Ironic, isn't it? Some conservatives have been calling for an inquiry into Barack Hussein Obama's Muslim connection--didn't he attend a madrassa in Indonesia?--when the real problem turns out to be Obama's Christian mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Wright is a kind of Ward Churchill in vestments. Remember Ward Churchill? He's the leftist white guy who was posing as an American Indian as he gave speeches saying America deserved to be attacked and that 9/11 was a case where the "chickens came home to roost." Eventually the University of Colorado gave Churchill the boot.
Oddly enough Wright used exactly the same language as Churchill in saying that on 9/11 America got its comeuppance. Actually, Wright's statements taken collectively are worse than those of Churchill. Wright also said the U.S. government deliberately introduced AIDS into the black community. And he insisted that instead of saying "God bless America" we would be better to say "God damn America."
This is the man that Obama calls "like family." This is the man that Obama credits with "introducing me to my Christian faith." This is the mean that Obama choose to marry him and his wife, and to baptize his children. This is the man who inspired the title of Obama's book. This is the man whom Obama credits with being a mentor over more than two decades.
I found it very interesting to hear Wright explicitly endorse Obama over Hillary in church. Normally when evangelical preachers cross the political line they get hammered for violating the separation of church and state. One pastor I know invited a local Republican official to give his personal testimony in church and had to answer to the IRS for it. How come black churches engage in blatant electioneering, even to the point of busing members to the voting booth, and nobody from the ACLU or the media raises an eyebrow?
Equally fascinating is Wright's comment in church that unlike Hillary, Obama will be a race man. Wright's argument is that Obama will stand up for poor blacks against the rich whites who control the country. In the past Obama has been accused by some of being insufficiently attentive to black concerns. The term sometimes used for this is Oreo: black on the outside, white on the inside. Wright by contrast seems to be claiming that Obama is white--or at least tan--on the outside but black on the inside.
Wright poses a possibly lethal threat to Obama's chance to be president. Obama's great appeal is that he's the political equivalent of Tiger Woods. He's not an America hater or a race man like Charlie Rangel or Jesse Jackson. Wright makes Americans wonder: why is Obama so close to a man whose incendiary views are far worse than that of just about any black radical figure with the possible exception of Louis Farrakhan? Isn't professed ignorance of Wright's political views, combined with a refusal to cut ties with him, proof of Obama's bad judgent?
Pretty soon people are going to ask: Is Wright's influence the reason why Obama doesn't want to wear an American flag pin? Or raise his hand to his chest when the national anthem is played? Is Wright's ideology part of the reason why Obama's wife says she has not been proud of America for her whole adult life? And behind all this, the big question: at a time of war, can America is entrusted to a man who seems tolerant of the kind of vicious anti-Americanism that we are used to hearing from our worst enemies?
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 44)
16. "How come black churches engage in blatant electioneering, even to the point of busing members to the voting booth, and nobody from the ACLU or the media raises an eyebrow?" --Dinesh D'Souza
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Dinesh...you have the First Amendment backwards. Churches aren't prohibited from endorsing the US government or a specific candidate. Rather, the US government cannot endorse any faith as the "official" faith of the American people. So--with that in mind, and much to the chagrin of Christians all across the land--the United States of America is NOT a Christian nation...and never has been a Christian nation.
In speaking of Wright's tirades, I've been saying this for months...since the first time I read polls that had 60% of the blacks in America voting for Obama: A vote for Obama is a vote for black racism in America.
Obama's current poll numbers show something like 90% of African-Americans voting for him. And that's also something I had predicted quite some time back. (Read my comments on the other AOL blogs to find out exactly how far back I predicted this.)
Undeniably, African-Americans are among the most racist people on the planet. Nearly every public issue for the black community in America boils down to its race and its continued insistence that its getting a raw deal simply because of its ethnic background.
The only time we hear from shills like Al Sharpton is when there is some perceived infraction against the black community in America. My question is this, why isn't Al Sharpton railing as loud as he possibly can against Wright's BLATANT racism? (Y'know, the way Sharpton railed against Don Imus's innocuous use of the phrase "nappy-headed hos" to describe the Rutgers women's basketball team?)
I'll tell you why Sharpton isn't outraged by Wright's very real hate speech. It's because this is just the tip of African-America's hidden iceberg of racism--racism that both Sharpton and Wright share. Meanwhile, Obama just floats along...sitting on top of that iceberg, spinning it with the tide of anti-Bush fervor in America.
Here's how twisted things have become from that spinning. On one hand, we have a white person like Geraldine Ferraro accurately describing how Obama has benefited from being black, and what happens to her? She's forced from the national discussion because of her "racist" point of view.
On the other hand, we have a presidential candidate's personal pastor spewing hate speech about the country we all share, and somehow the candidate simply spins this blatant anti-American hate speech into a chance for white America to confront its racism.
The question is this then, why was it not a chance for America to engage in constructive dialog about race relations whenever Geraldine Ferraro declared her observations about Obama's candidacy?
The answer? Oh, that's easy! A vote for Obama is a vote for black racism in America. Plain and simple.
Paul at 7:44AM on Mar 19th 2008
17. Dinesh, would you like to know what I REALLY fear?
I fear that America will elect Obama as the president of the United States, and some nut-job will emerge from the hills of Backwater, America to shoot Obama dead.
I really fear that happening. Just imagine what the assassination of President Barack Obama will mean for our country.
And sadly, there are way too many nut-jobs out there who are more than capable, willing and motivated enough to carry out such an incredibly damaging murder.
Paul at 7:59AM on Mar 19th 2008
18. ATHEIST
Reply to: 15. Those who claimed see the risen Christ and His ascension would not put their lives on the line if they actually knew it was not true.
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Nonsense.
Peter ran an End of the World cult. It was a scam. He told people that the End Times had arrived, and gloriously, the world was going to end with the dead coming back to life.
He told his followers they could share in eternal life... but ONLY if they sold their possessions and gave him the money. (Acts 4, 5)
There are crooks like this today. It doesn't cost them anything until they get caught.
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Reply to: Those who analyze the vast amount of prophetical fulfillment wrought by Christ, and acknowledge the fact that He violated Hebrew culture and expectations of what their messiah should do by conquering the Roman Empire, will find it difficult to convince even themselves that these JEWISH converts would have just "made up" the story about Jesus
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they didn't make up a story about jesus.
Paul made up a story about RESURRECTION. Jesus was one man who had been resurrection, but his sermon was about the approaching End of the World, not Jesus.
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Jesus was from Galilee. He walked down to Jerusalem for a Passover Festival. Nobody knew who he was, or cared. They arrested him for attacking the Moneychangers. Jesus was a criminal.
I call Jesus a Rowdy Drunk.
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From a site: The fate of the Apostles and close disciples followed in succession.
Philip, who served in Upper Asia was scourged in Phrygia, thrown into prison and later crucified (A.D. 54).
James the Less, the brother of the Lord, served the church in Jerusalem and wrote the book of James. He suffered martyrdom at the age of ninety-four by being beaten and stoned by the Jews.
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WHY was he beaten and stoned by the Jews?
Because he was a Con Man, and his scam violated the beliefs of other Jews.
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Mark was converted to Christianity by Peter and served as amanuensis (he wrote for Peter). He was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria.
There are ten primitive persecutions mentioned in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. The first mass persecution occurred under Nero in A.D. 67. He was the sixth emperor of Rome and is remembered as the one who set Rome aflame and then blamed the Christians for the deaths and destruction caused by the fire. He had some Christians sewn up in skins of wild beasts and thrown to the dogs. Some Christians were dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. Rather than diminished the spirit of Christianity, this persecution increased the devotion and commitment of Christianity.
The second persecution happened under Domitian in A.D. 81.
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when you have a con man preaching the general resurrection of the dead, what's the proper reply?
You execute him publically, and wait for him to come back to life.
What modern Christians are missing is.... NONE of these apostles were resurrected.
They're still dead. So they were con men, not prophets.
William Hays at 8:00AM on Mar 19th 2008
19. Does Mr. D'Souza remember (from reading good history of course) that in 1852 meeting in Baltimore, the 35 United States Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church declared unanimously, " . . . whosoever advocates the abolition of slavery is guilty of Sedition."? (Sedition still is a death penalty offense in this country. You will find the quotation in the Baltimore Sun in a short 2 inch column.) If Mr. Obama must disassociate himself from one single pastor speaking really out of an anger that I am sure he now regrets, I would think that every Catholic in America must denounce his religion since the Bishops' pronouncement was the result of serious deliberation and the official view of their church. But that would miss the point of Mr. Obama's speech! "Who among you will cast the first stone?" Mr. Obama proposes that we of all races try to understand the injustices heaped upon all peoples at some point, sympathize with them, understand their anger and pull the "splinter from our own eye" before condeming others for erroneous vision.
I have read Mr. D'Souza on occasion over many years and have never heard him say one kind or generous thing about African-Americans. Am I therefore to assume that his prime justification for coming to America is sow racial bigotry?
It is a pity that such bigotry as displayed by this man blinds him to what history will no doubt regard as perhaps among the clearest, most analytical statements ever made on race relations in this nation by any would-be statesman. Mr. Obama's remarks elevate him to Lincolnesque proportions.
William in Phoenix
williamgaia at 2:51PM on Mar 21st 2008
20. Does Mr. D'Souza remember (from reading good history of course) that in 1852 meeting in Baltimore, the 35 United States Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church declared unanimously, " . . . whosoever advocates the abolition of slavery is guilty of Sedition."? (Sedition still is a death penalty offense in this country. You will find the quotation in the Baltimore Sun in a short 2 inch column.) If Mr. Obama must disassociate himself from one single pastor speaking really out of an anger that I am sure he now regrets, I would think that every Catholic in America must denounce his religion since the Bishops' pronouncement was the result of serious deliberation and the official view of their church. But that would miss the point of Mr. Obama's speech! "Who among you will cast the first stone?" Mr. Obama proposes that we of all races try to understand the injustices heaped upon all peoples at some point, sympathize with them, understand their anger and pull the "splinter from our own eye" before condeming others for erroneous vision.
I have read Mr. D'Souza on occasion over many years and have never heard him say one kind or generous thing about African-Americans. Am I therefore to assume that his prime justification for coming to America is sow racial bigotry?
It is a pity that such bigotry as displayed by this man blinds him to what history will no doubt regard as perhaps among the clearest, most analytical statements ever made on race relations in this nation by any would-be statesman. Mr. Obama's remarks elevate him to Lincolnesque proportions.
William in Phoenix
williamgaia at 2:47PM on Mar 21st 2008
21. I've been saying all along something's not on the up and up with Obama....that he's an orator.. nothing more...and something is amiss. I see it in him and in his wife... this Obamamania is a twisted scene. We have people voting for him because he sounds good...or looks good...butI compare him with a movie set...great for the moment...only to be vacant when the facade comes down. Others are caught up in thinking how cool and great a country this is...that we have a black man as a possible candidate for the presidency. It makes them proud to be an American...but is he here to protect this America that we love...or desecrate it? Michelle Obama's words weren't misinterpreted...she said what she said....and Barack is way too close with this Wright character who from all appearances is a really bad guy. Then we have almost every black person voting for Obama because he's black.People w Do all of them know the issues...or much else about him? No...he's black and that's all they need to know. If anyone said they were voting for Hillary because she's white...everyone would be up in arms...but anything that has to do with race is glossed over so as not to step on anyone's toes. I believe the point of life here...was to have everyone as treated the same....all about equality. Why then...do we have to be so careful with everyhing that's said? If equality the name of the game...then everyone has to take their share of criticism...and falling out of favor ...no special treatment...no playing any race cards....no walking on eggshells. When this actually happens in this country...then we will have arrived. Take a look around and tell me this whole revelation as to the church Obama calls home...isn't screaming for much more disclosure...we need the facts...not the MLK type speech. In fact...we do not need to accept any comparison of these two men...there's too much of a shady area with Obama....whereas we knew MLK. Start paying attention, America...we deserve a president who would walk out when such words come out of a vile mouth on the pulpit of a church.We deserve a president who would not allow his children to be raised on such words. Twenty years...and no footprints facing outward on the church steps. We need to lead the way to our future...not leave it in the hands of someone who stands by and watches our very soul as a nation being debased...despised and threatened with a hateful message that our children can take as an example. Our future depends on your taking a stand to know the truth...we cannot accept less.
ellie at 8:04AM on Mar 19th 2008
22. Dinesh D'Souza??? oh yeah that's an american name! With a name like that I assume you didn't come to this country on the Mayflower. How dare you question Obama's patriotism? Who the hell are you to reduce Charles Rangel to quote "an America hater" and Jesse Jackson "a race man"? For your info Charles Rangel have been a congressman for more than 30 years and now chairs the Ways and Means commitee, the most powerful commitee in the Senate. Jesse Jackson as not only ran for President but was also called into countries like Bosnia and Cuba to negotiate the release of Prisoners of War. So don't you ever dare castigate these great men!
If Obama's candidacy is imperilled is because of idiots like you who don't understand context nor history. No one plays the race card better than the media, and that's a fact. Did anything he said yesterday sink in you fat potatoe head? Are you going to look inside yourself and identify your own prejudice? No, you seat at your computer and write this garbage!
Anybody can seat on their computers and write nonsense and call it an editorial. See I just did it and it took me 5 minutes. Where is my check?
Get a real job D'Souza.
dakasa at 8:16AM on Mar 19th 2008
23. D'Inesh you racist punk. You flaming elephant bag'0'sheeit on the Conservabot doorstep.
Couldn't resist throwing the Muslim/Hussein tag in one more time, huh? And holy cow, Obama attends CHURCH!?! Shocker...ok so the pastors' a nutjob. When's Fred Phelps (y'know, the guy you sort of agress with on AIDS), Robertson and the rest of the white God Nazi Nut Jobs getting a column? Oh, wait, I forgot. They're White Conservative God Nazi nutjobs. That makes it OK.
You're a pathetic parasite.
TIM at 9:16AM on Mar 19th 2008
24. This is why Obama CANNOT win. He is such a phony wolf posing in sheep's clothing.
I knew his Christianity was not Biblical when he talked about ignoring an obscure passage in the book of Romans that explicitly explains why it condemns homosexuality, no less, and instead we should worry about global warming!? Where is the non-obscure verse about global warming? How hard does he have to pervert Scripture to ignore a direct condemnation of immoral activity while embracing some bizarre logic to make Scripture support Al Gore's inconvenient nonsense?
Last night I heard an Obama sound bite spin concerning the anti-American proclamations in question. Obama said they are wrong because they elevate what is wrong with America over what is right with America. Heck, we can say that about atheists criticizing Christianity.
You have to either agree with Obama's rogue preacher, or be willing to lie to yourself to say Obama knew nothing about those anti-American sentiments all along. Which is it?!
It looks like Hillary versus McCain in November.
Rev 3:16 at 8:33AM on Mar 19th 2008
25. As always no one like's hearing the truth and the truth can set you free spoken by none other than "Jesus" Obama needs to, at this time be selective of those who use words that offend us as Americans, he is not willing to do that and this is my problem in deciding who he really is? I am voting for Hillary but at this point feel if Hillary does not get the nomination there would be far less contraversy if I vote McCain instead of Obama and I do not like what Obama's wife said. We are not all representative of BUSH!
Sandie at 8:40AM on Mar 19th 2008
26. Jesse Jackson...not only ran for President but was also called into countries like Bosnia and Cuba to negotiate the release of Prisoners of War." --Dkassa
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The United States government never sponsored Jesse Jackson's trips to Cuba nor Bosnia. Jackson actually made the trips IN DIRECT VIOLATION of US foreign policy. How much more un-American can you get when you blatantly disregard the laws of your government and simply do whatever the fuck you please?
(I apologize for the profanity...but sometimes it's desperately needed just to get through to the densest of people.)
Paul at 8:45AM on Mar 19th 2008
27. As always. Hays runs his mouth and cannot control himself from spewing virulent hate. Seriously, its unhealthy for you to continue like this. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you have or could ever cause us to doubt or stop believing our faith. We’re not moved by anything you say. So continue to loath us to your hearts content. Maybe one day you’ll realize what a fool you’ve been and how you wasted your time with your malapert behavior.
Bryan CRT at 8:57AM on Mar 19th 2008
28. Good piece, Mr. D'Souza. I am a FORMER Obama supporter and am disgusted (not to mention deeply disappointed) that Mr. Obama took the opportunity yesterday in his speech to justify Jeremiah Wright's vile rhetoric by pointing a sanctimonious and blaming finger at the white community.
As for Mrs. Obama, i'ts a shame she only recently has felt proud of her country. After all, she only went to Ivy League universities, married a senator, and receives an annual salary of $316,000 - UP FROM $121,000 a year ago - at a so-called "non-profit" hospital. Was that a cost of living increase?
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/09/hospital_offici.html
Barak Obama - Change you CAN'T believe in (anymore).
LEANNABELLE at 9:08AM on Mar 19th 2008
29. As an Irish American who has parts of his family here long before the Revolution I just want to state one thing. ALL people are radical until they get handled the sceptre. Once it is actually YOU who has to lead, to come up with the answers, to have the programs, to calm the seas, radicalism goes right out the door. Is Obama radical? Probably. So what? We were. We were hated for being Catholic, for being poor, for being unread and unwashed and uncouth and we learned that POWER makes one acceptable. It also makes on conservative.
Tom Barnes at 9:01AM on Mar 19th 2008
30. "Once it is actually YOU who has to lead, to come up with the answers, to have the programs, to calm the seas, radicalism goes right out the door." --Tom Barnes
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The one glaring historical exception to the above statement being the Third Reich.
Paul at 9:08AM on Mar 19th 2008