View Story | 105 comments
Comments: Expand Shrink Hide (Always) | Indented Flat (Always)
and I agree. Senator Obama should renounce and reject Wright for all his crazy talk.
As soon as I stop worrying, worrying how the story ends, I let go and I let God, let God have His way. "It's the soldier, not.."
by Lady Bird Johnson on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:43:51 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
this is his pastor so Obama has prumably been listening to this ugly shit for years. It's not like he can say that he's SHOCKED, SHOCKED.
by bugscuffle on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:46:05 AM PDT
so you are saying Senator Obama (who just as White as he is Black) has the same views because he is a member of the Church? I reject that completely. You can easily take in the Spiritual side of the semon and reject the radical crazy stuff that his man says.
by Lady Bird Johnson on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:48:56 AM PDT
Sheesh. I am saying that this is a problem for Obama because he cannot plausibly claim to be surprised.
by bugscuffle on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:50:17 AM PDT
Just because I don't agree with your way of saying it doesn't make it wrong.
He has NEVER tried to cover-up what Wright's radical crazy talk is, he has said he doesn't agree with him. What else should he said?
by Lady Bird Johnson on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:52:26 AM PDT
This is the man from whom he has taken his spiritual guidance. He has to live with the values of that man and answer for them
"Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one." - Friedrich Nietzsche
by ActivatedbyBush on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:07:35 AM PDT
over the top? I'm not a church goer, so I don't know, but I have to assume that pretty much everyone does not agree with every position their pastor takes.
But if he does not distance himself from him, that is another matter. Wouldn't it be enough to say that he does not agree, and make sure that the Rev is not part of the campaign?
"And Love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night" - Queen
by Something the Dog Said on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:11:05 AM PDT
This is his main spiritual advisor. Fair or not, it fits into the view that Obama surrounds himself from people who don't like this country. Michelle Obama's "for the first time" comment didn't help this either, nor did Farrakhan's endorsement (not Obama's doing, and he handled it well, but it doesn't help).
Wright's views are quite extreme. While there might be truth in some of what he said, overall he comes across as a spiritual leader who takes an "us vs. them", race-first, and anti-US position.
Granted Wright has now resigned from his position at the church, but presumably the church ideology remains the same -- yes, preaching empowerment for the AA community, but finding it necessary to be divisive, anti-American, and anti-white in the process.
Obama's affliation with the Church, like his association with Rezko, undermines his authenticity as a candidate.
by ActivatedbyBush on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:20:01 AM PDT
that Obama supporters don't get. And when you throw in Ayers into the mix, it compounds the problem that Obama has been surrounded with people who, at the very least, "seem" anti-American.
by grlpatriot on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 12:34:37 PM PDT
And I don't remember seeing anything about "America of KKK". Nor do I remember him saying "Goddammed America".
Instead, he mainly went on about how hard it is being a black man. From what I read elsewhere, these remarks are over two months old. Rev. Wright has since retired from his church, and Obama has rejected his more inflammatory remarks.
This is an old story being brought up anew by Fox News, since their last two or three attempts went nowhere.
Old Man McCain.com - the best anti-McCain blog on the web!
by existenz on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:11:17 AM PDT
I haven't seen either the FOX or ABC version. I've heard about the Minister but haven't heard any of his remarks. I guest all this stuff has to bubble to the top eventually.
by Char on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:26:30 AM PDT
DOBBS: You and I have mentioned -- we've discussed the minister here. He is obviously very controversial, Afrocentric. Give us you're -- you know the man. Give us your take. MARTIN: Well, actually, a couple of things. First, Lou, Trinity United Church of Christ is not being investigated by the IRS. The United Church of Christ denomination is where Obama spoke at their national conference. So the IRS is looking in to the denomination, not the church. DOBBS: Right. MARTIN: All right. But in terms of -- in terms of Reverend Wright, first of all he's been the pastor since 1972. He just retired on Sunday. In fact, one of the reasons why he is not talking -- I even tried to get him on my radio show. He's not talking this whole week because they have services every night, celebrating his years as a pastor. And so, he is considered one of the preeminent pastors in the nation. "Ebony" magazine named him one of the top 15 black preachers of the entire 20th century. So we talk about Afrocentric, what that also deals with, frankly, is a relationship between the church, the black church, historically, as well as the continent of Africa. And so that is one of the reasons why -- so he is considered one of the top experts on the whole issue of the Afrocentric. And so, he is clearly one of the top pastors of the city. Trinity is one of the most influential churches in city of Chicago, black, white, or whatever. DOBBS: And to that, how in the world does end up that a magazine published by the church ends up putting Louis Farrakhan as a -- basically canonizing the man in -- not in the literal sense? MARTIN: Well again, another little detail that -- "Trumpet" magazine was indeed published by Trinity Church. When they chose to become a national, they became independent of the church. Jerry Wright, the pastor's daughter, she's a publisher. But the magazine is no longer under the arm of the church, it's now an independent publication. But again, one of the things that people don't realize in terms of -- first of all, Chicago is a home of black nationalism. So when you talk about the Nation of Islam, when you talk about the National Black United Front, you talk about various groups along those lines, it has a rich history in terms of that particular group. So you have a combination there of black nationals in Chicago, in terms of being involved in the political area here -- when Harold Washington ran in 1983, he put together that coalition in terms of all your traditional black politicians and black nationalists, white liberals as well. And -- wants Hispanics to become mayor of Chicago. So it's not uncommon, frankly, for the relationship to be there between Christian churches, as well as the Nation of Islam here in Chicago. DOBBS: OK, that's a lot of words between -- MARTIN: That's just the truth. DOBBS: No, no. I'm just saying, it's a lot of words between Pastor Wright, the magazine, the canonization, if you will, of Farrakhan by that magazine and the relationship between Pastor Wright and Senator Obama. What is going on here? MARTIN: It's very simple, Lou. And that is, Obama is a member of the Pastor Wright's church. And so Pastor Wright -- he was one of the endorsers of the Million Man March in 1995. But here's what is very interesting, Lou. When I watched the debate last night, when Senator Clinton made her comment about he should go further, what a lot of folks don't realize, also, is that in 1995, President Bill Clinton had some positive words to say about what? The Million Man March -- that was led, that was created -- and the key note speaker there, Louis Farrakhan. The Millions More Movement took place in 2005. President Clinton had some positive words to say about that as well. And so what you have here is a very interesting situation with Farrakhan. There are a number of people who do not like Minister Farrakhan, that is very obvious. But there others who do respect the fact that what they have done in terms of dealing with black men who have been in prison, who have been abusing drugs and alcohol. And so, you have a different viewpoint of Farrakhan based upon the various deeds. Keep in mind, Jack Kemp in 1996 got in a lot of trouble as a V.P. nominee, Lou, when he praised Farrakhan's focus on self reliance. Jews said wait a minute, hold up. This is Farrakhan you are talking about. So he knows what it feels like to be in a presidential campaign and say anything good about Farrakhan. DOBBS: Well, the issue here I think, too is -- much of -- I'm going to say it this way and I'll probably get into all sorts of trouble. But much of white America doesn't understand much of black nationalism, the role of Pastor Wright and the Afrocentric movement within the United States, which has been very important as we have seen the emergence of a black middle class in this country.
DOBBS: You and I have mentioned -- we've discussed the minister here. He is obviously very controversial, Afrocentric. Give us you're -- you know the man. Give us your take.
MARTIN: Well, actually, a couple of things. First, Lou, Trinity United Church of Christ is not being investigated by the IRS. The United Church of Christ denomination is where Obama spoke at their national conference. So the IRS is looking in to the denomination, not the church.
DOBBS: Right.
MARTIN: All right. But in terms of -- in terms of Reverend Wright, first of all he's been the pastor since 1972. He just retired on Sunday. In fact, one of the reasons why he is not talking -- I even tried to get him on my radio show. He's not talking this whole week because they have services every night, celebrating his years as a pastor.
And so, he is considered one of the preeminent pastors in the nation. "Ebony" magazine named him one of the top 15 black preachers of the entire 20th century. So we talk about Afrocentric, what that also deals with, frankly, is a relationship between the church, the black church, historically, as well as the continent of Africa. And so that is one of the reasons why -- so he is considered one of the top experts on the whole issue of the Afrocentric.
And so, he is clearly one of the top pastors of the city. Trinity is one of the most influential churches in city of Chicago, black, white, or whatever.
DOBBS: And to that, how in the world does end up that a magazine published by the church ends up putting Louis Farrakhan as a -- basically canonizing the man in -- not in the literal sense?
MARTIN: Well again, another little detail that -- "Trumpet" magazine was indeed published by Trinity Church. When they chose to become a national, they became independent of the church. Jerry Wright, the pastor's daughter, she's a publisher. But the magazine is no longer under the arm of the church, it's now an independent publication.
But again, one of the things that people don't realize in terms of -- first of all, Chicago is a home of black nationalism. So when you talk about the Nation of Islam, when you talk about the National Black United Front, you talk about various groups along those lines, it has a rich history in terms of that particular group.
So you have a combination there of black nationals in Chicago, in terms of being involved in the political area here -- when Harold Washington ran in 1983, he put together that coalition in terms of all your traditional black politicians and black nationalists, white liberals as well. And -- wants Hispanics to become mayor of Chicago. So it's not uncommon, frankly, for the relationship to be there between Christian churches, as well as the Nation of Islam here in Chicago.
DOBBS: OK, that's a lot of words between --
MARTIN: That's just the truth.
DOBBS: No, no. I'm just saying, it's a lot of words between Pastor Wright, the magazine, the canonization, if you will, of Farrakhan by that magazine and the relationship between Pastor Wright and Senator Obama. What is going on here?
MARTIN: It's very simple, Lou. And that is, Obama is a member of the Pastor Wright's church. And so Pastor Wright -- he was one of the endorsers of the Million Man March in 1995. But here's what is very interesting, Lou. When I watched the debate last night, when Senator Clinton made her comment about he should go further, what a lot of folks don't realize, also, is that in 1995, President Bill Clinton had some positive words to say about what? The Million Man March -- that was led, that was created -- and the key note speaker there, Louis Farrakhan.
The Millions More Movement took place in 2005. President Clinton had some positive words to say about that as well. And so what you have here is a very interesting situation with Farrakhan. There are a number of people who do not like Minister Farrakhan, that is very obvious. But there others who do respect the fact that what they have done in terms of dealing with black men who have been in prison, who have been abusing drugs and alcohol.
And so, you have a different viewpoint of Farrakhan based upon the various deeds. Keep in mind, Jack Kemp in 1996 got in a lot of trouble as a V.P. nominee, Lou, when he praised Farrakhan's focus on self reliance. Jews said wait a minute, hold up. This is Farrakhan you are talking about. So he knows what it feels like to be in a presidential campaign and say anything good about Farrakhan.
DOBBS: Well, the issue here I think, too is -- much of -- I'm going to say it this way and I'll probably get into all sorts of trouble. But much of white America doesn't understand much of black nationalism, the role of Pastor Wright and the Afrocentric movement within the United States, which has been very important as we have seen the emergence of a black middle class in this country.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/...
by Nellcote on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 09:50:04 AM PDT
by believeinhope on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 10:02:45 AM PDT
wide narrow
View Story | 105 comments