But why did she stay so long?

Even though Obama has irrevocably rejected, denounced and cut off all ties with his former paster, it is still not enough for some people.

Critics, such as Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, simply keep harping that "he sat in the pews for 20 years...."  

:sigh:

Neither Hillary supporters nor McCain supporters should like where this is going....

Who are WE to judge whether someone should stay in a church?

In a similar vein:

Who are WE to judge whether someone should stay in a marriage?

Shouldn't Hasselbeck and other critics of Obama's choice to stay in the pew be EQUALLY up in arms about Hillary's choice to stay in a marriage with a man who REPEATEDLY impuned the sacred trust of marriage?

Paula Jones

Juanita Broaddrick

Kathleen Willey

Gennifer Flowers

Elizabeth Ward Gracen

Sally Perdue

Dolly Kyle Browning

Monica Lewinsky

And to think, the Republicants always insist that marriage is sacred and that we need Constitutional amendments to ensure that same sex couples don't deserve this sanctity....

:bang head:

Should we also demand that McCain's wife, Cindy Hensley McCain, denounce her husband when he is so willing to call her a "cunt" in front of the American people?  If this is what he calls her in front of acquaintances, I can hardly imagine what he calls her at home.

Shouldn't these critics also demand the same thing of these other candidates?

•  tips jar

  by TheOpinionGuy on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 12:12:38 PM PDT

  •  tired of tit for tat....

    too personal and mean for me.  Give it a rest.

    by murrayewv on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:10:10 AM PDT

    •  Consistency would be nice though

      while i agree -- in principle -- that the 'tit for tat' and generalized 'politics of personal destruction' isn't at all helpful -- the diarist expresses a reasonable exasperation that only ONE candidate is being examined and criticized in this fashion -- should the media lay off; none would be more pleased than i; however, since the media is insistent on focusing on such -- i think the diarist makes a rationale comparisson

      by josephk on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:29:02 AM PDT

      •  apples and oranges.

        eom

        by burrow owl on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:56:03 AM PDT

•  We are better than this

  As Dave from Queens said yesterday, the attacks on Obama are backfiring. Obama has handled this situation well. We don't need to resort to attacks to win.

  by FishOutofWater on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:15:21 AM PDT

•  Then by their own standards

  The past is every bit as important for McCain and Hillary.  And it's a hell of a past.  

  Can she whine "old news"?  Not if Wright's not old news.  Can McCain say the Keating Five doesn't matter?  Not if Wright matters but Hagee doesn't.  

  What the hell do they have on Hillary that the Repubs are so silent about her and hellbent on getting rid of Obama?  

  Doesn't anyone know?  Can't we find out?  

  by 57andFemale on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:26:45 AM PDT

•  Hillary's marriage is really her own business

  What I'm more interested in is why she 'stayed' with this group of religious nutcases (is that redundant?):

  You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that "through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the "Fellowship," aka The Family. But it won't be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet's shocking exposé, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May.

  link

  by Roadbed Guy on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:29:09 AM PDT

•  She stayed

   to KEEP HER LAST NAME....IF NOT FOR THAT SHE WOULD NOT BE SENATOR OR CANDIDATE....

  by docb on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:32:52 AM PDT

•  asdf

  Critics, such as Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, simply keep harping that "he sat in the pews for 20 years...."

  Also Chris Matthew's Tourettes of the month.

  by stevej on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:36:35 AM PDT

•  The reason Hasselbeck and others keep asking

  why it took Obama 20+ years to recognize Wright for what he is, is because it's a natural and legitimate question for a potential President whose good judgement is paramount.

  by phoenixdreamz on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:37:23 AM PDT

  •  Ditto For Hillary?

    I mean people would tend to assume someone staying in a marriage  like that would turn out to be a codependent, whiny, scolding, dishonest, victimization drama queen.

    Actually that's a lot more of a given than any conclusion you might draw about Wright's church.

    I'm just saying is all.

    by bernardpliers on Thu May 01, 2008 at 06:15:28 AM PDT

    •  The question undelying the subject of this diary

      Is it credible to believe that Obama could have had a close, 20 year relationship with Wright without being aware of his views. Therein lies the rub.

      by phoenixdreamz on Thu May 01, 2008 at 06:27:16 AM PDT

      •  Isn't It Also A Question of Proportion?

        Funny pastor versus probable flaming train wreck of neurosis? I mean this is an election and a choice and not just navel gazing.

        It's sort of hard to say that on the eve of the election that mentioning the other candidate is taking the diary off topic.

        by bernardpliers on Thu May 01, 2008 at 06:49:43 AM PDT

      •  But the question is...

        Is it appropriate for ANY of us to be asking these questions?

        Would it have been acceptable if Obama had been asked about the Lewinsky thing for Obama to say, "If it had been me, I wouldn't have stayed in that marriage."

        No!

        It would have been inappropriate, rude, slimie, and all sorts of other adjectives.

        YOU JUST DON'T GO THERE!!!!

        by TheOpinionGuy on Fri May 02, 2008 at 05:40:33 AM PDT

•  I couldn't care less what

  Elizabeth Hasselbeck or anyone else on that television program think and I'm sure I'm not in the minority on this.

  by nupstateny on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:40:12 AM PDT

•  WHAT ABOUT MCSHAME

  John Mcain is low down and imoral to leave his first wife and kids when she got into a bad car accident, he left her and his family, what a loser

  by pjelly on Thu May 01, 2008 at 06:32:15 AM PDT