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DEL.ICIO.USBetter not abandon Hillary just yet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barack Obama sufficiently shored up his effort to win the Democratic nomination with Tuesday’s speech that attempted to explain the incendiary rhetoric of his preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But it’s getting increasingly difficult to see him as the Democrat who can win the presidency this year. The speech wasn’t that good.
While more eloquent than most, it was a rehash of arguments that have been aired and debated for decades in defense of programs to enact or preserve racial preferences in hiring, admissions and contracting, and to pour more public money into the same failed approaches to schools. In short, it was liberalism earnestly presented as a dialogue on race.
But when the dancing was done, there was still Jeremiah Wright’s rhetoric — and the fact that, regardless of whether Obama was present in the congregation on any given Sunday, the minister’s extremism could not have been missed by any person exposed to the larger community. And yet, Obama never walked away. His speech Tuesday doesn’t really explain his inaction — or, at least, the inaction of a person who aspired to lead all of America.
So this fall we will have two Democratic candidates — and maybe three or more. One will be Obama, the agent of change who will gussy up liberalism and attempt to pass it off as something virginal and virtuous. And there’ll be Michelle Obama — “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country…” And there’ll be Wright. And all that footage of rhetorical extremism.
The Democrats’ superdelegates had best not squeeze Hillary out too early. Obama may have talked his way through to the Democratic nomination — but one speech barely begins to repair the damage Obama’s association with Wright has caused.
Comments
By Inherit America
March 19, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this
The only people offended by the good pastor are Bushbase. Obama doesn’t need their votes.
Obama 08. Inherit America.
By OneForTheRoad
March 19, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
Oh Jim,
The sparkle in your keystrokes, the glimmer in the rhetoric. I can almost feel the warmth from those very rays you bask in today.
By TAFKAH
March 19, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
Jim is a concern troll and unsubtle hack. His deep concern for the Democratic Party is touching. Thanks, oh great Wootie, for steering us in the right direction.
Wherefore thou concern for McCain’s troubling relationships with the Pastors Hagee and Parsley? These are men that Crazy John pursued with vigor and desperation, begging their blessing. Not a word from you, Jim, or your poodle dogs jbm and Dusty about his embrace of these nutjobs.
That speech you heard yesterday (assuming you actually listened and did not just cut and paste your column from Instaputz or the Powerline wankers) was the sound of the next President of the United States. You and your good old boys better get used to it.
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. The Jeremiah Wright story has more “lasting power” than I thought it would – while the problem could be that it plays on the deepest and darkest fears of some of our leftist friends, a more likely explanation is the paucity of sexy new stories to knock it out of the headlines. Mr. Obama’s bad luck was that the story started to run after the Spitzer shock, rather than before, and I think it will take something on a par with the Spitzer story to change the topic of the chattering class. Mr. Obama seems to me to be a man of good character, even if some of his associates are Clintonesque. I am more troubled by Mr. Obama’s relationship with the Weather Underground fellow than that with the racist lunatic Rev. Wright or Archbishop Wright or whatever he calls himself.
So, back to the horserace. When genial Jim Wooten invited our party predictions a couple of months ago, I said “Hillary” and not sooner than the first ballot at the convention. No reason to change that forecast, as it looks smarter today than it did a month ago.
By John
March 19, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this
I thought his speech was extremely moving, pointed, and effective. It was that good.
You’re fear of his actually being president is showing.
Obama disavowed the rhetoric of the pastor…but he’s not obligated to abandon the man altogether (I will note that I detest Pastor Wright). I actually admire Obama’s loyalty considering he could do the usual political “talk out of both sides of his mouth”.
Obama may show more teflon than Reagan.
He will be the next president. Middle aged, middle of the road, white guys like me are going to vote for him.
This is a non-issue now…let’s move on.
By Copyleft
March 19, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this
Of course Obama’s speech was liberalism… that’s what overcoming racial differences is ABOUT. It was a “re-hash” of policies of enlightenment, justice, and equality—in other words, liberalism through and through, and proudly so.
He’s a liberal, and he’s right. Why act so surprised? It happens every day.
By Inherit America
March 19, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
Seven score, and four years ago, our forefathers were locked in civil war. They fought for freedom. Our great country wasn’t completely formed yet, and that war insured that as America expanded westward, territory by territory, state by state, Americans wouldn’t have to fight the war over and over to settle the great question of the ages, is this new territory/state going to be Free or Slave?
Military Might chose Free. In spite of Freedom’s Reign during the seven score and four years since the civil war, former slaves and their descendants have faced brutality on a scale so vast that it’s legacy still hobbles and constrains America.
A sermon. A candidate. A press, down on revenue, needing a storm. Stock up on white bread and milquetoasts. Maybe it’s a good thing that White America cannot fathom the depravity of the injustices their own ancestors visited upon blacks and their own ancestors. A negative self-image wouldn’t be good for the country. It is enough that American know enough to elect Obama in november.
Obama 08. Inherit America.
By JustMe
March 19, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
I am a Democrat through and through. However, I just don’t trust Obama. There have too many things happen in his very short political career to cause doubt.
One is how he first spoke anti-NAFTA and then one of his advisors told Canada that he is really okay with NAFTA. Why would his advisor do this? Because it was true. However, Obama came out and said for us (the voters) to trust him and not his advisor.
Now, his spiritual leader comes out with anti-American and racist comments. Again Obama says to trust him and not one of his advisors.
Excuse me, but it Obama disagrees with these fundamental things with his very own advisors, why are they his advisors to start with?
I just don’t trust him at all.
That being said, I hate Wooten and his column. This is the first time I’ve read anything from him in YEARS.
I will vote for the Presidential candidate with solutions to our problems, not the one with the motivational speeches. I will vote for the Presidential candidate that will unite the US, not the one that will continue these ridiculous policies of the Bush era that is leading the US to destruction. That, I hope, will be Hillary.
By JustMe
March 19, 2008 8:56 AM | Link to this
I am a Democrat through and through. However, I just don’t trust Obama. There have too many things happen in his very short political career to cause doubt.
One is how he first spoke anti-NAFTA and then one of his advisors told Canada that he is really okay with NAFTA. Why would his advisor do this? Because it was true. However, Obama came out and said for us (the voters) to trust him and not his advisor.
Now, his spiritual leader comes out with anti-American and racist comments. Again Obama says to trust him and not one of his advisors.
Excuse me, but it Obama disagrees with these fundamental things with his very own advisors, why are they his advisors to start with?
I just don’t trust him at all.
That being said, I hate Wooten and his column. This is the first time I’ve read anything from him in YEARS.
I will vote for the Presidential candidate with solutions to our problems, not the one with the motivational speeches. I will vote for the Presidential candidate that will unite the US, not the one that will continue these ridiculous policies of the Bush era that is leading the US to destruction. That, I hope, will be Hillary.
By ron
March 19, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this
Good morning Jim,I think you’ve about covered it this morning.I can’t see how a man and a woman is going to convince me that they spent all that time and money listening to rhetoric they didn’t believe in.These two are living a life that most Americans will never live.They’re sitting on their pampered duffs listening to and supporting a fool that runs down the country where they make this living.One of them is finally proud of America. Took awhile,didn’t it girlie?I’m not even sure the other one is proud of America yet.
I’ve stated before that I do not trust Barak Obama,and nothing that transpired last week made me change my mind.I’ve read his speech and there are some fine words there,but he didn’t write it,he just mouthed the words.I don’t believe for a minute that his values are in those words.I do not trust this man.
By JustMe
March 19, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
I am a Democrat through and through. However, I just don’t trust Obama. There have too many things happen in his very short political career to cause doubt.
One is how he first spoke anti-NAFTA and then one of his advisors told Canada that he is really okay with NAFTA. Why would his advisor do this? Because it was true. However, Obama came out and said for us (the voters) to trust him and not his advisor.
Now, his spiritual leader comes out with anti-American and racist comments. Again Obama says to trust him and not one of his advisors.
Excuse me, but it Obama disagrees with these fundamental things with his very own advisors, why are they his advisors to start with?
I just don’t trust him at all.
That being said, I hate Wooten and his column. This is the first time I’ve read anything from him in YEARS.
I will vote for the Presidential candidate with solutions to our problems, not the one with the motivational speeches. I will vote for the Presidential candidate that will unite the US, not the one that will continue these ridiculous policies of the Bush era that is leading the US to destruction. That, I hope, will be Hillary.
By spring
March 19, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this
The black church has always been the cornerstone of black communities. The preacher/pastor has always been the one to move us. It was the preacher that encourages us to stand for civil rights, it was the preacher that healed our bodies and taught our minds. It was the preacher the sheriff/mayor went to when they needed our cooperation. Even today it is the preacher politicians run to when they want our votes. Rev Wright only spoke what we has been said around the world— Senator Obama speech was dead on, we need changes— But there will always be people like you who don’t want changes- will always look for something to hold our country back.
By Joe Bland
March 19, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this
As a chamber of commerce Republican, I sort of hope you are right, Jim, because I want McCain to be elected. But then I don’t want you to be right, either. I hate the Madison Avenue aspect of politics – lying, slinging manufactured mud, etc. As you know, Michelle Obama’s statement and the Rev. Wright’s rhetoric are a poot in the wind as far as their actual significance. Or am I wrong? Can anyone make a logical argument how non-issue issues (like did McCain poke a lobbyist?) should be the deciding factor of a candidate’s fitness? Why must the ado always be about nothing?
By spring
March 19, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this
The black church has always been the cornerstone of black communities. The preacher/pastor has always been the one to move us. It was the preacher that encourages us to stand for civil rights, it was the preacher that healed our bodies and taught our minds. It was the preacher the sheriff/mayor went to when they needed our cooperation. Even today it is the preacher politicians run to when they want our votes. Rev Wright only spoke what we has been said around the world— Senator Obama speech was dead on, we need changes— But there will always be people like you who don’t want changes- will always look for something to hold our country back.
By Inherit America
March 19, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
I SAID INHERIT AMERICA!
By Spring
March 19, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this
The black church has always been the cornerstone of black communities. The preacher/pastor has always been the one to move us. It was the preacher that encourages us to stand for civil rights, it was the preacher that healed our bodies and taught our minds. It was the preacher the sheriff/mayor went to when they needed our cooperation. Even today it is the preacher politician run to when they want our votes. Rev Wright only spoke what we has been said around the world—
By gafarmer
March 19, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
Wright, Duke, Farrah-con,Stoner; birds of a feather,scavangers that feast on the road kill of the past. For one seeking to unite, Obama sure keeps devisive company.
By Inherit America
March 19, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
Obama 08. Inherit America.
By Troll Patrol
March 19, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
After the Katrina debacle, Kanye West pretty well summed up the Republicancer Party’s thought’s and ideals where it came to people of color. Now we have The Wootenanny giving us more of the same.
Nice Job you racist jerks.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this
THE BARACKITUDES
Blessed are they who vote for me, for they shall have Hope.
Blessed are they who vote for me, for they shall have Hope for Change.
Blessed are they who vote for me, for they shall have More of what remains unchanged.
Blessed are they who vote for me, for they shall have four More years of inspiring oratory.
Blessed are they who vote for me, for they shall Transcend Race.
By Dennis
March 19, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this
Mr. Wooten writes, “…attempted to explain the incendiary rhetoric of his preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But it’s getting increasingly difficult to see him as the Democrat who can win the presidency this year. The speech wasn’t that good.
“While more eloquent than most, it was a rehash of arguments that have been aired and debated for decades in defense of programs to enact or preserve racial preferences in hiring, admissions and contracting, and to pour more public money into the same failed approaches to schools. In short, it was liberalism earnestly presented as a dialogue on race.”
This “white man” disagrees with you, Mr. Wooten (but that’s easy to do).
Mr. Obama made a clean break from the political/racist views of “Rev” Wright, and you know it.
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By Unity
March 19, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this
In response to Barack’s speech in Philadelphia today, the New York Times just released the following editorial:
There are moments — increasingly rare in risk-abhorrent modern campaigns — when politicians are called upon to bare their fundamental beliefs. In the best of these moments, the speaker does not just salve the current political wound, but also illuminates larger, troubling issues that the nation is wrestling with.
Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better.
Mr. Obama had to address race and religion, the two most toxic subjects in politics. He was as powerful and frank as Mitt Romney was weak and calculating earlier this year in his attempt to persuade the religious right that his Mormonism is Christian enough for them.
It was not a moment to which Mr. Obama came easily. He hesitated uncomfortably long in dealing with the controversial remarks of his spiritual mentor and former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who denounced the United States as endemically racist, murderous and corrupt.
On Tuesday, Mr. Obama drew a bright line between his religious connection with Mr. Wright, which should be none of the voters’ business, and having a political connection, which would be very much their business. The distinction seems especially urgent after seven years of a president who has worked to blur the line between church and state.
Mr. Obama acknowledged his strong ties to Mr. Wright. He embraced him as the man “who helped introduce me to my Christian faith,” and said that “as imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me.”
Wisely, he did not claim to be unaware of Mr. Wright’s radicalism or bitterness, disarming the speculation about whether he personally heard the longtime pastor of his church speak the words being played and replayed on YouTube. Mr. Obama said Mr. Wright’s comments were not just potentially offensive, as politicians are apt to do, but “rightly offend white and black alike” and are wrong in their analysis of America. But, he said, many Americans “have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagree.”
Mr. Obama’s eloquent speech should end the debate over his ties to Mr. Wright since there is nothing to suggest that he would carry religion into government. But he did not stop there. He put Mr. Wright, his beliefs and the reaction to them into the larger context of race relations with an honesty seldom heard in public life.
Mr. Obama spoke of the nation’s ugly racial history, which started with slavery and Jim Crow, and continues today in racial segregation, the school achievement gap and discrimination in everything from banking services to law enforcement.
He did not hide from the often-unspoken reality that people on both sides of the color line are angry. “For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation,” he said, “the memories of humiliation and fear have not gone away, nor the anger and the bitterness of those years.”
At the same time, many white Americans, Mr. Obama noted, do not feel privileged by their race. “In an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero-sum game,” he said, adding that both sides must acknowledge that the other’s grievances are not imaginary.
He made the powerful point that while these feelings are not always voiced publicly, they are used in politics. “Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan coalition,” he said.
Against this backdrop, he said, he could not repudiate his pastor. “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,” he said. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother.” That woman whom he loves deeply, he said, “once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street” and more than once “uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.”
There have been times when we wondered what Mr. Obama meant when he talked about rising above traditional divides. This was not such a moment.
We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama’s words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane.
By Troll Patrol
March 19, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
Oh yes, almost forgot to mention.
I sincerely hope that all Republicancers, right wingers and similar thugs contract a painful wasting disease. A malady that could only be cured through the advances we’ve made in embryonic stem cell research. I hope it hurts a lot Jim.
By TW
March 19, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
Glenn - since your feeling Biblical this morning, have you ever seen the one written about your boy ‘w’?
Proverbs 6:16-19
16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
By Dannick
March 19, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this
Obama’s speech will appear in literary anthologies, along with King’s I Have a Dream speech, Bryan’s Cross of Gold speech, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, long after Wooten has been forgotten. You may not like the politics, but only a tasteless and cynical hack can say the speech “wasn’t very good.”
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
Wasn’t feeling Biblical, TW, so much as Giblical. Still, your textual selection is tasty. Odd that you should apply it to the archenemy of al-Qaeda, though.
As long as we’re playing Dueling Verses, how about this allusion to both al-Q and liberalism:
“Like as arrows in the hand of the giant, even so are the young children.”
[Ps. 127:4]
By Pompano
March 19, 2008 10:02 AM | Link to this
Selective memory - Funny how Obama can recall his Grandmother making racist comments but claims he can’t recall Rev Wright ever making such statements - what complete BS!
By Auntie Kepila
March 19, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
Senator Obama should come home to his Islands. He has been away too long. We miss our Hapa haolie Barry. We will remind him not to speak of grandparents the way they do on the Mainland. Come home, Barack!
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
Dear Glenn @ 9:36, clever, I wish I had conceived that idea.
Dear Unity @ 8:28, thank goodness the NYT is fawning over Barack; I stayed up all night worrying about whether they would. In an industry of pit bulls, they are clearly a pussycat for stroking leftists.
Dear TW @ 9:46, you did not have to bring Hillary into this. Seriously, you may wish to read a thoughtful analysis by an Iraqi (Fouad Ajami, teaches @ Johns Hopkins) in today’s WSJ, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120588186774146747.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
Dear Dannick @ 9:59, there is a dissenting view by a competent critic: “Eloquence is deep thought expressed in clear words. With Mr. Obama the deep thought part is missing. What is present are sentiments… “We can be great,” he’ll say, “yes, we can.” But then he doesn’t really explain exactly how to get there, or what it is we’ll be doing… He doesn’t unpack his thoughts, as they say. He asserts and keeps on walking.”
There are extraordinarily few leftists capable of deep thought today; Obama may or may not be one, but he has not yet shown it.
By Devastator
March 19, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
Pompano,
It could be because he spent more time with his grandmother who raised him than he did with a pastor he met as an adult jacka$$!
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all. I hope that everyone is okay and untouched from the latest weather troubles Hotlanta experienced. I recently returned from a month long business trip to Scotland, Amsterdam, and The Hague. I was fortunate to receive a tour of the Peace Palace (home of the ICJ and Permanent Court of Arbitration) by several clerks to judges on the ICJ. It still makes me chuckle how the Peace Palace (funded by Tsar Nicholas II) was finished in 1913. Real “peaceful” times.
In any event, I have been trying to catch up on the goings on here while also trying to help out several friends at Bear Stearns deal with sudden job insecurity and anger at the executive suites.
I have only read the transcript of Senator Obama’s speech and was quite impressed with it. For those of us privileged to grow up in Atlanta, I think it brought back a lot of feelings of pride and hope, but also shame and anger. We have allowed this great city to be bartered and bargained for in the name of racial “harmony” many times over in my lifetime, all the while moving our communities further apart.
I do not think the political views of a politician’s pastor should weigh heavily on a voter’s consideration, but it can (should?) certainly be a factor when examining influences and ideology.
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all. I hope that everyone is okay and untouched from the latest weather troubles Hotlanta experienced. I recently returned from a month long business trip to Scotland, Amsterdam, and The Hague. I was fortunate to receive a tour of the Peace Palace (home of the ICJ and Permanent Court of Arbitration) by several clerks to judges on the ICJ. It still makes me chuckle how the Peace Palace (funded by Tsar Nicholas II) was finished in 1913. Real “peaceful” times.
In any event, I have been trying to catch up on the goings on here while also trying to help out several friends at Bear Stearns deal with sudden job insecurity and anger at the executive suites.
I have only read the transcript of Senator Obama’s speech and was quite impressed with it. For those of us privileged to grow up in Atlanta, I think it brought back a lot of feelings of pride and hope, but also shame and anger. We have allowed this great city to be bartered and bargained for in the name of racial “harmony” many times over in my lifetime, all the while moving our communities further apart.
I do not think the political views of a politician’s pastor should weigh heavily on a voter’s consideration, but it can (should?) certainly be a factor when examining influences and ideology.
By TW
March 19, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
Glenn - you are no doubt a closet liberal, for those who applaud the quake will only strenghtn the tsunami - in this case a liberal tsunami. It’s going to happen, Glenn, the economy will make it so. Those such as yourself who refuse to acknowlege the ‘w’ infiltration of the Republican party only contribute to its demise - hence ‘closet liberal.’
jbmlaw - following the Murdock purchase, only the bottom of the cat box will read the WSJ until the subscript runs out. In return, I won’t quote you anything from Moveon,org…
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this
Jim is too nice to call Obama exactly what he is…a man of racial and anti-American extremism.
Let’s “make believe” a political fairy tale: Suppose I tell you that I religiously attend the “white people” KluKluxKlan meeting(I don’t), associate with David Duke (I don’t), have a husband who dislikes America (mine has fought for his country). That I am against the war in Iraq (I’m not). Would you think that this suppositional “I” would make a suitable president of the USA during wartime or any time? Even if “I” could make an eloquent speech and tell you that “I” am “as fine as silk”?
Of course not. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. Words are the only thing Obama has to back his claims. His actions show us his character.
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all. I hope that everyone is okay and untouched from the latest weather troubles Hotlanta experienced. I recently returned from a month long business trip to Scotland, Amsterdam, and The Hague. I was fortunate to receive a tour of the Peace Palace (home of the ICJ and Permanent Court of Arbitration) by several clerks to judges on the ICJ. It still makes me chuckle how the Peace Palace (funded by Tsar Nicholas II) was finished in 1913. Real “peaceful” times.
In any event, I have been trying to catch up on the goings on here while also trying to help out several friends at Bear Stearns deal with sudden job insecurity and anger at the executive suites.
I have only read the transcript of Senator Obama’s speech and was quite impressed with it. For those of us privileged to grow up in Atlanta, I think it brought back a lot of feelings of pride and hope, but also shame and anger. We have allowed this great city to be bartered and bargained for in the name of racial “harmony” many times over in my lifetime, all the while moving our communities further apart.
I do not think the political views of a politician’s pastor should weigh heavily on a voter’s consideration, but it can (should?) certainly be a factor when examining influences and ideology.
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all. I hope that everyone is okay and untouched from the latest weather troubles Hotlanta experienced. I recently returned from a month long business trip to Scotland, Amsterdam, and The Hague. I was fortunate to receive a tour of the Peace Palace (home of the ICJ and Permanent Court of Arbitration) by several clerks to judges on the ICJ. It still makes me chuckle how the Peace Palace (funded by Tsar Nicholas II) was finished in 1913. Real “peaceful” times.
In any event, I have been trying to catch up on the goings on here while also trying to help out several friends at Bear Stearns deal with sudden job insecurity and anger at the executive suites.
I have only read the transcript of Senator Obama’s speech and was quite impressed with it. For those of us privileged to grow up in Atlanta, I think it brought back a lot of feelings of pride and hope, but also shame and anger. We have allowed this great city to be bartered and bargained for in the name of racial “harmony” many times over in my lifetime, all the while moving our communities further apart.
I do not think the political views of a politician’s pastor should weigh heavily on a voter’s consideration, but it can (should?) certainly be a factor when examining influences and ideology.
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:44 AM | Link to this
Apologies for the multiple postings. I swear I only clicked once!
By Southern Democrat
March 19, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this
Apologies for the multiple postings. I swear I only clicked once!
By TW
March 19, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this
Everybody relax!
The Pres just said that “Because we acted the world is better and the United States of America is safer.”
Whew! Was getting a little worried.
YOU’RE DOIN’ A HECK OF A JOB, BUSHY!!!!!
By Tim
March 19, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Dusty @10:36
Did you feel the same way when Trent Lott spoke glowingly about Strom Thurman? How about when so many on the right ran to Bob Jones U? The real truth is that we all know people that have thoughts and feeling that we disagree with. And if you say you don’t, then you either live in a really small world or are a liar. Be a rational adult and admit that not all things are as blackand white as you are trying to portray them. Thats not the way it works in the real world.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
TW, what in Sam Hill makes you think I haven’t noticed the damage W’s done to my party? Hevvins. Just because I don’t think he’s a liar and murderer? The man can be a full-time politician and a wartime President and still be a man of his word and an honorable Commander in Chief; furthermore, he can be all those things and still do immense damage to his party. And so he is, and so he has done.
You don’t have to add insult to injury, my friend. I’m one of the dinosaurs who now has to weather this Ice Age. Me, a liberal? Goodness. You get far enough into traditionalism, and people take it for something progressive. How weird.
By Adam
March 19, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
Well what a surprise!!
After Obama is outed as one who particpates in and contributes to a “church” that is dominated by the diatribes and harrangues of a black separatist, his much anticipated explanation boils down to Blame Whitey. Yeah, the Rev might have gone a little overboard but who can fault him? White America forced him to feel this way. If you’re running in a Leftist Democrat primary what better appeal for votes. It’s always America’s fault.
This is an age when a Republican is disgraced if it is discovered he once belonged to a golf club and therefore somehow guilty by association with the KKK.
It turns out the real racist in Obama’s past is his wicked grandmother who is “a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street.” We all know what an irrational feeling that is don’t we? The young women at Auburn and Chapel Hill may have been convinced it was deemed racist to even consider their own safety.
By Jackie
March 19, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
@Glenn,
You asked the question about neocon professors yesterday. How about Francis F*******, Doug Feith (Georgetown), John Chou (Cal-Berkley).
By getalife
March 19, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
Mr. Murtha endorses Clinton to give her a huge lead in Penn. Obama can’t win the big States and should drop out.
Too bad Jim and his ilk do have the guts to call for w and cheney’s resignations for destroying our country and gave them a free pass for breaking the law.
Retire Jim, you are pathetic.
By Captain Freedom
March 19, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
THE Captain, along with his oh-so-serious True Belief comrades Wooten, jbm, ron, and Dusty, listened carefully to the words of Barack HUSSEIN Osama yesterday, thoughtfully stroking our chins to generate friction to fuel our heretofore underutilized brain pans. THE Captain was, you see, desperate to hear anything that would allow Him to support this Negro so that He might enjoy the frisson (pardon my French) of joining the Osamamania movement, and perhaps meeting Scarlett Johannsen so that she might bear THE Captain’s seed. But THE Captain digresses.
Minds wide open, THE Captain hung on the Minstrel’s every word, and sadly shook His Head when He, through the powers of objective reason, determined that this man is just another America-hating darkie who is probably a communislamist terrorist coddler, too. We did not want to feel this way, but we have arrived at our reaction through sober analysis and Common Sense.
Having dipped His toe in the river reason, THE Captain will now revert to faith as His guiding principle. First, Reason is the enemy of Faith, and should be avoided at all costs. Mr Wooten’s columns are exemplary in this regard. Second, since THE Captain arrived at the same result through Reason as He would have through Faith, He has determined to just forego the rigors of actually, you know, thinking about stuff, and just move directly to the conclusion that fits faith. It is the Right Thing to do.
Further, THE Captain urges everyone to remember the first law of politics and religion: Only Republican Preachers are allowed to say crazy sh!t.
By Tom
March 19, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this
Since Billy Graham appears on the Nixon tapes agreeing with Nixon that “the Jews have a stranglehold on this country,” I want to hear Wooten call on George W. Bush to denounce Billy Graham.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
By BadOleBoys
March 19, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Troll Patrol @ 9:39 AM
“I sincerely hope that all Republicancers, right wingers and similar thugs contract a painful wasting disease…”
Please be advised that the Incumbent Georgia Republicans are working diligently with local business to fulfill your request. Visit www.ngass.com for more information.
By Captain Freedom
March 19, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Holy Cr@p!!!
THE Captain just had a shocking realization. If Obamandingo was a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, then he
must
not
be
a
Muslim.
Dammit, that’s what THE Captain gets for allowing Reason into the process. It was certainly easier to hate Barack for being a Muslim that it is to hate him for being insufficiently white. But only by a bit…
Irrational hatred disguised as principled opposition…It is the Right Thing to do.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this
Tim,@11:02
I am not in Trent Lott’s state. He is certainly not running for the President of the USA. Strom Thurmond was a relic of the past with racial preferences just as Obama has. Other than that, what is the commonality with Obama?
As far as I know, Bob Jones U is a strict religious university. What does that have to do with Obama?
By Jackie
March 19, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
I wonder why it took so long for those who are afraid to admit they walk around with blinders on about the abhorrent treatment of blacks and Jews in this country that continues to this day. We don’t have to go into the Tuskegee experiment, lynchings, riots by whites to overthrow the elected governments of cities, the wind-and-nod tactics used by the hotels in downtown Atlanta refusing to allow blacks to register, the police riots of Chicago, the Birmingham bombings, etc., etc., etc.
Given this SMALL list of racial strife, political opponents want to castigate Barack because the church he attends has a preacher this speaks about these things.
Martin Luther King, Fred Shuttlesworth, Ralph David Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, C.T. Vivian, etc., etc., etc., have spoken out about the treatment of ALL citizens and pointed out the failings of the American dream relating to blacks.
Wonder why those who are trying to castigate Barack Obama today have not heard this message from others?
Many profess to be “chiristians.” How many have read what Jesus said about the Romans?; how many believe that Jesus was not accepted by all because he dared speak out about the injustice of all people? Please show you biblical history to refute those things that Jesus preached and taught.
Many try to use anecdotal information to prove that Rev. Wright’s and Barack Obama words were invalid. Put forth your arguments to disprove what was said.
By steve-o
March 19, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this
This is so freakin funny! Apparently, some of you believe that Barack is a half-white racist who hates whites! This is just getting more and more funny by the moment!
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
Dear Southern @ multiple times, welcome back!
Dear Getalife @ 11:08, it is not that we lack “guts to call for w and cheney’s resignations for destroying our country and gave them a free pass for breaking the law,” but that we do have the brains to distinguish one preserving American liberties from those who would surrender all.
Actually Captain @ 11:23, any church that preaches the sort of Gospel as that offered by His Supreme Holiness Cardinal Wright has much more in common with our Islamist enemy than with any who know Jesus Christ. Not that anyone here would actually think about the similarities.
By GayGreyGeek
March 19, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this
steve-o - at WootenWorld, and especiallly in those sections called “jbmlawLand” and “DustBuster Square”, the sky is a bright purple Madras plaid, Brownie did a heckuva job, we’ve found the WMDs in Iraq, and the Shiites in Iran are supporting and arming the Sunni-dominated forces of al-Qaeda.
By Tim
March 19, 2008 12:10 PM | Link to this
Dusty @11:24
It has to do with selectively holding someone accountable for the views of someone else. Trent Lott was the bellcow for the right and he made comments that rightly or wrongly could be attributed to support for racist views. The right defended him ( and rightly so) from the attacking Dems. Why can’t those on the right acknowledge that the words and actions of The Rev. Belong to him and hime alone. When I was much younger, I was recruited by Liberty University. My family and Had a wonderful meal With the the coaches but we did not agree with some of there views. It does not make them or me extreme.
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 12:10 PM | Link to this
My attitude is hardening. Those leftists who preach about the evils of America cannot be surprised when their sentiments are profoundly resented by others. Normal (i.e., non-Leftist) people, who believe innocent people at the World Trade Center did not deserve to die horrifically at the hands of murderous Islamists, could find “Brother” Wright’s sermons appalling (there is a clever pun in there somewhere.) Those of us who revile Islamists, who cut off the heads of innocents or blow up themselves in order to kill innocents, find little to tolerate in the treasonous words of “Pastor” Wright. Waves of disgust, directed at those who ENABLE the Trinity United Church of Christ, are nothing but “chickens coming home to roost.” Any who disagree, talk to me about Bob Jones University, whose evils pale by comparison. The sermons of “Reverend” Wright merit the same admiration as the speeches of Hitler or Stalin.
By GayGreyGeek
March 19, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
jbmlaw - the more words you use, the less of a point you make. As your ally DustBuster regaled with with the other day: Concise Is Nice!
By Jackie
March 19, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
@jbmlaw,
As typical, you try to use anecdotal and nonsensical statements to prove you points. Where is it that Rev. Wright said anything about Islamic faith? Why are YOU such an intellectual coward?
You rant about rail about anyone who dares speak about Israel and the transgressions of the Israeli government, yet, you have the gall to utter your profound disagreement with those who speak out about the mistreatment of American citizens(blacks in this case). How duplicitous and disengenious can one be? Do you attribute that attitude to your legal training, or, can we assume that to be a character flaw?
By keepin' it real
March 19, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
What I find humorous is that the Obamamanians are trying to be apologists for a racist, anti-Semitic, hate monger. Even Oprah left that church years ago because of said hate. Now for any of you busybody libs out there keeping score, McCain was not a member of that white pastor’s church who said those nasty anti-Semitic comments, and Bush was not a member of nor a graduate of Bob Jones University. But we all know how you hate-filled libs feel about Jews and especially Israelis, not to mention so-Christian fundamentalists like the late Jerry Falwell.
“Obama is a MacDaddy.” <—- You’ve got to love that. Preach that hate!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama’s big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Unlike Bush the W, McCain will have the nads to tell Nanny Pelosi and Hairy Reid where to stick it in Congress. It’s going to be great listening to eight more years of b-i-t-c-hing from liberal dummycrats.
Keep the hate alive!
By getalife
March 19, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this
No ambulance chaser,
You cheered on the destruction and enabled the criminals.
It is the folks on the left who fought by protesting, calling and writing the reps. and voting out the criminals.
These are true patriots but you are a failed, pathetic American that does not have the guts to fight against the corporatists and criminals.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this
I’d call Sen. Obama’s speech quirky and evasive, if intermittently lovely. It does not hold up upon a close reading. Mr. O still hasn’t found his voice, IMHO, but he may do at any time. JFK did mid-campaign 1960. JFK had a past that was quite checkered. (The historical jury is still out on his abbreviated, mixed-bag presidency, which surely had its glorious moments.) Jack’s dad knew how to extricate his son from his somewhat disturbing past. So perhaps Barack can do so.
But he’s got to come clean, and that is going to be the feat of his life. It’s neither race nor religion that dogs him; it’s a life mentor after mentor who was one flavor or another of Marxist. Compared to that, sure he’ll throw his pastor and his grandmother, and even black Americans or white, under the bus. Anything to throw that old Marxist dog off the scent before it catches up to him and bites him on his multicolored butt.
By Shar
March 19, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
Good day to all of you. Like Southern Democrat, I too have been away, in my case in western Alabama to help with the aftermath of my father-in-law’s broken hip. He, at 84, loudly insists that his health is perfect, that he (absolutely bedridden) has been leaving the hospital grounds regularly, and demands a triple vodka & tonic and his car keys, in that order. She, also 84 with severe heart problems and mid-onset Alzheimer’s, refuses to either take her medications or consider moving out of their large lakeside home, since only “old people” have to do those things. I am happy to report that, compared to where I’ve been, everyone on this blog sounds completely rational today. Bliss!
I watched Senator Obama’s speech with both admiration and disappointment. I thought that he directly addressed “third rail” issues of race and religion with honesty and eloquence, and I appreciated his refusal to try to wriggle out of his relationship with his pastor or to pretend that his pastor’s remarks are somehow acceptable. The political instinct to throw someone else to the wolves is as deadening as it is pointless, and the senator rose above that. Instead, he made points that many in this country are sensitive to, presenting them with the skill to captivate and motivate his listeners, and he challenged us to listen and to think. Refreshing and commendable.
However, I was disappointed that he skirted both the pastor’s clear and fervent racism and his own obligation, as someone who claims to strongly disagree, to confront it. Blaming lack of success in his congregation on structural racism obviates personal responsibility, undermines initiative and perpetuates perhaps the only thing I have agreed with President Bush on, the “soft bigotry of low expectations”. Additionally, there is no doubt that a white candidate who identified a racist as a mentor would be marginalized and deemed unelectable.
Racism is not like homicide, where the perpetrator gets a pass if s/he believes it was comitted in self defense. Those who justify racism towards one group in fact accept it for all, and perpetuate its most damaging divisions even while decrying its effects on themselves. When faced with racist rants, whether on a street corner, at a cocktail party or from a pulpit, a leader does not sit quietly and mentally disagree. To me, Senator Obama did just that, and his failure to lead gives the lie to his eloquence of yesterday.
By George Washington
March 19, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this
Given what we white people have done to black people for the last 350 odd years, we had better hope and pray that Obama does not win in November, and install a black administration. With the power of the Black Administration turned against white america, only Congress and the Courts will stand between us and open warfare. I am an Obama supporter, and I approved this message.
By Captain Freedom
March 19, 2008 12:59 PM | Link to this
Glenn joins THE Captain in some powerful chin stroking and arrives at a totally unexpected conclusion…the Minstrel’s speech was insufficient to allay our Fear of a Black Planet.
Tomorrow…why Hillary is still shrill, however hard THE Captain tries to believe otherwise.
By jm
March 19, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this
I wonder if Mr. Wooten would be first in line to call Senator Obama a “flip-flopper” if he decided to disown Rev. Wright. Funny that the people are all crying the loudest for Senator Obama to disassociate himself from Rev. Wright are those who had no intention of voting for him anyway.
By Jackie
March 19, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
@jm,
RIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By BadOleBoys
March 19, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this
Well, I see Governor Perdue had to go and chew out the State House and Senate boys for their latest round of election-year antics. Dang it. He had to go and act all leaderly today and force me to be nice and call him Governor. Just don’t get used to it.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this
Trinity UCC (“Unitarians Considering Christ”) isn’t that much of a sanctuary that Barack Obama gets to hide his Marxist background in it. The consecration of that building and the ordination of Dr. Wright doesn’t cover (excuse) divisive and hateful truth claims as though they were bold and blinding truths. Black Liberation Theology begins in liberationist Marxism, and builds upon esp. Neo-Marist thought an Afro-centric, in place of a Euro-centric, ideology that calls itself theology. It is ultimately quite doctrinaire, and very particular, not least in that it is a color-conscious ideology that represents a departure from the liberal Christian theology of e.g. Martin King or Reinhold Niebuhr.
So if the color bar is to be located somewhere, it should be located between Christianity and anti-Christianity (Marxist doctrine), because it is the latter that colors the former, and not vice versa. Those two warring doctrines simply do not belong in the same henhouse, especially not in any henhouse that hatched a candidate for President of the United States.
Sen. Obama may be a brilliant man, a capable attorney, a fine husband and father, and a formidable speaker and politician, but I think we should consider him either a profoundly frivolous or else a deeply confused person until he explains how he can commit to an earth-shaking thesis, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and simultaneously to its earth-shaking antithesis, Dialectical Materialism, without Jesus coming out the loser and America being ripe for The Struggle.
In the great Abrahamic traditions, the shawl is the cover. It matters not what color the cover is. We all know that Dr. Wright draws power and inspiration from the triumphant history of the Black Church in America, as well as from his own part in that history. But just how far can that legitimacy take a pastor and his congregant before that shawl is tattered and desecrated? I vehemently denounce Dr. Wright, a shepherd of my flock. There. Was that such a difficult bleating? What’s Barack’s excuse for his tepid, forced, equivocal, evasive and above all belated dissociation from certain of the man’s supposedly uncharacteristic remarks?
Kierkegaard denounced his lifelong spiritual mentor, the Bishop of Copenhagen, when that flawed man, whom he loved, was mistaken for a prophetic Christian. In doing so, Kierkegaard was bravely true to his faith, his country, himself.
Who the hell IS Barack Obama? Does he even know?
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this
Well, did the Captain say he was avoiding the process of “thinking”? Did the Captain believe that he had to tell us that? The Captain leaves snake tracks that are still warm.
The Captain bravely circumvents his liberal tendencies to overload the pendulum with purposeful suggestive names and pushy propaganda and turn the “might of right” to the “slate of hate”. RedNeck is the country-phony more of the same.
Shar gives us the glorious righteousness of the left, although in semi-blindness to the obvious facts.
Captain is neither right nor righteous. He is rather entertaining, like watching a spider spin a web. I could go on with ..”oh what a web we weave when first….” and you know the rest. Spin on, loquacious one..
By Captain Freedom
March 19, 2008 2:02 PM | Link to this
A Captain’s Kudo for the erudite and courageous Glenn for bravely denouncing Rev Wright. Glenn is guilty of false modesty; THE Captain is certain that this decision came after a wrenching dark night of the soul. Just as THE Captain is certain that Glenn has not been feverishly searching for a “valid” reason to decide that Obamandingo is unworthy to become Our Leader. (Though why he does not just come on out a scream “n!gg@r! n!gg@r! n!gg@r!” is beyond THE Captain. It’s a good enough reason for most of the rest of us True Believers.) THE Captain guesses that some people need to dress up their Faith in Reason’s clothing, the better to fool the blasphemers.
And thus are the battle lines drawn: can We of True Belief sit idly by as “Jesus com[es] out the loser”? This is a battle for Jesus. Onward, Christian Soldiers!!
By Charles
March 19, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this
It’s amazing how ignorant so-called educated liberal integrationist Negroes are. They are either ignorant or woefully dishonest to the masses of black people. Most of them purport to believe that black people are entitled to the food, clothing, shelter, employment, and education etc. derived from institutional white power with no strings attached. They mistakenly believe it’s their right.
Let me set the record straight my friends. There is an attachment. There is no such example recorded in the annals of history of a free ride. The price that black people will and are paying for allowing White people, Jews, Arabs, and others to service their basic needs is servitude.
It is highly probable that Barack Obama works for the Central Intelligence Agency. (CIA)
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 2:15 PM | Link to this
Captain et al,
If you don’t mind, I have already heard the Lenten sermon for today, thank you. Yes, black and white members, all of us were there preparing for Easter. No, there was no hate. There were no battle lines.
Perhaps the Captain should visit a church and find out what is really going on in most of them. It is not a place to preach hate but love. Agape! I think Obama’s minister forgot that and Obama overlooked it (for twenty years!) That in itself is very sad.
By Chad
March 19, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
Funny that the people are all crying the loudest for Senator Obama to disassociate himself from Rev. Wright are those who had no intention of voting for him anyway. -jm-
Is that similar to those Democrats who asked McCain to denounce that evangelical nut Rev. Hagee for remarks about Catholics? At least try to keep everything consistent and balanced here; as difficult as that is for you Leftists to do.
By Captain Freedom
March 19, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
Dusty,
As the Obama juggernaut so aptly illustrates, Islamofascism never sleeps, and THE Captain is enlisted in the Great Struggle 24/7. While He wishes to attend services, the demands of bgeing a Keyboard Warrior do not allow for such luxury. But be certain…there are no atheists in this foxhole.
Fortunately, we have the likes of you and Glenn and jbm to alert us as to who is an acceptable Christian and who is not. THE Captain is capable of separating the wheat from the chaff, but is needed for more pressing duties.
As He stated earlier, THE Captain will reiterate: Only Republican Pastors are allowed to say crazy sh!t. Everyone else is subject to Dusty’s scrutiny.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this
Captain, I’m sure I deserve the ribbing somehow, but I don’t think you’re getting that it isn’t easy for any sheep to denounce any shepherd; we’re conditioned against it. (Witness the many secrets kept for decades by victims of Catholic clergy.) Of course we all recognize that Obama is in a rare bind, however, viz Wright. That’s why I thought to bring in the Danish example. But Barack did not, as he insists, come by that predicament honestly. That’s BS. He chose, in countless ways and for 20 years, to put himself in that predicament, which is a warring of God v. Marxist radicalism. And that’s why he’s got to sh!t or get off the pot on this one. Either he went ahead yesterday on his own, or whoever is advising him is even more confused than he.
By Sven the Blog Catalyst
March 19, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
Obama himself is a victim of America’s great chasm over race. I have no doubt that, being educated and polished, he felt great risk of being accused of “forgetting where he came from,” and/or (gasp!) not “keeping it real.” How to maintain his political attraction to his brethren? Why, hold his nose, and go to THAT church, of course! Shout, and jump, and wave your hands in the air, brother, while The Great and Grand Right Reverend Poo-Bah Bishop Wright doth smite the white man weekly, and pin on him responsibility for AIDS and drugs and all the ills of urban black life! THEN, Obama might be accepted as one of the fold, one of the ‘hood, and a man worthy of the curiously bloc-ish black vote.
No, I don’t believe Obama personally buys into these outlandish Wight-isms that are shown nightly on the news. But, Obama did make a choice, and he chose to buy into, and participate in, the atmosphere and theatrics that reflect the worst white stereoptypes of black behavior — stereotypes that they are buffoonish, loud-mouthed, unpatriotic, irresponsible, unprincipled, trash-talking, overly emotional, irrational, and bereft of intellectual gravitas.
So, Obama did “keep it real” with the black bloc … but that stuff jus’ don’ play so well in middle America. This issue will continue to have legs, and I don’t think Hillary needs to pack it in just yet, either.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this
Charles@2:11
What is your problem? You’ve really got one.
Condi Rice, Colin Powell and Clarence Thomas would not agree with your opinion as they use their great abilities to serve this country.
So, it is highly probable that Barak Obama works for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Uh huh..and it is highly probable that you arrived here on a flying saucer.
By Captain Freedom's Inner Frenchman
March 19, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this
Glenn,
While THE Captain goes for another bag of cheetos, I will step in with this: Once you and Wooten and the like begin asking as loudly for McCain’s denunciation of Hagee/Parsely/Dobson and the crazy bullsh!t those nutters toss around, you have a position to argue from. But the demands here are strictly on Obama, and are peculiarly racial in nature.
His refusal to “denounce” Wright was strategically adept, because if he denounced this guy, he’d be asked eventually to denounce every African-American except Colin Powell and Clarence Thomas. And even then, it would not satisfy those among you who would not consider voting for him under any circumstance.
His speech was to the point…not just of this ginned up kerfuffle, but of the state of race and class relations and the way it is used to divide groups that should see their interests in alignment. He turned the game on the people who demanded he play it their way. And now all you can do is “bleat” over and over again…”It’s not enough”.
So, how bout it? Where are the demands on McCain to denounce the clearly lunatic, anti-Semitic and apolcalyptic rantings of Hagee? Heck, he doesn’t even have to denounce the man. Have Mac denounce even one belief espoused by this cult crazy. He won’t do it, because he is afraid of their power to motivate “the base”. Straight Shooter my @$$.
This is a bullsh!t game, and Obama parried it well enough for the people who would give him a consideration in the first place. For the rest of you, tough t!tt!es.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 2:45 PM | Link to this
Oh Dusty, why do you find the need to respond to someone you believe has arrived on a flying saucer?
The reality is that you don’t believe in flying saucers. You are determined to crush the truth that I represent; that’s impossible man.
Even the so-called educated integrationist Negroes would take issue with you concerning Condi Rice, Clarence Thomas…lol
By Charles
March 19, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this
Now Dusty, you know Barack Obama is not a black person. You know that. I don’t know what he is, but he’s not black.
I say he’s a white person.
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
Dear Steve-o @ 11:50, most leftists are self-loathing types, without regard to race. No surprise to me.
Dear Jackie @ 12:22, you misread. The Islamists who murder also do not magnify Islam, they condemn the west, using mostly the same terms as Pope Jeremiah. Suggest you re-read the “chickens coming home to roost” sermon, and try to differentiate that from Osama Bin Laden’s justification for the attack.
As to the rest of your argument, “You rant about rail about anyone who dares speak about Israel and the transgressions of the Israeli government, yet, you have the gall to utter your profound disagreement with those who speak out about the mistreatment of American citizens (blacks in this case). How duplicitous and disengenious can one be? Do you attribute that attitude to your legal training, or, can we assume that to be a character flaw?” Actually your analogy is almost perfect – Israel’s behavior toward Palestinians has been nearly as honorable as the respectful embrace white America has offered its brothers of color. As a rational person, I repudiate both slanders. My position would be duplicitous or disingenuous if I differentiated the two. As my position reflects both superior morality and the highest intellectual position imaginable, it matters little to me whether I credit my inherent goodness or my excellent education.
Dear Shar @ 12:51, welcome back, and while we regret the circumstances of your absence, your genius is always appreciated. Your essay is magnificent, and I find nothing to dispute. We need to run you for office; are you sure you won’t accept Sen. McCain’s second position? Actually I’d rather have you there than Sen. McCain.
Dear jm @ 1:23, I don’t think so. Normally conservatives resent only those flip floppers who flip to the democrat (i.e., wrong) side. Those who flip our way usually get a near-total pass (ask me about Zell or Joe Lieberman.)
Dear Glenn @ 1:52, either you read my thoughts more intelligently than I, or you are so persuasive that my own thoughts are erased by your argument.
By Georgia 74
March 19, 2008 2:59 PM | Link to this
As I said the other day, all this doesn’t matter, because no matter who is elected,Hillary, Obama or John, in our craziest, wildest, incoherent or any other adjective that has ever been thought of or written down by man or scatched on the earth dreams, they will be better than what we have now.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this
Captain, dear Captain,2:21
I am for affirmative action. I consider ALL pastors with the same scrutiny. Fortunately for me, I don’t even know one, personally, who mentions his political leanings. And not a single one who uses four letter words or hates America. Not to say that all are perfect by any means. I don’t know the obvious “imperfects” and I don’t watch TV ministers.
My own minister has a son in the military in Iraq at this moment. Just thought I would mention that.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this
Dusty, we should run the so-called educated integrationist Negroes out of town on a rail. These bizarre people want the off-springs of white people to have kinky hair and darker skin. They would like to see the off-springs of Negroes with blue eyes, dark skin, and blond hair. They think they can steal the country from under our noses while we are attempting to solve their purposefully created problems.
These criminals should be run out of town on a rail.
By jm
March 19, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this
chad@2;21 - Is that similar to those Democrats who asked McCain to denounce that evangelical nut Rev. Hagee for remarks about Catholics? At least try to keep everything consistent and balanced here; as difficult as that is for you Leftists to do.
The topic of Mr. Wooten’s column was Senator Obama’s relationship with Rev. Wright. If it had been sbout Senator McCain’s relationship with Rev. Hagee, my comment would have been the same but that is probably more than your hardwired little brain could handle.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this
Dusty, we should run the so-called educated integrationist Negroes out of town on a rail. These bizarre people want the off-springs of white people to have kinky hair and darker skin. They would like to see the off-springs of Negroes with blue eyes, dark skin, and blond hair. They think they can steal the country from under our noses while we are attempting to solve their purposefully created problems.
These criminals should be run out of town on a rail.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this
Captain Swallowed a Frog,
Let’s ignore your annoying habit of entering a debate by arrogating the right to name the price of participation, OK? If you have to win it coming out the gate that way, why bother? Do you play coits at close vertical range?
Hagee and Wright are very different ideologically and especially theologically, but pastorally they are the same person: they both practice sacrificial religion by appealing to anger and directing it toward a preferred scapegoat. They just scapegoat and sacrifice different lambs. To that extent they are so confused that they are anti-Christian, because the Naz was Himself a sacrificial lamb who was slaughtered for attacking the sacrificial systems that were to kill Him.
John McCain has denounced Hagee’s anti-Catholicism, and has made it clear that he does not associate himself with Pastor Hagee’s ministry. Mr. Hagee is not now and has not been, over the past two decades or at any time, Mr. McCain’s pastor.
And don’t forget: your bus is coming to take you to the airport, to fly to Libya with Minister Farrakhan for your joint audience with Col. Khadafi. (Yet another illustration of how at some point mere “associations” become positive actions.)
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this
Welcome back, Shar!
Wondered where you’d gone.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this
Hammmm
I don’t know whether this is good or bad. Some of our more impressive conservatives here begin to sound more liberal than liberals themselves.
Or is it just flattery?
Whatever. But…. rejoice, libs, the “thinking man” may yet find a few points that he may advocate for your philosophy. He might also lose the next election for his magnificence and give us one not so magnificent in the White House.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
Charles@3:11
Don’t even try to act like I agree with you. You are a bigot and you are disgusting. Is that clear enough for you to understand?
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
Captain,
So far am I from being a white racist that your accusation that I am one doesn’t even ruffle my feathers. It’s just ridiculous. I mention it because it brings right on home to me what Andy has been saying all along about how the Left is stuck on melanin, for which it has absolutely no use except as a kind of gunpowder in service of its implacable colonization of everyone and everything—-even of everything ever known.
Hail Gaia.
By ron
March 19, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this
Be nice,Dusty
By Charles
March 19, 2008 3:38 PM | Link to this
To whom it may concern:
Dusty does not agree with any of my opinions; especially the ones which pertains to race. He would probably defer to Barak Obama. Lol
In my opinion, as the former governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura said, you people can’t take the truth.
I don’t think that there are too many people that have the brains or the courage to tell the truth. People have no integrity today.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this
To whom it may concern:
Dusty does not agree with any of my opinions; especially the ones which pertains to race. He would probably defer to Barak Obama. Lol
In my opinion, as the former governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura said, you people can’t take the truth.
I don’t think that there are too many people that have the brains or the courage to tell the truth. People have no integrity today.
By Tom
March 19, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this
Larry Craig sez, “I am not gay. I never have been gay.”
Glenn sez, “I am not a racist. I never have been a racist.”
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Charles, if you think we can’t take it, then hit us with it all the harder.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
Ron@3:34
In what way? I am always sweet and kind (and TRUTHFUL)!!!
You won’t believe what a good time I had last night. I reread some of O’Henry’s short stories and they are so amusing. Oldies but goodies. Also read Michael Palmer’s “The Patient”..a real thriller. Books are better than blogs on entertainment…but I am wandering away from politics…
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
Actually, Tom, I didn’t say that. But I’m sure that truth and accuracy and such niceties mean as little to you as they do to any other suckling so freshly weaned from a lifetime of libberish to a diet of solid Leftism.
But your attempt at racism is duly noted.
By Tom
March 19, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
Wow, Glenn, coming from someone whose commentary I respect sooooo much, that’s truly wounding.
Please pray to Jebus for my soul.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
Let me tell you something Glenn. If I were a white person, I would listen to www.radioliberty.com from Monday-Friday. Dr. Stan is a good, honest, and credible white person having the interest of nation and the masses of white people at heart.
I refer black people to that website also. Credible black websites and organizations which support the interest of black people are not strong enough to withstand the onslaught from deceptive so-called educated integrationist Negroes.
They will sabotage authentic black web-sites and organizations via white institutions like they did the Universal Negro Improvement Association. UNIA
The so-called educated integrationist Negroes begged the government, FBI, and other agencies to destroy Marcus Garvey and the UNIA. They conspired to have Marcus imprisoned and rendered the credible black organization, out of business.
Therefore, I can’t provide credible black organizations for black people to visit. Dr. Stan will have to suffice until we gain greater strength.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Charles,
I find that wearing a metal mixing bowl on my head reduces the noise of the voices I hear. That and heavy drinking mixed with my antidepressants makes it possible to get through the day. Do try it.
By DustyNot
March 19, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
Dusty likes to wear a paper bag over her head too, it spares small children the horror of her Medusa like head….
By Charles
March 19, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this
The so-called educated integrationist Negroes conspired to have Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. murdered.
Dr. King had to be murdered in order to force an apostate integration upon Americans.
If Dr. King would agree with any form of this so-called integration after his death, I would personally shoot him again; and I’m a nonviolent person.
By AmVet
March 19, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this
Georgia, long known as a veritable breeding ground for the best politicians in the nations’ two plus centuries, can include another - Representative Paul Brown (R).
News to the rest of the known universe, Mr. Brown elucidated his constituents with this “news”:
“…roughly 40% of the people intercepted crossing our border are not Mexicans…there is quite a large number of people that are coming across the border that are of Middle eastern origin as well as Asian origin…”
The reality? 7% of the people intercepted crossing the border are non-Mexican and only .03 of 1% are from the Middle East and South Asia.
In the grand and long tradition of Lester Maddox, Pat Jarvis, Pat Swindall, Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, Sonny Purdue, Charles Walker, Linda Schrenko, Bill Campbell and Sidney Dorsey, let us welcome Mr. Brown to Georgia’s Political Rogue Gallery…
By Charles
March 19, 2008 4:34 PM | Link to this
As I said before Dusty, Americans are too weak. They can’t take the truth.
If you want fantasy, I refer you to the speech of Barack Obama and the so-called educated integrationist Negroes. Lol
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this
ID thief@4:19 Bad girl!!
By Charles
March 19, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this
I’m so full of self-loathing I think I’ll go lynch myself.
By Charles
March 19, 2008 4:45 PM | Link to this
I know this comment is going to break everybody’s heart. I’ve got to sign off for today. There is one urgent task I must accomplish before I leave for home.
By the way Glenn, I haven’t hit you all with my best shot. Lol
It was good talking to everybody. I will see you all tomorrow; God willing.
By Glenn
March 19, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
Take care, Charles.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this
Amvet @4:42
Are you referring to Paul Broun, M.D., who recently took the place of the deceased Charlie Norwood? I don’t know where you got your immigration figures or where Dr. Broun got his. From what I have read, Dr. Broun has said that illegal immigration is neither safe nor legal.
You forgot to mention that Dr. Broun was a Marine and served as a Navy doctor.
What is it about the good doctor that you find so distateful? Could it be that he is a Republican?
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this
Yes, Charles, travel safely, and be sure to phone when you reach your home on planet woo-woo.
By Tom
March 19, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this
Hey Dustrag, thanks for pointing out that Paul Broun was a Marine, which obviously magically transports him instaneously to the Land Beyond Criticism. I’m certain you extend the same courtesy to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, also USMC.
By Skeletor
March 19, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this
Excerpt from Anderson Cooper Interview with Obama:
Watch the interview tonight on 360° 10p ET
March 19, 2008 Obama on controversy
I just finished interviewing Senator Obama, we talked at length about lingering questions surrounding Reverend Wright, as well as how he thinks the controversy has hurt him.
Here is a brief exchange: _
Anderson Cooper: “How badly do you think this has– has damaged you? Obviously you’ve been taking it very seriously over the last couple days. I mean, you’ve been very available to the media. You made this speech yesterday.
How much has it hurt? ‘National Review online’ says, you know, bottom line, will the speech help you win white working-class voters?”
Barack Obama: “Well, you– you know– one of the things I said early on in this campaign was if– if I was just running the textbook campaign– doing the conventional thing, I probably wasn’t gonna win because Senator Clinton was gonna be much more capable of doing that than I would be. We had tremendous success– and I think we were starting to get a little comfortable and conventional right before Texas and Ohio.
And, you know, in– in some ways this– this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that– the odds of me getting elected have always been– lower than– than some of the other conventional candidates…”
“…And if I bring something to this conversation, it’s gonna be because I do what I did yesterday, which is hopefully open up new conversation about a new direction of the country. As a practical matter in terms of– how this plays out demographically, I can’t tell you. I don’t know.
”
_ I’d blog more but our plane is just taking off, we’re heading to Charlotte…see you from there tonight.
By Doobie Brother
March 19, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
Dr. Paul Broun is a righteous dude, Dusty. He’s in favor of legalizing pot. Must be all that good sh*t he got in ‘Nam. Rock on, Dr. B and don’t bogart!
By Tom
March 19, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
Damn that rapid typing—make that “instantaneously.”
By AmVet
March 19, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this
Dusty, my bad on the misspelling.
If you had even an inkling of Georgia’s political history, you would comprehend the list I provided included….what?
C’mon…you can do it!
Keep thinking! Yes!
DEMOCRATS!
The fact that this representative is an obvious mental midget on this matter or just an intentional prevaricator is what matters and reflects mightily on his inability to accurately assess and make decisions on matters of importance.
At least assess them in terms of REALITY! Not made up mumbo jumbo.
The letter following his name is of no concern to me.
That you willingly turn a blind eye, completely ignore the salient point I made (how many times OBL, is getting through at Nogales, Nueveo Laredo and Tijuana) and accept “leaders” who can’t even get basic, simple FACTS straight or misstate them on purpose to keep the ignorant faithful voting for them is your choice.
Homey don’t play that.
By ron
March 19, 2008 5:17 PM | Link to this
Yesterday’s love affair with the Fed rate cut appears to be 3/4 over.DJIA down 293.
An endorsement from The New Black Panther Party lingers on Barak’s blog.So reports the fair and balanced people.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 5:18 PM | Link to this
Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine, too.
Ohh, this is fun!!! Beats working…
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this
Tom@5:03
I would say that serving as a Marine is not a magical transport but a tough job to complete. I appreciate those who serve to protect us.
If the Rev. Wright was a Marine, I honor his service. I do not honor his later curse on America. That does not sound like a Marine and I can only wonder what made the man lose his love of country. Sounds like he had a total reversal of his loyalties.
By TAFKAH
March 19, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this
As long as we are pointing out political figures who cannot get their facts straight, how about Dumbo McCain’s repeated assertion that the Shiites in Iran are actively recruiting and training Sunni al Quaeda to fight in Iraq.
Dumb as a box of rocks, he not only said it once (and had to suffer the embarrassment of being corrected in public by Holy Joe Lieberman, this year’s Zell Miller), but then he went and repeated it twice more in the next 24 hours.
Just what we need, another president who makes sh1t up to compensate for an enfeebled intellect.
Oh but wait. Saint John was a war “hero” who always gives Straight Talk and is never wrong. Never mind, no story here.
In the meantime, let’s all worry about whether Obama has denounced Michal Jackson and OJ.
Dumbf^cks.
By Dusty
March 19, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
ID thief @ 5:18
Now I have to get the pork chops on for dinner. Carry on lil’ thief but it will not be me.
Oh AMVET..
Where did you get your figures on immigration? Forget the putdown. Just answer the question. Maybe YOU are a prevaricator. Being a Republican does not make Dr. Broun a rogue. But you will keep trying I am sure to think of something.Anything!!
Bye now!!
By Shar
March 19, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this
Glenn and jbmlaw: Thanks for the kind words. It’s nice, although embarassingly egotistical, to be missed.
However, jbmlaw, if you agree with everything I wrote I must not yet have shaken off the unaccustomed acquiescent congeniality of the past week or so. I’ll have to work on my edge.
Me run with Senator McCain? I imagine that membership in the Republican Party is a requirement, one which I would adamantly fail to meet. Besides, if we won, I’d have to move into Dick Cheney’s office, and I hear it’s mined.
By AmVet
March 19, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this
Dirty,
Notwithstanding your obvious difficulty with accepting reality, are your suggesting that you actually agree with that figure of 40% being non-Mexican?
H&ll girl, you would really have to be one head-up-your-arse delusional Bushbot to fall for some of this sh!t.
What next? Uranium from Niger? Al-Queda and Saddam were in cahoots in 2001? Kerry was hiding out in Alabama while Bush was engaged in firefights going up and down the Mekong Delta?
Dumb.
Like a rock…
By Jackie
March 19, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this
@jbmlaw,
“Actually your analogy is almost perfect – Israel’s behavior toward Palestinians has been nearly as honorable as the respectful embrace white America has offered its brothers of color. As a rational person, I repudiate both slanders. My position would be duplicitous or disingenuous if I differentiated the two. As my position reflects both superior morality and the highest intellectual position imaginable, it matters little to me whether I credit my inherent goodness or my excellent education.”
You are a comedian that has run out of jokes.
Oh I forgot, you are the only clown in a one-ring circus, where the pony is sick and the elephant has a major need for Kaopectate.
Your superior what?
By jbmlaw
March 19, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this
Dear Shar @ 5:45, I don’t believe republican party membership is a requirement; otherwise how could John McCain get the nomination?
Dear Jackie @ 5:48, I will acknowledge that your posts reflect a surfeit of kaopectate.
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May 2, 2008 3:49 AM | Link to this
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