Preacher Problems

One of the reasons preachers should stay out of politics is because they make so much trouble for politicians. Take a look at these clips from Senators McCain and Obama. Watch as the Senators try to squirm away from relationships with crazy religious leaders, Jerry Falwell for Senator McCain and Jeremiah Wright for Senator Obama. With friends like these....

First Take: Obama on the ropes over Wright

Barack Obama is on the ropes today after his vigorous denouncement of Rev. Wright's comments. A quick read of the comment boards shows citizens lining up in two camps. Those who think Obama harbors some of Wright's feelings and has been hiding it (the majority) and the Obama supporters who think this is just a huge distraction.

One thing is certain. This mess has dethroned Obama from the place of hope and new politics he was in a year or even 6 months ago. Obama needs to explain his association with Rev. Wright, and give a sit down interview with a real journalist for an extended period and explain his relationship with Wright. Frankly, I would recommend the "Full Ginsburg." Obama's speech on race was eloquent and a perfect description of race relations in America. But people want to know more about Obama and Wright could have been so close for so long if Wright harbored all these policies Obama despised. I am not the only voter that wants an explanation.

Rev. Wright resurfaces, Obama has to lay the smack down

Rev. Wright refused to go quietly. In deciding to speak again for the National Press Club Wright defended his incindiary remarks and stuck to his guns. Claiming that the US government created AIDS and dispatched it to the African American community. Barack Obama has effectively tossed Wright under the bus.

For two takes, I offer George Will, who thinks it's the right of all Obama's political oppostion to use Wright against him all season. And Eugene Robinson who wanted to give Wright the benefit of the doubt, but now thinks he needs to go.

We'll have more on policythought as the day progresses.

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wright?

We are a sound-bite driven nation. Our media gives us 20-30 second sound bites from our most controversial figures and then tells the American people what to think about the words they've said. This week Bill Moyers of PBS landed an exclusive interview with Reverend Jeremiah Wright a name many Americans weren't familiar with until the sound bites of his sermons became known nationally after it was made public that he was the pastor and spiritual adviser to Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.

The link is above, I encourage you to watch the entire 1/2 hour or read the transcript and get a sense for the entirety of this man. The sound bites that were made national fodder, were often the emotional peaks given to sermons that many people might agree with. Moyers gives him a chance to define his philosophy. I for one felt I had finally seen the other side of the story. Give it a look.

Wright Stuff

Jeremiah Wright's video clips have made their way around the internet and have shown up all over the cable channels, causing Senator Obama to quickly repudiate the incendiary words of the former pastor.

But I wonder if we're not missing something else. The comments made by pastor Wright were certainly controversial and disagreeable. However, the "Amen!" chorus was as loud as ever in all those videos. Pastor Wright was not speaking in a vacuum he was speaking to a large group that agreed with him. One of the defenses always made for Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson was that they preached to a group of ardent followers that agreed with their politics. They had to be respected because they were not alone. Well Jeremiah Wright clearly wasn't alone either. While his rhetoric might not have garnered him a cable TV show, he did have a significant following. Why is it that John McCain and George W. Bush are allowed to pander to preachers that thought 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina were punishments for liberal policy on gays and abortion. But Barack Obama must instantly repudiate the statements of a minister who claimed that our actions abroad came home to roost on 9/11?



Both statements are foolhardy and incendiary, both are vile and disagreeable. But there is an untold racial divide between the statements of Pastor Wright and those of Rev. Falwell or Robertson. If you are white and homophobic you are preaching the gospel, if you are black and protectionist, you are a reverse racist.