Obama refuses to denounce minister who wrote sermon titled: "Why America May Go to Hell"

[EffieBlack]

Is this another example of Obama's association with people who hate America?

Well, if it is, it will be difficult for anyone to use this against him . . .

Since Hillary Clinton has also refused to denounce this same minister - in fact, she has PRAISED him.

And so has John McCain.

And so have most other Americans.

"Why America May Go to Hell" was the theme of the sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King was working on just before he died. A sermon he planned to give the following Sunday, April 7th.

Hmmmm.

[Faygo Kid]

1. Nicely done, and well posted.

Sean Hannity may not approve, but MLK was no slouch in the agitation department. To quote another great black leader, "Agitate, agitate, agitate."

[EffieBlack]

6. Joseph Lowery said today that many revisionists are trying to turn Dr. King into a

"glorified socialworker." He wasn't anything close to that, Dr. Lowery said. Dr. King was a "revolutionary."

But today, sadly, people have so homogenized his message and distorted who he was and what he did and want to pretend that he was beloved by all. He wasn't. He was attacked and vilified and threatened - not just by teeth baring racists, but by the "establishment," so-called liberals, and all manner of other mainstream folks.

[Faygo Kid]

13. The Right turns him into a harmless plaster saint to be dusted off for their purposes.

He was one tough dude. That part is so sanitized as to render him virtually unrecognizable, and it pisses me off.

[krkaufman]

49. So young.

How f****n' sad. God, that picture makes me want to cry.

[Texas Hill Country]

2. 40 years ago we had a different America, and dont compare MLK to Wright.

[EffieBlack]

3. I hit a nerve, eh?

Funny - I didn't mention anything about Wright. YOU brought him up.

[GarbagemanLB]

4. Apparently. Hillary supporters are still disappointed Wright HELPED Obama..

[DemVet]

5. Uh huh....wait until the RW attack machine spins it...

...THEIR way in September. If Barry is the Nominee, that is.

[Texas Hill Country]

7. that is def true.

[EffieBlack]

8. Better not nominate the black guy with the scary friends or else the white folks will pick on him!

Better pick the white lady, just to be safe.

[Texas Hill Country]

12. it's not about race. it is about worldview and the friends you keep.

[DemVet]

18. Or, in this case, the "mentors" you keep.

[FredScuttle]

41. Hillary was a fucking Goldwater Girl

nice choice of mentor, that

[Lucky 13]

20. And Hill's now friends with Scaife and Fox News.

I'd rather hang out with Rev. Wright any day of the week over those wanks.

[Jed Dilligan]

33. So it is about race for you.

"Worldview"? Nice code, Tex.

[ecdab]

38. SO Hillary picks Mark Penn - i..e Mr. Blackwater, Mr. Freetrade

with Colombia, Mr. I help Union Busters - to run her campaign and you want to make a big deal about Obama hanging out with a black preacher that a bit over the top from time to time?

Can you explain what logic you are using to jump down Obama's shirt here. If it's really about world views and the friends you keep, surely Hillary is your 2nd choice in this race. But it's not about world views or the friend you keep to you, is it?

And Mark Penn is just one of very many questionable friends the Hillary keeps.

[truedelphi]

40. Funny thing - on BIll Maher last night they started quoting King

King said many things that were as "unpalatable" as Wright.

Talked about the country being racist. Talked about how much he hated the government.

But we are toning down the message - Charlie Rose had CIA puppet Tom Brokaw on last night to explain Martin Luther King Jr to all of us white folk.

[DemVet]

14. No, pick the white lady because she is the better candidate.

[Texas Hill Country]

17. bingo

[krkaufman]

50. When did Barbara Boxer throw her hat in the ring?

'cause you surely ain't talkin' about Sen. Clinton.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

51. If she was the better candidate she would currently be the frontrunner, not trying to catch up n/t

[movonne]

10. And there is nothing that they will go after on hillary...the RW hate

hillary clinton...I think they dislike her more than bill...

[Texas Hill Country]

15. HAHAH, they have been going full bore on her for 20 years and she is still there! Obama hasnt even

faced an actual contentious election... he has NO CLUE what he is in for.

[movonne]

22. I think he well knows what he is in for ... and I think he is well prepared

for it....I just don't want to go all through the clintons crap for 8 more years....

[Duder]

39. Let 'em spin. Who is the real patriot?

'In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines. In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)

The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation.. . .

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?

After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of America's biggest cities.

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, who has been in the news for comments he made over the last three decades.'

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0404wrightapr03,0,92000.story

[Texas Hill Country]

9. it is a blatant allusion to that situation, and Wright is in now way comparable to MLK.

[The Night Owl]

28. Don't lie. You alluded to Pastor Wright when you asked...

Is this another example of Obama's association with people who hate America?

[Lucky 13]

16. Yeah. America was different.

And we've progressed quite a bit. Enough that our next president is going to be a black man.

But that doesn't mean it's perfect and there's plenty backup for the argument that America is going to hell. That evidence doesn't change based on who's presenting it.

[NOLALady]

21. MLK is no Wright.

MLK would not have just preached a sermon about the country's problems.

MLK would have called tens of thousands to march on Washington in protest.

[David__77]

23. So was King right or wrong then?

I say he was right. I say Wright's right too. There are many sins to atone for starting now.

[David__77]

25. King was leftist, anti-capitalist, and true progressive.

He outright condemned imperialism, capitalism, the criminal and immoral war against Vietnam, and the genocide against Black America. Clearly, Wright has a much greater claim to that legacy than do certain political figures.

[Lucky 13]

11. Thank you for this post.

Is the speech available anywhere?

[Hutzpa]

19. Your title is misleading n/t

[Lerkfish]

32. I think intentionally so.

don't you get it?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

34. How so?

[Pacifist Patriot]

43. I do believe that would be the point.

Misleading perhaps, but factually correct. And misleading if you are predisposed to consider the subject matter in a particular light.

This post and Occam's are excellent examples of a lack of openness and critical thinking, but more importantly expose biases many may not have known they had. This is an effective use of the on-line forum format.

[The Night Owl]

24. Warning America that it may go to Hell is not the same as telling it to go to Hell. Nice try. {EOM}

[David__77]

26. Oh please... you're engaging in an Orwellian exercise.

That's very Newspeaky of you, but it's clearly the same. King repeatedly condemned America's crimes and condemned capitalism and imperialism in general.

[The Night Owl]

29. One can condemn the crimes of a nation without wishing for that nation to go to Hell. {EOM}

[EffieBlack]

35. I'll bet not one of you who is lecturing me about the difference

Between what Dr. King said (and meant) and what Rev. Wright said haven't read or heard one word of the sermon you have the nerve to try to characterize and don't have the first idea of what he would have said.

Yet you wrap yourself in fake outrage, feign indignation and arrogantly and sanctimoniously deign to defend the honor of your sanitized charicature of Dr. King against the likes of your overblown distorted charicature of Rev. Wright and Sen. Obama, both of whom have probably done infinitely more to carry on Dr. King's message and mission than you have ever bothered or could ever hope to do.

Priceless.

[The Night Owl]

48. Feel free to point out any writing or statement by MLK which damns America to Hell. {EOM}

[KamaAina]

27. Actually John McCain DID denounce this minister

or at least disrespect him.

While in the House, McClown voted AGAINST making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a Federal holiday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/01/mccains-memphis-visit-ra_n_94531.html

In 1983, McCain voted against passing a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of King. Four years later, then-Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday, saying it had been established through an illegal executive order by his Democratic predecessor.

McCain said he thought Mecham was correct in his decision.

This could get interesting, especially if, as seems likely enough, McClown finds himself running against an opponent who is African American.

[MethuenProgressive]

30. Comparing Pastor Wright to Dr King on the anniversary of King's assasination...

... for mere 'gotcha' points on an Internet board?
I would hope that Dr King meant something more to you than that.
God bless, and Peace.

[David__77]

31. It's a compliment to both men.

They come from the same tradition of Christian progressive struggle. In King's time, he was widely condemned as a "communist" or "agitator," just as Wright is being slurred now. King's legacy should not be rendered impotent by trying to pretend that he was a common liberal. No such thing. He was a revolutionary in the true sense of the word.

[Pacifist Patriot]

47. His memory has been sanitized and romanticized which is a shame.

He was by no means universally admired, not even close to the degree of admiration for him we see today. I fear we risk repeating mistakes if we fail to pass on the full extent of his history and limit his career to a stint in the Birmingham jail, a march across the Pettus bridge, stirring oratory at the Lincoln Memorial and an assassins's bullet in Memphis. He was bullied, badgered, spied on, etc. He was considered un-American and indeed a danger to the American way of life. What a shame we continue to heap that upon our prophets still today and seem to have learned nothing in this regard.

[bhikkhu]

36. K&R.

[AllentownJake]

37. Sanitizing

They do the same thing with Jesus. Make him into this nice guy who loves kids and has long flowing locks. All he wants you to do is not kill babies in the womb and don't let the gays marry.

Its sad if you read the bible and see how much the man had to say on helping the poor...but that part is glossed over and we focus on Leviticus...

[maximusveritas]

42. If Wright wrote a speech with that title, that would be headline news

When I saw your title I got worried.

[Mezzo]

44. stupid stupid bait and switch. nt

[kwenu]

45. And yet he will still be the Democratic nominee.

[NashVegas]

46. When Was Obama Asked to Denouce This Minister, and By Whom?

[L0oniX]

52. DING DING DING