I'm gonna waste my second post on this.

[kentuck]

Obama has the chance to make lemonade out of these lemons! He is scheduled to be on CNN, MSNBC, and also, the Hannity and Colmes show on FOX. He gets the opportunity to put to rest all those emails that were calling him a Muslim. He gets to say on FOX-TV that he is a Christian and that he believes in Jesus. He gets to clarify where he was at when these comments were made by Rev Wright. This could turn out to be a big positive for Barack because it could immunize him from many of these attacks in the future. I am very impressed by his political instincts. :-)

[NoBushSpokenHere]

1. He has ran a great campaign...when he runs the country the same

way it will be once again a great country!

[panader0]

2. Not a waste kentuck. Good idea, making lemonade and all.

[LSparkle]

3. VERY good point ... "No publicity is bad publicity"

This gives him a chance to make a JFK "faith" speech, in a less
contrived context.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. Tell that to Governor Spitzer!

[LSparkle]

17. Yeah, that's true ...

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

22. Now as for Kristen, that's a whole 'nother story! Kinda gives new meaning to. . .

the old saying: diamonds are a girl's best friend.

[theboss]

4. He affirmed his faith in Christ in his email

He knows what he is doing.

[DearAbby]

5. Isnt that a shame that he would have to do this?

Since we are not supposed to apply a religious test for electing our leaders. America has a long way to go.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. He could have chosen a church where the pastor wasn't pals with Farrakhan.

He chose that church because it's the most radical "black" church around. There are many other "black" churches
but he chose that one.

As a young community organizer, he was being asked constantly where he went to church. After a while,
he caught on that he'd better start going to church.

Too bad he didn't catch on a few years ago that that preacher, his mentor, was going to be a live grenade around his neck, and choose a new church.

How could two lawyers with Ivy League degrees be so clueless? :shrug:

[DearAbby]

38. Zzzz

:boring:

[TBF]

16. I so agree..

... but I saw a survey recently that indicated 70%+ of the country do believe in God, so I would expect some of them will be looking at that. An athiest will never win the presidency. Good for Barack to go out there and use the opportunity to let everyone know what he believes.

[Cant trust em]

28. Damn. And my political career is over before it started.

No one would ever elect a pagan like me.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. You don't really think they're out of ammo, do you?

[kentuck]

7. They are never out of ammo, but...

but after a while, if you shoot them between the eyes every time they stick their head up, they finally might start to hesitate before open their big mouths to spew their bullshit.

[DemBones DemBones]

24. I think he's a couple of days late on shooting back, AND

the new pastor of his church is already in trouble, before Wright has even retired:

"In some instances, the church's ministers alluded to Sen. Obama without naming him. During a Trinity sermon observed by a Journal reporter on March 2, the Rev. Otis Moss III, the pastor, preached, "There was a non-Babylonian, a young man who heard the word of God and said, 'I have the audacity to hope!' Now the whole nation says, 'Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!'"

"Because that phrase is so identified with Barack Obama and because he is a member of the congregation, it's possible that it could be interpreted as an implicit endorsement,'' Ms. Aprill says. Mr. Moss didn't return calls seeking comment."

Ms. Aprill's qualifications are in the article and another lawyer knowledgeable about such cases is also quoted. The IRS is looking into more complaints against churches crossing the line in recent years.

The same article includes these paragraphs:

"On Christmas morning, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. compared presidential candidate Barack Obama's impoverished childhood to Jesus Christ's. "Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people," he then trumpeted. "Hillary can never know that."

and

"Trinity's national parent, the United Church of Christ, recently disclosed that it's being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for a speech Sen. Obama gave to 10,000 people at a church conference in June in Hartford, Conn., in which he mentioned his candidacy and parts of his platform, namely health-care reform."

and more but that's four paragraphs, all I can quote.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120511457633523621.html

[DeadElephant_ORG]

8. agreed. His instincts thus far have been unfailing. Don't know where he learned it.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

9. This guy has guts. GObama!

[rodeodance]

20. HE has no choice!!---it is damage control now. brave/ ha ha

[bobthedrummer]

10. I hope you don't mind my attaching this must read active GD thread link, kentuck

this is what he is up against within his own Party-this is what took out my first and second choice Democratic candidates before Super Duper Tuesday, this is why the new leadership we voted into office in the 2006 midterm has ignored our most urgent messages.

"Inconvenient truths about the New Democrats, the Third Way, Democratic Leadership Council, etc." (started 3-7-2008)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2973191

[loveangelc]

11. i agree.

[phantom power]

13. Good start, that he's not just hoping it will go away.

We'll see how he actually does, and more importantly how the meta-media spin goes. Remember, at least as many people will only listen to some second-hand pundit's commentary on his interviews, as actually watch the interviews. And the pundit universe always favors the GOP.

[rodeodance]

18. 20 years of badJUDGMENT ON BO'S PART WILL NOT BLOW AWAY.

[Mags]

23. not in a million years.

[Swamp Rat]

33. You forgot to post using CAPS LOCK.

:D

[latinolatteliberal]

14. I hope you are right

I just hate that he has to grovel before the altars of jingoism and Christianity to do it.

I hope he proves me wrong.

[ginnyinWI]

19. true. I said the same thing yesterday.

He's got a great opportunity to set things straight because the ears that need to hear it will be listening. Maybe now even my mom will believe it.

Meanwhile, the opposition has been standing by watching to see how damaging this is, and whether Obama can pull himself out of this. We'll know when they decide he's recovering when we see them jump into the fray with "statements" in their attempt to pile on and drag him back down.

I also have a lot of confidence in the whole Obama camp's political instincts. Timing is usually spot on.

[goodgd_yall]

21. I don't think anything he says is going to fix the Wright association

For some people. Hannity won't change his mind, so you can bet he's going to keep this issue alive. It's up to the voters to make up their minds on whether they trust Obama or not.

For the record, I have no problem with Obama associating with Wright.

[RiverStone]

25. More good news - far better to vet this stuff now then have it...

...come out in October.

By then, it will be ancient history. Actually, by next week it will be ancient history. :)

[jobycom]

26. Frankly, all I've seen is a media that accepts anything he says as Gospel.

I'm not praising or condemning him, but face it, he could light a bag of kittens on fire and the media would blame Clinton and praise Obama for it. So far all he had done is announce that he had great affection for his preacher, and that he doesn't agree with everything he says. Exactly the same responses Clinton gave to the Ferraro comments. Results? Clinton is shredded by her own party, Obama is praised for his brilliant handling.

Again, this campaign has proven nothing about Obama or Clinton, it has only proven again how powerful the media is. And I'm not saying that to praise or condemn either Clinton or Obama. It's just my observation on the media.

[kentuck]

27. Eventually, the people will decide for themselves...

Sometimes it is what it is and cannot be denied.

[jobycom]

37. Yeah. But that doesn't mean I'll stop analyzing it.

:)

[progressoid]

29. Doesn't matter. People like Hannity will warp what ever he says.

[kentuck]

30. But..

If he is on film with Hannity, that means that Hannity is on film with him. It's a two-way street now.

[GeorgeGist]

31. Yes Sir, Master

I'm a christian just like you.
:freak:
:nuke:

[kentuck]

34. Or...

Please Brer Fox, don't throw me in that briar patch? Politics is about compromise. He can say that all you people are crazy that believe in the Old Man in the Sky and stuff like that. He can say "goddamn America" if he wants to. However, he would lose in a landslide. But he would have your vote...

[rucky]

32. One post ago he was screwed!

Welcome back.

[kentuck]

if you read the other post..?

it said that unless he addressed this issue in an adequate way? I think he has, so far. I'm hopeful he will do an excellent job on TV tonight.

on edit: "How much? Enough to lose the election once it gets to the Convention unless he satisfactorily addresses the issue."

[rucky]

36. I'm just playing.

[cbayer]

35. Obama's blog on Huffpo today was excellent.

You are right, his political instincts are quite impressive. I don't think he has anything to lose by addressing this head on with the parties he holds responsible for making it a weapon to be used against him.

The particular church in question has bigger problems in terms of their tax-exempt status. But that is not really Obama's problem.