Blogs For Victory

“America is still the No. 1 killer in the world.”

“We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God.”

“The government gives [black Americans] the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people … God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”

“We started the AIDS virus … We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty…”

Those are the words of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s spiritual guide and mentor. Jeremiah Wright isn’t merely some pastor who endorsed Barack Obama.

Barack Obama has been going to Jeremiah Wright’s church for two decades. He officiated Barack and Michelle Obama’s wedding. He baptized their children. The title of Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, comes from one of Wright’s sermons. Obama personally thanked Wright after winning his Senate bid in 2004. Obama “prayed” with Wright before announcing his bid for presidency.

In addition to the above quotes, just days after September 11, 2001 he said, “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye … “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

This is the kind of anti-white, anti-Israel, anti-American rhetoric that Barack Obama has been listening to for 20 years. And what does Barack Obama say about his church? Just last month he said, “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”

And yet, Obama’s supporters want us to ignore this story… just push it under the rug. While they’ll align Republicans with any obscure pastor who does or says something controversial, they’re trying to convince us that Obama’s 20-year long close relationship with Wright, including his effective endorsement of him, his church and rhetoric with a $22,500 donation in 2006 is irrelevant.

UPDATE: Wright holds an official position in Obama’s campaign.

UPDATE: Wright leaves Obama campaign.

Obama’s campaign announced that the minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., had left its spiritual advisory committee after videotapes of his sermons again ignited fierce debate in news accounts and political blogs.

Obama urges voters not to reject his candidacy because of guilt by association. I’m sorry, but this goes far beyond guilt by association. Wright’s departing the campaign was a politically motivated cover to protect Obama’s campaign, and clearly not a repudiation of Wright himself or his ministry, as Barack Obama has been connected to Wright for twenty years, and has less than a month ago dismissed criticisms of the church by saying “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”

UPDATE: Obama actually makes an appearance on FOX News.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Obama defends himself, and not too well:

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

In other words: “I really want this to go away, and so I’m going to try and narrow it down to a condemnation of ‘anything which makes you mad’ without an actual condemnation of the worldview holding America to be a racist nation”.

Not good enough for me, Senator – I want to know if you believe in Wright’s overall preaching, or whether you disagree with it. Like this – I mostly agree with my pastor, but I disagree with his stance on the war…on the other hand, I believe his stance on the war is a valid position to hold in light of the message of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. I won’t say “I categorically denounce” my pastor’s views on the war even though I disagree with them. Are you, Senator, or are you not, a fully communicating member of “Trinity United Church of Christ”?