Yes, I have heard of it. The government did not give blacks syphilis.
I see that Loach covered this point.
Do you really want to split that hair? It’s hardly like what happened was any better.
And of course, untreated syphilis can spread. I’d hold the experimenters responsible for anyone who caught it from the subjects. Or caught it from someone who caught it from a subject…
Well, relatively immediately- it was what, three days?
Yeah, maybe they will. But should they? Obama has his own public record and people can judge from that. I don’t think it shows a trace of evidence that he shares these opinions.
How awful of Rev. Wright to impugn the character of the government when actually all it did was deliberately withhold treatment from sick people for 40 years so it could study a curable disease. I don’t think the government created AIDS, hid the truth about September 11 or Pearl Harbor or introduced crack to the ghetto. But you know what? Knowing that it did something like that, I can’t really begrudge an old man his suspicions. I wish he’d get clued in or shut up, but that’s life.
When the speech sounds like a KKK rally then his association with the speaker, after he’s disavowed the message, is not a good thing. He brought his family to this church and kept his association with the Rev. Wright after the fact including his run for President. It’s not like he found out yesterday and can turn the guy loose. That’s where it hurts his election, BADLY.
Did you see any videos? Did you see how he whipped up his congregation into a dancing frenzy in support of Obama ?
I understand the impact people are suggesting this could have on the election. I reiterate: I don’t see any reason to think Obama shares those views, and as a result it’s not an issue to me.
It’s Obama’s home church. He’s literally preaching to the choir.
And really, it doesn’t take much to get an African-American church whipped up into a dancing frenzy. It’s half the fun at those services. If he got some Presbyterians dancing in church for Obama, then I’d be impressed.
Have you ever been to a baptist church? How about a pentacostal one? Lot’s of jumping around and frenzied dancing. It’s actually quite invigorating, lot’s of energy.
Seriously, this has been done over and over - if catholic priest can fondle a little boys nether regions and it doesn’t reflect poorly on his parrish, how does this wingnut Wright reflect poorly on his? Many of my family who are catholic say thier priest is their spiritual advisor - some back in the 80’s were saying that about a man who turned out to be a pedophile.
Obama can say Wright was his spiritual advisor and yet not be an anti-semite or racist. Obviously.
Yeah, but if Hillary had been part of a church that preached anti-black sentiments, wouldn’t there be quite a ruckus about that?
I feel pretty sure Obama’s finished. Not just in terms of this election, but even in terms of keeping his Senate seat. The only interesting question is will the Democrats dump him now, or let him go on to lose in the general. I hate to see Hillary march back into the White House, but evil beats stupid every single day of the week.
The 20 year close association with Wright means that there’s no way he can separate himself from Wright’s views. The obvious question is, if you really feel this way about white people and America, why the hell do you want to be president? Why are you in the business of asking for white people’s votes?
The problem with Wright is that he practices the bullshit politics of self esteem. The reality that much of black America’s trauma is self inflicted is too painful to deal with, so you blame white people, you blame the US as a whole. That way you feel better, and you don’t really have to change.
It’s the same bullshit politics Geraldine Ferraro and the Clinton campaign were (rightly) called to account for. Hillary’s not losing because she ran a shitty, disorganized campaign with a a lousy, inexperienced candidate. She’s losing because her opponent is black. Or a man. Or the media is biased.
Obama’s long term association with Wright suggests that Obama is a deeply immature man, who hasn’t gotten a handle on his inner demons. So he maintains a long term association with who espouses values directly contrary to the one’s he claims to believe in, an association that can only serve to damage his career.
There are only two possibilities. Either Obama is really, really stupid, Harvard Law degree and magna cum laude notwithstanding, or he maintains his connection with Wright based on a deep psychological need. A need that outweighs his own best interests, and even outweighs his self professed belief in a future beyond racial partisanship.
I also have to question Obama’s backers. Did they do no background investigation at all? This suggests political incompetence on a massive scale.
Again, please show me where Obama has gone on record as subscribing to any of these views.
Dude, if you don’t like the idea of Obama as President for one reason or another, that’s fine with me, but it really seems like this is reaching pretty hard for an excuse to dislike him.
I don’t believe he said that.
Basically, he’s saying that if we fuck over other countries, it shouldn’t really be a shock when we get hit back. I know it’s incredibly un-PC to say this, but it’s true.
It’s a little better.
If this was the only bullshit that Wright was pushing, I would not have mentioned it. However, Wright seems to buy into almost any urban legend that reflects negatively on America. This was just another example.
I think it will hurt him. I also think it’s a little ridiculous to think that public political figures can’t associate with people who make strong statements that they don’t agree with. How the hell do we expect any politician to exist in Washington and accomplish anything if they can’t continue to associate and work with people who hold some views they disagree with? It’s a freakin bad joke.
I’m so sick of the media playin this guys comments over and over and discussing how shocking it is. I don’t appreciate his choice of language but if you listen to content he seems to be saying we talk a lot about how much we love justice and freedom and basic human rights but when it comes right down to it we’ve too often done a poor job of living up to those ideals.
Speaking of 9/11 he said what we have done in other countries for decades came home to roost and we were surprised shocked and outraged. You may not like it or agree but it’s at least a valid opinion.
I mean please. Our current admin lied to send us into a war that has cost thousands and thousands of lives while telling us the bad guys hate freedom, and yet we should be outraged by this guys words? Let’s not let the media totally jack our perspective.
I think we’ve got a winner for this week’s Political Overreaction of the Week award. Although at this point, we need an honoree on almost a daily basis.
I’d like to see the specifics in context. Got any links.
I don’t really think the Clarence Thomas history- and color-blind approach really gets us anywhere on this one. I expect the “well, if a white man did it…” out of Flying Dutchman et al., but I think most people accept that two hundred years of historical context matters. Wright’s comments are outrageous and contemptible, but they aren’t worthy of comparison to the KKK or white supremacy. In the very same sermon he points out that Jesus said to love one’s enemies.
I think the reason Powers and Ferraro had to go was because they were speaking as campaign surrogates about the campaign. It is necessary for a politician to distance himself from such people because all too often surrogates are used to express messages politicians actually endorse but cannot say themselves. No one is seriously suggesting that these sermons are the words of an Obama surrogate. No one is seriously suggesting that Obama shares these sentiments. The worst thing being said is that he knew about this side of his pastor and he should have switched churches.
No, I don’t think so.
This is bad. Really bad.
I’ve spent the better part of the day indulging in denial.
The reality is setting in. It’s over.
The ugliest stuff hasn’t come out yet. It will.
Obama is more than smart enough to know that a close connection to Wright and his Farrakhan loving, anti US liberation theology was political poison. He maintained it anyway, out of what can only be a deep seated need. For almost 20 years.
Does it matter?
Whatever floats your boat. Meanwhile I humbly point out that nobody’s casting another primary vote for five-plus weeks, and it’ll be next to impossible for Hillary to get as many pledged delegates as Obama has regardless.
What Marley23 said.
What I do notice is that when McCain had to deal with the yahoo support of John Hagee he started defending him, but even the Catholic organizations demanded only that McCain denounce/renounce/reject the** words** of the minister not that McCain stop going to his church as I see some here are insinuating Obama must to to clean himself. Since Obama already rejected the ideas mentioned in that sermon, I don’t think it needs to be pointed out what is the most outrageous demand.