Obama Blasts Wright

I know my last post was sloppy. I blame fatigue and allergy medicine. The media keeps bringing up Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the Reverend can't seem to stay put of the lime light, and once again Obama has had to explain to people that he is not Jeremiah Wright he is Barack Obama. It interesting that when a black preacher spouts off controversial opinions and ranting it gets ten times the play when the Falwell, Hagee, and Robertson types spout off even more outrageous and convoluted garbage. I have listened to many of Jeremiah's speeches and frankly find little to be upset about, the man is entitled to his own ideas and perspective. It does make me sick however when whites suddenly feel they have a right to define what the black experience should be or how African Americans should feel about their own history. Suddenly some white guy reads a Wikapedia entry on Black Liberation Theology and they think they are a bona fide sociologist. Obama is trying to stay above all this divisive garbage but its getting more difficult. Here are some of Obama's words from today, hopefully we can move on, but who wants to talk about real issues, there are some any proverbial hairs to split.

I'm outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday. I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992 and have known Jeremiah Wright for almost 22 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but they also give comfort to those that prey on hate and I believe they do not accurately portray the perspective of the black church. They certainly do not accurately portray my values and beliefs. If Reverend Wright thinks that is political posturing on my part, he does not know me very well.

I have already denounced those comments that have come out of these previous sermons. I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church, has built a wonderful conversation. They are a wonderful people and what attracted me has always been the ministries reach beyond church walls. But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions, that the U.S. government is involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Louis Farrakhan represents one of the greatest voices of the 21st century, when he equates the United States' wartime effort with terrorism, then there are no excuses. They offend me, they rightfully offend all Americans, and they should be denounced. That is what I am doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.


I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap between different kinds of people. That's in my DNA, trying to promote mutual understanding to insist that we all share common hopes and common dreams as Americans and as human beings. That's who I am, that's what I believe, and that's what this campaign has been about...

... What I had heard is that he had given a performance and I thought at that time it would be sufficient to repeat what I said in Philadelphia. Upon watching it, what came clear to me was that it was more than just him defending himself. What became clear is that he was presenting a worldview that contradicts who I am and what I stand for. What particularly angered me was his suggestion that my previous denunciation of his remarks was political posturing. Anybody who knows me or what I am about knows that I am trying to bridge gaps and seize the commonality in all people.