Obama: "From here on, I do not expect those views to be attributed to me."

[seafan]

Obama says he's 'outraged' with pastor's comments

(CNN) — In his harshest criticism yet of his former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama said he was “outraged” by Wright’s comments at the National Press Club Monday, and “saddened by the spectacle.”

“I have been a member of Trinity Church since 1992. I have known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years,” he said at a Winston-Salem, North Carolina press conference Tuesday. “The person I saw yesterday is not the person I met 20 years ago.”

Obama said he was outraged by Wright’s remarks that seemed to suggest the U.S. government might be responsible for the spread of AIDS in the black community, and his equation of some American wartime efforts with terrorism. And he seemed to signal a complete break with his former minister.

“What particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing,” said Obama, who added that Wright had shown “little regard for me” and seemed more concerned with “taking center stage.”

“It was antithetical to our campaign, it was antithetical to what we’re about,” he said. “I cannot prevent him from making these remarks” but “when I say I find these comments appalling I mean it. It contradicts what I’m about and who I am… it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country.”

In a break with previous comments, Obama focused his criticism on Wright the man, and not simply his remarks. “I gave him the benefit of the doubt before my speech in Philadelphia” where he addressed the subject of race. But “what we saw yesterday from Rev. Wright was a resurfacing and I believe an exploitation of these old divisions.”

He said he had not spoken with Wright since the minister’s Monday speech, though he would not rule out a conversation with him in the future. And he defended his membership in Wright’s congregation. “I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency.”

.....

"The Republican Party in North Carolina is running Wright ads. They are using Reverend Wright as an assault weapon against Barack Obama." ----Elizabeth Edwards in an interview with Norah O'Donnell on MSNBC at 3:05 pm EDT, April 29, 2008

[Coexist]

1. .

[msallied]

16. I would like to coin this as a "Wrighteous" Smackdown

If it hasn't been coined already. lol

[ourbluenation]

2. I frigging love Eliz Edwards. Thx for posting.

[monmouth]

3. My respect for Mrs. Edwards just catapulted. Thank you Mrs. E...n/t

[fed_up_mother]

4. Saw the interview. She is such a class act.

I wish her the very best.

[MADem]

5. This is a mess. I'm guessing Rev. Wright is going to fire one back across the bow,

especially after the "Wright is a charicature, this is SAD" remarks by Obama.

It's a no-win. The candidate was the spiritual acolyte of this guy for TWENTY YEARS. He married the Obamas, baptized their KIDS.

Eh....I don't see how this gets tamped down.

[haymakeragain]

8. You hope.

Most of us are hoping for a more perfect union. Not you though.

[MADem]

9. Everytime you insult me, I feel YOUR pain.

What, no "Hillaryous" this time around? No snarky insult? No personal mischaracterization? Losing your touch, eh?

I think, and I've said previously, that Clinton could rehabilitate Obama as her VP.

He's lost "the lead" though. He doesn't have the gravitas and it will take time to shake off this Wright stuff.

Of course, bridges have been burned. Who knows what will happen?

But again, to be very clear: Everytime you insult me, I really do FEEL YOUR pain.

[livingmadness]

35. Give me a f*cken break

and spare us the sanctimony while you're at it. It doesn't make you clever, it just makes you an ass. He's lost the lead - on what do you base this on, POLLS???? Really, I'm awaiting your evidence with eager anticipation. When you preen over your '20 years' argument, you miss the obvious flaw. That is not new information. Voters have known that for 6 weeks+, so pray tell, how that particular 'difficulty' is going to have more impact now?

Here's when I'll believe he has lost "the lead". When neo-cons aren't running to every media agency they can to tout for their arch-enemy Hillary Clinton. Unless you think they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts (spew). What does that tell us about who they are most afraid of facing in the GE?? Next, when Hillary out paces Obama's super-delegate get. And finally, when she pulls off a convincing win in Indiana (double-digits this time) and squeaks one out in NC. Until these events happen (though I'm happy for you to provide any other evidence you have up your sleeve), then we'll all just have to wait and see. And your premature pronouncements remain exactly what they are. Hot air. Hot smelly air.

[MADem]

37. I'm not the one tossing the insults, you are.

Ahhh, now I'm an unclever ASS who makes premature pronouncements that are "hot smelly air."


Wow, how crushing.

When you can't discuss a matter on the merits, and have to resort to that kind of stuff to make your point, well, I really do feel your pain. You're advertising it with your use of lame invective.

You don't get to make the rules as to what sort of win she needs to pull off. See, it's not UP to you. And it isn't about "proof" either. It's all about momentum, and she has it, and he doesn't.

Golly gee, I managed to say that without calling you an ass or getting snarky about your cleverness. Or even making a "fart" allusion.

It's not that hard, you should try it sometime. Your ideas might get a better reception.

[livingmadness]

39. Stop grizzling about receiving what you're so eager to dish out

and try taking a little responsibility. I did engage in the substance in your claims. What have you provided .......................... your heart-felt conviction about momentum - yes your effort to distort the lead you proclaimed into momentum is not missed. And as for your claim that you're not snarky, read your post again. And the ones before it. The hipocrisy is astounding. So again I ask, on what basis do you claim she has the lead. You made the call, now substantiate it. One thing. Anything.

[MADem]

40. There you go again, telling me what you want me to think and feel.

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You can try to characterize my remarks to suit your rather unique worldview, but your characterizations don't stand up under scrutiny. And then, for you to take offense after you direct personal insults at me, well, that's hypocrisy...my friend.

I answered your question. Momentum.

Momentum is EVERYTHING.

[livingmadness]

41. Momentum is not 'the lead'

so once again you come up with nothing to substantiate your original claim. Speaks for itself.

[MADem]

43. Yes, it is.

Right now, it's a dead heat, "the math" based on hopes and dreams notwithstanding.

Momentum is everything. She has it. He doesn't.

:hi:

[JoFerret]

45. Ooo Now that's clever

I am going to hurt you but you need to feel guilty about that because you were going to do it too..

Blabanation.

[2rth2pwr]

26. ...

[DemExpat]

50. LOLOL....love the cartoons there.

:D

DemEx

[TankLV]

53. OUCH! Great cartoon!!!

HA!

and the koolaid drinkers STILL won't see it...

[anigbrowl]

10. So now the kids are going to sprout horns?

But hey, keep trying.

[MADem]

12. It's judgment. A long association with a guy he now rejects. NT

[Leopolds Ghost]

22. Is at why Hillary cant bring herself to divorce cheating Bill?

From what I hear she was quite the swinger herself in Arkansas... another one of those facts that are being sat on until the general BTW.

[MADem]

34. Oh, the old "from what I hear" bullshit. You probably hear your toilet running, and not much else.

You have to do better than Leopold's Ghost Rumor Control. Who do you hear that from, your beloved friends at "Lee Atwater Fearmongering and Smears, Inc?" Newsmax? Drudge? You hang around with all the best people, it would seem. You should talk to David Brock about your little problem, he overcame his, but being Blinded By the Right can be a permanent condition if you get too bitter about it!

How's that politics of hope working for ya? You're so eager to see the Clinton family busted up, there!

Sure is interesting, that!

[scheming daemons]

11. Hillary stayed with a cheating husband for 30 years.... relationships are complicated....

...

[MADem]

13. He admitted he was wrong and apologized. Rev. Wright hasn't DONE that, has he?

If Bill Clinton stood up and praised his behavior and got annoyed with the Senator for being irritated, he'd be as much of a jerk as Jeremiah is being.

But he didn't do that, did he?

And Obama used that church, and its TEN thousand strong congregation, as a political base. It wasn't a private relationship, it was a very PUBLIC one. So your analogy kinda, well, sucks.

[MNDemNY]

14. Obama and wright were THAT close? gadz!

[Raejeanowl]

24. It's Just Beginning

Obama is done. Unelectable. Finished.

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton couldn't choose their brothers. Obama chose his church and his pastor for himself and his family. And held him close.

He didn't suddenly discover after 20 years, courtesy of the MSM, that Wright is a radical, and Wright didn't suddenly go off his rocker and become one. So much for the "I wasn't there for those inflammatory sermons" excuses (I listened but I refused to inhale the ideologies?).

Wright didn't need to be inveigled by Clinton or the RW into appearing in public and spouting more of the garbage we saw in those "sound bytes," so let's everyone drop the silly conspiracy theories and degrees-of-separation-from-Clinton games. This is Wright's retirement tour and his ego on display, emboldened by how well Obama had been doing across America regardless of the association. DU at large was extolling how wonderful the man was and how well he reflected on Obama just a couple of days ago. Now, he's poison, or at minimum, the connection that works both ways is once again being disavowed as nothing. Insignificant. Just a flesh wound.

Had the Wright controversy surfaced in a complete vacuum, it would have been a little easier to dismiss. Put it in the context of contentious remarks his wife has made and prejudicial comments Obama himself has made about his (white) birth family, and a veiled pattern is suggested. The logical presumptions are that Obama privately subscribes to this kind of divisive thinking, that it certainly resonated within him deeply enough to stay with that church, and that he will take a racially vengeful, separatist kind of hidden agenda to the White House. One that, at minimum, plays havoc with anyone's reasonable expectation that he is capable of being a great force for racial unity.

The belated "denouncement" just illustrates how insincere he has been about the matter all along, and how willing he is to continue in that vein. However, when Obama says he resents Wright for pointing out the inconvenient truth-that he only criticized/rejected the originally questioned Wright sermon excerpts because of political expediency-you can believe him.

[psychmommy]

29. he shouldn't have to denounce him.

i have been at the same church all of my life. it is my home church. i grew up there. my great-grandfather helped to build the original church and my grandfather helped build the edifice we are in today. we have had quite a few preachers in our pulpit. some i dearly loved and some i had to grit my teeth to deal with. i am not leaving that church because i disagree with the pastor. my daughter is being raised in that church, i hope my grandkids one day go there. it is part of me and part of my history. blacks don't just get up and leave their church easily. it is more than just a congregation it is a social support system, my social support system. they are my church family. there were not nice rumors about the pastor who baptized me-i don't care that doesn't lessen him in my eyes. i am actually disappointed that he he has denounced him. obama did what he had to do-dr wright did what he had to do. rw fundies were threatening him he had to cancel speaking engagements because they threatened to harm the church where he was to speak. he is a preacher and it is his job to preach the good news-he was coming out saying i am not hiding-i am going to continue to preach God's word.

[aquart]

47. You didn't choose your church. Obama did.

He was raised by his white grandparents. It was not their church, whatever that might be. This was not a legacy, it was a deliberate, conscious choice. This was the man he CHOSE to baptize his children. And it was Wright himself that made the impression that Obama so loved that he joined this church.

It is nothing like your experience.

[psychmommy]

51. the point is i choose to stay.

20 years is a long time in church with the same people they are your church family. you missed my point-the preacher is one part of the church. in a church that size there probably at least 5 other
ministers. many different ministries and organizations. for aa's church is more than sitting in the pew on sunday. over a lifetime you may have different head ministers but, the same core congregation. that were there when your kids were born. that were there when you went through your good times and bad. your social support system-you don't walk away from that easily. that is why i choose to stay and probably why he chooses to stay.

[TankLV]

55. Wow - STILL trying to defend that ASSHOLE preacher!!!

after all that has been said up to TODAY!!!

you don't get it, and never will...

MY church wouldn't have invited that kind of ASSHOLE to preach in the FIRST place...

[psychmommy]

57. you don't get it and never will

i was never the one to pick any of our ministers. i didn't like or agree with everything all of them said but, i wouldn't leave because of the disagreement. hollering and calling a-holes doesn't change the differences in churches. you can refuse to acknowledge the importance of the black church as a whole in the lives of aa's. the minister being one facet of the church. the church reps the body of Christ. each appendage is important. God is no respecter of persons. no preacher is above the congregation, he/she is part of the body.

[Cha]

33. Bullshit..you wish this little fucking wedge

issue would get the Bosnian Sniper Liar inserted into our white house but it ain't gonna happen.

[aquarius dawning]

38. LOL. hehehehehe

hehehehe

[crankychatter]

44. "it is done" thank you for that pompous pronouncement

the facts belie your belief

but don't let that stop you...

dream on

Clinton is toast and if by some slim chance she isn't, McCain is president of the United States

the WAR PROFITEER OWNED MEDIA can be your MASTER if you like

YOU cheered them on and didn't lift a finger to stop it

YOU are culpable

The rest of us will vote our minds

[Maine-ah]

32. it sucks. I agree.

HRC supporters have been claiming he should do exactly what he did, and then when he does it's (to quote you) "The candidate was the spiritual acolyte of this guy for TWENTY YEARS. He married the Obamas, baptized their KIDS."

damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[MADem]

36. Well, I have this feeling that he sniffed a run for the presidency in the air when he gave that

convention speech. He just didn't plan. He didn't, for whatever reason, think he'd be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as, say, an Eagleton (who was hounded out of the VP slot for being treated for mental illness).

That's a blind spot. Or hubris. Something.

Right after that convention speech is when he should have made his move. He should have moved to a house VERY near a more mainstream, dull, liturgical, predominantly black church, and used that move as an excuse to snip the cord with TUCC. "Yeah, I know, Jeremiah, but they've got a swell day care and Sunday school, and it's right up the street, we can walk to church on Sunday--nothing personal, my man, really, truly....we just can't be driving a half hour or forty five minutes to church...we'll come by as guest congregants every so often..."

And when he bought that house, far, far, away, he should have eschewed the boneheaded help of a guy whose name was in the paper on the front page every other day as Antonin "Gonna Be Indicted Any Damn Day, Now" Rezko.

He wouldn't have been so damned, if he did what anyone taking a cold hard look at their life and perceived weaknesses would have done early on to inoculate themselves. He didn't do it, for whatever reason.

All I can say is, WTF is wrong with his buddy Axlerod the Genius? There's enough hubris to go around--it's not like he didn't know this was out there. Why didn't he ease the guy off TUCC? Did he think selling Patrick to MA made him a wizard who can do no wrong, or something? FWIW, the Buyer's Remorse on THAT bargain is pretty massive--there's a lot of "this fool wasn't vetted--EITHER" here, which is part of the reason that Clinton won this state. Anyone paying attention sees that Axlerod marketed Patrick the way he's marketing Obama--Hope, Change, BELIEVE, a whole lotta generalities, a boatload of feel good bullshit and inspiration, and few specifics. What did we get for that? A Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time player in the corner office. UNIMPRESSIVE in the extreme. And I bought the bullshit the first time and voted for the guy. Worked for his campaign, too. Unless he can do a little delivering and get to some kind of accord with DiMasi, I ain't getting fooled again.

The campaign similarities are freaky, really. General bullshit, waffly, hard-to-pin-down ideas, a lot of drama with the rock star crap, and damn few specifics. We're paying for it now. I don't particularly want to pay for it on a national level.

I agree with Bob Herbert. This is PERSONAL. Wright is angry at being "brushed off," so he's gonna screw Obama six ways to Sunday. He's the Sound Bite Gift That Keeps On Giving. But as far as Obama is concerned, he could have avoided this, with a little advance planning.

[grannylib]

6. I think that was one of the most valuable lines of the entire presser...

it draws a clear line in the sand, and I hope the media will WAKE THE FUCK UP and start paying attention to issues rather than manufactured distractions such as this shit.
Conversely, if the MSM wants to focus on this crap, let's see them spend equal time on the views of Rev. Hagee, whose endorsement McSame-Old, Same Older actively sought, or David Coe, whose cultish Reich-Wing Bible Study group includes Senator Clinton, along with some rabid Reich-Wing-Nuts.

[chill_wind]

15. Also-- “I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency.”

Great bottom line. HRC/John McCain best hope there are no more unvetted people left hiding around in their woodwork, either, as time goes on.

[MNDemNY]

18. He did, he just made a poor "judgment" call. Thought it would slip by...not so much.

And he is running on "Judgment"??:shrug: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[chill_wind]

19. I can live with this case of his "judgement." What I can't live with is the judgement

of the candidate who supported the BushCO on the IRW. And having gotten that taste for blood, calls for NUCLEAR OBLITERATION of another 71 milion of humankind.

Talk to us about "judgement".

[MNDemNY]

23. I am not defending her judgment.

[David__77]

7. I like Wright and agree with him, but my support for Obama is solid.

Obama, like all others, is a politician, and has to employ strategy and tactics to win.

[Carni]

20. Don't you mean he'll lie to get nominated? lol

I love this shit...Hillary is a bitch (and a lying one at that) per the Obama supporters, "she'll do ANYTHING to get elected" (GASP!) but by your own admission, when your guy lies, he's just a *politician employing strategy*

That's rich...

If Obama BTW is so great at employing strategy then perhaps he should have cut bait with the Rev Wright a LONGGGGGGGG time ago...maybe he should have addressed this situation -- oh say over six months ago when emails started flying around the net about Wright's rantings and his traveling with Farakahn to visit Khadafi in Libya.

Yeah--that probably would have been a better *tactic and strategy* to employ before we were stuck with this lead balloon as a front runner.

I just hope you guys aren't going to whine too much when McCain is sworn in.

[David__77]

27. My problem with Clinton isn't her "lies."

My problem is her right-wing ideology and promotion of backward tendencies through exploiting certain prejudices. Just because some Obama supporter says this or that, has nothing to do with me. Strategy and tactics reflect ideology. I prefer the ideology reflected by Obama's actions to that reflected by Clinton.

[Carni]

30. Then you must not like Obama's thoughts on...

Letting industry regulate itself?

I just read where he said that yesterday...sounds sort of right winged Reaganish to me -- no wonder he admires him.

[David__77]

31. No I don't.

There are some market solution that can be implemented in a certain framework, however. Neither candidate has the same worldview I have. But I made a decision based on all information available. Even if I found Clinton preferable on certain policy questions, which I do not, her use of right-wing "Willie Horton"-type attacks make it impossible for me to support her.

[aquart]

48. Bull cookies.

That's your excuse. And it is pitiful.

Tell me the woman you WILL vote for as president of the United States? And then tell me why she isn't running.

[TankLV]

56. woa - YOU AGREE with that ASSHOLE "preacher"?!?! and admit it OPENLY?!?!?!

and you think obama will still win, too...

my fucking god...

[BlackVelvet04]

17. It wasn't outraged until Wright dissed him...

please. He even admitted what he was outraged about was Wright insulting him.

Once again it's all about Obama. He can expect all he wants but that doesn't mean he gets to direct what people think or say.

He knew Wright. He knew what Wright stood for. He knew the things Wright was saying. HE KNEW.

[MADem]

21. I doubt he'll drag out that "That's a debate I'd LOVE to have" line about that guy.

He probably would like to elbow the guy off the subway platform, were it not for his moral core!

He certainly knew. But he probably ought to know that the Reverend Doctor might not go away.

[butterfly77]

25. By the looks of some of the above posts ....

it seems as though we have a lot of people her who "CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" They want him to keep explaining and denouncing every week because they don't want others to hear how good Obama's plans for this country are. Some of these people are D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E or R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-O-N-S...

The post speaks for itself Obama states his point perfectly:

"From here on, I do not expect those views to be attributed to me."

[Yossariant]

28. .

:rofl:

[MrSlayer]

42. It says a lot about the stupidity of this country that they were ever attributed to him at all.

The media plays the fiddle of idiocy and the people keep on dancing. It's disgusting and ridiculous that any of this was an issue at all.

[JoFerret]

46. Prince Canute?

.

[shayes51]

49. Wright's disrepecting Hillary was not enough

to make Obama angry. Neither were his comments about whites and America. In an eloquent speech, Obama said he could not disown him for these remarks. But when Obama thought Wright was disrepecting HIM, oh, my goodness! It simply is not allowed. This really is not about Wright anymore, but rather it is about Obama.

[TankLV]

52. umm - MUCH too little and only about TWENTY YEARS too late...

par for the course for the "saint"...!!!

[balantz]

54. Elizabeth Edwards never hesitates to support the truth,

especially when it comes to right wing attacks.