David Kuo says Obama has done all he needs to do about the Rev. Wright situation:
Some have said Obama needs to give a Checkers Speech. He doesn't. He has done nothing wrong. His pastor holds extreme views. He has clarified and distinguished his views from his pastor's. Done. The speech he should give is a speech about the nature of faith and politics - a speech that reminds us all about the dangers of confusing the political and the spiritual. We need that speech.
Well, we'll see. Whether it's fair to Obama or not, I think that's whistling past the graveyard. David Broder was correct this morning when he said on Meet the Press that many people may legitimately be left wondering why Obama chose to associate, and keep associating with, a pastor who preaches the sort of crazy stuff Jeremiah Wright does, when he could have chosen any number of churches and pastors in South Chicago when he was starting out.
Wright does not leave much room for lukewarm dissent. His rhetoric is blazing-hot, and his claims extravagant. Assuming Obama is telling the truth, and he really is appalled by some of the things Wright has preached, it's hard for me to understand why Obama, if he was so strongly offended, stuck around for all these years. Is it really not that big a deal to him that his pastor believes and preaches that the US Government invented the AIDS virus to foist genocide on blacks? Michelle Norris, the black NPR host, said on MTP this morning that this episode is the first time many white Americans are being exposed to the style and rhetoric of the African-American church -- and to things that black Americans take seriously. Norris pointed out that there were a lot of amens coming from the congregation in those incendiary videoclips of Wright's sermons that have been making the rounds.
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So Barack Obama looks past the sins of Reverend Wright to see the man - the broken man, trying his best, working hard, building a community, making some stupid incendiary statements - and the best you holier-than-thou folks with your cudgels of judgment can do is demand that he destroy his deep and abiding friendship with him to suit you? For what purpose? To what good end? And what genuine article of Christian faith is served by his doing that? To make you all feel better in your smug superiority? Because his candidacy would focus-group better?
This whole "issue" has sickened me and, yet again, underscores the rank hypocrisy of so-called Christians who would be the first to throw rocks at Jesus himself if he were to appear today.
God bless Barack Obama.
nepat: As a Christian woman, all I can say is AMEN! Good heavens, AMEN. You should go over the the "God Damn America" post and put this up there as well.
Thank you so much for putting it that way. Bless you!
I prefered Barack Obama against Clinton until this. I am sorry, but he knew what vile hate his pastor has been spewing. It sickens me. I used to be a member of a Presbyterian U.S. church. I loved the church and the pastor and the people. When the national church came out and divested of companies that did business in Israel, I contacted my church and asked how they planned to repond to that. They did nothing. Since I disagreed with this greatly, I left my church. Staying at the church insinuates agreement. He has been silent until he got negative blowback. NO way I will fall for that. Silence equals agreement...period. If he wanted to repudiate those comments, he should have done it earlier and he should have left the church. If my pastor spewed that kind of garbage, my butt would have been out of that church before he finished the sermon of hate. This coupled with his wife's comment that she has never been proud of America in her netire adult life makes me think there is some fire by that smoke. I am really beginning to think Barak may not be proud to be American. I want a President who loves our country. From what I can tell, Hillary and McCain love America more than Senator O'Bama. Sorry, but that is how I feel.
Really NO ONE agrees with EVERYTHING that their pastors say if they DID it wouldn't be a NEED for pastors. They are trying to CONVINCE most of the people sitting in the pews. I had a pastor preach a sermon about the "righteousness" of the war in Iraq- there isn't much righteousness in killing but you didn't see me getting my panties in a bunch about it. Just move on.
Obama's campaign is bleeding support in the polls since the Wright story on Good Morning America last week.
Not surprisingly, then, they have announced that Obama WILL give a "Checkers Speech" on this subject tomorrow.
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