Rev. Jeremiah Wright

[xer0s]

So what do you guys think about Obama's pastor? This is a man that has been the spiritual mentor for the Presidential candidate for the past 20 years. If you haven't seen his rants from behind the podium, then you need to check em out. Obama has said in the past that Wright is like a father figure to him. Very sad indeed.

[7zark7]

Missing Link?

[xer0s]

Well there are several clips on Youtube. I figured everyone here knows how to search. Let me find one...

[xer0s]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQ ... re=related

There's one. There are others.

Oh, and just ignore that its Fox News.

[Turing]

I watched that whole series of clips, which were intentionally hand-picked by Fox News to make the guy look like a shithead, and other than the suggestion that the US Government created HIV and that the Israelis practice 'state terrorism', I can't really see anything wrong with what he said in the least. He's absolutely right. America has ass-surfed black people for decades. It's gotten rather bad lately, but it's sure as fuck not any better.

I mean, can you go into detail about what it is that you find offensive? Saying that the government lies? Saying that the Clintons haven't been friends to black people?

[xer0s]

He just seems like a racist hate monger to me. But I guess it's just me.

[Turing]

No, there are plenty of scared white people who hate the idea of a black guy pointing out that rich white people run the country. You're not alone. You are a little dim, but not alone.

[tnf]

So what do you guys think about Obama's pastor? This is a man that has been the spiritual mentor for the Presidential candidate for the past 20 years. If you haven't seen his rants from behind the podium, then you need to check em out. Obama has said in the past that Wright is like a father figure to him. Very sad indeed.

About as sad as guys like John Hagee, a McCain guy, calling the catholic church the 'great whore' or Pat Robertson talking about Katrina being God's wrath on New Orleans. What is sad indeed is Republican water carriers ignoring the fact that their southern baptists and evangelicals have made comments every bit as idiotic as the ones uttered by Reverand Wright. But its more convenient to ignore those.

What is sad is that the dems aren't smart enough to instantly counter with clips of guys like Hagee and Robertson to work towards negating the impacts of these comments. And no, I don't agree with the reverand's comments myself - and I am stunned that anyone close to a presidential candidate would be fucking stupid enough to make them in the first place.

[Big Kahuna Burger]

I watched that whole series of clips, which were intentionally hand-picked by Fox News to make the guy look like a shithead, and other than the suggestion that the US Government created HIV and that the Israelis practice 'state terrorism', I can't really see anything wrong with what he said in the least. He's absolutely right. America has ass-surfed black people for decades. It's gotten rather bad lately, but it's sure as fuck not any better.

I mean, can you go into detail about what it is that you find offensive? Saying that the government lies? Saying that the Clintons haven't been friends to black people?

maybe saying that the government created AIDS?

[Turing]

Oh, you mean the one out of the two stupid things that he said that constituted the 'exception' that I mentioned in my post?

Reading comprehension might help.

[HM-PuFFNSTuFF]

Oh, you mean the one out of the two stupid things that he said that constituted the 'exception' that I mentioned in my post?

Reading comprehension might help.

Yeah but Israel does practice state terrorism.

[Geebs]

Black people don't hate Jews. Black people hate white people

[Eraser]

other than the suggestion that [...] the Israelis practice 'state terrorism', I can't really see anything wrong with what he said in the least.

I don't see what's wrong with stating that Israel uses state terrorism either tbh. Israel's government consists of the biggest terrorists in the world. Any government that uses "retaliation" as a reason to fire missiles are crooks.

[tnf]

So this whole thing is getting about as much press as I figured, and Rev. Wright is a grade-A wingnut no doubt. But I really expected to see something about the evangelicals supporting McCain and the comments I mentioned already today. Nothing though. If the democratic party can't figure out that they have all the ammunition they need to fight this type of shit and can't win this election with the country as fucked as it is after 8 years of republican rule (and even though the dems have the house and senate right now their lack of a supermajority pretty much leaves them at the mercy of getting republicans to cross lines to get any shit done). You've got a candidate who has openly joked about bombing Iran, who will be a 1 term guy and therefore not have much to lose, and is 72 years old. And the dems are going to make a race out of this.

Whatever happens with the dems, I have a feeling that once a candidate is chosen, we are going to get a shitload of terror alerts just like we did after the Kerry nomination...stuff that will be based on "credible intelligence" that the government has been sitting on for months and release whenever it is politically expedient. We'll see.

[Turing]

Obama's said he's going to deliver a speech tomorrow regarding Wright and the broader issue of race. I doubt he's going to let this one slide as easily as you think; I also doubt that he's going to turn on the attack machine this late in the game.

[tnf]

Obama's said he's going to deliver a speech tomorrow regarding Wright and the broader issue of race. I doubt he's going to let this one slide as easily as you think; I also doubt that he's going to turn on the attack machine this late in the game.

I watched him discuss the reverand the day that the comment story broke on Keith Olbermann. He wasn't as assertive about it there as I thought he should have been - I think he used a 'crazy uncle' analogy. I don't think that pointing out the violent rhetoric of the Robertson's and Hagee's of the world would be tantamount to turning on the attack machine. But even so, he doesn't need to. The dems as a whole should be, just like the 527 groups that hammered Kerry...those guys managed to turn a real war hero into the guy whose military credentials were called into question while Bush ended up skating by on his AWOL days in the national gaurd or whatever branch he 'served' in. I think Obama can keep himself above the fray to some extent as long as he aggressively defends his positions.

[R00k]

If Obama gets the nomination, it's going to get a lot uglier than this before it's over. I like to think we don't have to worry about things like race-baiting as much these days, but I've personally talked to people who openly admitted they won't vote for him just because he's black.

The Republican leadership knows better than to even hint about anything racially sensitive, but they've built an attack machine that's no longer under their control. If it's between McCain and Obama, then McCain will stay away from anything resembling race tactics, but the Rush Limbaughs and Matt Drudges are going to make sure every nasty rumor walks all across the country before the Dem leadership has their boots on. Hopefully Obama won't be as timid about making them look like the bigots and hypocrites they are.

[Hannibal]

Obama needs to find a way to put this crap behind him quickly. A resurgent Hillary is a definite possibility if his team fumbles with this for too long. His delegate lead won't evaporate over this of course but it will complicate the living fuck out of the next 3-4 months. McCain gets a free ride and plenty of ammo, the democratic convention turns into a nuclear clusterfuck, and the race in the fall will end up being far closer than it otherwise would have been. The Republicans are still the Message Kings, and the punch drunk democratic nominee that emerges from the chaos while be an easy target.

[Turing]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashos.htm

[Hannibal]

Nice. Now let's see how the media faggots consume and redescribe the substantive elements. My guess: they'll miss or dismiss most of them and wonder about style (i.e., whether the speech as a whole evinces enough of a separation from, or denunciation of, rev. angry black man). We'll see.

[xer0s]

Good speech.

[Turing]

I thought he fucking nailed it, personally. As long as voters get the message that he was throwing out there, I think he has officially slam-dunked this Rev. Wright thing right out of the picture.

[Grudge]

What's most sad is that you can't become president of the USA without pandering to the religious nutballs.

I wonder when the US will have it's first atheist president?

[Peenyuh]

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

If this statement is true to his heart, then yes, he nailed it. This is very REAL. I've been called all sorts of names. Everything from half-breed to beaner to wetback. That doesn't mean shit to me. When my being an American comes into question, that is what bothers me.
I'm not gonna allow some racist piece of crap affect my ability to treat EVERYONE equally. I don't allow myself to be seperated or classified.

Obama seems genuinly interested in making racism a non-productive issue. If elected, I hope he is as good as his words.

[Fender]

What's most sad is that you can't become president of the USA without pandering to the religious nutballs.

I wonder when the US will have it's first atheist president?

I'd guess another couple generations. Once the current crop of 20 - 30 year old atheists start popping out little mini-atheists and they reach voting age. Don't hold your breath.