
Reverend Jeremiah Wright forced Barack Obama into this position. Becoming a father figure to Obama (in the absence of Obama's own father), Jeremiah Wright decided to do a despicable thing. Putting a young man that considered him a father figure into a difficult position by making comments detrimental to him, that young man gave his father figure the benefit of the doubt. After being cut that slack from Obama, Jeremiah Wright then proceeded to take that slack and attempt to hang Barack Obama with it for his own selfish reasons.
Jeremiah Wright is a proud man, apparently too proud to realize that everyone in his church does not have to agree with everything that he preaches from the pulpit. Indeed, sources that know Wright have made the point that Barack Obama's speech which did not personally distance Obama from Wright, saying he could not divorce himself from Wright anymore than he could from his own grandmother, started the spat. Wright took this separation of Obama from his radical ideas as a personal insult and seems to have planned three straight speaking engagements in which that he could do the most damage to Barack Obama while doing the most for himself. As he was savaging Barack Obama, saying that Obama did not believe what he claimed to in his speeches and essentially calling Obama a liar. Real friends, real mentors and real pastors do not do such things to the members of their flock. They don't attempt to embarrass them in public.
While Wright betrayed no emotion as he excoriated Obama on the national stage, Obama showed both sadness and anger that their relationship had to be this way. Sadly, I believe that Pastor Jeremiah Wright's only prerogative is to transfer the good luck he had to have as one of his congregates the first legitimate black presidential candidate into a national audience for his pet sermons, his worst accusations about the government and the white race along with a healthy dose of the root of all evil: the love of money. Pastor Wright has mentioned more than a few times that he will have a book coming out later this year that will reveal his theological/racial ramblings in greater depth than his speeches have. One does have to credit Wright with something: at least he is upfront about his naked ambition by pushing his book in the middle of his speeches.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright represents, to me, what is wrong with this country. He is like the parent that takes their child to Hollywood with $$$ in their eyes and tries to cash in, not concerned with the welfare of the child in the process. Wright became close to a young man without a father, brought him into the Christian faith and then, when the opportunity arose, tried to sacrifice Obama's career to boost his own with no regard for Obama's wellbeing. Indeed, once Obama publicly caused any problems with Rev. Wright promoting himself, he declared war on Obama himself. Jeremiah Wright is not a man of God... he is a man of Jeremiah Wright. He is our for himself and himself alone. Wright is a predator, plain and simple, no better than any other man and unfit to return to the pulpit because of his attempted destruction of Obama's candidacy which surely represents the principles of Christ more than Wright does by pursuing reconciliation among the races and a moving forward of this people as American, not -Americans. For that reason Barack Obama has cut his ties with Wright and that is why it is voters should cease listening to Wright.
I'm more upset that Barack didn't embrace Rev. Wright's "extreme" views even more. The pastor told the truth about this country and people couldn't handle it. Now I consider Barack Obama a sellout just like all the others. I'm stuck between Wayne Allyn Root, George Phillies and Cynthia McKinney. I'm not voting for the lesser of two evils again. It's like do you want war in Iraq, war in Iran, or war in Pakistan. All three of them voted to extend the Patriot Act in 2005. Though I don't wish for the damning of America, it has been a long time coming for our dirty deeds after WWII.
I wonder how much influence Obama had in the 'retirement' of Rev. Wright? Obama may have publicly said one thing and caused the Rev. Wright to be fired privately.
This white person isn't going anywhere. I am in agreement with Damian.
It would be nice if the media would stop asking people if they think the Wright thing will go away - over and over again. Enough already.
Just about everyhting you wrote is wrong, but I will grant you one thing, you are following the Obama playbook.
Wright was just given a brand new mansion on a golf course by his congregation. In addition I'm sure he already receives a handsome salary. He is not doing this for money.
Jeremiah Wright was handed the opportunity to go out and proselytize for what he believes in- which is ( no surprise here) BLACKNESS. He was now on a stage way bigger than any of the thousands he has preached on throughout his long and distinguished career. This was his chance to tell the world that he and James Cone and the Black Panthers and Louis Farrakhan and all the Afrocentric scholars like Leonard Jefferies and Frances Cress- Welsing were right and everyone else was wrong. This was his chance to once and for all promote a black and African centered worldview WITHIN the United States to a huge audience, for everyone would either be listening or watching live or hear or read about it shortly thereafter.
Wright never though Obama would throw him down the stairs over these remarks. He thought Obama would throw him a private party.
But eyes on the Presidency prize have a way of straining these relationships.
He wasn't out for himself, he was out for a cause. HIS cause, to be sure. But the cause is what propeled this.
I think that the Reverend was correct when he asserted that his views are inspired by Authority higher than any pundit, poll or Presidential campaign staff. To stand on a podium and retract or modify a sermon is to say that the sermon was not inspired by Scripture, akin to the Pope admitting there was some sort of mistake on a sermon on Canon Law.
To propose that dogma should, or appear, non-controversial is to imply that Faith has no true grounding. I, and I suspect, most of the Reverend's flock would be very disappointed in his conviction over his pronouncements of faith.
What is telling here is the Reverend's choice to appear in a national press conference after weeks ofessentially laying low. The fact that he took questions and did not simply issue a statement througha spokesperson is even more interesting. Perhaps he was making sure that all the vitriol that resultedfrom the video snippets and sound bites could be answered point by point and that he is capable of an even toned conversation
.
From all appearances, he is a man of intelligence and wit and therefore must have known that the questions, and his answers, would harm Senator Obama's campaign to some degree. Was he trying to get back at the Senator for distancing himself, or was he simply asseritng his position as a cleric?
In any case, their long standing ties have been severed, for now, and the Senator, no doubt, will continue with his campaign.
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