Reverend Wright
 

I've been watching youtube videos of him and all I can conclude that this is a politically correct smear campaign against him. I am not going to support or not support him or Barack, but merely ask why is the intensity is so high. I have seen a few exaggerations and even lies told by the Reverend, but nothing he has done is anything different than what Bill O'Reilly has, just that it is coming from another angle.

Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and that whole gang have lied, deceived, and attacked to push their personal political views forward and they have some of the top spots on national television and the second someone does the same from an opposite side, it is looped constantly through every news channel and instantly regarded as anti-American and racist.

The Reverend is nothing more than a religious/political figure that sees the world through a different point of view and is more than willing to speech out on behalf of them no matter what other people believe. He believes that what happened on 9/11 was a result of American foreign policy, something that Al Qaeda themselves have personally attests too. How is that any different than the loads of conservatives ranting how the liberal left created 9/11? Taking truth out of the equation, both sides are blaming people they do not like for one of America's greatest tragedies.

The Reverend is doing nothing more than exercising his freedom of speech and at worst is lying and deceiving others to his point of view, which I may add is done by white conservative preachers across the fuckin' nation.

Why the hypocriticalness? Can we as a nation not accept a different point of views?

He has the same freedom of speech that you and I have and he exercises it. Good on him. What he says does exactly what he wants it to - it gets people riled up. Whether they agree or disagree, mission accomplished.

I think the difference is that Obama has gotten this far by being well spoken, moderate, and inspirational in his speeches. He has been the exact opposite of former presidential wannabes Jackson and Sharpton. He has presented himself as a voice of reason and for change. He has given people the belief that he is uniquely qualified to reconcile, repair, and renew race relations in the US. And then the other shoe drops. The right reverend has been his personal friend and mentor for 20 years, in addition to being his pastor. He performed his wedding ceremony, baptized his kids, etc. Obama is in tight with this guy and when people hear Wright's rants they are taken aback. Whether those are Obama's thoughts and beliefs is irrelevent - he spent 20 years with this guy and never stepped up to object to his ranting? He never said "Michelle, as much as we love the church it is time to find a new one that is more in line with our beliefs".

Anyway, that's my take on it.

Obama has the Reverend, McCain has Ann Coulter.

Coulter is just as big a douche as Wright. The difference is that McCain hasn't spent 20 years as a friend and mentee. Oh and the fact that Coulter has been pretty brutal when speaking about McCain in the past.

That's my take on it as well. Obama says he disagrees with the Reverend's rants, but knew about it. Obama said we've all sat through church and didn't agree with what was said. Ok, the Reverend says "God damn America" over and over and this is the person that is the personal friend and mentor of a Presidential candidate?!?! Huge difference between someone you or I or McCain or Obama sees infrequently or listens to infrequently. This is his ADVISOR and he sings "God Damn America"? Obama is suppossed to be a leader, but he couldn't tell the Reverend that his views are divisive and not forward thinking?

It goes right in line with what I have posted about Obama earlier - he used to vote 'present' so not to offend anyone. He can't stand up to the Reverend, to correct him or even to distance himself from him personally. Is that a leader?

How does the Reverend use the phrase "God damn America"?

The quote was taken from a rant where he was commenting on the injustices he sees done to the black community and how they are suppose to say "god bless America" in response to that. He is making a point that the black community shouldn't support a state that mistreats them. To put a more extreme example out there, should the black slaves or the blacks under the Jim Crow laws be saying "god bless America" or should they be fighting for justice?

I can say "fuck America" all the time but that doesn't mean I am anti-American, just that I disagree with the actions of the people that represent the state at the time. To quote someone that would be considered even more extreme than the Reverend, "I love my country, but hate the people in charge". This is no different, the Reverend strongly disagrees with the actions and views of the people in control of the United States at the time, so he expresses his anger and hatred for them.

It is obviously controversial and not made for an audience outside that church and community, but I still stand by my view that this is an undeserved smear campaign. When it comes down to it, it is nothing more than a catch phrase, as Lookout123 pointed out, to get people that either agree or disagree with him riled up. There are legitimate reasons to become cautious after this event, but in my opinion, this is really no different than the conservative smear campaign to attack anyone that disagreed with the Iraq War as terrorist sympathizers or anyone that wasn't strongly anti-Communist as Communist sympathizers in the McCarthy era.


If the Reverend said "kill all white people" then this reaction would be more than necessary, but all he did was criticize the people in charge of our country, something that is done ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

This Reverend Wright thing is such a manufactured bullshit fake issue. What the pastor of a church says has no bearing on the political opinions of those who attend his services.

By the way, he was right when he said America brought 9/11 on ourselves.

The truth is Obama has no dirt on him so we've got morons out there trying to make him guilty by association because they are desperate and stretching for anything they can find. They know he's going to be the next president, and they don't want it either for political or racial reasons.

So, if I attend a church that supports the KKK it isn't necessary for me to, since I believe that the teachings of a KKK church are wrong, stand against those teachings by attending a church more in keeping with my beliefs about race? Huh? I should smile and nod while the K-church discusses lynchings because, after all, I don't have to agree? Double huh?

Oh, and not wanting someone for president because you don't endorse the politics they tout, (or don't see that they really tout anything) and not wanting someone because you don't like their race are two entirely different things. In fact, I think the former is pretty normal. Turning that into the latter "you don't like black people so you hate obama and his pastor" thinking is more off base than anything I've heard in any of these arguments about any candidate.

see? america isn't ready for a black president.;)

I"m ready for any president beyond the fuck we have right now: black white purple female male transgender two-headed one-legged soft hard indifferent pasty tanned long-hair short-hair...what the fuck EVER.

Now we're talking change!

When it comes to fiery preachers condemning America, I'd rather they be doing it for our race relations problems than for gays and abortions.

And hey, at least we'll be seeing less of the "Obama's a secret Muslim!" stuff.

The only thing some people know about Obama is that his name sounds like Osama, and they think this is a clever and meaningful thing to know.

Why do you think that is? - Just curious as to your opinion.

Yeah, I had an older gentleman swearing up and down that Obama's a Muslim, and therefore hates us, and no matter what I said he wasn't changing his mind. Sigh...