Letters to the Editor
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Spoken like a true NF
People who accuse Obama of 'cynical political positioning' do not understand what it means to be an NF (iNtuitive Feeling) on the Myers-Briggs temperament scale. It is perfectly normal for someone with natural empathy to understand the woundedness which underlies inflammatory rhetoric like Wright's, take it with a grain of salt, and focus on the good things about him, which are obviously manifold.
But there comes a time when enough is enough, and Wright's egregious posturing all over the media was a deliberate attempt at sabotaging the man who risked his campaign to support him. The shock, anger and disappointment in this speech are genuine. Good for you, Obama; shame on you, Jeremiah Wright.
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Call me cynical
but I think Wright is working for Obama here. He knows Obama has been hurt badly by their assocation and his remarks, and he threw Obama a life preserver. Obama could not and would not denounce Wright, he would appear to be someone without loyalty to a friend and mentor of 20 years.
By saying all those things again, Wright's given Obama a chance to denounce him publicly without that appearance of disloyalty. In the aftermath, people will forget about the Obama who wouldn't denounce Wright, and remember the Uniter who did. All the other crap will be forgotten, hidden by the fresher memory of the renunciation.
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we only get excerpts on the local pbs...
but so far we have wright saying, about the wtt attacks: "the chickens are coming home to roost" and about obama: "obama is a politician, he says what voters want to hear."
sounds to me like america has a window on reality here, you should be thankful there is a sane one among you.
doesn't work like that tho', everyone prefers to live in fantasy land. but reality will keep breaking in, ever ruder as stupidity compounds the distance between what you'd like to believe and what is. wouldn't mind, except your absurd 'defense' forces are spreading death and destruction right around the world, 'defending' your right to believe that whatever you want is rightfully yours. damned inconvenient for the rest of the planet.
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I'm not getting it. What changed? And when?
Obama said,
"But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS; when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century; when he equates the United States' wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses. They offend me, they rightly offend all Americans, and they should be denounced. And that's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.
But Wright had said all of that stuff before. Obama said "he wasn't there" when that stuff was originally preached. But Obama wasn't there in Detroit, and wasn't there at the National Press Club, either. All he's ever seen is video of all of it, always after the fact. (Unless Obama is being untruthful and he was there for some of the sermons.)
And speaking of Detroit, why didn't Obama say anything about that? Or was none of that outrageous? That was on Sunday evening. The Obama camp made no response on Monday. I presume he's eventually going to get around to condemning the Wright theory of neurodevelopment as to black and white children's brains. But not yet, it seems. Why would Obama not watch, either live or via video recording, a speech given by his "spiritual mentor to the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, given before the largest sit-down dinner audience (10,000) in the world, broadcast live on both Fox and CNN?
I'm not buying this. I don't see what was so different from the National Press Club that made it outrageous, when Detroit and the earlier videos were apparently not outrageous to Obama's sensibilities.
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Wright and Obama
"I'm not buying this. I don't see what was so different from the National Press Club that made it outrageous, when Detroit and the earlier videos were apparently not outrageous to Obama's sensibilities."
Elephantman, look at my earlier post. I don't buy it either, I think that Wright is trying to help Obama by throwing himself under the wheels.
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How much longer...
How much longer will we have to hear about Reverend Wright, as opposed to our energy policy, unemployment, education?
This debacle, from the beginning, has been about smearing Obama with Wright's words. Why is that OK? Obama has been quite clear in his own speech and actions about what his beliefs are. He shouldn't have to answer for Wright. Hopefully, this issue will die a quick death but I highly doubt it.
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@Etyfreak & Elephant
Ridiculous. Wright doesn't need to help Obama by making a jack*ss of himself. All he had to do was make a quiet statement about his beliefs and let it go. He couldn't do that.
On one hand I understand that. Others shouldn't be able to paint you as a loony just because they don't "get" your views. OTOH, how do you help yourself (or Obama) by letting loose in an arrogant fashion with some of your more incindiery views? This is a guy, for all who forget, who has many, many friends in religious circles who deeply admire him and his work. These people are from all different ethnic backgrounds and they sing his praises. Obviously, Wright's more contraversial views don't seem to influence his work or relationships within or outside of the community. They are one small part of who he is but he made these perspectives front & center on national TV.
Frankly, I don't think Rev. Wright cares about what this is doing to Obama. It's about him. Again, his job is not to save his politician friend's bacon, but he could lay low for a bit. That didn't happen, not by along shot.
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B. Obama
My support and the assurance of my vote in November is still as strong and certain as it ever was from the very begining.
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Possible Transcript error?
"And you know, I can construct something positive out of that. I can understand it. I, you know, the -- you know, the people do all sorts of things and, as I said before, I continue to believe that Reverend Wright has been a leader in the South Side."
On the CNN videofeed, I distinctly heard Obama say "I CANNOT construct something positive out of that. I CANNOT understand it."
But perhaps I'm mistaken.
So the split is official. .. . next issue remaining - what did Obama know about Wright and why did he stay in the church? Prepare for endless spin and framing, comming to a blog near you.