Obama addresses Wright controversy

I can't help but wonder WHAT in this world are these people doing standing behind and beside Obama. He can deny that he doesn't agree with Wright all he wants. However he sat there for YEARS and YEARS listening to this hatred spew from this so-called pastors mouth. I can see clear through him. Why can't anyone else?

nobody cried out very loudly when Ted Turner called the hijackers brave men
both white and black as well as other colored people have commented on issues its a complex world we live in

What does it say about a person if they vote for a man who used Wright as a spiritual leader for twenty years? He didn't 'vet' him? What a crock! TWENTY YEARS and he didn't know who he was? LOL! Good one!

I think Obama has had to take enough of this defending his pastor. Yes he was not vetted. I would hate to be responsible for everything my Catholic Priest said or wrote . I think he has done and said enough, properly and effectively.....let him get on with the other important issues.

I think Obama has had to take enough of this defending his pastor. Yes he was not vetted. I would hate to be responsible for everything my Catholic Priest said or wrote . I think he has done and said enough, properly and effectively.....let him get on with the other important issues.

Rev. Wright is not runing for President. The American Public will not be hood-wink and Bamboosel as in the pass. We are looking for a new direction for this country, and not the same old wink and a nod ! Step aside old timers and let us move into the future.

please tell me who have control over what people's think and say.as hillary clinton said she would leave her church she's full or bull---. if your parents said somethingbad about BLACK people's should you be held responsible???the answer is no why should you. everyone making a big DEAL out or NOTHING--REV WRIGHT IS ONLY SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF FOR FOR HIS CHURCH.

I would remind detractors of Mr. Obama of the recent flagrantly racist remarks by the famous geneticist, James Watson, co-discoverer with Crick (and a wholly unsung woman scientist who did the key technical work) of the DNA molecule. This fellow, like Wright, was a crotchety aging intellectual who is losing his faculties and trying to regain some of the attention he lost. I don't take geriatric scientists or preachers seriously, and the public shouldn't either. The fact that we allow them to dodder along as heads of prestigious research institituions and major African American churches until they go nuts is a good example of why a young leader like Obama will make a hell of a lot better leader for our country than a 71 year old has-been like McCain.

This is what dishonety looks like, folks.

A thought on Obama and his pastor.

It seems everyone in this world has a right to choose what they expose themselves to. If we only choose to expose ourselves to what we believe in, would we ever evolve? I believe a wise man/woman must expose himself/herself to views he/she doesn't believe in in order to truly understand the world and form his/her own view. I believe that people who claim otherwise are not being honest with themselves. Great leaders cannot be great leaders unless they expose themselves to other points of view they don't agree with. Just because you're exposed to different points of views doesn't mean you're incapable of forming your own. The path to war is only exposing yourself to what you believe in. The path to peace is exposing yourself to what others believe. Bush is a great example of limited exposure.

it really is amazing - the media fawns over him and questions him on nothing ... not to mention he has no record of any accomplishments. Oh well.

As Bill Clinton said - it looks like we may be "rolling the dice" unless the Clinton can get the momentum back ...

I love the people who are trying to say that the Rev issue is over and we should let it go. Obama sat in an Anti-American, Anti-White church for 20 years, but Hey...we talked about it for a week so let's move on. Obama supported Anti_American sentiment and speech with his time and money...He does not get to be our leader now. Game over Hussein Osama, go back to Illinois.

Obama is taking down Democratic Party. Just imagine what a package McCain is going wrap to wallop Obama with. Obama would become a silent spectator. It is terrible that Obama was vetted sooner by the media. I would not have voted for him.

Obama is for Hope, and likes Change. Wow...what a fresh new idea!!!!

He also supports Anti Americans!!!

All you people who are discussing racist comments or anti-american speech from other people in the past, not one of you has mentioned a contender for the Office of President of the United States. Our leaders should be held to higher standard. If nothing else we should at least expect our leader to respect our country. Anyone who could sit and listen to Rev Wright bad-mouth this great land for 20 years is no leader. Obama lacks the courage to lead this country. He is a coward who refused to defend the nation that he supposedly loved.

No to Obama.

His comments then assure me that he is comfortable with the new REV at the church who started out where Wright left off calling anyone who calls the howling bigot a howling bigot a lyncher . Nice people. Problem is that we aren't going to solve racism this November. But we sure aren't going to promote it into the white house either. I think Obama is a fine speaker on this subject, what we need is a president. There is alot more about him that people are now curious about. This isn't going away.

Over the years i've spent plenty of time in churches where i didn't necessarily agree with what the pastor was saying. Churches are often more about community than about agreeing ideologically with the pastor, and just to leave because you disagree with something the pastor said would be really strange if your friends and family go there and you all like to go and hang out afterwards, attend dinners together and stuff. It's kind of fun sometimes to be in a church where you get to argue and disagree with the other people about something crazy your pastor said or whatever, and I certainly don't think we should be judging Obama based on things someone ELSE said! why not judge him on his own merit rather than jumping to conclusions about him agreeing with this guy, especially when he's said he doesn't agree with the more radical things he's said.

OMG, give me a break! First he says "I wasn't there during controversial comments". Then "Was I there? Sure" Now, he claims if his pastor, (spiritual advisor and member of his religious committee until 2 weeks ago) had not retired he would have left the church? How convenient. Does he really think we Americans are that stupid? After the debates, the mud, the pools, and the pundits it boils down to one thing: Who do we want as President to fix our ailing economy, get out of Iraq, restore our standing in the world, and lead with strength and vision. It's hard to overlook the speeches, because they are often our only view into the candidates' positions, unless we actually look at their experience, work in the Senate and how they have crossed party lines to build relationships. I like Hillary and her 35 years of working for Americans, and not just because she is now running for President. Three months ago I had never heard of Senator Obama, and I didn't have a particular affinity for Hillary, I was more inline with John Edwards, I thought. But I started watching the debates and said "whoa, this woman knows her stuff"! Would it be easier if Hillary weren't a woman? Uh, YEA, in a big way! There are folks who just can't get past a woman President. Would it be nice to have a President who actually gets things done for the average American and continues with their bridge-building? Yea! Do I have to want to have a beer with this person? Uh, no. I need a President to get it right and work their butt off for me and every other hardworking American. The problem I have with Senator Obama is not his race (I mean, how cool would it be to have a biracial President in melting-pot America?!), the problem I have is his lack of experience, when I look at their two resumes, and his judgement when I look at his relationships, especially the long ones. So, I am going to vote my gut and my head on this one. And unlike the pundits who want to pigeon hole me, I do like aspects of Senator Obama and would like to get to know him better, before we maybe see him as President down the road.

All these people who claim to "see" thru Obama's lies, are u for real? I've gone to my church for 20 years and just know my pastor's name. I live in a world where i can't control the views of everyone around me. What world do you live in? Obama is the most truthful, ernest, positive speaking politician of my generation. Hands down. I'm begining to feel that all these people who are complaining on the internet are paid for by the washington lobbyists who are quaking in their boots at the idea of getting someone in power who they don't own. Imagine a President who actually thinks about the people who put him there, and not big alcohol, tobacco, oil and pharmaceutical companies. If you really want to "see" the truth.... see who's really behind Obama's strongest critics. The satus quo.

I have no idea why it should make such a difference to any one what the pastor says. Being a member of a church does not in any way imply you endorse the views. If so, I'd probably be unemployed or shorn of citizenship because I do not agree with many of the views of my employer or my government. Hell, I dont even agree with my wife and parents with so many of their views, so maybe I should be forced into bachelorhood and removed from my parent's will as well...

It's so crazy to see people on this forum and in the media get so worked up about something which to me seems a trivial if not a non-issue. This democratic nomination process is fast turning to be a farce with 'what does it take to keep people's attention' as the prime mover. Focus on the agenda, people, get on with it!!

Obama is a liar. He had 20 years to leave the church and he didn't. I'm sure Wright didn't just start spewing this hatred over the past few months. Obama chose to expose his children to this preacher's hatred and bigotry. Would you do the same with yours if you disagreed or were offended? Maybe once. Then you'd say "whoa, I'm not going back to that". Because it's one thing to expose oneself to new and different things. It's another to sit and listen to it for two decades. Only now that he is running for president does he say he would leave and is offended. Please. We are all products of our environments. So how can Obama not be influenced by what he has heard from this man over the years? Obama is just a slick politician that knows that he needs to say what he thinks the public wants to hear. And he's not any different than any other politician. He hasn't done anything great or spectacular and he's played the political game very well.

Obama is not responsible for his pastor's views. But he is responsible for who he associates with, and who he names as advisors, financially supports or otherwise enables.

His affiliation of Wright is a worrisome predictor of future appointments as president.

I'll tell you the 20 years that 'scares me' - the past 20.

How can America see fit to elect (2) rich white families into power in the last 20 years, then consider another member of one of these families for (4) more years! It smacks of good ole' boy, politics-as-usual, disgusting pro-corporate same old same old. Thankfully, while President Clinton was in power, his grave mistakes were of a minor personal nature, generally - while the rest of the country flourished.

Look, this just appears screwy:
1988 Bush Sr.
1992 Pres. (Mr.) Clinton
1996 Pres. (Mr.) Clinton
2000 Bush Jr.
2004 Bush Jr
2008 Another Clinton....? NOOOOO WAY!!!!!

the thought of Ms. Rodham / Senator Clinton and her politically corrupt family

Kids - it's time to wake up, Hillary's Bosnia whopper makes anything Wright said or did pale in comparison, and if that's not enough - here's some reading material on a rather 'questionable' group that HRC has chosen to align herself with
http://donkeyod.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/hillarys-prayer-hillary-clintons-religion-and-politics/

I won't vote for him. He only acts when he's called out on any issues. Tony Rezko and Reverend Wright are two associates he could have done without. William Ayers is another. Check him out, He actually bombed the Pentagon. Sorry, but we don't know about this guy. Notice how quick he was to sell out his churchmates on The View. He claims he would have left had he heard those remarks, What about everyone else that stayed with Rev. Wright. What are they idiots?? Wait, don't answer that. LOL He just can't have it all. Someone loses somewhere. He should have learned that by now.

This man will have to make choices when President. Supreme Court Justices, members of his Cabinet., etc. If he can't stand up to an outspoken Pastor, what do you expect him to do as President.? So yes, it is very relevant. It's all about the choices and judgments he makes. So far, he's scored very poorly in both areas.

Obama continues to show us his un-electability with poor judgment and lack of characters. He still can't answer these real questions:

1. why do you stay for 20 years? (this new answer of 'might have left...' is just so lame and insulting to the people)
2. why do you still appoint Wright your adviser even though you remove him from the big event of announcing your candidacy?
3. why do you still let your children go to the church to hear Wright's anti-white and anti-american preaching?
4. why do you believe in the Black liberation theology which is Wright's teaching?

5. why do you pick a new pastor who also believes in Wright teaching?
6. why do you do throw your grandma under the bus with a 'typical white person'
7. why do you incite the Blacks and throw them under the bus by making it sound like all Blacks believe in Wright teaching?
8. why do you contribute large sum of $ to Wright’s church?

Wright is entitled to his belief. This scandal is not about Wright. It is all about Obama's decisions to the above questions. They show us his character, belief and judgment. When a presidential candidate believes in this type of anti-white, anti-american, black liberation theology then he must answer these questions.

Catholicism is "a godless theology"! The Holocaust was God's punishment for Jewish "disobedience and rebellion"! Katrina was "the judgment of God against New Orleans"! The Koran gives Muslims "a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews"!

The words of Rev Wright? NO. They are the Outrageous words of Pastor John Hagee, a televagelist that John McCain pubicly wooed an endorsement from. Should McCain disavow Hagee and other such lunatic pastors that have endorsed him? Does John McCain have the guts to go as far as Obama has in this regard?

9/11 was God's punishment for America's wickedness. Yup Rev. Wright said that. So did most preachers in the weeks following 9/11. Alan Keyes, black Republican politician that Obama trounched in the 2004 race for the Senate, went so far as to pinpoint the exact wickedness that 9/11 was punishment for - abortion. Think about it, God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. That is THE fundametal covenant between God and Jews, God and Christians, God and Moslems. It has been the fundamental bargain since Adam bit the apple. Christianity has no other explaination for 9/11 that is consistent with it's core gosple. Preachers do what preachers do - that's why we don't elect them to public office.

To vote4thebest
Why as a black man would he have to answer all these questions? You all need to stop racists double standards. All black people have to face up to the same type of crap az questions in our daily lives. What about you all kept going to the same catholic church where the pastor/priest was accused of rape and molestation - that is more tragic than a few words spoken about "America". Rev Wright said these words about "America", but racist people always manage to turn things around that a black person says to make it all about "whites". It's not all about you any more now than it ever has been. You all are afraid of us being "empowered" finally.

I understand what Barack Obama has said about Rev. Wright. He clearly articulated what I myself have done. You can love someone but not agree with what they are saying. I teach my children to take what a person says and to judge it for themselves. You can learn alot about yourself by listening to what others say. You take the good and learn from the bad.

As for all the questions of why Barack didn't do this or why he did that, my guess is your not searching for understanding if you were it's all there in his speech. You've already made up your mind, there is nothing he can say to change it. So, why are you wasting your time on this blog? The amount of time it takes to read and respond, you could have spent it judging someone else!

BB -

When sensible people dismiss the occasionally extreme rantings of aging loonies like Wright (or any number of Bush administration officials you care to use as examples), you complain that stupid racist remarks are of special significance for Presidential candidates and that therefore Wright's comments have special relevance. Senator Obama has made no such racist remarks, and in fact, has disassociated himself from them. You may not realize this, but they teach people to listen critically to alternative viewpoints at Harvard law school.

There is an an unfortunate group of Reagan-era Americans who believe that listening to people on the fringes is heresy, and the only response is name calling or walking out. This is exactly why we're in this disastrous war -- failure to listen to the concerns of the hopelessly angry. Sorry to break it to you, but we have free speech in America, and listening to crazies, yes even if they are our enemies and don't represent out religious views, is very American. Majority rule, minority rights.
Anger with the establishment can have great significance and importance even if misguided. It comes from years of disenfranchisement and needs the focus of thinkers like Obama to soften, distill and elevate it by extracting its decent core. America has victimized African Americans, period. America has mistreated the Muslim world, period and has suffered at many levels for its bad and unjust policy, period.

The fact that I've bother to read your rant and that you've read my response is evidence that disagreements is best washed in the antiseptic of daylight. Would you rather have Wright screeming to converts in a basement somewhere like fundamentalist Christians do, with nobody but the true believers listening ? And why shouldn't blacks be angry with us white folks, anyway?

Rev. Wright does not hate America. The main point he was trying to make was that racism still exists in America. And the amount of attention given to this issue only confirms it. Geraldine Ferraro on Hillary Clinton's campaign made racists remarks recently and in the past, but her case was rapidly dismissed and never heard of again. Rev. Wright was a US Marine. I worked closely with marines for three years during my 20 year Navy career. I spent time at Marine Corp Air Station Miramar (San Diego), Marine Corp Recruit Depot (San Diego) and the Marine Corp Base in Camp Pendleton, California and you'll be hard pressed to find a marine that hates America. No, it's just frustration caused by racial bias in America. No one has asked judge Samuel Alito why he doesn't leave the Catholic church. No one has asked Senator Sam Brownback why he remains in the the Catholic church; which is paying out millions of dollars to settle sex crimes with boys. Consequently, Adolf Hitler was Catholic whom was consumed with hate. Should we assume that all Catholics share Hitler's views. I think not. So why do folks assume that Wright has so much influence over Obama? Let's put down the foolishness and talk about why the World's Super Power (that'll be America) is having passports made in Thailand. Why we are having US Air force tankers constructed by the French and John Mc cain's name keep coming up whenever bid rigging is mentioned. Hum,

BB... well said.

At least Obama is being honest! I don't believe for one second that Hillary would have left her church if she disagreed with something her pastor said! If you don't practice that religion then you won't understand how things work. The christian religion requires people to follow the BIBLE not EVERY word a pastor or preacher says: After all "Preachers are human too"!

I am dismayed that the Obama supporters do not come to terms with the depth of his flawed character. NOW he says he would leave the church...is he really saying that and anyone is buying it. Yes it dopes matter what your pastor says when you have aliggned with him for 20 (not 2) years. You stay with a mentor because you admire that person, and are aligned and fortified by their teachings. If a person was a supporter of Hitler for 20 years, listened to his racist, hate ridden philosophy over those years, and through those years contributed to his cause, considering him family and advisor - do you think that person did not feel simpatico with his teachings? "No he was my close mentor and I followed him for 20 years, but I myself like the jewish people so don't associate his views with mine..' NOT! A gloosy cover Obama is - good looking, well spoken, telling everyone exactly what they want to hears - a chicken in every pot, unit, brotherly love, the change we've been waiting for - sounds good, right? You know what they say about - If it seems too good to be true... In this case the writing is on the wall. For me, everything he says he stands for is meaningless because of his actions - and they speak louder than words. He supported a church and minister which gave an award to Farakan, to honor him. Why didn't Obama speak out then, why didn't he object to the vile sermons of Wright that he now finally acknowledges he knew about? Only NOW when he is blind with ambition to be President that all the wonderful glib speeches come out. His sppech on race relations was very nice, and if it came from someone else I would have felt it sincere. But Obama produced the words to make himself look goo - that's all - not sincere sorry to say because the reality of his actions speak volumes. I am indeed ready for a Black President. I marched in 1960 for integration with Mrs. King and Jackie Robinson, so I judge people as people and by their worth. I see Obama as a very slick (and polished)phoney, and I hope the American voters will look at more than what is on the surface.

JUDAS OBAMA IN CONGRESS

PROMISE ILLINOIS CITIZENS REGULATION, over Nuclear Safety matter, THEN, REMOVE THE REGULATIONS for EXELON and the NUCLEAR INDUSTRY.....A BOLD FACED LIAR

___________________________________________
READ WHAT HAPPENED:

Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate

By MIKE McINTIRE
Published: February 3, 2008 Read complete story at NY Times

When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state’s freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.

Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was “the only nuclear legislation that I’ve passed.”
“I just did that last year,” he said, to murmurs of approval.

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story.

While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.

Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama’s comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate.

The history of the bill shows Mr. Obama navigating a home-state controversy that pitted two important constituencies against each other and tested his skills as a legislative infighter. On one side were neighbors of several nuclear plants upset that low-level radioactive leaks had gone unreported for years; on the other was Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear plant operator and one of Mr. Obama’s largest sources of campaign money.

Since 2003, executives and employees of Exelon, which is based in Illinois, have contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama’s campaigns for the United States Senate and for president. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund-raisers.

Another Obama donor, John W. Rowe, chairman of Exelon, is also chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear power industry’s lobbying group, based in Washington. Exelon’s support for Mr. Obama far exceeds its support for any other presidential candidate.

In addition, Mr. Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, has worked as a consultant to Exelon. A spokeswoman for Exelon said Mr. Axelrod’s company had helped an Exelon subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, with communications strategy periodically since 2002, but had no involvement in the leak controversy or other nuclear issues.

Dear America:

Why are we judging Barack Obama by the words of another man?

Reverend Jeremiah Wright served his country honorably as a U.S. Marine. As such, he has earned full rights under the Constitution of these United States of America. One of those rights is freedom of speech. This freedom of speech does not require consent or agreement from those being spoken to.

America must understand the point of view of a formerly enslaved and now oppressed people. When white men wrote the words to the Constitution that "all men are created equal" they saw fit not to include people of African descent who remained in enslavement. As a people who have felt the wrath of American Democracy for more than four hundred years, forgive us as a people.

After only forty years of freedom forgive us for sometimes thinking and saying what is perceived as "crazy" things yet all the while dying in every war ever fought for any and everything that resulted from Jamestown to Plymouth Rock including the army of the Confederate States of America through today's war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Though Crispus Attuck was the first to give his life and many others of African descent fought for Independence and in the War of 1812, in the Battle of 1815, the Civil War and the Spanish - American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and Gulf Wars I and II, we are still not fully accepted as truly loyal citizens of our country. We still live in a country that allows a symbol of insurrection and enslavement to continue to fly legally.

Did Senator McCain have to denounce his mother and her words regarding Mormons? Have we analyzed the past ten years of sermons by the pastors of Senators' McCain and Clinton? Have they ever said anything inflammatory or controversial that we should know about? Should those candidates be held accountable for what their pastors have said? Are those candidates even identified with any specific church? Should McCain have to renounce and denounce Pat Robertson or Hagee and other controversial pastors that have endorsed him? If Obama has to renounce Farrakhan and Wright, why is there no call for McCain to renounce and or denounce inflammatory preachers who support him?

What frailty does white America believe exists in the hearts and minds of the descendants of enslaved Africans; that like the rest of America, we can go to any church, pray to any God, be preached to by anyone; leave church and then ignore everything that was said by the preacher and break the promises we made to God.

For over forty years, our government knowingly and with purpose infected the descendants of the enslaved with syphilis. In light of the Tuskegee experiment as it was known, America must understand why we look at the HIV/AIDS infection rate among African Americans with a raised eyebrow. America should understand why the descendants of Africans see the greatness of America through a different prism; enslavement, Jim Crow, Ku Klux Klan, Dredd Scott, Plessy, lynchings, police brutality, inferior educational and employment opportunities.

The test of whether we have made racial progress toward equality will be seen through future primaries. We must not allow the most segregated time in America to destroy the legitimate campaign of this African American, Barack Obama. No other candidate/citizen will have their love and patriotism questioned in this manner and overtone. African Americans believe that this is a negative legacy from the period of enslavement. What history suffers America to question the patriotism and loyalty of any Descendant of enslaved Africans. Only a Black person would suffer the indignity of being judged by the words of another.

If we have truly achieved equality, then we will judge Barack Obama solely on his character, his ideas and what we believe that he can offer in the rebuilding of America; and we will not use the words of one man to characterize the humanity of another, and all the while we continue to die for America.

F. Christophe Silvera, Secretary – Treasurer, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local #808 22-43 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101
Tel: 917-297-2241, email: fitzverity@aol.com

I am a Christian and I love Jesus, but I cannot blame anyone in the church I once fellowship to be similar to the Pastor who misbehave in the church. Many African Americans experience listening to Pastors on Sunday gripe and complain about how the US government, racist predecessors has destroyed the black human race and should not call out to God for blessings when these whites (bias, racist, klan) openly (overt behavior) is plain and obvious they are full of hate and found this country on greed and destruction--reasons we are in the predictament today. We all should ask for God to Bless America, but Wright's personal opinion to say God Damn America was only spoken to what Racist Whites has curse this country to damnaton and God doesn't bless a country full of hate with a lynching background