What kind of bad judgment spurred that priest to know that he was being videotaped...

[KitchenWitch]

And still behave like that?

My candidate was John Edwards by the way, so anyone even thinking that I am bashing Obama can sit down.

I am bashing the priest.

[hfojvt]

1. Which priest?

The Democratic one or the Republican one?

[KitchenWitch]

3. The one who was a guest pastor at Trinity UCC in Chicago.

[KittyWampus]

4. You don't even know his name?

[emilyg]

12. I for one am trying to forget his name.

[KitchenWitch]

19. His behavior does not warrant me to want to remember his name.

[newmajority]

47. Wasn't it Father Nanker Phelge or something like that?

I hear he's an old friend of the Rolling Stones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ8xM83fMhU

[SoonerPride]

2. Preachers/priests/clerics are all crazy IMHO. They believe in invisible hobgoblins and nonsense.

So all of them should be locked away in a lunatic asylum as far as I'm concerned.

Imagine if I walked around saying I was in communication with invisible aliens all day long?

Straight to the mental hospital with me.

But if I say they are angels, spirits, or god, then that makes perfect sense?

Whatever.

Religion is whack.

god is not great.

[cbayer]

7. My father is a minister

and he has done more for social justice, civil rights and peace than you will ever do. He's 78 years old now and continues to lead a progressive, activist, Christian community.

So you can take your broad brush slander of all people of the cloth and stuff it.

edited to add: he is vigorously and actively campaigning for Obama.

[SoonerPride]

29. How christian of you.

[KitchenWitch]

58. What a tolerant humanistic thing to say.

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. Obama professes to "believe in invisible hobgoblins and nonsense"

Should he be locked away in a lunatic asylum? Or sent to the white House?

[Bake]

42. That makes your candidate crazy too.

Because he belives in invisible hobgoblins (your words) too.

So I assume you'll be changing your avatar shortly?

Bake

[thewiseguy]

5. What the fuck does this have to do with GDP?

[skooooo]

17. because this issue has affected the primary.....

:shrug:

[Ian David]

6. He believes he has an invsible friend in the sky. Who knows what else he's thinking. n/t

[KitchenWitch]

20. I did not intend for this thread to become a "bash people of faith" fest.

x(

[hfojvt]

30. often that is hard to avoid on DU

Out of the abundance of the heart, floweth the mouth?

[KitchenWitch]

33. Yeah. I just wanted to express that it was not my intent.

:shrug:

[leftynyc]

39. I'm sorry it has devolved into that

People ought to remember that Sen Obama is a person of faith as are many on this board (including me). Do those denigrating these people know they sound just as intolerant as the religious freaks they keep complaining about?

[KitchenWitch]

49. I am also a person of faith ... albeit pagan faith

I do not think they do realize how they sound.

[NashVegas]

8. Maybe He Thought the Heat Was Off Trinity, Now

[CTyankee]

9. More than likely that he is another idiot willing to do anything for his 15 minutes of fame.

Obama did the right thing by resigning from the church. If that church cannot govern itself properly and prevent drama queens from completely distorting the primary process, then shame on them. Obama showed real restraint and good sense. It is too bad that church can't do the same.

[KitchenWitch]

10. Oh, I agree - If you put yourself in the pulpit as a leader, you need to hold yourself to the high

standard that others will hold you to.

[polmaven]

15. You and I

agree completely on this one!

[susankh4]

40. Oh no he didn't....

he was trying to influence a very Catholic primary... on an island called Puerto Rico. His timing was impeccable.

His plan, however... backfired miserably.

[2rth2pwr]

11. That's what's expected at Trinity. Watch the vid, the congregation loved it,

Moss, the new pastor, thanked him and praised the message.

Pfleger has been well known at Trinity and Obama earmarked money for Pleger's group.

[emilyg]

13. Close to $200 thousand.

[NatBurner]

14. also:

freaky deaky






























and i gotta give a shout out to IWAD
i'm loving it :)

[endarkenment]

24. which group was that?

[endarkenment]

31. :crickets:

[2rth2pwr]

35. Try teh Google.

In a Tribune story a year ago, Obama defended special earmarks for his district in state budgets while he was a state legislator, including one that went to programs associated with Pfleger's church.

"It happens that there were major supporters in my district who had been supporters before they got member initiatives," Obama said then, noting that some of his contributors had been his allies for years.

Pfleger gave Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced $225,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs.

In that story, Pfleger said he made those donations personally, not on behalf of the church or to win grants. "At a time when less people vote than ever, I don't think pastors should be silent on politics," he said.

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/another_video_from_obamas_chur.html

[endarkenment]

38. Oh I did try teh googles

and got about as far as you did.

"St. Sabina programs" - what programs? We are supposed to be outraged by this matter, so I want to know what programs we should be outraged over. What are the names of these programs, what do they do, why are they bad? You've made the charge. You back it up.

[2rth2pwr]

45. I didn't say they were bad, I stated that Obama gave earmarks to St Sabina.

He gave them after Pfleger donated money to his campaign.

Obama has known Pfleger for a very long time.

[endarkenment]

54. And again, what are these groups and what do they do?

"I didn't say they were bad, I stated that Obama gave earmarks to St Sabina" - actually no you said they were 'Pfleger's groups'. Now they are St. Sabina's groups and we still have no idea what these groups do. Do they do good things? Are they worthy of the money that they received? Is there anything wrong here at all?

[2rth2pwr]

59. Fr Pfleger is close to Obama, if you read the profile written 2004

http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article

"The biggest challenge, I think, is always maintaining your moral compass."

Friends and advisers, such as the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church in the Auburn- Gresham community on the South Side, who has known Obama for the better part of 20 years, help him keep that compass set, he says.

"I always have felt in him this consciousness that, at the end of the day, with all of us, you've got to face God," Pfleger says of Obama. "Faith is key to his life, no question about it. It is central to who he is, and not just in his work in the political field, but as a man, as a black man, as a husband, as a father.... I don't think he could easily divorce his faith from who he is."

Another person Obama says he seeks out for spiritual counsel is state Sen. James Meeks, who is also the pastor of Chicago's Salem Baptist Church. The day after Obama won the primary in March, he stopped by Salem for Wednesday-night Bible study..... "

You can see they have friends for the better part of 20 years. Again, he is surprised by the thoughts and words of longtime associates.

Pfleger donated privately to Obama's campaign, soon there after the money for St Sabina came in. Who knows what it's for, probably

programs that are helpful to people.

[endarkenment]

60. Not a response at all.

You have insinuated that there is something wrong with these groups and with money being directed their way. Fine. Please explain what these groups are, what they do, what the names of these groups are, so we can also independently evaluate the alleged wrong doing here.

You seem a bit reluctant to do so. I wonder why. You might not have this information, or even worse, these nefarious groups might actually be involved in good work in poor communities.

[2rth2pwr]

61. I have not insinuated that these groups are nefarious. I have even said they

probably do good work. I have stated the facts, you have been the one speculating.

[susankh4]

41. He was trying to pay Mr. Obama back....

with a Puerto Rican upset.

Didn't work.

[skooooo]

16. Me too..what an ass.

Egocentric behavior.

[FlaGranny]

18. I think he was auditioning

a stand-up routine on the nightclub circuit. When I used to attend church (Catholic), I never had a priest THAT amusing.

I don't laugh easily, but that clip makes me laugh every time I see it (even though I know maybe I shouldn't).

[KitchenWitch]

21. Too bad he was not funny.

[FlaGranny]

28. Oh, but that's the trouble.

He was funny. Maybe I should be ashamed I thought it was funny, but I laughed the first time, the second time, and although I tried not to laugh the third time, I did anyway. I guess I'm a bad person, but that sketch hit home.

[susankh4]

43. His target audience (Puerto Rico)

is not laughing.

They went for Hillary in a landslide.

[endarkenment]

22. Moment of fame.

It was part of the reason Obama had to leave that church: it became an opportunity for anyone who wanted some national media attention to get a free ticket.

[DevonRex]

25. It doesn't matter. The priest isn't running for office. nt

[wvbygod]

26. Perhaps they were his true feelings and his refuses to hide them?

Honesty can be brutal at times.

[sandnsea]

27. Somebody else thinks Hillary is a phony race baiter, OMG!!!

Does every person in the country who supports Obama and hates Hillary (yes I still hate her) have to get white America's approval to speak.

[CTyankee]

34. The issue is not whether he has a right to speak, but the fact that Pfleger's speech

had the opposite effect of its purpose. If he meant to persuade people to vote for Obama, he certainly didn't do it with what he said and the way he said it. Rather, he distorted the political process. This will have a far more negative effect on Obama's chances to win in November than a positive one. Why do it? IMO, that reason is that he wanted to wallow in the spotlight, get on TV, be talked about. To do that to his candidate, who has brought a totally OPPOSITE message to this campaign, is tragic. It was a totally self serving action on Pfleger's part. He is damaging our candidate's chances of winning opposite John McCain. And Obama acknowledged that by resigning from the church.

[sandnsea]

36. Oh puhleeze, what a bunch of babies

If this country didn't go apeshit every time somebody offended their puritan sensibilities, there wouldn't be any spotlight to get into.

This is seriously more important than the former press secretary admitting that the President lied to him?

So-called progressives are no better than the stupidest fundie that gets in a twirl because John Kerry is going to take away their bible - and this proves it beyond all doubt.

[CTyankee]

46. (Sigh) I used to say that, too, and in just that superior tone. I know you think you are being

original and oh, so daring! Please spare me. Come back when you have grown up a bit.

[sandnsea]

50. Oh cute, an attack instead of a response

Are you denying that this board should be absolutely unable to contain itself with the revelations in McClellan's book? What does it mean that people are more in a tizz over an unknown priest than evidence the President intentionally lied? That the pastorbaters are more "grown up" than I am?

[CTyankee]

55. I used to say "oh, cute" too!

But seriously, where in my post did you deduce that I do not hold McClellan's revelations with far greater weight than the Pfleger episode? You are erecting a straw man argument here.

What I am saying to you is that I have seen these seemingly nonsensical, idiotic incidents pervert the political process in more presidential campaigns than I care to count. They DETRACT from the gravity of McClellan's message, they do not enhance it.

Your real argument is with the choice the media makes in playing and replaying Pfleger and his ilk, not with me...

[barack the house]

32. I think he got lost in the moment but yeah it was so stupid. story dead now anyway.

[susankh4]

37. He was trying to sway his fellow Catholics in Puerto Rico...

to believe that Hillary was a white supremacist.

He knew damned well what he was saying and that it would hit the airwaves before Puerto Rico voted. But the "good father" misjudged the Puerto Rican stomach for hateful rhetoric from the pulpit.

My Puerto Rican neighbors are up in arms about it. And, guess what? They happen to work for the arch-diocese here.

Major backfire!
:nuke:

[cboy4]

44. His ass should be thrown out of the church.

It was a disgrace.

[MattBaggins]

48. Just one little point of contention

Your post was fairly directed at Father Pfleger and is a legitimate question; however, the I was an Edwards supporter so I can't be accused of Obama bashing was lame. There is no "get of jail free" by being an Edwards supporter.

[KitchenWitch]

53. Whatever

I was really dismayed at the priest's behavior, and am not attacking neither Obama or his supporters. I would be just as disgusted if it were someone who used a cheap tactic to undermine Obama.

For the record. I am voting for the Democratic candidate in this fall's Presidential election.

[spoony]

56. It seemed to me a defence against the inevitable "hillbot" slur

that such criticisms, no matter how sound or peripheral to Obama himself, invite lately.

[KitchenWitch]

57. Yes, it was a pre-emptive defense.

Because I am pretty sure if I had not stated that, I would have "earned" the Hillbot moniker.

[polichick]

51. He's a performer who loves the spotlight - like many ministers.

[JVS]

52. He speaks his mind no matter what.

I don't think the issue of judgement even factors into it.

[Marrah_G]

62. Mental illness?

[2rth2pwr]

63. That is who he is. The church knows that, that's why he was there.