I am a Hillary supporter but I so admire the speaking skills of Senator Barack Obama. While John McCain is securing endorsements from evangelical pastors who blame Catholics for the Holocaust or call for the destruction of Islam, Obama is under fire for comments his pastor has made from the pulpit. SOP for the Republican attack machine.
Obama met the criticism head on with a major address today. More after the flip:
Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear.
The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Rev. Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children.
Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions — the good and the bad — of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother — a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
You can read the whole speech here.
I was impressed by this speech as I heard it while driving Charlotte to day care this morning. It left a lump in my throat.
I do believe that this was so well done and his honesty was astounding and his humility was so important to understanding him as a candidate.
Can we trust Obama to have a comprehensive AIDS policy? Apparently AIDS was created by whites in our government as a tool for unleashing ‘genocide’ against people of color.
That isn’t an opinion or a feeling about America or its policies – it is a lie a BIG hateful lie.
Is Obama that much of a wimp that he couldn’t stand up to Rev Wright? What would you, any of you liberals do if the leader of your church said something that obscene? Nothing Pat Robertson or Fallwell have said even comes close. They just espouse dopy opinions from time to time.
Obama isn’t fit to lead America or to stand up against crazy leaders of other counties. My dear sweet grandmother in law said some kooky racist comments and I wouldn’t let her lick stamps for my campaign for school board.
Bob: Obama spoke truth forcefully where no other politician has the backbone, and certainly the integrity, to do so. That is EXACTLY what we need in a leader, and that is what a leader does. It certainly is not a quality exhibited by any republicans (elected or otherwise) I have met recently.
I asked a simple question; what would you do if you knew that your church’s Pastor and your personal spiritual leader was telling its members and the rest of the nation that AIDS was created in a government laboratory specifically designed to create a genocide among people of color?Jim, I think you’re a better and bigger person than Obama. I think you would have pulled Rev Wright aside and said something to him.
Nothing Pat Robertson or Fallwell have said even comes close.
McCain, like other Republicans, has some problems in the religion area. There’s Rev. Rod Parsley, who, as the conservative Times of London notes, McCain called his “spiritual guide.â€Â
Says Parsley: “I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed.â€Â
There’s Rev. John Hagee, who denounces Catholics in terms so vehement I don’t want to repeat them. There’s Jerry Falwell, who said after 9/11 that New York deserved to be attacked for its wickedness.
So Bob. Where’s the outrage from conservatives over those who claim to
influence with conservative politicos?
Rhackett – Many conservative evangelical preachers used AIDS as a means to vilify the GLBT community as a punishment and a plague from God. In this ignorance they also delayed the education of many straight women and men, especially women, from protecting themselves from something that sees no color, no religion and no sexual orientation.
Bob —
You might want to re-evaluate your comment on Falwell and Robertson.
Here’s Jerry Falwell on 9/11:
10. “The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.”
9. “The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews.”
8. “I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!”
7. “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers … AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
6. “Nothing will motivate conservative evangelical Christians to vote Republican in the 2008 presidential election more than a Democratic nominee named Hillary Rodham Clinton – not even a run by the devil himself … I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate. She has $300 million so far. But I hope she’s the candidate. Because nothing will energize my [constituency] like Hillary Clinton. If Lucifer ran, he wouldn’t.” –at a “Values Voter Summit”
5. “Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them.”
4. “Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America.”
3. “He is purple  the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle  the gay pride symbol.” –from a “Parents Alert” issued in Jerry Falwell’s National Liberty Journal, warning that “Tinky Winky,” a character on the popular PBS children’s show, “Teletubbies,” may be gay
2. “You’ve got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I’m for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord.”
And number 1:
“…throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked and when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad…I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America…I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen.”â€Â
And Pat Robertson quotes….
The 10 Stupidest Things Pat Robertson Ever Said
10) “Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings.” –Pat Robertson, on the dangers of judicial activism
9) “Lord, give us righteous judges who will not try to legislate and dominate this society. Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court.” –Pat Robertson
8) “Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.” –Pat Robertson
7) “I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you, This is not a message of hate — this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.” –Pat Robertson, on “gay days” at Disneyworld
6) “(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” –Pat Robertson
5) “I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period.” –Pat Robertson
4) “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there.” –Pat Robertson, after the city of Dover, Pennsylvania voted to boot the current school board, which instituted an intelligent design policy that led to a federal trial
3) “God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.’ … He was dividing God’s land. And I would say, ‘Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations, or the United States of America.’ God says, ‘This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'” –Pat Robertson, on why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke
2) “Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up” –Pat Robertson, on nuking the State Department
1) “You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.” –Pat Robertson, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Bonus Stupid Quote:
“Wait a minute, I didn’t say ‘assassination.’ I said our special forces should ‘take him out,’ and ‘take him out’ can be a number of things, including kidnapping.” –Pat Robertson, clarifying his call to assassinate Hugo Chavez
Thank you Mr Dan ‘Cut and Paste’ Chmielewski
Allow me to cut and paste from your cutting and pasting-
“I think that – Maybe we need -I would say, ‘Woe -I’d like to say -I think the gradual -I certainly hope -I hope I live to see” All OPINIONS most pretty dopy.
Falwell Dead Robertson almost dead – I don’t know what role you think they play in the life of John McCain.
Where’s a comparable statement of FACT that specifically outlined a PLAN for mass murder of people of color by rich white men in US government laboratories?
Dan, would you have had the guts to stand up to your pastor if he made such a false claim about mass murder?
Why did Oprah leave Wright’s church?
McCain called Parsley “A” spiritual guide” not his. That’s a BIG differance. Which church does McCain belong to – support?
Bob — see below; I guess you can’t refute the Hagee endorsement that McCain sought unless you too beieve that Catholics are responsible for the Holocaust as Hagee does.
Where’s a comparable statement of FACT that specifically outlined a PLAN for mass murder of people of color by rich white men in US government laboratories?–
http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/webb.html may be what he’s alluded to.
Dan, would you have had the guts to stand up to your pastor if he made such a false claim about mass murder? Actually, my pastor rattled the sword on the pulpit in the Mass after 9/11; people interrupted his homily to disagree with him; we stopped going to that Catholic Church.
Why did Oprah leave Wright’s church? Ask her. Are you taking political advice form Oprah? She supports Obama you know.
McCain called Parsley “A†spiritual guide†not his. That’s a BIG differance. Which church does McCain belong to – support? Th churck of how to get McCain elected. You’re pasing words and your argument is weak.
Care to denounce anything said by Falwell and Robertson? Doesn’t matter if they are dead or close to it. Words matter. And how many times must Obama denounce the hateful words by his pastor? He’s done it several times.
Dan,
You made my points before I could get back on this blog.
Thanks.
Amazing the rationalizations we are witnessing regarding the supporters of Obama and McCain.
Wow. I can’t believe you drug out that old laughable silly story from the San Jose Mercury. Note in the introduction. “These articles were downloaded from the web site of the Seattle Times, since the San Jose Mercury News has removed the entire series from their web site.†There’s a reason why it was taken down, its B.S.
Are you justifying Wright’s theory about the US Government creating crack and “giving it to us†because of this story in the SJM?
I was referencing the kook theory that Wright promotes about rich white men and the US Government creating AIDS.
Study: Many Blacks Cite AIDS Conspiracy
Prevention Efforts Hurt, Activists Say
By Darryl Fears
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 25, 2005; Page A02
More than 20 years after the AIDS epidemic arrived in the United States, a significant proportion of African Americans embrace the theory that government scientists created the disease to control or wipe out their communities, according to a study released today by Rand Corp. and Oregon State University.
That belief markedly hurts efforts to prevent the spread of the disease among black Americans, the study’s authors and activists said. African Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau figures, yet they account for 50 percent of new HIV infections in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33695-2005Jan24.html
Big deal another conspiracy theory except “That belief markedly hurts efforts to prevent the spread of the disease among black Americans, the study’s authors and activists said.†Wright’s words not only hurt the feelings of many Americans who don’t think we have secrete labs to create diseases to target people of color HIS promoting this theory HELPS TO KILL BLACK AMERICANS.
After hearing all of the statements by Wright (with more to come) how can you trust Obama when he says JUST LAST MONTH “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”
It’s not just that Wright’s a racist, that’s secondary to the fact he’s Anti-American and Obama can’t see it or is too much of a coward or opportunist to have done anything about this before the tapes (that the church sells) were brought into light by the Clintons.
Dan:
Here’s what the Almighty Wicipedia says about your claim Hegee believes that “Catholics are responsible for the Holocaustâ€Â
I don’t think that’s what he said. In reading what he wrote I can’t find anything that’s not factual. Please take a look and let me know if you can find anything – I’ll take your word on it. Do you have another referance that shows he thinks Catholics are responsible? What did he get wrong in his writting?
This writing could be taking from any liberal pastor’s book on the history of anti-Semitism.
“Hagee’s attack against Christian antisemitism in his book Jerusalem Countdown contained the following:
Adolf Hitler attended a Catholic school as a child and heard all the fiery anti-Semitic rantings from Chrysostom to Martin Luther. When Hitler became a global demonic monster, the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII never, ever slightly criticized him. Pope Pius XII, called by historians ‘Hitler’s Pope,’ joined Hitler in the infamous Concordat of Collaboration, which turned the youth of the [sic] Germany over to Nazism, and the churches became the stage background for the bloodthirsty cry, ‘Pereat Judea'[19]…. In all of his [Hitler’s] years of absolute brutality, he was never denounced or even scolded by Pope Pius XII or any Catholic leader in the world. To those Christians who believe that Jewish hearts will be warmed by the sight of the cross, please be informedâ€â€to them it’s an electric chair. (pp. 79-81)
The Roman Catholic Church, which was supposed to carry the light of the gospel, plunged the world into the Dark Ages…. The Crusaders were a motley mob of thieves, rapists, robbers, and murderers whose sins had been forgiven by the pope in advance of the Crusade…. The brutal truth is that the Crusades were military campaigns of the Roman Catholic Church to gain control of Jerusalem from the Muslims and to punish the Jews as the alleged Christ killers on the road to and from Jerusalem. (p. 73)
Later in the book (pp. 81-2), however, he praises Pope John Paul II for repudiating past anti-Semitism in the Roman Catholic Church.
Hagee claimed in March of 2008, “I’ve learned that some have accused me of referring to the Catholic Church as the ‘great whore,’ of Revelations. This is a serious misinterpretation of my words. When I refer to the ‘great whore,’ I am referring to the apostate church, namely those Christians who embrace the false cult system of Jew-hatred and anti-Semitism.†[20]
Donohue rejected Hagee’s explanation as disingenuousâ€Â
So Bob; Obama has already denounced his pastor’s comments twice. What else do you want him to do? Burn a cross on the man’s lawn?
And so you know, I support Hillary in the race.
Bob: I assume you used the same standard you’re using against Obama and denounced Mitt Romney as a coward for being a Mormon while his church discriminated against blacks, right?
Not spin this as an issue of “race†that we Americans must address. The reason wasn’t racism or some theological reason why 9-11 happened to America. Wright cited the invasion of Grenada and the US dropping the Atomic Bomb! It’s Wright’s Anti Americanism that’s so scary. I think the theory that Obama only went to this church to bolster his black street credentials to offset charges of him not being black enough is the most likely.
Falwell kook’s evil statement – “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals†if a candidate said Falwell was HIS spiritual advisor I would reject him.
And.. how about Hagee’s Holocaust/Catholic writings. Can we agree that they’re on the mark,?I couldn’t find anything wrong.
Poster Hackee said “There’s Rev. John Hagee, who denounces Catholics in terms so vehement I don’t want to repeat them.” Please repeat them I won’t wince if they’re ‘vehement’ – I sincrerly looked and couldn’t find any.
Was there something else were missing? Or is it a Catholic Organization’s hypersensitivity to any criticism?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-03-07-mccain-hagee_N.htm
Excerpt:
Hagee, leader of a San Antonio megachurch, has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as “the great whore” and called it a “false cult system” and “the apostate church”  “apostate” means someone who has forsaken his religion.
Now to its credit, the McCain campaign claims to have repudiated Hagee’s remarks on Catholics.
That took all of one 20 sec Google search.
So is Bob your name or what you do?
Nice; so when Reagan asked Falwell for his support on selecting Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court, you have an idea of how Falwell was regarded by the Gipper, a man who never went to church.
Here’ s some stff on Hagee, since you couldn’t find anything.
Hagee on Hurricane Katrina
“All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
Hagee on Islamic Beliefs
Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that “all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews,” to which Hagee replied, “Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
Hagee on African-Americans
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to “meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a ‘slave sale,’ an East Side minister said Wednesday.” The Express-News reported:
“Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a ‘slave sale’ to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, ‘The Cluster.’
“The item was introduced with the sentence ‘Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone” and ended with “Make plans to come and go home with a slave.” [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]
Hagee on Catholicism
“Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.” [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]
Hagee on Women
“Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist.” [God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]
“[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God’s pattern for the family.” [“Bible Positions on Political Issues,” John Hagee]
Hagee on LGBT Americans
“The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
Hagee on Iran
“The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty,” Hagee wrote [in 2006] in the Pentecostal magazine Charisma. “Israel and America must confront Iran’s nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide.” [The Nation, 8/8/2006, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/new_christian_zionism%5D
Bob: How many catholics do you know stayed at the church when all the pedophillia charges surfaced? This is why I find Pat Buchannans comments so interesting. He is a devote Catholic, can spout off what it means to be a good Catholic but only wants to forgive with conditions. is that where you are coming from?
Mr. Obama originally claimed that he was never present when Rev. Wright made such inflammatory remarks. Once evidence arose that proved otherwise he changed his story.
This whole incident just shows bad judgement on Mr. Obama’s behalf. He knew Rev. Wright had said these things and yet he still put him on his committee.
People killed Hillary over the whole Ferraro incident. Obama is getting his just dessert in regards to Rev. Wright.
Ferraro statements were made to the press and were directly about Obama and whether he would be in the same position if he were white.
Wright is a preacher of a Church and none of the statements were made with the media but in the pulpit. I understand why Wright is angry and why so many African Americans are angry, is it an excuse for what he said, no. I don’t think Obama excused his comments either but they are not the same.
Someone dug up footage and released it to the press, who did? I have no idea, but they are not the same.
“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Wright told The New York Times with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said ‘yeah, that might have to happen.'”
I guess the difference is that priests don’t espouse pedophilia from the pulpit the same way Wright preaches hate of whitey and America. They preach against it even as they do a piss poor job of rooting it out and punishing anyone involved in covering it up. But hey I don’t want to get singled out by the Catholic League as being anti-catholic and void my endorsment of McCain.
“Someone dug up footage and released it to the press, who did?”
Heather – they were DVDs sold in the church for anyone to buy – hardly “digging them up.
Thank God, Thank God Almighty that he gave Hillary the strength to take off her gloves and smack down Obama and deliver us from this awful phony politician. Give me an Amen.
Bob – I would hate to see either of our candidates be taken down by words that they did not directly speak themselves and it saddens me to see anyone be happy about the destruction of any Democrat.
Nice.
Dan-
From your post – Hagee on Catholicism
“Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.†[Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee] AND????
We just read his writings about Hitler and Pius XII, see my cut and paste, what was inacurate? You totally agree the Catholic Church sold out the Jews in Germany. Don’t you??? SAY IT!!!!!!
Heather –
Fred Phelps is my personal spiritual advisor. He married me and my wife, I attend his church. I know he says things from time to time that I strongly disagree with but he is part of America and part of the American experience. I can no more denounce him anymore than my grandmother who made nasty comments about her gay hairdresser. Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Give me your vote, trust my judgment, trust my values.
You have a screwy way of judging candidates.
Whither Romney?
Sean, you’re wrong. Newsmax tried to claim Obama had in fact been in the pew the day of the God Damn America tirade, and Bill Kristol ran with it for his piece in teh NYTimes–which he had to correct within about an hour online, because Obama’d been in Miami that day.
Of course Obama had been there for controversial stuff–but not that one, which is exactly right.
And people may have killed Hillary, but she didn’t say boo about it; she certainly never asked Ferraro publicly to step down from her campaign; a week later, Gerry tendered her resignation “so she could better work for her.”
PS: Bob, you’re certainly getting it here today, but you sound super angry. You sound, in fact, like Tucker Carlson, talking about the big LIE! Well, that big lie is what a majority of black people believe, so we should probably know that it’s out there. And after what we did to black men at the Tuskegee Institute (where we did studies on syphilis and never told them they were the placebo group, among other things), you can kind of see why they might think that. But I guess I’m justifying again.
Bob – Call it screwy, it’s still my choice and I can rationalize all I want. At this point, I don’t know how anyone can still support Clinton and still call themselves a Democrat. She put McCain as a better choice than Obama.
Will I vote for her in the General Election? Yes. But I’d rather get to vote for Obama.
Rebecca –
“Of course Obama had been there for controversial stuff–”
There’s no way he could have been there for ANY controversial ‘stuff’ – there isn’t any –
“I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”
Why did Dom Imus have to get fired???
Apparently Rev. Jeremiah Wright wasn’t always considered such a pariah. From The New York Times Politics Blog.