The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was an early concern, Obama aide admits

After he moved to Chicago in the mid-1980s to work as a community organizer, Barack Obama forged close ties with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- joining the pastor’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and using the topic of a Wright sermon, "the audacity of hope," as the title of his most recent best-selling book.

But more than a year ago -- long before some of Wright’s more incendiary sermons became hot-button videos on YouTube, forcing Obama to publicly renounce his pastor last week -- the Obama campaign had a sense that Wright's sharp tongue might spell trouble for the Illinois senator.  (For a sermon sample, click on the Read more line below.)

That was the word anyway Sunday from Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who acknowledged during a conference call with reporters that Wright was disinvited ...

from Obama's official candidacy announcement on Feb. 10, 2007, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Wright had been expected to lead an invocation of some kind, but never appeared.

“There was no doubt that there was controversy surrounding him,” Axelrod said Sunday.  “And we didn’t want to expose him … [or] make him the target and a distraction on a day when Sen. Obama was going to announce his candidacy.”

So if the savvy Obama campaign knew Wright was a problem a year ago, why did the Illinois senator, a parish member for two decades, wait until last week to disassociate and denounce the minister's inflammatory statements?

The topic is clearly uncomfortable for Obama and his aides, personally and politically. Axelrod's comments came only after prodding from a reporter and after he had initially suggested that Wright’s absence that day was due merely to the fact that the temperature was in the single digits.

And even as Obama has condemned some of Wright’s rhetoric and distanced himself from his longtime spiritual advisor, doing so has not been easy.  Wright remained on an African American religious advisory committee for the campaign until Friday.

“Rev. Wright married him, introduced him, as he said, to the church, brought him into the church, into Christianity, baptized his children,” Axelrod said.  “So this is a painful thing for him because he condemns the things Rev. Wright said, but he also knows him as a person.”

Wright has proven controversial in the past because of his association with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has made anti-Semitic remarks.  But the controversy has grown in recent weeks with the spread of videos from Wright sermons where he condemns the United States for its foreign policy and treatment of blacks and takes on Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton.

As Wright put it, “Hillary ain't never been called a nigger!  Hillary has never had her people defined as non-person."

On Friday, Obama posted a message at the Huffington Post website, explaining that he had not seen such sermons in person and saying that he disagreed with them.  "I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy," he wrote.

-- Peter Wallsten

Comments

[keep hope alive]

I find it hard to believe that Obama could have know this pastor for 20 years, and never have heard that his pastor believed such garbage. some of the commenters on here seem to suggest that this is not that uncommon a sermon at african american churches. Is this true? Also, Wright states in one speech that Jesus was a black man (there is zero evidence of this). I would be curious if there is a reporter brave enough to ask Barak if he belieives this as well, and if this would have any effect on his white supporters.
By the way, the San Antonio pastor (Hagee) that endorsed McCain (it was not his pastor) has some problems with Catholisism, as do many Protestants. I cannot see how that is even a close comparison to Rev. Wrights outrageous hate-filled diatribe.

[CheddarBoy]

To: jhutson and others with same question:
Q: When will the press give equal time to outrageous and bigoted statements by John McCain's spiritual mentors, Rev. Parsley and Rev. Hagee?
R: Don't need to... we know them already. Obama is running on the "power of words" and those words are powerful. He is also running as a non-traditional politician... but his attempt to cover up and still defend Wright bespeaks his true political identity.

[Clark]

Pastor Wright (for according to the Bible, only God is reverend) is correct. Most of us do not know what it is like to make well over 100,000 a year and still be struggling and poor as the Obamas were in the beginning of their marriage. That 100,000 was only Mrs. Obama's salary from her law work. Mr. Obama made a paltry 70,000 or so in addition to that. Must have been very tough, and to be black on top of that, well . . .

Except for the very privileged of women, most women know exactly what it is like to be a nonperson, Pastor Wright is Wrong about that. Women are still considered nonpersons, and the ugly sexist remarks coming out of this year's election campaigns has brought a lot of it to the surface.

"Iron my shirts!" was the least of it. But I can just imagine if it had been Obama instead of Clinton and the words had been, "Shine my shoes!"

It's OK to say the worst anyone can imagine about any woman, but don't say anything about a black person, not even the facts, because you will be labeled a racist to shut you up.

Obama cannot win the general election. That's because the Republicans have been voting for him in the open Democratic Primaires, and they won't be there to vote for him in November. They'll be voting for McCain then. The only states he's won are red states, and no Democrat will carry those states in the general election. He needs to win Blue States and Pivotal states. He hasn't.

This year's election is proving that the U.S. is not ready for either a black president or a woman president. We haven't gone nearly as far as we thought or as far as we should have. It's a shame.

[SN]

David - all Clinton supporters have done precisely that today (called for the media to move on). My respect for her has only increased as a result. Every one of Obama's surrogates however began their response with a dig at her -- taxes and donor list etc. that she has addressed more than once. Look it up!

This country deserves what it gets if we elect this man. While he has great promise -- I do NOT trust him any more. Worse, supporters like his make me SICK! He has spread his divisive message and subversive tactics (look up what he did to get into the Illinois state senate) to national politics and the Presidency. As many have said before me.. WAKE UP AMERICA!

[Mark]

"Hillary has never had her people defined as non-person."

The notion that women don't have souls and are not human has been going around for centuries, if not millennia.

It looks like Obama has condoned Wright's views all this time. What a shame...

[John Smith]

Obama is AntiAmerican and AntiPatriotic. This golden-throated promiser of good will has not passed the American Patriot test of heartfelt love for the land and the Constitution. By being AntiPatriotic, Obama is cursing the hundreds of thousands of Americans that have paid the ultimate price(of life) to make America the place that it is today. We've already suffered 8 years of a terrible president, let's not make it worse by electing a hypocrite of American freedom and tradition.

Obama's God and Pastor "Da*n" America for defending herself:
http://tinyurl.com/3x5md4

Michelle Obama slips and let's out the "Let's Hate America" sentiment that she studies at church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVLc7B5cLLc

Obama doesn't follow US code, and more importantly shows that he is not a heartfelt patriot by either forgetting or refusing(which is worse?) to place his hand on his heart during the playing of the National Anthem (although all other candidates have their hand on their heart):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccbPVMBKQpA&feature=related
And here's the link to the US Code which shows that government officials(as in senators) should place their right hand on their heart during the National Anthem:
http://tinyurl.com/3346o7
and
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/36/301.html

The President is responsible for upholding the Flag of the United States. Obama's "refusing" to wear the flag on his chest shows there is a problem with his character as he's displaying the hatred he has for America and everything that has happened for the past 200+ years to make America what it is today. No childish game of defacing the flag should be tolerated by a person who is trying to become the #1 Patriot in the land. No person that desecrates our stars and stripes should be allowed the responsibility of protection our Constitution and our way of life. Ask Obama, if wearing the flag does not show patriotism, why are soldiers and presidents that are no longer with us having their coffins draped in the colors of the United States? Our United States Flag is no parlor joke, this is a symbol of America(that hundreds of thousands have died in protection of) that you're making seem like a "pin made in china".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccbPVMBKQpA&feature=related

Everyone makes mistakes and flubs up, but when the same patterns of flubs continue to reappear, it becomes obvious what a person's true character is all about.

Denouncement after Denouncement - after awhile people should wonder how a person got themselves into the situation in the first place. Obama has run out of denouncements, it's time to wake up and smell the Rat America!

[Domingo]

While you or I would never want to held responsible for what our preacher, pastor or what ever, said, if you belong to a church like that and believe in the word of the Lord, you too will be held accountable along with your pastor reverend, or what ever.
McCain's pastor did not say anything wrong against all Americans, just homosexuals. Most authentic religions are against homosexuals also.
Also, why is it that every time a liberal is caught in some embarrassing position, thier supporters always strike back with” Well this guy did this or that"?.
Liberals/Democrats, can't take the blame for their actions. Whimp’s!

[ben in Nashville]

I read people saying "his pastor should go back to Africa" or "he is a racist" or "he is anti-America". In truth, there are patriots who speak out against the war and there are patriots who speak out against injustice and there are patriots who speak out against American leaders when American leaders act contrary to the greatness of the Constitution and our citizens. GW Bush has done unconscionable wrong by lying about WMD in Iraq, invading a sovereign nation that had not attacked us, killing countless thousands of innocent Iraqis, etc. When it comes to 9/11, there is nothing that justifies attacking and killing innocent people. Nothing. Not in Hiroshima, not in Iraq, not in NYC. So, even though you've got a lot of rage and outcry, I think the character assassination of Rev. Wright is totally out of line. He deserves the right to speak his mind. He deserves the right to dissent with our government. And he is a proud Marine who served his nation - he deserves respect and he knows that George Bush's policies are not American.

The thing that upset me was the way that Wright tried to divide on the basis on race, tried to say that Hillary Clinton "fits the mold" when very clearly she'd be a groundbreaking candidate as the first woman in history to hold the presidency. I support Obama, but that remark of Wright's was out of line. Saying G-D America was also pretty extreme, though I understand the context and I recognize that he was interpreting the Scripture, which has some pretty strong statements about condemning those who commit murder and tolerate injustice.

[GayBlackMan]

Rev. Wright's comments is not shocking to me as an ex-X'ian church goer. I hear hate voiced by church leaders all the time. From the white churches, I hear anti-black and anti-gay speech... from the black churches, I hear anti-white and anti-gay speech. To all the black people arguing that "blacks can't be racist" a la Spike Lee... wake up.
I'm a gay black man and I would not support anyone who wears his religion on his collar. GW Bush does this and looked where that got us.

[Cole]

To the Barack "supporters" (I am assuming you are Dems?): You are missing the big picture here. You are talking about sticking to the issues but this is the issue and it is called BAD JUDGEMENT. I am a life long DEM and until a few days a go I couldn't decide between are two candidates. We can’t sweep this under the rug. If you do (by the blog comments I am reading all over the web) you are handing the 2008 election to McCain. Maybe McCain doesn't seem that extreme right now but you can bet his running mate will come from the far right and do you really want this guy or his VP picking a couple of Supreme Court justices? Suck it up and get behind Hillary whether by voting or donating and spread the word to other Barack "HOPE" Obama followers. The only HOPE about his campaign now is for the GOP. They are salivating at this very moment over this - the will energize them and bring them out in record numbers. John Mc Cain will never have to touch this or even have to run a single ad. The GOP 527's are going to do all the work for him. Karl Rove has been offering his services to McCain - if McCain doesn't hire him the GOP 527's will and WE ARE GOING TO SEE ad after ad after ad this FALL of clips of these "sermons" edited with Baracks smiling face and themes of HOPE and CHANGE and JUDGEMENT - it is Karl Rove's dream script. There is nothing Barack can do to distance himself enough from this guy. There are hundreds of quotes of him calling this Wright his mentor, saying he chose THIS church and this man as his spiritual guide and those clips and quotes will be editied together with clips we have already scene of Wright and lots more that have even come out yet and Barack is going to loose big time.

Hillary did not make this mess. She hasn't even commented on it. She is the only answer. Before you go with the macho "I'll just vote for McCain then" line just remember the balance of the Supreme Court. This may be the most patriotic thing you do for a very long time. Please Please listen this will not go away.

[DennisR]

Eskew:

You are only touching the issue superficially. Wright said Obama was "not white, not rich, and not privileged" (close to the original quote). He has told 2-1/2 lies from the pulpit in "church." He also also used the term bull___t in church, hoped that God would damn America. He also said that Jesus was black (He was actually Jewish). So Reverend Wright is spouting both hate and lies in "church." Is this okay for him to do?

[Brad]

there is absolutely no way to equate McCain’s acceptance of the anti-Catholic Hagee’s support with that of Obama’s acceptance of the racist Wright’s. Obama has no excuse to have only suddenly distanced himself form this hate filled, ranter whom he has called his “spiritual mentor.” For decades Obama has known of, and sat in a congregation listening to, the wild-eyed rants by this man. Barack has accepted him as part of his family closely associated with his wife and children. Barack Obama has been very close with Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. for 20 some years.
On the other hand, John McCain has only just met John Hagee.
You just cannot equate the two.

[Eric Roth]

Obama would like to pretend that this is just a personal, private matter. Yet he's running for president on the basis of his judgment - to make up for a lack of legislative or executive experience.

So should I trust his judgment based on his choice of spiritual guides? His pastor? His pastor's style and paranoid conspiracy theology? Can you really know somebody for over 25 years, hold hundreds of hours of conversations and listen to hundreds of sermons, and be "shocked, shocked" at Wright's politics? That strains plausibility.

Perhaps Senator Obama simply deferred to his wife in choice of church and theology. Okay, that only begs the question of whether Obama can lead our united nation to overcome terrible divisions of race, class, religion and religion? Giving militant pastors, devoted to ugly, hateful and false racist conspiracy theories, a place at the table will not help.... especially as we attempt to isolate Islamic zealots and religious bigots.
I'm sorry, but Senator Obama has failed a very basic test of leadership - the ability to choose wise advisers who can calmly and rationally understand and explain political events. As a moderate Democrat who despises Senator Clinton's secretive style and hoped for Obama to lead the party to victory in November, I'm very disappointed. I'm also more than a bit annoyed that the media protected Senator Obama from simple, basic questions - and may have thrown the election to another Republican President. How did the media let personality and style replace experience and leadership skills - and vital issues like protecting the dollar and our homeland - dominant the primary election?

[Mike]

This is an incredible assault on a church, a church that has done tremendous good.

The UCC is not a racist church. Repeat, not. Go read about the UCC on the web instead of acting like Fox parrots.

36 years of Wright's sermons have been distilled for the most incendiary comments. Some of these comments are over the top, some are no different than those stated by Ron Paul for example. It would appear that in recent times Rev. Wright has perhaps even lost his faculties.

But look at this beautiful sermon, "The audacity of hope" sermon. It is a profoundly Christian sermon, one in which there is only goodness. Read it for yourselves and reflect.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/for-the-record.html

[John Lewis]

Very light-skinned older black men like Wright are often the most militant. This guy probably has more white in him than Obama himself, and certainly could pass for white whereas Obama could not. Wright has probably been exposed to less racism than darker skinned African Americans, but the ambiguity over his racial identity has caused him to overcompensate in order to prove he belongs in the black world.

Fact is, the things he said were mostly true. Unless the media has a racial agenda I'd suggest they expose the likes of Falwell, Hagee, Parsely (McCain's spiritual adviser), Robertson, anti-semite Billy Graham, etc, etc, etc.

[eelder1]

How many times have we heard this type of stuff from White evangelicals who are as racist as Reverend Wright. Is anyone really surprised some Blacks have racist sentiments after centuries of discrimination?

[DennisR]

MIndy,

You are correct: neither Democrat candidates are going to survive. Obama (his pastor; his wife; his vote against providing medical care for babies who survive abortion) and Clinton (providing pardons to terrorists; her perjured pervert of a husband getting back into the White House) have too much baggage. Throw in the Democrat party's idiocy in all of the delegate counts, and you might as well start practicing saying "President McCain" right now.

[Alma Ludivina]

Attention Buletin of last minute

If voters have a genuine concern for Pastor Wright words, lets prevents his words to become a prophecy by voting by Senator Obama.

If Senator Obama becomes our next President that will be the proof that Pastor Wright words are not meaningful.

[laylah]

I've seen the CNN and MSNBC interviews and read his HuffPost piece, and never heard him "renounce his pastor." He made it very clear that he was renouncing certain comments made in the short clips that were being replayed ad nauseum. He also noted Pastor Wright's service in the military, commitment to the people of his church, social service in his neighbourhood, among other things. Sounded to me like he was condemning words in the videos and not the man himself. Under the circumstances, I thought that Sen Obama was taking a political risk, and that showed character. It would have been easier to just throw the man under the bus.

By the way, I've listened to sermons that some would characterize as disturbing. I've been a member of "separatist" places of worship. I've heard "racist" comments directed at "the others." Where? At my family's synagogue!

[Marc Vandenplas]

Obviously, and I mean this with the sincerity that comes from drinking an import and fretting about which institution to attend for my next masters degree, there is a gulf between the "white experience" and the "black experience".

The parishioners in back of Rev. Wright are not, by their body language, saying Yah, The US created AIDs to Kill Blacks. They are rather saying Damn It's Tough To Be Thought Inferior: Sure feels good to be in our church having that feeling validated.

I don't know what to think when reasonable educated men and women keep telling me the same thing over and over. It's creepy.

Aye, there's the gulf.

[KYJurisDoctor]

How many of us agree with our Preachers 100% of the time?

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-palm-sunday-jeremiahing-of-obama-is.html#links

[David Adams]

There is no excuse for telling a willing and cheering and
'Amen-ing' crowd that Black Americans should sing; God Damn America.
There's also no excuse for people to excuse it by pretending that all Black Churches hold such a view.
I am a Black American...I will not vote for Obama...and I
say God Bless America.

[Concerned]

Let me understand this: Obama claims to have no knowledge of the Rev. Racists positions, statements or racist rants after attending the church for twenty years.

No knowledge. Never heard a word. Not one word from a fellow parishioner......nothing...twenty years.

And America is supposed to put this man in the White House, a man who hasn't heard or seen anything at all out of the ordinary for twenty years.

Oh, boy.

[bklyn 11211]

This is hardly "hate speech." And this is coming from someone who strongly disagrees with what Wright and other religious figures have said about gays.

He is not urging his congregation to burn crosses on the lawns of white people, to lynch anyone or to deny them their rights. He was in condemning domestic inequality and a genocidal foreign policy in America. Why is this considered racist?

And for those commenting that Wright should go "back" to Africa even though obviously many of his ancestors were white and he was born in America, I would do some serious introspection before commenting on someone else's "racist" views.

[Musemuse]

I'm going to donate to Hillary now, even though I voted for Obama on SuperTuesday in Cali.