MIchael Moore caught lying; Obama campaign "grossly exaggerating" Wright-Bill Clinton link

[hannybal]

After reviewing attempts by Michael Moore and the Obama campaign to suggest a link between Jeremiah -God Damn America- Wright and Bill Clinton, the best political website in the nation--Politifact.com, (see award) has concluded that these figures are "grossly overestimating" such link.

By reading the facts you will learn that while it is true that Wright was one of the 100 religious figures invited to hear Clinton ask for forgiveness, Moore's claim that Wright was brought in for "spiritual counseling" is false.

Following the prayer breakfast with the 100 figures, "President Clinton did begin a long-term program of spiritual counseling with a small group of ministers. Wright was not among them.

link to story: http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/apr/25/CLINTONWRIGHT/

Contact Moore and tell him that he's been caught with his hands in the cookie jar:
[e-mail]

[tekisui]

1. Why was he asking forgiveness from 100 religious figures?

And, why was Wright respected enough to be among them?

[hannybal]

2. Those are legitimate questions; Moore should have said that

instead of making a false statement.

[benddem]

20. My god do you all go on DU daily

and sign up with a different name???? Rev.Wright did not say "God Damn America" he said "God DAMNED America." and if you were so busy with your fingers in your ear you would have heard that. Please don't go away mad...just go away.

[joeybee12]

6. It was during the height of the impeachment farce...

...that's why they were there...Moore is overstating the relationship between Clinton and Wright. If you saw Sicko, you could see some of Moore's tactics on display there, which is shame because the healthcare system in this country is a shame, and needed a decent documentary on it...Moore really blew it with this one.

[movonne]

13. Oh! I guess Michael Moore is dead to you now...Most people that

I know hillary and Obama supporters both loved the movie...and he was one of the first to bring out how awful our medical system is...

[joeybee12]

21. Nope, I always sort of liked him, always felt he was full of shit, though...

...I was very disappointed in that movie...it was just really, really badly done and a topic that serious deserved better. There was no cohesive narrative like there was in Fahrenheit 9-11.

[Why Syzygy]

41. For lying about his oval office blowjob.

[anonymous171]

3. Bill Clinton felt safe enough to be the same room as him.

[BenDavid]

10. I'm in the same room (forum) as you and other obama folk and I

feel safe.

Hey Pastor wright, hold on there a second.:hide:

[movonne]

15. Maybe you shouldn't...

[thevoiceofreason]

4. Welcome newbie. Enjoy your stay.

[blue sky at night]

5. Hey look...

I really would love to get down there with ya...but I got to go out and pick up litter on my walk with the dogs. (You know, important stuff.) I would ask you to go out and look up at the sky, take a deep breath...and get on with with your life. But hey, welcome to DU, even if you are a troll.

[Adelante]

7. Welcome to DU, hannybal

Enjoy your visit :hi:

[Quixote1818]

8. They were photographed together at that Dinner

[hannybal]

14. nobody is denying that

Even the article says it. This is about Moore's lie about claiming "spiritual counseling" took place.

[Tribetime]

9. Rise Obama Rise

[azmouse]

11. mmmm.... cookies

[Kajsa]

12. Uh-huh---

-tell me all about it.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/photograph-of-bill-clinton-and-rev-wright-surfaces/

[bowens43]

16. Oh look ! Another liar for hillary!!

Crawl back in your hole liar.

[MichiganVote]

17. 100 religious figures....mmm....and to think Bill was only counting on 92 virgins

[GoesTo11]

18. Pot, meet Kettle.

The whole Wright thing is one giant exaggeration. For HRC supporters to whine about it is ridiculous.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. Who gives shit. Let's talk about Hillary's creepy prayer cult, shall we?

http://thecurrent.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/clinton-fellowship.php

[cascadiance]

22. Or how Bill praised the racist Daughters of the Confederacy on three occasions!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

24. How about that whites-only golf course he use to play on in AR?

And the time he interrupted his campaign in '92, to fly home to sign the execution warrant of a mentally damaged black man?

[hannybal]

26. That National Prayer Breakfast is attended by Democrats and Republicans alike

There's nothing kooky about Clinton attending the National Prayer Breakfast:

It's so weak that it hasn't been used against Clinton, as you may have noted:

In 2006, the event was co-chaired by Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democratic Senator Mark Pryor. Speakers included King Abdullah II of Jordan and musician Bono.<9> In 2007, Members of Congress Emanuel Cleaver, II, (D. Missouri) and Jo Ann Davis (R. Virginia) co-chaired the National Prayer Breakfast. Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, gave the message. In 2008, Sen. Ken Salazar (D. Colorado), and Sen. Mike Enzi (R. Wyoming), co-chaired the event. Ward Brehm, who chairs the United States African Development Foundation, delivered the keynote speech.<10>

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Family_%28Christian_political_organization%29&oldid=205635890

[mrreowwr_kittty]

27. Um, it's more than a prayer breakfast.

She's been an active member of the inner circle for many years.

And don't hand me that "it's so weak it hasn't been used" bullshit, freeper. There is no correlation between the importance of a story and the willingness of the MSM to report on it. None.

Now go back and give a full report to JimRob.

[hannybal]

29. The media is more than willing to unearth anything against the Clintons

It has for the past 16 years. Why would they bury this one? Because there's nothing in it.

[hannybal]

31. Show me links to articles proving her "active' role in The Fellowship

Of course, other than the prayer group attended by both Democrats and Republicans in which they (gasp!) pray.
By the way, Obama supporter and ex-Nader fan Barbara Ehrenreich was chastised by the media critic Daily Howler for only mentioning names of Republicans that attended her prayer group.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

35. I'm guessing you've already seen the links, Freeper. nt

[flpoljunkie]

23. Link enough with Bill Clinton. You are quibbling here over very little.

[Buzz Clik]

25. Big deal. Try putting that toothpaste back in the tube, Ace.

[anonymous171]

28. While everyone plays "gotcha" Hillary is lying her ass off about the gas tax.

[Forkboy]

30. Back so soon?

[nichomachus]

32. Why did you omit this line

So Obama is right that Rev. Wright was invited to the White House during a Clinton crisis.

Please provide a link to where Obama or any official in his campaign said that Wright provided spiritual counseling to Billy. I can't find one.

The article mentions "Obama advocates," but that doesn't not imply official campaign personnel. What people post on blog sites is not a part of the campaign.


Every time a Clinton supporter tells a lie, Hillary loses a superdelegate.

[hannybal]

36. I never said that the Obama campaign said he was a spiritual advisor

I said that Moore said it. And nobody is disputing that Wright was invited to the White House.

[Usrename]

33. What the hell are you talking about?

That's exactly what MM said!

Holy crap, that's a lame accusation!

[stillcool]

34. I don't know what Michael Moore said...

Senator Hillary Clinton, in the thick of campaigning for President, compared, in battleground Pennsylvania, Reverend Wright's remarks to those Don Imus made on the Rutgers women's basketball team. From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (link via ABC's Political Punch):

''You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (who was fired from his radio and television shows after making racially insensitive remarks), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that,' Clinton said. 'I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving.'''


http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/media_people/clinton_compares_reverend_wright_to_don_imus_80750.asp






Speaking of context, the above picture shows First Lady Hillary Clinton sitting with Reverend Jeremiah Wright on September 11, 1998 at the White House. They are watching President Bill Clinton confess his sins to a group of clerics gathered two days after the Ken Starr report was released. The picture is from the Associated Press
-----------------------------------------------------

Prayer Breakfast Sways Ministers

By Hanna Rosin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 12, 1998; Page A10

With tearing eyes and a trembling voice, President Clinton succeeded yesterday in convincing a room full of religious leaders that he was genuinely sorry about his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky and embarrassed about the way he handled it. One after another, ministers, rabbis and imams left the White House prayer breakfast saying they were moved by the sight of the most powerful man in the world humbling himself so thoroughly before them.

Dozens of those who spoke afterward said they were confident that the speech marked a turning point on Clinton's road to personal salvation. Even many who had once been reluctant to forgive the president set aside any concerns they had about being used to provide moral cover and conveyed their approval.

The Rev. T.D. Jakes, a popular Dallas preacher, said he was not a Clinton supporter but he saw the president's speech as a powerful narrative of redemption. "Americans can relate to his human frailty and are looking to see if it's possible to restore fallen people," said Jakes. "What message would we send to the American people if we tell them it's impossible to change? That would be far more devastating."

Many of the 106 religious leaders in attendance said they were won over by the president's deference to religious touchstones, by his repeated references to the fact that he had "sinned," that he had reached "rock bottom," that he had a "broken spirit." Just as important, he named all those he had wronged – his staff, his family and especially Monica Lewinsky – a crucial step, many of them said, on the road to healing.

He was conversant with a diversity of religions, allowing representatives of many faiths to hear echoes of their own traditions in his words. Many African American ministers picked up hints of Psalm 51, an abject plea by a sinner for moral restoration that Clinton had been studying the long night before. "I know my transgressions," reads the verse, a guiding text in many African American churches, "and my sin is ever before me."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/ministers091298.htm


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/clintontext091198.htm

Clinton's Prayer Breakfast Speech

Associated Press
Friday, September 11, 1998

Official White House text of President Clinton's address to religious leaders at the White House prayer breakfast.

Streaming RealAudioRealAudio Excerpt From Clinton's Speech: "I agree with those who have said that in my first statement after I testified I was not contrite enough...."
---------------------------------------------------

Harold Ickes Confirms That Wright Is Key Topic In Discussions With Super-Delegates
By Greg Sargent - April 1, 2008, 3:25PM
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/ickes_confirms_hes_been_pushin.php

In an interview with me this morning, senior Hillary adviser Harold Ickes confirmed that Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a key topic in his discussions with uncommitted super-delegates over whether Obama is electable in a general election.

The comments from Ickes, who is Hillary's chief delegate hunter, are to my knowledge the first on-the-record confirmation that the Wright controversy is a central subject in conversations between the Hillary campaign and the super-delegates her advisers are trying to win over to Hillary's side.

In the wide-ranging interview, Ickes also:

* Said that it was possible that Hillary forces on the convention credentials committee could bring a so-called "minority report" to a full convention vote, though he also said that this is something Hillary doesn't want to happen

* Confirmed that the Hillary campaign could still try to woo super-dels even if she lost the popular vote, with Michigan and Florida counted

* Said that there was no risk of Hillary's efforts "tearing the party apart," described the current campaign as "genteel," and dismissed those worrying about the damage the campaign could do to the party as "hand-wringers"

[Hepburn]

37. Another fucking troll...

DDSS...:eyes:

[Prophet 451]

38. Yes, Wright said "God Damn America"!

SO FUCKING WHAT?

One definition of nationalism is the pressure to be insanely proud of your country simply for existing. "Aren't you proud to be an American?" / "I dunno, I didn't have much to do with it, my parents fucked here" (the late great Bill Hicks). The USA exists, big freakin' whoop. None of the people alive today fought the War of Independence or framed the Bill of Rights or fought in the Civil War. Those were reasons to be proud of your country, being proud of it just because it happened to host your birth isn't.

Here (England), what Wright said or what Michelle Obama said (when she said she'd never really been proud of the country before) wouldn't have raised a damn eyebrow. You ever want to know why the rest of the world gets so irritated with Americans, shit like this is a big part of the reasons. "You MUST be incredibly proud of America" / "Why?" / "Because it exists!".

Grow the fuck up. You don't get to be proud of being the greatest nation on earth until you start fucking acting like it again.

[Cheap_Trick]

39. Remember, MM supports Obama

So cue up the attacks on MM by the right wing of the Democratic party. Utterly disgusting.

[eridani]

40. 100 ministers. Say, how many ministers do you suppose there are in the whole country?

Quite a bit more than 100? Being one of 100 qualifies you as a Clinton confidant of sorts in that case. There were hundreds of thousands of others they might have invited instead.

[hokies4ever]

42. Parsing words

but Michael Moore's principle is correct. The question is how do you define 'spiritual counseling'. I don't see what's wrong with defining it as Rev. Wright going to the White House for Bill Clinton's 'Come to Jesus' moment. If he wasn't there for spiritual counseling, then what was he there for?

[hokies4ever]

43. Also, let's not forget

the true purpose of that Wright-Clinton photograph being circulated. Obama is a very deft counterattacker as a politician. That photo of Bill and Wright was obviously payback for the Somali garb photo. The Obama camp wasn't claiming that Bill Clinton was good friends with Wright, they were just pointing out the Monica Lewinsky moment, and did it in a very subtle and effective way. Notice how this article is analyzing the closeness of Bill Clinton's and Rev. Wright's relationship. Like we really need an investigation to know that it's a tangential relationship. This is Obama's camp tossing the blue dress in the Clinton campaigns face after they tried to smear him as a Muslim.