Why is Lanny Davis still talking about Jeremiah Wright?

April 10, 2008

Late yesterday, Josh Marshall noted, “Now that Hillary’s fired Mark Penn, can she now fire Lanny Davis? Please? Or ask that he be put under some sort of house arrest?”

It’s not an uncommon sentiment, though the Clinton campaign can’t fire Davis; he’s not actually on staff. He’s just a very vocal campaign advocate with extensive enough media contacts to generate attention for his political arguments. In 2006, Davis’ task was defending Joe Lieberman. In 2007, his task was giving the Bush gang bi-partisan cover by serving on the hollow White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. And in 2008, his task is criticizing Barack Obama.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Plenty of good Dems have taken sides in the Democratic presidential primary, and plenty are backing Hillary Clinton. The problem with Lanny Davis, though, is that he’s just been so smarmy about his efforts.

Take his hit-job on the Jeremiah Wright controversy in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Here’s the lede:

I have tried to get over my unease surrounding Barack Obama’s response to the sermons and writings of his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. But…

Yes, of course, the poor guy “tried” to overcome his concerns, but weeks after the controversy faded from the news, he nevertheless felt compelled to call up the editorial page of one of the nation’s most conservative newspapers, so he can smack Obama around in print for 800 words.

Maybe he should have “tried” a little harder.

Davis continued:

Clearly Mr. Obama does not share the extremist views of Rev. Wright. He is a tolerant and honorable person. But….

Actually, there’s no need for that “but,” either. Wright made inflammatory remarks, Obama denounced them, and no serious person believes that Obama agrees with the controversial comments.

But Davis doesn’t want to move on; he wants to stoke fires that have already gone out. Joe Klein accuses him of having set a “land-speed record for disingenuousness.”

Let’s start with the fact that Obama unequivocally renounced Wright’s sentiments in his Philadelphia speech, but he refused to renounce the man or the church. As Swampland readers know, I don’t have much use for Wright or the hate-filled garbage he spewed from the pulpit. But Obama’s unwillingness to renounce Wright the Man and the spiritual community of the church seems to me an understandable personal, rather than a political decision on Obama’s part. For one thing, we’ve seen the Wright highlights — but it’s the equivalent of a web gems reel on Baseball Tonight. We don’t know how often Wright said “God Damn America.” We don’t know how often Obama went to church. (Not too frequently is my guess.) We also don’t know how often Reverend Wright exhorted the black men in the church to be responsible fathers, or the teenagers to study hard and stay away from drugs. Given the priorities of most black churches, I could probably put together a Jeremiah Wright highlight reel that would make William Bennett collapse with joy.

So what is actually going on here? If Davis is sure that “Mr. Obama does not share the extremist views of Rev. Wright,” then what’s the big deal? Uh, Politics. Davis is trying to make sure that white people in Pennsylvania don’t forget that Obama’s former pastor has said some awful things about our country. This, sadly, has been standard operating procedure for Republican spinmeisters throughout that party’s ascent and descent over the past 40 years.

Don’t go away mad, Lanny, just go away.

True dat…

  • Wow. You admit Davis is not a staffer but use Josh’s misleading statements to falsely imply that he is.
    Then you blatantly lie and say Obama denounced Wrights statements in his Phila. speech when he didn’t. The whole point of the speech is that he wouldn’t denounce him any more than his allegedly racist grandma and we just all needed to understand that Wrights statements were just a reflection of the horrible treatment he received from this racist country growing up.
    No denouncing there nor any recognition that when Wright was growing up was when MLK was denouncing Wright’s type of thinking.
    Truly why don’t you admit that this is another Obama campaign site with no room for independent thought or disagreement. Because your basic point in this post is that free speech is to be allowed only if its pro -Obama and anyone who dares think otherwise like Davis must shut up. If this is what the democratic party has become then truly it has fallen on hard times.

  • joepad37 –

    Your paranoia is showing. I don’t see your comment being deleted. I’m sure there will be disagreement with you but that’s what comment forums are for.

    I think you owe Steve an apology for accusing him of providing “…no room for independent thought…” when there is no evidence of that and much evidence to the contrary.

  • The venue is the disappointing thing, of course, given her kiss n’ make up sessions with Murdoch (who hosted a Senate fundraiser for her in 2006) and Scaife.

  • We don’t know how often Wright said “God Damn America.” We don’t know how often Obama went to church. (Not too frequently is my guess.) We also don’t know how often Reverend Wright exhorted the black men in the church to be responsible fathers, or the teenagers to study hard and stay away from drugs.

    Not that ignorance would prevent Joe Klein from opining endlessly.

  • Clearly Mr. Obama does not share the extremist views of Rev. Wright. He is a tolerant and honorable person.

    So they’re plagiarizing Marc Antony now?

  • Late yesterday, Josh Marshall noted, “Now that Hillary’s fired Mark Penn…

    Did Mark get fired? I thought he just moved one chair to the right?

  • “Then you blatantly lie and say Obama denounced Wrights statements in his Phila. speech when he didn’t.”

    Did you listen to the speech, joepad? And all of this “denounce” or “reject” folderol is getting a little ridiculous. How old are you people? 12?

  • Because your basic point in this post is that free speech is to be allowed only if its pro -Obama… -joepad37

    First Amendment. You’re doing it wrong.

    This blog is not the government and can censor at will. However, you’ll notice that even your baseless, fact-free drivel remains, so no one is stifling your ‘free speech.’

    Steve is not the one stopping you from engaging in ‘independent thought.’ Judging from the content of your comment, you have willfully chosen to quit thinking.

  • The following quote from Sen. Obama’s speech begins at paragraph 13.I have already condemned…, …profoundly distorted view of this country…, …not only wrong but divisive… It sure sounds like he denounced Rev. Wright’s statements to me.

    “I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

    But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

    As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

    Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough….”

    From Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html

  • No denouncing there nor any recognition that when Wright was growing up was when MLK was denouncing Wright’s type of thinking.

    After watching several of Rev. Wright’s sermons, including the two which are excerpted (extremely minimally) in the manufacture of the “hit” piece that Lanny Davis has so much trouble with, I’m shocked to find myself in complete agreement with almost everything said by Rev. Wright.

    You’ve obviously not read many of Dr. King’s speeches, because some of them are remarkably similar to those of Rev. Wright. Dr. King was a radical, for his time, and was reviled by those in power for challenging an unpopular war.

    Rev. Wright is a force for good in his community, and was pastor of a church which is an anchor of that community. Rev. Wright continued the work of Dr. King, and is to be commended for a life well spent, notwithstanding this vile attempt to paint him as a racist.

    Lanny Davis is simply trying to keep that vile attempt alive. It’s a dirty job, and more suited to a Republican than a Democrat.

  • We don’t know how often Wright said “God Damn America.”

    Actually, we have a pretty good since the whole sermon (and many others) are online.

    Of course, Joke Line probably has neither the time nor the inclination to actually check.

    Truly why don’t you admit that this is another Obama campaign site with no room for independent thought or disagreement. Because your basic point in this post is that free speech is to be allowed only if its pro -Obama and anyone who dares think otherwise like Davis must shut up.
    –joepad

    Um … and your evidence of that is … ? Seriously. Tell us how many anti-Obama comments have ever been deleted from this site.

    Are there probably more Obama supporters in the comments section of this site than Clinton? Perhaps. But The Carpetbagger has yet to support either candidate (or if he has, I missed it). He’s been stunningly even-handed throughout this whole primary season.

    So please … don’t shut up. Just get a heavier weight foil for your hat before posting again.

  • With apologies to those members of Academia here – like Ed Stephan – who don’t fit the stereotype I’m referring to, but Lanny Davis reminds me that out of 19 years of formal education, there were only about four of the many “teachers” who actually taught anything. The rest were like Davis: their only accomplishment being stealing the oxygen in the classroom by their presence.

    I would really like to know why so many “teachers” are such morons. In my own field of work, I know all the “Fillum Perfessers” at Film School are the failures who didn’t have the talent to actually make movies (though they could regurgitate well enough to get an MFA in Film).

    Davis just your standard-issue over-educated, under-intelligent academic fool.

  • Did Mark get fired? I thought he just moved one chair to the right?

    Same here.
    But everywhere today (Kos, ThinkProgress, here, etc) seems to be saying “fired.”

    Did I miss something, or do none of us care about accuracy anymore and we’re content with letting the Clinton camp sweep Penn under the rug?

  • JoePutz:
    Then you blatantly lie and say Obama denounced Wrights statements in his Phila. speech when he didn’t.

    Obama’s Philadelphia speech:
    On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

    I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

    But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

    As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

    Obama denounced Wright’s statements as “wrong,” “divisive,” and “incendiary,” as offering a “profoundly distorted view” of America and “denigrating” the nation, and said he condemned them in unequivocal terms.

    What more do you want, moron?

  • Well, petesmom beat me to it.

    See how easy it is to actually read the speech yourself, JoePutz? We both found the speech within seconds and easily found the condemnation he made of Wright’s comments.

    Just because you’re too fucking stupid to see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

  • …reminds me that out of 19 years of formal education, there were only about four of the many “teachers” who actually taught anything… -Tom Cleaver

    I completely understand. I could count on one hand the teachers and professors who truly had an impact on my life and taught me anything (some of what they taught me had nothing to do with the class and more about having class). I’m sure Ed falls into that category.

    One literature teacher, one photography professor, one philosophy professor, and one sociology professor changed my life forever.

    Of course, I’d trade nothing for the experience and education I received from them and I’m glad to have it. I’d bet, given the ratio, though, that we’re lucky to even have that handful of teachers who actually taught us anything. Most probably don’t.

  • Writing for the WSJ op-ed page is the print equivalent of sharing a bottle of OxyContin with Rush Limbaugh — not something any credible Democrat would do.

  • The truly ironic thing is this: many in the Republican Party have been understanding of Wright’s comments. Huckabee, for example, stated outright his understanding of Wright’s comments and where he was coming from. Senator McCain never dragged this out and didn’t wave flags about it. The Republicans are coming out of the Wright issue looking like gentlemen while Senator Clinton and her cronies are looking more and more vile, especially in comparison.

    Race was not an issue until Clinton’s crew made it as such. Sex was not an issue until Clinton’s crew made it as such. Even after Clinton agrees to “play nice” with Senator Obama, bull such as this comes out. And her supporters wonder why so many people detest the Clintons? I think this is a perfect example why.

  • Wright is important, he shouldn’t “go away”. In fact everything that the candidates say or their supporters say should be blasted from the media constantly so we “get to know” them

    In the end, i suspect it is a question of evils. Brown vs Board of education not being Strong enough vs the Clinton trust issue.

    Since write said what Obama apparently believes he is in fact a very important person to talk about.

    Unless the advocacy here is to avoid meaningful discussion about issues and just get “Fired Up!”

  • Pretending that the Wright controversy has gone away will not make it go away. Rev. Wright will be a huge part of Obama’s swiftboating if Obama wins the nomination. You can wish all you want but it won’t change anything.

  • WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

    OBAMA LIED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION TWICE SAYING HE WAS NEVER IN THE CHURCH AND THAT HE NEVER HEARD SUCH REMARKS OUT OF WRIGHT OR HE WOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY CONFRONTED HIM.

    THEN IN HIS SPEECH HE ADMITS HE WAS AND ALWAYS KNEW ABOUT THIS!!!!!!

    I DO NOT CARE WHAT SPIN HE HAS SORENSEN PUT IN HIS SPEECH THEREAFTER HE LIED. FLAT OUT LIED TO ANDERSON COOPER ON NATIONAL TELEVISION AND NONE OF THE OBAMA PEOPLE HAVE THE INTEGRITY OR CHARACTER TO ADMIT HE SIMPLY LIED ABOUT IT.

    THIS IS ABOUT AS HONEST AS HIM SAYING THE KENNEDY’S BOUGHT HIS FATHER A PLANE TICKET FORM KENYA AND GAVE HIM A SCHOLARSHIP TO COME TO AMERICA.

    GIVE ME A BREAK. YOU PEOPLE ARE THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF BUSH SUPPORTERS AND IT DISGUSTS ME.

  • Why is Obama still talking about his Iraq war vote? Since when does Obama and the Obabiased media get to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for supporters to discuss? The media is still talking about Rev. Wright 24/7, making the most out of every sensational detail. Yet, if Clinton or one of her surrogates answers a question about the issue, you hypocritic IDIOTS use it as a club to beat them with.

    Shut up, report the NEWS and FACTS like actual journalists used to do, and stop trying to determine this election. The media has done enough to drive and denegrate the democratic process already. I bet China would pay big bucks for some of you propaganda mysters.

  • Unfortunately Johnny is probably right. We have to find an effective way of dealing with the Swiftboating. Maybe we should just go to the heart of the matter and point it out as the detestful tactic that it is and “educate” the public on propaganda. We have to or our political system will never survive. It’s not just a matter of this election (or the ones just past).

  • Lanny Davis told the truth, the really truth that Obama followers dare not to discuss it seriously. Obama distanced himself from this controversy by using a speech, yes another speech. Yes, Obama did not answer those questions Davis posted in his article. Let face it people. One speech did not wash away the ideaology really in the mind of a person.

    IT IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR THAT PERSON IN THE PRESIDENT POSITION.

    OBAMA WOULD NEVER GET ELECTED IN THE GENERAL ELECTION.

  • “Why is Lanny Davis still talking about Jeremiah Wright?”

    Lanny Davis is still talking about Jeremiah Wright because it takes someone of his celebrity to be heard. There are millions of us who are still outraged, both at the comments of Wright and because his comments are being tolerated. We don’t think Sen. Obama ought to be able to dismiss his relationship with Rev. Wright and just move on.

    There is a double standard at work here. When a white person makes a racist remark – even just one sentence – there must be immediate condemnation from every quarter and an immediate extraction of retribution. When a racist black preacher rails from the pulpit for 20 years the nation is expected to ‘understand’ his wrath. Well, I don’t ‘understand.’ It certainly sounds to me like Jeremiah Wright had a lot of advantages in his life. He wants to forever be the victim despite the advantages he has had in his life.

    White racists lose their jobs, salaries, reputations, and prestige. Black racists are rewarded with a handsome retirement and 1.7 million dollar mansion.

    You go Lanny. Speak loud and often.

  • Who cares if Kennedy bought Obama’s family plane tickets? What does that say about Obama? It just says to me that the Kennedys are generous. Or is it just that the hate for Ted Kennedy is supposed to rub off on everyone he meets and helps?

  • I see the Concern Trolls are out in force today, lying through their teeth and posting incoherent gibberish.

    Methinks some folks forgot to take their meds this morning …

  • Fox news doctored and falsified the video of Obama’s pastor Wright.

    Wright did not preach those words himself. He was quoting a White Man.; Ambassador Edward Peck. And he is a retired, white, career U.S. diplomat who served 32-years in the U.S. Foreign Service and was chief of the U.S. mission to Iraq under Jimmy Carter. The complete video below will show that Pastor Wright is telling his audience that “I will tell you what a white man named Ambassador Peck said”. And then he will quote Mr. Peck. And he ends by reminding his congregation “A white man said this, I didn’t say it”. Fox didn’t show that because they wanted people to think it came from Pastor Wright.

    Fox news is the bottom of the barrel; Full of hate and thoroughly racist.

    Here’s the evidence.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

    Here’s the proof that Fox knew it was a lie because Peck said these words on Fox News after 9/11 and that’s where Pastor Wright got the quote from.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/meet-the-white-man-who-_n_92793.html

    And after they made the false tape, Fox put it out on the internet and nobody knew where it had come from.

  • “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

    You jingoists may not appreciate honesty but reverend Wright spoke the truth!

  • Oh dear lord … I say we create a new game. It’s like Mad-Libs and goes as follows:

    “Well, (insert person who knows a candidate here), who hung out with (insert candidate here), said (insert asinine statement here), and (insert candidate here) has yet to condemn them and renounce them loudly enough for my pleasure. Thus, (insert candidate here) has to agree with it! I’m outraged!!!!! I’ll stay at home instead of voting for (insert candidate here)!!”

    Just rinse and repeat for your candidate of choice.

    And since we have this cool Intratubes thing, I bet we can find literally hundreds of statements for each candidate. Because, you know, actually voting for a candidate based on policy issues and the direction of the company is hard — it requires a person to actually think critically.

    It’s much easier to choose a candidate based on what someone associated with that candidate said years ago.

    **weeps for the future of our nation**

  • … and the direction of the company is hard …

    Oy! That should be:

    … and the direction of the country is hard …

    Proofreading is hard, too.

    (I guess after seven years of the “corporate presidency,” I typed that subconsciously.)

  • Yo concern trolls, how was Obama supposed to distance himself from Wright’s more controversial statements, other than “just a speech”? Were you hoping he’d drag Wright up on a stage and personally flog him? Or were you just so anxious to combine your lame-ass talking points that you just had to work in “just words”?

  • Let use a lie dectector on Obama we would see right away if he is telling the truth.

    HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa…..

  • Nice to see the further proof that Clinton supporters are all from the shallow end of the IQ pool.

    Do you people have any idea of how to think??? You come across like a bunch of Republican morons. Which is probably what Clinton trolls are nowadays – the Right’s contribution to “Operation Chaos.”

  • Oh … come on now, Sojourner — do you have any idea how facts make outrage all that more difficult? There are vapors to be had here!

    😉

    This thread reminds me that I really should have gotten into the fainting couch business.

  • I see the Concern Trolls are out in force today, lying through their teeth and posting incoherent gibberish. -Mark D

    Looks like Elton John’s fund raiser did the trick and all of them cashed their checks today. Lots of new faces. Probably less new ip addresses.

    Nice to see the further proof that Clinton supporters are all from the shallow end of the IQ pool. -Tom Cleaver

    From the ascending side of the bell curve.

  • “Yo concern trolls, how was Obama supposed to distance himself from Wright’s more controversial statements, other than “just a speech”? Were you hoping he’d drag Wright up on a stage and personally flog him? Or were you just so anxious to combine your lame-ass talking points that you just had to work in “just words”?”

    Are all of Obama’s supporters equally tasteless, or are you an aberation?

  • This is going to resurface in the general for sure. You loo-zers will bite your lips Bubba-style after the Wright tapes reveal all the racist garbage that hater has for whites, Jews, Italians & just about everyone else.

  • –When a racist black preacher rails from the pulpit for 20 years the nation is expected to ‘understand’ his wrath. Well, I don’t ‘understand.’ —

    Give me the evidence about “20 years of railing” — there are some comments, out of context, that do say that white people have oppressed and continue to oppress black people. Do you find *that* racist? I find it truthful.

    –It certainly sounds to me like Jeremiah Wright had a lot of advantages in his life. He wants to forever be the victim despite the advantages he has had in his life.–

    Let’s play this game some more, but perhaps from the sexism angle:

    It certainly sounds to me like Hillary Clinton had a lot of advantages in her life. She wants to forever be the victim despite the advantages she has had in her life.

    Not very pretty is it? Do you think that FOX would have to work very hard to find PLENTY of quotes, particularly those taken out of context, to support this?

  • Um … I think we have a anti-semitic troll who does, in fact, need to be removed (that’d be you, don).

    The Clinton folks can stay — it’s revealing some of their true nature. But this guy is … well … damn.

  • Didn’t want to put this in my snarkier post.

    The video from FOX in the link in this clip is great:

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/on-pfleger.html

    And to the person above who was talking about MLK? Oh my, he was an angry man. He was no sappy, let’s join hands and everything will be peachy sort of guy. He, like Wright, spoke out forcefully and angrily. He just didn’t advocate violence and neither does Wright (the whole point of his using the ambassador’s roosting chickens quote was that violence comes back to get you.)

  • “Why is Lanny Davis still talking about Jeremiah Wright?”

    Because Hillaryland cannot believe that Obama is still beating them and they are really frustrated about it. The were hoping Rev. Wright would torpedo Obama because they basically see the entire world through microtargeting and identity politics.

    That Wright has not ended Obama’s candidacy has left them desperate, as Davis’ article demonstrates, and flailing about for something, anything, that will give her the nomination that Hillaryland seems to think is her birthright.

  • #57 Jen wrote: “And to the person above who was talking about MLK? Oh my, he was an angry man. He was no sappy, let’s join hands and everything will be peachy sort of guy. He, like Wright, spoke out forcefully and angrily. He just didn’t advocate violence and neither does Wright,”

    Yes. And the man who inspired both MLK and Wright to become ministers, none other than Jesus himself, preached continuously and sometimes forcefully and angrily against those in power*, and the laws and common wisdom of His day (but never advocating violence), so upsetting those in power that they had to get rid of him. Or at least they tried to get rid of him.

    There are few things Wright has said and associations he has made (ie Farrakhan) that I strongly disagree with, but if you read or listen to his entire sermons in context with an open mind, you realize he is speaking the truth about the inequalities and social divisions of our country, and how our country sometimes unfairly treats the world (esp under the current admin).

    Someone who posts here (thank you very much to whomever it was!) previously gave us URLs to two columns by CNN’s Roland Martin that quote extensively from the TWO (yes 2) sermons that the out-of-context inflammatory remarks have come from: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/ and
    http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-wright%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgod-damn-america%e2%80%9d-sermon/?s-%20?god-damn-america%20?-sermon/ You should all read them.

    As I posted in a prior thread here, Wright, unlike many of his critics, gave up his student deferment in 1961 and joined the military, serving six years. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0404wrightapr03,0,225570.story

    As pastor he grew his congregation 100 fold and started many, many outreach programs to help those in his impoverished community. He has served his country and his community well.

    And re Obama, here’s part of what I wrote in a letter that is to be published in my community’s newspaper: “As for Barack Obama, he has already spoken of his disagreement with Wright on some issues. It’s an insult to Obama’s intelligence and integrity to say that he cannot think for himself. And his continuing relationship with Wright? Don’t we all have relatives and close friends who have said things with which we disagree? Should we all break our relationships with these people? If so, I’m afraid we’d be very lonely and bitter people.”

    In my case that would mean that I would only have relationships with about 5 out of my 20 or so closest relatives, and none of those five would include my parents.

    * Those of His own faith – the Jews – who were in power, not the Romans who were actually in charge of their lands.

  • Methinks some folks forgot to take their meds this morning …

    Might explain the all caps outbreak.

    THEY MAKE THE PERSON USING THEM SOUND LIKE A CRAZED ASSHOLE!

  • Yikes. This is so reminiscent… Of every other freaking blog with a Obama/Wright or Hillary/Obama post. I hope these people are getting paid for this.

  • Today the Detroit Free Press announced that Wright will be speaking to the NAACP in Detroit on April 26. I believe this will be his first public pronouncement since the flap. Do you think Obama’s people are going to help shape the speech much?

  • All this white racists and black racists talk has me a bit confused.

    I understand that there are whites who don’t like blacks and blacks that don’t like whites, that is clear to me. I understand that the blacks who don’t like whites, or at least are distrustful of them, do so because of hundreds of years of slavery followed by the legal subjugation of blacks by whites accompanied by decades of lynchings and other atrocities going unnoticed and unpunished and also the ongoing racial prejudice that blacks, and other minorities, are still often subjected to in this country.

    Why again is it that whites don’t like blacks?

  • I listened to the Wright 9/11 sermon myself, in order to think for myself (give it a try)- see links above or go to Roland Martin’s website.

    He expressed
    1) sympathy for the victims
    2) the point that violence begets violence and the Christian doctrine that that is not ok
    3) the quotes of Ambassador Peck noted above

    I thought I was going to be appalled but it was inspiring.

  • 64. On April 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pm, Matt S said:

    “I understand that the blacks who don’t like whites, or at least are distrustful of them, do so because of hundreds of years of slavery followed by the legal subjugation of blacks by whites accompanied by decades of lynchings and other atrocities going unnoticed and unpunished and also the ongoing racial prejudice that blacks, and other minorities, are still often subjected to in this country.”

    Matt: you have spoken the truth. Please tell us what this generation of “whites” can do to atone for the egregious acts that were committed before we were born.

  • Please tell us what this generation of “whites” can do to atone for the egregious acts that were committed before we were born.

    Well, a starting point would be to make the realization that while it’s certainly not your fault you were born on third base, that doesn’t mean you should act like you hit a triple.

    There are structural legacies that whites today have that many blacks don’t. Ask yourself, did your white grandparents own property, and pass down the equity in the home to your parents in one form or another? Did your white grandparents have a leg-up through a union job, a military career, a government job, or a college education at a major university?

    For all but a small percentage of African Americans these aren’t advantages their own grandparents had, to say nothing of the handicaps of segregation, discrimination, and inferior standing in courts of law. Odds are good that your family had a significant head start, comparatively speaking.

    I’m not saying you need to bust out a check for reparations or even support affirmative action, but the idea that this is all in the past with no ramifications on the level of inequality in the present is simply nonsense.

  • Why again is it that whites don’t like blacks?

    For having the bad taste and unmitigated gall to keep suggesting that racism isn’t over in the U.S. when so many whites prefer to pretend that everything’s howdy doody now.

  • now people on this blog are comparing Wright to Jesus. What kind of idiots are you. If you think Jesus ever preached hate to other groups of people like Wright than you pbviously have no idea what Jesus stood for.

  • Obama supporters need to know OTHERS have not forgotten the tirades made by Rev. Wright…..

  • Why again is it that whites don’t like blacks? [MattS]

    There is a principle in psychology suggesting that many cannot forgive individuals whom they have harmed for not preventing the harm and the ensuing guilt.

  • I am sick of people calling Reverend Wrights comments hateful, appalling, vile, racist, or any other adjective they can think of to denounce him. First of all, how can anyone even begin to comment on what he said if they haven’t watched the entire video (something most people have and will not do)? Second, what makes his comments so vile and hateful? Much of what he said is historically true and is documented.
    Black people in this country for too long were subjegated to things in which many of us today cannot even imagine and Rev. Wright was only demonshing the United States for allowing much of what happened to them. When he said “God Dam America” he was only saying dam American for allowing Blacks to be forcibly brought over here on ships, forced into slavery, considered property, raped, mamed, and murdered at will, and denied basic human rights (the list goes on and on forever). This is why there is so much resentment from Blacks in America.
    When you say this to a white person, they act like they can’t understand you or they’ll say things like “get over it” or “that was in the past” or better yet “that was my ancestors, not me.” It doesn’t matter. Would anyone tell a Jewish person “forget about the Holocaust, that was in the past?” Please, it’ll never happen as we are always reminded of the Holocaust in movies, books, and the several museums dedicated to the event in cities nationwide. How many movies about slavery have we seen? Or how many slavery museums around the country have you seen (besides the one in Baltimore, MD. theres not many to speak of)? Why is this? I’ll tell you why, America is ashamed of that period of history. That’s why it’s barely mentioned in the school books and why Whites don’t want to talk about it.
    Can you tell me one person in their right mind who would tell a woman who has been raped to “get over it” or “that was in the past?” Hell no! Forgetting America’s vile past (especially towards Blacks) is what Whites in this country want Blacks to do and Blacks (rightly) refuse to do so.
    Until there is equality in all areas for Blacks (and other peoples of color) in the workplace, the judicial system, education, etc., Blacks have a “right” to feel the way they do and people like Jeremiah Wright can espouse all the “hatred” towards this country he wants.

  • I am not sure that there is anything that this generation of whites can do or should do to atone for the past. I am not one who believes that the sins of the father are visited on the son so I do not think that is their responsibility. What I object to is the characterization that white racism and this so-called black racism are coequal. There are reasons why many blacks distrust whites, reasons based on the historical experiences of blacks in this country. While America has taken many steps forward in the 40 years since the height of the civil rights movement, it is intellectually dishonest to suggest that racism is not still a huge issue in America today.

  • You got it right Matt. It’s rare to hear people who understand what you have stated and it’s one of the reasons that racism will continue until my 16-year-olds’ daughter kids, kids, are adults (maybe). Of course the racism of today is not the “in your face” racism of yesterday (which I think is better than the behind your back stuff that goes on), but it’s still there.
    I do not know exactly how America can begin to rid itself of its vile past, but the it can by first formally acknowledging that it was wrong in its treatment of Blacks. I actually think its happened before, but who remembers? I’m talking about having a live press conference, in prime time, and really “speak” to Blacks. Then, we can have conversations where Blacks are actually listened to instead of being told to “get over it.” Next, America can give us our promised “40 acres and a mule.” Afterwards, maybe we’ll be able to all come together and sing “Koom-ba-yah (sorry, dont know how its spelled).”

  • “Well, a starting point would be to make the realization that while it’s certainly not your fault you were born on third base, that doesn’t mean you should act like you hit a triple.

    There are structural legacies that whites today have that many blacks don’t. Ask yourself, did your white grandparents own property, and pass down the equity in the home to your parents in one form or another? Did your white grandparents have a leg-up through a union job, a military career, a government job, or a college education at a major university?”

    I live in the Deep South and I am into genealogy. I have studied my family history in depth. During the civil war my family lost literally dozens of men; others were maimed into disability. If they were injured in a limb the limb was amputated. This caused the ill-prepared women to assume the role of head-of-family. They, along with the children, struggled to stay alive; and many lost the battle. The women gave birth as long as they were fertile so the families had many children.

    After the civil war opportunists came into the south seeking cheap labor and built cotton mills. Very quickly the families moved from the non-productive farms into the city to work in the mills. The south was so devastated from the war that there were very few schools and since the children had to work few had any formal education.

    My grandmother never went to school a day in her life. She told me how she held a piece of paper with the alphabet up to the window and traced the letters until she learned how to write. She went to work in a cotton mill at 8 years old. She was first a ‘lunch toter.’ This was a group of young children who walked miles pushing a cart with buckets of food for the mill workers. By the time she was ten she was actually working inside the mill. She was so little she stood on a stool to reach her work.

    Medical care was only available to those who could pay and many people died from common illnesses like pneumonia. It took several generations for my family to overcome the poverty and early deaths to realize the opportunities available for Americans.

    I write about my own family’s history not to whine but to illustrate that slavery was a scourge that affected many families for many generations. I don’t for a moment compare my family’s experience with that of a black family who were in similar straits and also suffered from oppression and discrimination.

    Living in the South I was at once a witness to the discrimination and the ignorance that bred it and fed it. I didn’t understand then, and I don’t understand today how it could have existed for so long; perhaps from man’s primordial instinct for superiority and control?

  • Lanny Davis may not be going about his criticism in the best way, but whether progressives like it or not Wright’s hate speech will come back to haunt Obama if he is the Democratic nominee.

    In addition, Obama’s speech was a political answer to a political problem, although why he dragged his feet as long as he did is a judgment question, imo. Obama knew in 2007 that Wright would be a problem; Wright knew it, too.

    Also, Jesse Jackson, Jr. has made some pretty racist and hateful comments, too: the “tears” remark, on Clinton and Katrina; the “how do you kill a white woman” comment made after Iowa.

    There are real issues around race relations in this country. But as long as public figures like Wright and Jackson throw bombs at whites – apparently with Obama’s “okie-doke” the problems won’t be solved because of the stealth racism that exists among Blacks, as well as whites, and seems frequently these days to be ignored (or encouraged) by the BIG O.

  • Around the time the entire Wright controversy first broke I was discussing the issue with one of my good friends. During that conversation he turned to me and asked, “When did it become ok for white people to call a black man racist?”

    In asking that question he was not implying that blacks can’t be racist. Unfortunately, racist attitudes towards Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native American, and other groups crop up in the black community far too often. A sad fact, and something that needs to be worked on.

    What was implied in the question my friend asked me was when did it become ok for white people to claim to be victims of racism by blacks.

    White cries of racism are disingenuous on their face. The reason why is because if you are white, whether or not Jesse Jackson is racist it is not something that has an effect on your life. In this country the vast majority of those in positions of power are white, all of our presidents have been white. Almost all of our politicians today are white, from the highest reaches of the federal government, to state legislatures, down to the city level. Judges, district attorney’s, all mostly white. In the business world, almost all the top executives at major corporations are white. Moving down, whites make up the majority of those in positions that make decisions on hiring. Whether or not the people holding these positions are racist has a profound effect on the lives of black people.

    I am not trying to say that all the politicians and CEOs in this country are racist, but the fact that white people never have to concern themselves with even the possibility is a powerful advantage.

  • Rev.Jeremiah Wright is being mistreated in this situation.Have the quotes been shown in the entire context? Did God ever judge nations?Have black people been mistreated? American Christianity has been racist from its inception and it continues to this day. Its hate speech when a black man quotes someone else? Don’t believe the hype!

  • I have one question for Lanny Davis.

    What about Hillary Clinton’s lies (sniper and woman dying in hospital)?

    That’s her personal lies. What about that Lanny?

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