, but this is too important. I am still do not believe how Barack will simply think we will be Ok after his full explanation with his network MSNBC.
NO excuses

Throwing stones. Have you ever been passionate about something? Can you imagine talking to someone for two hours and having someone take only 30 seconds of what you've said and sum up who you are as a person. People judge all the time based on snippets of information. Are we judging others based on a snippet...or should we look at the person's life work.

Rev. Wright is a respected pastor AROUND the WORLD! Why is he respected? Not for 30 seconds I assure you. He is respected man of God because of his thirty six years of service. What service? Glad you asked...don't throw stones based on 30 seconds.

It’s fascinating to see people throw Obama under the bus for the 3 minutes worth of excerpts of sermons of his pastor. Are Wright's words extreme? Do they trouble me? Absolutely, but they are his words - not Obama's. And we must remember that.
I can't tell you how many sermons I have heard in my own church - Russian Orthodox Christian for what it's worth - with which I didn't agree. Yet I keep going back.
Why? Because that church is part of my cultural identity. Even though I've grown up in the US, I identify with Russian culture, and my church is where I best experience that connection.
Trinity is the place that Obama found a part of his identity - that of an African American. Wright helped him find it. Is it so hard to believe that Obama took part of Wright's teachings - the positive lessons of hope and community - and did not incorporate the anger and frustration of the previous generation into his life view?
It's no different than what we're seeing with the generational split amongst women in this election. Older women are standing behind Hillary because she exemplifies a triumph over the discrimination that they all faced. However, the real triumph for that generation of feminists is that the next generation doesn't feel obligated to vote for her.
Ben Smith on Politico has an excerpt of Obama’s interview with the Chicago Tribune Friday night where he discusses Wright and Ferraro. Before you rush to judgement, it’s worth a read:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Obama_on_the_lens.html

To those of you who say this incident is what will change your vote away from Obama, then I say that you never intended to vote for Obama to begin with. To think that you have finally FINALLY found a flaw in Obama that is so severe that he should just pull up shop and call it quits is preposterous.

Surely there are more important to be enraged about than this? To those of you clamoring for Obama to quit, how many of you complain about political correctness in our culture? How many of you are suburban white folks who have never given more than 30 seconds of thought as to what it must be like to live with the black experience in America?

One thing everyone forgets is that Pastor Wright couldn't have preached the same sermon all the years he ministered. Also, you have other pastors who minister as well. He doesn't own the church. So if Obama likes every other aspect of the church, and can tolerate Wright's once- in- a -while ranting then that is fine. It's not a big deal to baptize your children in a church or get wedded in a church you attend. In fact these are your rights as a member of any church. Why is everyone screaming "crucify him"? Obama is not guilty of Wright's words. He has already denounced the pastor publicly, what else do we want him to do? There are some Americans more radical than Pastor Wright, but it's unfortunate that this guy happens to be Obama's pastor. In my opinion, most churches, both white and black, are judgmental. Pastors express their personal views rather than facts. Please, please please, don't judge Obama based on what someone else says. It's amazing that the same press that once claimed that Obama could be a Muslim now recognize that he's been a practicing Christian for over twenty years.

Many of these comments again illustrate how the mass media can influence weak minds. Rev. Wright has been an amazing minister of Trinity Church for 36 yrs. Most viewed clips reduced down to seconds and are now able to judge this mans intent and character. Every Sunday there are bus loads of white attendees visiting from around the county and the world. There are white members of this church that joined before Rev. Wright retired, and joined because of his great ministry. He is not a separatist, never has been. The President of the Church in Christ is white. Do your research and stop being spoon fed by uneducated race baiters. We all have more important matters that affect us all. The Wars, failing economy, poor standing in the international community, poor education and health care systems, etc. These are not racial issues, but are American issues that impact on us all.

Many of these comments again illustrate how the mass media can influence weak minds. Rev. Wright has been an amazing minister of Trinity Church for 36 yrs. Most viewed clips reduced down to seconds and are now able to judge this mans intent and character. Every Sunday there are bus loads of white attendees visiting from around the county and the world. There are white members of this church that joined before Rev. Wright retired, and joined because of his great ministry. He is not a separatist, never has been. The President of the Church in Christ is white. Do your research and stop being spoon fed by uneducated race baiters. We all have more important matters that affect us all. The Wars, failing economy, poor standing in the international community, poor education and health care systems, etc. These are not racial issues, but are American issues that impact on us all.

Rev. Wright had many of these racist inflamatory views posted on the church website. However they were taken down when Obama was about to launch his campaign. Wright was also supposed to speak at Obama'