Is this Wright thing a joke?

[Milo_Bloom]

Are people really trying to sell us on the concept that people are going to hold this against Obama?

Isn't McCain being openly supported by some guy who said Katrina was an act of God against gays or something like that?

Doesn't anyone realize that people have stopped taking the ramblings of pastors and other religious figures seriously YEARS ago?

At the end of the day, what this guy said is quite tame compared to the stuff that came out of the mouths of Pastors who openly supported bush and who are openly supporting McCain.

"This is what you are going to be dealing with in the general election"?!?!?!

Is the right wing, filled with religious nut jobs know for idiot quotes going to try and make an issue out of this???

I WISH!

[meow mix]

1. stupidest attack yet. and i like rev. wright.

he rules

[Milo_Bloom]

3. I didn't know who he was until I googled him today

I still don't see what all the insanity was about.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherina]

2. Just a certain contingency n/t

[southlandshari]

4. Some of us people

still take the ramblings of some pastors and religious figures quite seriously.

Got a problem with that?

:shrug:

[Milo_Bloom]

6. Yeah, I kinda do.

Because they are all over the map.

Do you believe the ones who blame the gays for Katrina?

Or the ones who think everyone but them are going to hell

Or the other ones who think the people mentioned above are going to extra special hell.

[EmilyAnne]

20. What about the ones who believe that its OK to rape a girl IF you do it in the countryside and you

pay her father 47 shekels?

How about the ones who believe that women are to remain silent in the assembly?

How about the ones who believe that if you rape a woman in the city and she doesn't scream (or no one hears her), then she must be stoned to death?

How about the ones who believe that the devil put dinosaur bones in the earth to tempt people into doubting that the Earth was created 6000 years ago?

Take a look in the bible and you will see that it is simply impossible for a preacher to not say completely ignorant shit each and every Sunday.

[southlandshari]

24. Hope you get some help for that problem

Of course I don't believe "the ones" in the instances you describe. Neither do millions of other Americans who manage to balance both Christianity and common sense in the modern age, if you can imagine that.

Many of them are here with me at DU. Do you have a problem with liberal Christians who do not buy into the fantasies you described in your reply to me above?

If not, I suggest you take a bit more care with your language and show your open mind by not stereotyping all Christians as idiotic lemmings in future discussions here.

Or not. Up to you.

[Milo_Bloom]

28. I look at religion as a mental illness

[southlandshari]

Well, hell, I look at self-righteous closed-minded thinking

as...

...self-righteous closed-minded thinking.


But I forgive you for it. My mental illness tells me I should.

:D

[Behind the Aegis]

40. Classy!

:thumbsup:

Well played! :)

[Milo_Bloom]

43. Nothing to forgive, people are what they are.

[boppers]

37. Nancy Reagan. Astrologers. eom.

[polticalpout]

5. Why is wanting to know about a leaders spirtual advisor a bad thing?

Seems to me they could very well have a big impact on so said leader. Thus when one comes out spouting crazy racist shit is it that crazy to question it? I don't think it is. If Hillary's spirtual advisor said Blacks were to blame for 9/11 would you question it?

[David Dunham]

7. The Repubs will hammer Obama with Wright 's tapes in the fall

[Milo_Bloom]

9. I WISH!

Because then it opens up the attack on the wackos who have stood beside McCain.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

26. and many of them have no true religious faith, just pretend

so the hipocrisy is in both parties.

Hillary attacking Obama for his faith and church, while personally thats none of her
business, and she clearly has a problem with things religious.

[leftynyc]

42. I missed Hillary's slamming his religion

Could you give me a link for that? I wouldn't want to repeat something that is bullshit.

[Milo_Bloom]

8. Does anyone take spiritual advisors seriously anymore?

I didn't see any "crazy racist shit", just the normal stuff I see attributed to all types of religious people.

"spiritual advisor" aka "minister of fairy tales"

[polticalpout]

19. He is condemning people because of skin color

exchange the word white with black and tell me he's not a racist.

[Milo_Bloom]

30. He's not a racist.

[polticalpout]

36. Maybe not, but to build the perception he is to the average voter will be very, very easy

and to undue that will be very hard.

God damning America and using WWII examples with 9/11 is fk'ing dumb, it's shock-jock material and harmful.

[Milo_Bloom]

51. It's typical religious wacko stuff

[Bake]

53. That's a foolish thing to say.

A lot of DUers love to bash the Pukes with (insert RW preacher's name here), but when it comes to Obama, no big deal, it's nothing, it'll pass ...

A bit myopic, don't you think? A great big swath of America DOES take religion seriously, and they DO care about what some idiot pastor says. Comparing Wright to some of the ones listed upthread just shows how fringe Wright is, and yet he's Obama's "crazy uncle" spiritual advisor. He's not some televangelist, he's the guy who married BHO and MO, baptized their children, had a 20 year relationship with the candidate, and inspired the title of his book.

Foolish indeed.

Bake

[Milo_Bloom]

54. So close, but you missed the point entirely.

The REASON it is no big deal is because the pukes have already paved that ground, because everytime one of their religious nut jobs goes off and does something looney or says something completely nuts (like they do on an almost weekly basis) it gets easily dismissed.

Why? Because that great big swath of America that takes religion seriously, doesn't take everything their "spiritual leader" says seriously. They listen to the 50% they like and ignore the other 50%

That is what religion is in America and all religious people understand it and the right wing has even enforced it.

So the fact that this guy said some borderline stuff... it is just par for the course when it comes to religious looney tunes.

[Nailzberg]

10. Why's everyone concern about some pastor? I thought he was muslim.

[BeyondGeography]

13. Some people are goofy enough that they'll think he's a Muslim with an anti-American pastor

I'm going to go out on a limb and say these are probably not our voters, though.

[Milo_Bloom]

21. Exactly.

I was going to say some people won't for him because he is black, but we can hardly worry about them.

[MadBadger]

11. McCain actually defended Obama on Hannity and Colmes today about this

Maybe some dems could be as honorable as McCain on this subject.

[ruggerson]

12. Hagee is not McCain's pastor - it's not a defense

Hagee is just a nut who endorsed McCain.

Wright is Obama's spiritual advisor and pastor. He married the two of them and baptized their kids. He named his book from one of the guy's sermons. He himself has called Wright a major influence.

[Milo_Bloom]

14. LOL

I hope they use it... I'd love to see the battle of the religious nut jobs.

[ruggerson]

25. Ok, have at it.

you're right. Yelling "God damn America" on videotape to a standing ovation is not a problem at all.

Gotcha.

[Milo_Bloom]

27. Not in the least, unless Obama himself said it.

[ProSense]

15. Rod Parsley

McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam

Rod Parsley

The phony Wright controversy is backfiring already, and in a crucial state PA:

Leading black clergy group backing Obama

ABC's Ross reported Wright's 9-11 remarks -- but not that Obama disavowed them

Obama will be fine! Hillary's failed leadership skills were exposed in her handling of Ferraro's racist comments.

[stevenleser]

16. Its not a joke, things are coming out about Obama's barber and pool guy too...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5071326

how can you vote for someone that has a barber and pool guy like THAT?

[Tatiana]

17. The (very late) reaction to Wright's comments is fascinating.

There are some people who want Obama to get out there and completely throw Wright under the bus, condemning not only the man's comments, but the man as well. Then there's also a (smaller, I think) contingent that says "RIGHT ON! FIGHT THE POWER!"

And then there's this other group that seems unsure of what to think. The words taken at face value seem completely out of place and out of character for a paster, but yet... there's this nagging sensation that begs the question "Is he right about any of this shit? Could this be true?"

This is a bump in the road, but it can be a useful one. I know Obama said that race is a sensitive and complex issue that can't be dealt with in the context of a 6-9 month campaign. I think he's basically correct on that. But nevertheless, this *is* a moment and a door is opened to further dialogue on this topic. Can America handle a discussion on the issues Wright raised? I'm not sure. But if anyone has the political savvy to facilitate... say a town hall meeting where this issue was part of the discussion, it would be Obama.

Additionally, I think Wright HIMSELF needs to go out there and clean up/clarify his comments. He made them. And he should sincerely apologize.

[2rth2pwr]

39. Great idea, have Obama host a townhall on the HIV infection inflicted

on the Black population by Whitey.

[tishaLA]

47. this is complex because

I feel like Obama has to get out there and say something that defuses the issue without tossing Wright aside entirely. But he can't very well say, "well, whatever he said that you think is bad, I disavow," so he is likely to face questions about specifics until the media finds a new shiny object.

And really, Wright is a very very bad person to have out there to defend himself, if only because he is not one to apologize and, when backed into a corner, he is likely to lash out and make even more incendiary comments, which would harm Obama whether they are correct in some transcendental level or not.

This is a real hot potato.

[NMMNG]

18. They already *are* making an issue of it

Obama's church hates America

Obama's Double Life Exposed: His Racist, Hatemonger Pastor

Is Obama's pastor a liability?


And those are just three of the RW reactions. That's what RW is making of it. "Obama's racist, hatemonger pastor and church hate America." That means Obama hates America, because he's gone to that church for 20 years. After all, his middle name and Muslim father were enough to brand him a Muslim in the eyes of many RWers no matter how many times he professed his Christianity.

[tularetom]

22. After the Ferraro and Hagee things they had to say something

so they could you know, say "they all have nutty suporters, see". My opinion is if this is the best they can come up with Obama has nothing to worry about.

And for those who worry that Obama may be too nice to throw all this back in clinton's (or mccain's) face he managed to effectively get the point across about Ferraro without looking ruffled or sounding nasty.

[americanstranger]

23. Well, despite the non-stop Wrightapalooza that's going on in here...

...it doesn't seem to be generating much heat on the political blogs. A quick look at a nice little cross-section of US and UK blogs, both left and right, comes up with exactly 2 blog posts on the story in the last 8 hours.

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Current+Affairs/Politics/Political+Weblogs

Going back to yesterday's posts, I'm noticing only one more blog post about it, from a Rightie blog.

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Current+Affairs/Politics/Political+Weblogs?search=&type=&searchheadlines=&Page=2

Now, given that ABC, AP and Reuters (I think) have just picked up on the story, it still means that the frenzy here is pretty much ahead of the curve. But as a subject on the blogs, it's right up there with Canada's baseball team making the Olympics.

If Obama comes out tomorrow morning and calls a press conference to clarify the situation and (probably) rebuke Wright's comments, he can get ahead of the story. If he can effectively do that, the story could possibly be old news by Monday.

- as

[polticalpout]

29. He needs to hammer this thing hard, but it's going to come back up...

I can already see the Republican ad's with Wright ranting his crap and an image of Obama and tying them together:

Man with scary voice: How can we trust this man with a war on fundamentalists when his spirtual advisor is in fact one?

This is going to effect a # of voters who were in the middle and undecided, the question is how many will it effect?

[Milo_Bloom]

31. Like I said... I HOPE SO...

Because the response is far too easy with McCain and his religious nut job following him around.

[polticalpout]

35. I think it's easier to tie Obama to Wright verse McCain to his wack job

That and McCain has been around for decades on the national scene and isn't unknown. Obama is a new face and more of an unknown to the average voter. McCain is going to play the You don't really know Obama card and tie Wright into that unknow aspect. Sorry, but McCain would win the battle you're hoping for, IMHO.

[Milo_Bloom]

50. Its not like they would dredge up the clips of McCain

Talking against the right wing religious nuts

And then show him standing next to and receiving the endorsement of one of the biggest nuts.

Its not like that duplicity would ever paint McCain in a poor light.

Nahhhhhhhh

[americanstranger]

33. It's ALL going to come back up.

On the Obama side: Rezko, Wright, Michelle's comments, everything down that stupid shit about not wearing a flag pin.

On the Clinton side: Every Bad Thing Bill Clinton Ever Did, her war vote, her tax records, Ferraro, the dopey-ass 'experience' quote.

I personally think this could be the ultimate test of Obama's ability to rebuke (not renounce, because you don't do that to old friends and many people would see that as political expediency) Wright and at the same time reinforce the lynchpin of his campaign - the message of hope and new politics over old.

You can bet money he and his advisors are up late tonight formulating how they will do that, because it is crucial that he confront this head-on tomorrow - if it cycles through the weekend and the shrieking head shows on Sunday, it may be a knockout blow.

I personally think he'll be able to do it. sure, the Clinton hard-core and Fox News will continue to hammer him on it until they punch themselves out, but if he gets his response into the news cycle tomorrow and can walk the fine line of distancing himself from Wright's more inflammatory rhetoric while still remaining true to an old friend, he'll come out of this looking even stronger to the public who really hasn't caught on to the story just yet.

- as

[LulaMay]

32. Proof positive: sexism OK, racism not. Rev. said Hillary has never been called a name.

Like the N word. How about b*tch, and the long list I too tired to write again.


WHY doesn't the media cover this with outrage. Where is Olberman's 'special comment', Obama's denouncement of him and apology (he has endorsed Obama and was speaking about his candidacy)?

We women aren't humiliated with name calling? EVERY woman knows that is false, and sexist.

[ProSense]

34. She has never been called the "N" word, and he didn't call her b****

So where's the controversy?

There is nothing sexist or racist here.

[americanstranger]

38. (Psst. don't waste your time.)

Lula May's mind is all made up.

- as

[sniffa]

45. Good job twisting that around to fit your persecution complex

I give it a 4.8. :thumbsup:

[BringBigDogBack]

41. No, not a joke. Hillbots will fly off the handle at anything...

They know it's hopeless for them to make their candidate look good or respectable. So they adopt their campaigns tactics.

It's fucking disgusting. And I'm sick of it.

[oasis]

46. The more Obama's spiritual leader, Rev. Wright, gets national exposure

the more Obama's poll numbers will erode.

This spiritual leader sounds like some kind of rabid, radical nutjob.

[jmg257]

48. Unfortunately no, not a joke, & not going away. & NOT going to be wished away either.

even by attempts to ignore it or downplay it.

[Milo_Bloom]

56. It doesn't need to be "wished away"... it is a very positive for Obama

If they use it, because it allows him to use the statements of the loonies supporting McCain against him.

[underpants]

49. The press finally found a not too racist, to them, way of attacking Obama

of course it is horrifically racist but until now they were petrified to say anything about him. No they can do it by proxy.

[Orsino]

52. Yes.

Though it was intended seriously. It's a sad, unfunny joke.

[dchill]

55. The right wing was going to come after Obama anyway...

regardless of Wright or Wrong. See, he's black.