Was Jeremiah Wright's speech set up by a Clinton supporter?

Well, here's a most interesting connection we just came across.

Everybody is talking today about how much the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's latest unrepentant militant remarks hurt his most prominent parishoner, Sen. Barack Obama, and his chances to win the Democratic presidential nomination and the general election. So much so that the Obama camp realized the latent danger overnight and the candidate was forced to speak out publicly a second time today, as The Ticket noted here earlier today.

There was little doubt left in today's remarks by Obama, who recently said he could no more disown Wright than he could the black community. He pretty much disowned Wright today. Obama described himself as "outraged" and "saddened" by "the spectacle of what we saw yesterday."

But now, it turns out, we should have been paying a little less attention to Wright's speech and the histrionics of his ensuing news conference and taken a peek at....

who was sitting next to him at the head table for the National Press Club event.

It was the Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, a former editorial board member of USA Today who teaches at the Howard University School of Divinity. An ordained minister, as New York Daily News writer Errol Louis points out in today's column, she was introduced at the press club event as the person "who organized" it.

But guess what? She's also an ardent longtime booster of Obama's sole remaining competitor for the Democratic nomination, none other than Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. It won't take very much at all for Obama supporters to see in Wright's carefully arranged Washington event that was so damaging to Obama the strategic, nefarious manipulation of the Clintons.

Their supporter, Reynolds, helps arrange a speech by the outspoken and egocentric Wright which receives blanket national coverage to the disadvantage of Clinton's opponent. As Louis writes: "The Rev. Jeremiah Wright couldn't have done more damage to Barack Obama's campaign if he had tried. And you have to wonder if that's just what one friend of Wright wanted."

Reynolds has not returned e-mails or phone calls seeking comment, but Louis notes the obvious conflict between her political allegiance and her press club arrangements. He quotes a February blog entry of Reynolds saying, "My vote for Hillary in the Maryland primary was my way of saying thank you" to Clinton and her husband for his administration's successes.

In another entry, Reynolds notes critically of Obama, "It is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray, the senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement."

Louis notes himself about the Wright appearance: "It's hard to exaggerate how bad the actual news conference was. Wright, steeped in an honorable, fiery tradition of Bible-based social criticism, cheapened his arguments and his movement by mugging for the cameras, rolling his eyes, heaping scorn on his critics and acting as if nobody in the room was learned enough to ask him a question."

(UPDATE: Sylvia Smith, the press club president, confirmed today that Reynolds is on the club's speakers committee. She told Michael Calderone on Politico.com that she still doesn't know whom Reynolds supports for president, adding, "Rev. Wright is newsworthy, period.")

--Andrew Malcolm

                                                                                                                            Photo Credit: Getty

Comments

[Jack]

Hillary, is capable of anything and anything to achieve power. This is certainly true. And only a fool would vote for her.

Obama, is capable of anything and everything to achieve power. Has it occurred to anyone that this whole thing is an Obama ploy. He needs to distance himself from Wright. But he just can't do it after that last speech. That would be a flip flop he couldn't get away with. So have Wright go off the deep end to give Obama the reason to break the connection. All the cows fall for it and it also blows right back at Hillary. A perfect scenario for Obama. This is a WIN for him!

Bottom line, there is nobody worth voting for in this election. I'd suggest leaving the presidential chair empty as a better option for the next 4 years.

[gw]

It amazes me again and again how dumb the Obama groupies are.
How can anyone take the blog of Andrew Malcolm seriously?
He was communications manager for the Bush presidential campaign and is an admirer of Ann Coulter.
Don't you see that he has an agenda to write such garbage?
But I guess he blocks inconvenient comments like this one...

[Edluva]

Classic. I don't think Obama has placed any blame on Clinton for this. The writer has an opinion and a very good picture of a Clinton supporter together with Wright who happens to be the same person who kinda set things up. No big deal. Both women have the right to stand on their own merit. And so should Mr. Obama. He said what he's had to say. Both of them will get what's coming to them either way.

More classic...how people flip out on some people words but you let others' words "slide" (like Pat Buchanan). No one's OUTRAGED nor did the media make one peep about this http://www.buchanan.org/blog/?p=969. Is it because he's not running for President? You believe what he's saying? Or is that he's a bigot and totally forgets about 300 years of slavery and Jim Crow? It's hypocritical, shallow, and not important. The best way to avoid all of this is to ignore it, don't hype it up in the media, and move on.

See, I'm not all upset and neither should you. Nothing that Wright said or says affects any of you. It doesn't take food out of your mouth, send you to Iraq, or makes the oil companies richer for doing absolutely nothing. But what McCain is planning is REAL. Let's get to the REAL stuff like winning against the Republicans and getting out of Iraq.

[poh123]

This is truly, truly pathetic, LA Times. Truly, pathetic. I mean the media has to find a way to get Clinton involved in this. I hope this blows up on your face and it will.

[Jed Clampett]

How often do you hang out with your pastor? if you even go to church. Do you always listen to what he has to preach or say and act on it? I would venture to say not, otherwise the country would not have drifted so far from the things of value, of true worth.

Bigots and racists will use Wrights words to justify not voting for sen Obama. Just like they will ignore their preacher calling for the assasination of a sitting president. What is really disconcerting is how easily these people are manipulated by the media. All it takes is a 10 second spot on the news networks and a mischaracterization and the population is outraged, unflinchingly believing the whole story, as if they are worthy of trust or even anything more than half hearted attention. Seems the enemy of humanity has done it's job well on americans, so well in fact that they can't recognize when they are being used like puppets in a game. Unfortunately, they don't recognize that they themselves are the prize and give themselves fully to the enemy of humanity, spreading it's disinformation and hatred.

Perhaps God has damned america.... americans are just too enthralled by the veil to recognize it or admit it.

[Dr. Susan Daly, psychiatrist]

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is increasingly grandiose, paranoid, and delusional. These symptoms are characteristic of Bipolar Disorder, which is commonly treated with mood stabilizers and anti-psychotic medications.

People in the United States are overly excited by bipolar patients. Like the coverage of Britney Spears, this coverage of Rev. Wright has done nothing except fuel tabloid sales and internet coverage. Wright's psychiatric condition has nothing to do with Barack Obama.

Maybe Wright's friend, Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, could take him to his psychiatrist instead of exploiting his illness. Then he could go back on his medications, and presidential politics could return to baseline.

[Margaret B.]

Mr. Frederick - what a idiotic and uglyt smear this article is. Mrs. Reynolds is an "ardent" supporter of Clinton? She sounds lukewarm at best. She IS clearly a supporter and admirer of Rev. Wright, with a similar background to his. This is clearly why she chose him to speak.

What a shameful piece of trash this blog post is. Revealing only in the depth of depravity an Obama supporter will go to blame Hillary and excuse Obama for his own poor judgment. Just utterly twisted and disgusting.

[Jason]

How can any sane person argue that the Clintons are behind all of this?????? Seriously, just how much do the media wants Obama to become the next president? this is favoritism!!! America is going down the drain!!!!

[anne]

Boo hoo blame it on Hillary. Every time something goes wrong for poor Obama he blames HIllary. The fact is that he sat on that church and listen to that crazy man for 20 years and now wants us to pretend he never heard those remarks. Americans need to take a hard second look at Obama and his lack of judgement. He wont even debate, he scared because he has no answers too his shady friendships and terrible judgement.

[John]

the writer must a Obama supporter and trying to help, but the he uncle's nephew's wife's brother's best friend is Obama!!!!!!

[Margaret B.]

I misidentified the blogger in my previous post - shame on you, Mr. Malcom, not Mr. Frederick(sorry).

And I repeat - you are your own worst enemy if you are an Obama supporter. Oh wait, you probably support Clinton, huh? Ha, ha. Now I get it.

[xbjllb]

What a desperate pathetic last-ditch attempt to tie the suicide of Obama's Rove Trojan Horse campaign to the Clintons.

Really, can you hear that? It's the sound of MILLIONS of Americans, laughing their asses off.

[Patrick]

BLAMING THIS ON SEN. CLINTON?

ARE YOU SERIOUS! AND YOU WONDER WHY WE CALL YOU BIASED!!

[Mark]

Hillary Clinton is everything that her supporters have hated about the Bush/Rove bunch for 8 years. Now they have become what they hated. I guess it's kind of a Stockhold Syndrome, "identifying with the aggressors" thing. They figure that this is the way to gain power, and they have discarded their morals long ago. Power is everything. Must. Get. A. Woman. Into. White. House. Even. If. We. Have. To. Become. Republicans. In. The. Process...

It's so sad. To think these people used to be Democrats and ethical people.

[Bill]

Let me get this straight. Obama sets up a Clinton supporter to book a speech that will diss him. Nice try.

Indiana, vote for Hillary, former WalMart Board member and friend of the working class. Watch how long it will be, if she wins, before she drops you like a bad habit.

I'm also in agreement with the writer who thinks we should do a bit more probing on that group, The Fellowship, that she belongs to. Rick Santorum is also a member. You do the math.

[i saw the light now i'm EX-OBAMA!]

so is that why he insulted Chelsea by name yesterday?
GET REAL, WILLYA?

SO MANY PEOPLE SELLING THEIR SOUL FOR OBAMA.....do you really come that cheap?

[lindame13]

Can't Obama and his bunch do anything that is their fault, come on people, this is incredible, He never says anything wrong, itls always Clinton, His minister of 20 years opens his mouth and it is Clinton's fault. How stupid does this get.

[Richard P. McDonough]

Wright was right and wrong. Obama is a victim of Wright's big mouth and America's deficient press and intellect.
Clinton is undoubtedly behind all of this, she being the lady upstairs while the randy husband was getting orally satisfied downstairs, hardly a first for him with her knowledge, and then feigned surprise and sorrow.
Her only sorrows are at getting caught out.
She is, as the late and brilliant Amanda of Foreign Policy said, a MONSTER.

[Caroline Miniscule]

>>>It was at the NAACP that he spouted off about how blacks learn differently because their brains are different - a nasty racial theory that has been floating around for decades to explain the poor academic performance of black children.

And of course if a white person had espoused this - that person'd be run out of town on a rail! Anybody who ever dared give him a job again would be excoriated. But there's no backlash when Wright says it?

As for the Clinton campaign setting Obama up for this fall... get real! Wright could have refused to speak, he could have spoken more intelligently...to blame Obama's pastor's problem on the Clintons is ridiculous.

And no I won't vote for Hillary either. I wish I didn't have to vote for McCain... can we get a write-in campaign going for Fred Thompson?

[Vets4Obama]

This is exactly how the Clintons operate. Wake up People of North Carolina and Indiana. This is your chance to stop the dirty tricks that Bill and Hillary will do to take the White House. Nothing is out of bounds with them. If they cannot win, they want John Mc to win so she will not be to old to run after 4 Yrs. She lies. Nuff Said.

[Leontes]

Hillary and her husband are race-baiting thugs who will say and do anything to get elected. Bill used to be president; now he just pimps his wife's (political) corpse. A vote for Hillary is a vote for bigotry and intolerance.

[AT LEAST WRIGHT IS HONEST!!]

At least Wright tells the truth. Obama just lies and lies and lies. Why isn't that a headline???

[Tired]

Seriously, people. You all get 10 minutes alone in the corner, to think about your behavior.

I'm getting a shack in the woods.

BTW, I'm voting Obama at this point just because the other two candidates are just plain NUTS, or borderline senile. Seriously: Have you _really_ looked at the pictures of Hillary, like if it wasn't election time? How manic is that. You want THAT psyche in the White House? Good night, and good luck. Getting chilly in here. At least: Obama doesn't lie about being shot at, and pronounces world leader's names right. Has that going for him. Seriously. World Leaders! Are you kidding you can't say his name right? Not much says "fading power kidding iself" like "leading senator doesn't know the world leader's name." And: My brain is so full of all this Democrat GARBAGE (I'm a democrat!) that I can't even think of what wrong with McCain off hand! Which is the DANGER. PEOPLE. When McCain looks good, you know you have SCREWED UP.

It's like a plague of pig-headedness. Right now, democrats are proving conservatives RIGHT. THINK about that. THINK about it. Just because you believe in a certain way, which is good, doesn't make you a good person. If Democrats were Coke, I'd be drinking Pepsi. I am dismayed, truly, by the fact that at this crucial time in the world, socially, economically, and environmentally, NO one has it together. Except, maybe, if we can put Star Magazine down, Barack.

That is, if I can afford the shack in the woods. Well, I guess I'll save on heat bills by printing off all this Trash America is writing and stuffing it in my walls for insulation. "quis goes inter adveho inter." Sow away, suckers.

[Nonya]

This is a just another political button that someone else has pushed. I won't say Hillary did it directly but it sure sounds like the "establishment" is involved in trashing Obama.

[Jennifer H]

NOW THIS IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY!!! Unbelievable the lengths people will go to so they don't have to admit they were mistaken in thinking Obama was "presidential material". The curtain is lifting and it's a dark, ugly production behind the Obama campaign.