Apr 29 2008

Obama severs ties with Wright

Posted by Len on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 5:39 pm CT in Democrats, Election 2008, Politics

In the post prior to this, I stated that I would not mention Jeremiah Wright again. I was mistaken. I will now categorically state that I will not mention Jeremiah Wright after this post. As far as I and this blog are concerned, Senator Obama has laid the matter to rest…

Obama strongly denounces former pastor

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) – Democratic Sen. Barack Obama strongly denounced his former pastor on Tuesday, saying he was outraged by assertions made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright about the U.S. government and race that have disrupted Obama’s presidential campaign.

The controversy over Wright has been a major stumbling block for the Illinois senator, who is leading New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state-by-state contest for the party’s nomination for the November election.

Obama was forced to address the issue after an appearance by Wright on Monday at the National Press Club in Washington, where he repeated earlier suggestions that the United States deserved some blame for the September 11 attacks and that the government had had a hand in spreading AIDS to blacks.

“I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw,” Obama told reporters as he campaigned for the North Carolina vote against Clinton next Tuesday.

“The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate,” Obama said.

Wright’s comments have undercut the campaign of Obama, the son of a white mother and a black father who has based his campaign on a promise to unite the country after years of sharp political and racial divisions.

Wright had also questioned the senator’s honesty, saying he had been pandering to voters when he earlier denounced the pastor’s words. “If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected,” Wright said.

Obama, unsmiling and choosing his words carefully, responded: “At a certain point if what somebody says contradicts what you believe so fundamentally and then he questions whether or not you believe it — in front of the National Press Club — then that’s enough.”

“That’s a show of disrespect to me. It is also, I think, an insult to what we’ve been trying to do” on the campaign, he added. “Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this.”

Matter closed.

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5 Comments

5 Responses to “Obama severs ties with Wright”

  1. # Peter Answeron 29 Apr 2008 at 19:56

    First I should say I am an Obama supporter – I plan to vote for him. That said, I think people are being naive if they think this played out in a way that was not scripted by the Obama camp. He was taking heat for his relationship with Wright and because he had not previously denounced him, it looked bad. How fortunate for him that Wright made such an obvious gaffe that Obama could then pounce on to say “enough is enough.” This gave him a clear door to completely distance himself from the Reverend, something he had before but had not taken.

    I think there is no doubt this was planned.

    Not that there is anything wrong with that.

  2. # Lenon 29 Apr 2008 at 20:10

    @Peter Answer : That thought never entered my mind. Not once. Honestly. Guess I must be naive, huh?

  3. # The BoBoon 29 Apr 2008 at 20:55

    Ha ha ha! Please tell me you didn’t really believe that load of crap today? I have to agree with Peter up there…this was a carefully orchestrated campaign stunt designed to TRY to show that he is distancing himself from his Pastor of 20 years that married he and his wife, that baptised his children, that was his spiritual advisor during this whole campaign thus far. It’s just another political stunt. If anything, he just blew his credibility out the window considering he was on TV not less than 48 hours ago supporting the good Reverend.

  4. # Lenon 29 Apr 2008 at 21:09

    @The BoBo : Indeed I did, BoBo, indeed I did. For, you see, I have taken the measure of the man. I have looked into his soul. (If George W. Bush can do it, I certainly can.) I have determined that he is honest and sincere in his beliefs.

    Consider, if you will for a moment, the alternatives: Hillary Clinton and John McCain (two people who do not own a principle between them).

    Thanks, but I’ll stick with Barack Obama.

  5. # Moniqueon 30 Apr 2008 at 08:43

    You all honestly think that a man would risk humiliating himself and destroying his reputation that he spent years to build for the sake of another man’s future or reputation?

    Wow… if Wright hadn’t said such RIDICULOUS things maybe I could agree with you that it was contrived but I just can’t believe that.