Obama throws pastor under the bus

[USRufnex]

If you, Mr IPLAW feel sorry for me because I believe 80% of what I've heard in Rev Wright's sermons heard in their entirety.... well, right back at ya'....

Here's my 80% in boldface I believe... and 20% I disagree with in italics...

1. Governments lie. "This government lied about their belief that all men were created equal. The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal. The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal, in creation nor civilization. The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote. Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women. The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body, and between Uncle Clarence (Thomas), who sexually harassed Anita Hill, and a closeted Klan court, that is a throwback to the 19th century, handpicked by Daddy Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, between Clarence and that stacked court, they are about to un-do Roe vs. Wade, just like they are about to un-do affirmative action. The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today. Governments lie."

"The government lied about Pearl Harbor. They knew the Japanese were going to attack. Governments lie. The government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin. They wanted that resolution to get us in the Vietnam War. Governments lie. The government lied about Nelson Mandela and our CIA helped put him in prison and keep him there for 27 years. The South African government lied on Nelson Mandela. Governments lie.

"The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis. Governments lie. The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera, 'Let me make myself perfectly clear..." Governments lie. The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North, and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government. Governments lie.

"The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of people of color. Governments lie. The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Governments lie.

"The government lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq being a threat to the United States peace. And guess what else? If they don't find them some weapons of mass destruction, they gonna do just like the LAPD, and plant the some weapons of mass destruction. Governments lie.


Hmmmmm.... that's 10 boldfaced, with 3 statements in italic-- 10 out of 13.... so, I guess when it comes to Rev Wright's views that "governments lie," I guess I'm just under 80% in agreement with him... but I would NEVER vote for him for president.

er, uh... oh, wait... he's not the one running... [:O]

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex

If you, Mr IPLAW feel sorry for me because I believe 80% of what I've heard in Rev Wright's sermons heard in their entirety.... well, right back at ya'....

Here's my 80% in boldface I believe... and 20% I disagree with in italics...

1. Governments lie. "This government lied about their belief that all men were created equal. The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal. The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal, in creation nor civilization. The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote. Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women. The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body, and between Uncle Clarence (Thomas), who sexually harassed Anita Hill, and a closeted Klan court, that is a throwback to the 19th century, handpicked by Daddy Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, between Clarence and that stacked court, they are about to un-do Roe vs. Wade, just like they are about to un-do affirmative action. The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today. Governments lie."

"The government lied about Pearl Harbor. They knew the Japanese were going to attack. Governments lie. The government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin. They wanted that resolution to get us in the Vietnam War. Governments lie. The government lied about Nelson Mandela and our CIA helped put him in prison and keep him there for 27 years. The South African government lied on Nelson Mandela. Governments lie.

"The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis. Governments lie. The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera, 'Let me make myself perfectly clear..." Governments lie. The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North, and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government. Governments lie.

"The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of people of color. Governments lie. The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Governments lie.

"The government lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq being a threat to the United States peace. And guess what else? If they don't find them some weapons of mass destruction, they gonna do just like the LAPD, and plant the some weapons of mass destruction. Governments lie.


Hmmmmm.... that's 10 boldfaced, with 2 statements in italic-- 10 out of 12.... so, I guess when it comes to Rev Wright's views that "governments lie," I actually believe more than 80% of what Wright says... but I would NEVER vote for him for president.

er, uh... oh, wait... he's not the one running... [:O]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lie6tJwDEhE&feature=related

Ruf, this is going to ruin your chances of being elected president!

[cannon_fodder]

Well, if we are going to be technical:

1)

quote:The government lied about Pearl Harbor. They knew the Japanese were going to attack.

That is unsubstantiated.  In hindsight, the government should have known based on messages that were intercepted and not interpreted as well as other data that was not relayed in a timely manner.  But the grand conspiracy that they knew and invited the attack is simply not true.

If they did, we could have set the fleet out to sea and had our excuse for war with much less of a threat of losing said war (remember, we lost the Pacific war for the first year and a half).


2.

quote:The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A lie is a statement known to be false.  I do not believe it has been proven that it was a lie (BUSH LIED!).  It has been proven that our intelligence was wrong and, perhaps, there was a willingness to give it the bennefit of the doubt so long as it proved what we wanted it to.

But that is not within the definition of a lie.

3.

quote:The government lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq being a threat to the United States peace.

See above.

But in this reference, Russia, France, Israel and the UN also had the same intelligence that the US had.  It turns out it was totally wrong, but that does not make it a lie.  
- - -

It also annoys me that he hedges his bets and said "if they don't find weapons, they will plant them."  gee, you can't be wrong.  If they don't find them they lied, if they do, they are cheaters who lie.

Governments lie.  No need to stretch the definition to make that point.

[iplaw]

It doesn't pay to buy into conspiracy theories Ruff. Look at CFs response to these loony allegations to see why.  

BTW, are you going to keep ignoring those other two quotes I provided to you?  There's some good stuff in there, unless you actually believe about 80% of what Farrakhan believes is true...

And no one is laboring under the mistaken belief that Wright is running for president.  It's a matter of judgment, or lack thereof on your candidate's behalf.  

Obama stated himself it's a valid political issue.

Obama has denounced this jackass in public, twice.

Is Obama wrong or are you?

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

It doesn't pay to buy into conspiracy theories Ruff. Look at CFs response to these loony allegations to see why.  

BTW, are you going to keep ignoring those other two quotes I provided to you?  There's some good stuff in there, unless you actually believe about 80% of what Farrakhan believes is true...

And no one is laboring under the mistaken belief that Wright is running for president.  It's a matter of judgment, or lack thereof on your candidate's behalf.  

Obama stated himself it's a valid political issue.

Obama has denounced this jackass in public, twice.

Is Obama wrong or are you?

Hardly a peep over this creep.....Hagee is a reason why it will be a valid political issue....

This is the man John McCain is proud to be endorsed by?

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/1/11248/20491

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

It doesn't pay to buy into conspiracy theories Ruff. Look at CFs response to these loony allegations to see why.

well, sounds like CF would be in agreement if Rev Wright replaced the word "lie" with the word "mislead" --- more lawyeristic twisting in the wind...  

quote:
BTW, are you going to keep ignoring those other two quotes I provided to you?  There's some good stuff in there, unless you actually believe about 80% of what Farrakhan believes is true...

which quotes?  since you've given so many...

quote:And no one is laboring under the mistaken belief that Wright is running for president.  It's a matter of judgment, or lack thereof on your candidate's behalf.  

Obama stated himself it's a valid political issue.

Obama has denounced this jackass in public, twice.

Is Obama wrong or are you?

Gee, did you get your talking points from Fox News?

This is not a jackass....... IMHO, YOU are, IPLAW.... been that way for along time... so, let's see, I denounce you.... [}:)]

Classic Lee Atwater question:  Is Obama wrong or are you?

Let's see.... I'm trying to explain how Obama could attend that church for 20 years... I don't go to a church to hear a pastor parse the differences between the government "lying" versus the government "misleading" folks...

Rev Wright deserves credit for motivating Obama to do something better with his life:  the audacity of hope...

Obama never called his former pastor a "jackass"... you did.

And I never said I completely agreed w/Wright... just that if you agree with most of what your pastor says, odds are you will stay at that church... I know from my own experience...

The republican hoi palloi, naturally, will insist that Obama should have said the same things about Wright weeks/months/years ago... which is, of course, why Obama can't be trusted as president....

classic.

[USRufnex]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135392

CAMPAIGN 2008
Something Wasn't Wright
Why Oprah Winfrey left Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.

By Allison Samuels | NEWSWEEK
May 12, 2008 Issue

For any spiritually minded, up-wardly mobile African-American living in Chicago in the mid-1980s, the Trinity United Church of Christ was—and still is—the place to be. That's what drew Oprah Winfrey, a recent Chicago transplant, to the church in 1984. She was eager to bond with the movers and shakers in her new hometown's black community. But she also admired Trinity United's ambitious outreach work with the poor, and she took pride in upholding her Southern grandmother's legacy of involvement with traditional African-American houses of worship. Winfrey was a member of Trinity United from 1984 to 1986, and she continued to attend off and on into the early to the mid-1990s. But then she stopped. A major reason—but by no means the only reason—was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

According to two sources, Winfrey was never comfortable with the tone of Wright's more incendiary sermons, which she knew had the power to damage her standing as America's favorite daytime talk-show host. "Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost," said one longtime friend, who requested anonymity when discussing Winfrey's personal sentiments. "She's always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn't be smart. She's been around black churches all her life, so Reverend Wright's anger-filled message didn't surprise her. But it just wasn't what she was looking for in a church." Oprah's decision to distance herself came as a surprise to Wright, who told Christianity Today in 2002 that when he would "run into her socially ... she would say, 'Here's my pastor!' " (Winfrey declined to comment. A Harpo Productions spokesperson would not confirm her reasons for leaving the church.)

But Winfrey also had spiritual reasons for the parting. In conversations at the time with a former business associate, who also asked for anonymity, Winfrey cited her fatigue with organized religion and a desire to be involved with a more inclusive ministry. In time, she found one: her own. "There is the Church of Oprah now," said her longtime friend, with a laugh. "She has her own following."

Friends of Sen. Barack Obama, whose relationship with Wright has rocked his bid for the White House, insist that it would be unfair to compare Winfrey's decision to leave Trinity United with his own decision to stay. "[His] reasons for attending Trinity were totally different,'' said one campaign adviser, who declined to be named discussing the Illinois senator's sentiments. "Early on, he was in search of his identity as an African-American and, more importantly, as an African-American man. Reverend Wright and other male members of the church were instrumental in helping him understand the black experience in America. Winfrey wasn't going for that. She's secure in her blackness, so that didn't have a hold on her.'' And while Winfrey, who has endorsed Obama and campaigned on his behalf, had long understood the perils of a close association with Wright, friends say she was blindsided by the pastor's personal assault on Obama. "She felt that Wright would never do anything to hurt a man who looked up to him as a father figure," said her close friend. "She also never thought he'd intentionally hurt someone trying to make history and change the lives of so many people.''

© 2008

[Friendly Bear]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135392

CAMPAIGN 2008
Something Wasn't Wright
Why Oprah Winfrey left Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.

By Allison Samuels | NEWSWEEK
May 12, 2008 Issue

For any spiritually minded, up-wardly mobile African-American living in Chicago in the mid-1980s, the Trinity United Church of Christ was—and still is—the place to be. That's what drew Oprah Winfrey, a recent Chicago transplant, to the church in 1984. She was eager to bond with the movers and shakers in her new hometown's black community. But she also admired Trinity United's ambitious outreach work with the poor, and she took pride in upholding her Southern grandmother's legacy of involvement with traditional African-American houses of worship. Winfrey was a member of Trinity United from 1984 to 1986, and she continued to attend off and on into the early to the mid-1990s. But then she stopped. A major reason—but by no means the only reason—was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

According to two sources, Winfrey was never comfortable with the tone of Wright's more incendiary sermons, which she knew had the power to damage her standing as America's favorite daytime talk-show host. "Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost," said one longtime friend, who requested anonymity when discussing Winfrey's personal sentiments. "She's always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn't be smart. She's been around black churches all her life, so Reverend Wright's anger-filled message didn't surprise her. But it just wasn't what she was looking for in a church." Oprah's decision to distance herself came as a surprise to Wright, who told Christianity Today in 2002 that when he would "run into her socially ... she would say, 'Here's my pastor!' " (Winfrey declined to comment. A Harpo Productions spokesperson would not confirm her reasons for leaving the church.)

But Winfrey also had spiritual reasons for the parting. In conversations at the time with a former business associate, who also asked for anonymity, Winfrey cited her fatigue with organized religion and a desire to be involved with a more inclusive ministry. In time, she found one: her own. "There is the Church of Oprah now," said her longtime friend, with a laugh. "She has her own following."

Friends of Sen. Barack Obama, whose relationship with Wright has rocked his bid for the White House, insist that it would be unfair to compare Winfrey's decision to leave Trinity United with his own decision to stay. "[His] reasons for attending Trinity were totally different,'' said one campaign adviser, who declined to be named discussing the Illinois senator's sentiments. "Early on, he was in search of his identity as an African-American and, more importantly, as an African-American man. Reverend Wright and other male members of the church were instrumental in helping him understand the black experience in America. Winfrey wasn't going for that. She's secure in her blackness, so that didn't have a hold on her.'' And while Winfrey, who has endorsed Obama and campaigned on his behalf, had long understood the perils of a close association with Wright, friends say she was blindsided by the pastor's personal assault on Obama. "She felt that Wright would never do anything to hurt a man who looked up to him as a father figure," said her close friend. "She also never thought he'd intentionally hurt someone trying to make history and change the lives of so many people.''

© 2008

Maybe the one positive outcome by bringing an extremely bright spotlight onto Obama's 20-year adherence to the Liberation Theology movement, and the associated Black Theology belief system, will reveal the following glaring fact:

The leadership of the "Black Community" is absolutely abysmal, and has been holding back that social group for decades.

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex
well, sounds like CF would be in agreement if Rev Wright replaced the word "lie" with the word "mislead" --- more lawyeristic twisting in the wind...  

You may want to re-read his post.

quote:
which quotes?  since you've given so many...

Since you're either too lazy to look at the top of the page or just avoiding them...or maybe just one too many soccer balls to the head?  Here you go:

quote:When [Obama's] enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."

quote:I am happy to learn that the Nation of Islam's The Final Call, a newspaper that issues Louis Farrakhan's concerns regarding HIV/AIDS as genocide, has a direct link to our website. I applaud Minister Farrakhan, and a half dozen other Black leaders, who have grasped the truth about HIV/AIDS as a utilitarian population control plot, and have the guts to say it.   

*******

Finally, I never said Obama called him a jackass, so that's either poor reading/comprehension on your part.  I called him a jackass, and stand by it.

As far as Wright, let me get this straight, America is a hateful, evil place controlled by whitey, where the government is trying to kill off black people by injecting them with AIDS...

This garbage not only passes for a sermon, but simultaneously inspires a message of "hope?" If so, count me out, no thanks...

Finally, using terms like "hoi palloi," doesn't impress anyone around here, especially when you misspell it.  M'kay?

[Derailed]

Rev. Wright was/is just the mouth piece for the type of Christianity Barack Obama and his wife believe.  

"The vision statement of Trinity United Church of Christ is based upon the systematized liberation theology that started in 1969 with the publication of Dr. James Cone's book, Black Power and Black Theology---We [African Americans] were always seen as objects. Trinity Church of Christ"

People should be quite concerned about a potential president who believes in what many would call a false Christian doctrine.  This doctrine combines the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights movement  with the Black Power Movement/Malcom X (being black in a white racist society) as the base.  Weave in Biblical verses around it and you've got Black Liberation Theology!

Distancing himself from Rev. Wright isn't the problem.  The real problem is the type of Christianity Obama believes.

"Black Theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the Black community."  If God is not for us and AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE... James Cone

Listen to James Cones for yourself.  This is not main-stream Christianity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1X5sZ6Q4Fw

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by Derailed

People should be quite concerned about a potential president who believes in what many would call a false Christian doctrine.  

, said the pot to the kettle.  You don't see any danger in what the "Right" side of the church is saying?

[USRufnex]

definition of jackass-- see IPLAW post above.

Mmmmkay.

Hoi polloi... H-O-I...P-A-L-L-O-I... [)]

------------------------------------------------

Mr. Welch: So whoever wins the school bee today, gets to represent Crenshaw at the district bee next month.
Akeelah: Why would anybody want to represent a school where they can't even put doors on the toilet stalls?
[coughing]
Mr. Welch: Akeelah, if we can't show students can perform were not going to have money for books let alone bathroom doors.
[pause]
Mr. Welch: Now I want you to do the bee today, okay?
Akeelah: So everyone can call me a freak and a brainiac? No I ain't down for no spelling bee.
Mr. Welch: Well, maybe you'd be down for spending the rest of the semester in detention for all your absences?

------------------------------------------------

It's been a long, long time... since I placed second in the school spelling bee at Columbus Elem. on 27th and Garnett... []

So, I guess partisan Republicans don't do nuance anymore, do they?!?  Which kinda explains why we got Bush from the Republcans instead of Dick Lugar...

I completely disagree/deny/express disgust with Wright's conspiracy theories about AIDS and his respect for Farrakhan...... but if I were hiring workers for a business in the Chicago loop, I'd hire some of Farrakhan's black-muslim congregation in a heartbeat-- they are disciplined, "driven," hard working, take pride in their work, show up to work on time every day... but generally have a chip on their shoulders...

"The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis."

---This ISN'T a conspiracy theory... this is fact... http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/tuskegee/

So, it doesn't surprise me that rumors would fly on the southside of Chicago in the black church about AIDS (I've heard them before, and not from blacks who went to Wright's church)-- this conspiracy theory also provides cover for bisexual black men... but it's not much different from hearing a Tulsa-area pastor in a baptist or pentecostal church talk of the United Nations paving the way for one-world government or characterizing the catholic church as the "whore of babylon" spoken of in the book of Revelation.. I find most conspiracy theories pretty dubious...

Why can't the CONSERVATIVE ELITE be demonized as effectively as the so-called "liberal elite"???  

[FOTD]

The leadership of "The White Community" ? No, not even spiritually. Just John McCaint's spititual whore?


The All-White Elephant in the Room

By FRANK RICH
Published: May 4,2008

"What you'll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is "the Great Whore," Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking "the blood of the Jewish people." That's because the Great Whore represents "the Roman Church," which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.

Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives' favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.

Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee's views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.

Since then, Mr. McCain has been shocked to learn that his clerical ally has made many other outrageous statements. Mr. Hagee, it's true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled "homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came."

Mr. Hagee didn't make that claim in obscure circumstances, either. He broadcast it on one of America's most widely heard radio programs, "Fresh Air" on NPR, back in September 2006. He reaffirmed it in a radio interview less than two weeks ago. Only after a reporter asked Mr. McCain about this Katrina homily on April 24 did the candidate brand it as "nonsense" and the preacher retract it.

Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee's calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright's. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee's church.

That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot's endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive "holy war" with Iran. (This preacher's rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain's policy views than Mr. Wright's tell us about Mr. Obama's.) Even after Mr. Hagee's Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain instead told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any "anti-anything" remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still "glad to have his endorsement."

I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full "Great Whore" glory. But Mr. McCain didn't have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee's videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright's. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn't have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.

Perhaps that's why virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright's fiery claim that 9/11 was America's chickens "coming home to roost." That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America's abortionists, feminists, gays and A.C.L.U. lawyers. (Mr. Wright blamed the attacks on America's foreign policy.) Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers "agents of intolerance" and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006.

None of this is to say that two wacky white preachers make a Wright right. It is entirely fair for any voter to weigh Mr. Obama's long relationship with his pastor in assessing his fitness for office. It is also fair to weigh Mr. Obama's judgment in handling this personal and political crisis as it has repeatedly boiled over. But whatever that verdict, it is disingenuous to pretend that there isn't a double standard operating here. If we're to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates — and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them — we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick.

When Rudy Giuliani, still a viable candidate, successfully courted Pat Robertson for an endorsement last year, few replayed Mr. Robertson's greatest past insanities. Among them is his best-selling 1991 tome, "The New World Order," which peddled some of the same old dark conspiracy theories about "European bankers" (who just happened to be named Warburg, Schiff and Rothschild) that Mr. Farrakhan has trafficked in. Nor was Mr. Giuliani ever seriously pressed to explain why his cronies on the payroll at Giuliani Partners included a priest barred from the ministry by his Long Island diocese in 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse. Much as Mr. Wright officiated at the Obamas' wedding, so this priest officiated at (one of) Mr. Giuliani's. Did you even hear about it?

There is not just a double standard for black and white politicians at play in too much of the news media and political establishment, but there is also a glaring double standard for our political parties. The Clintons and Mr. Obama are always held accountable for their racial stands, as they should be, but the elephant in the room of our politics is rarely acknowledged: In the 21st century, the so-called party of Lincoln does not have a single African-American among its collective 247 senators and representatives in Washington. Yes, there are appointees like Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice, but, as we learned during the Mark Foley scandal, even gay men may hold more G.O.P. positions of power than blacks.

A near half-century after the civil rights acts of the 1960s, this is quite an achievement. Yet the holier-than-thou politicians and pundits on the right passing shrill moral judgment over every Democratic racial skirmish are almost never asked to confront or even acknowledge the racial dysfunction in their own house. In our mainstream political culture, this de facto apartheid is simply accepted as an intractable given, unworthy of notice, and just too embarrassing to mention aloud in polite Beltway company. Those who dare are instantly accused of "political correctness" or "reverse racism."

An all-white Congressional delegation doesn't happen by accident. It's the legacy of race cards that have been dealt since the birth of the Southern strategy in the Nixon era. No one knows this better than Mr. McCain, whose own adopted daughter of color was the subject of a vicious smear in his party's South Carolina primary of 2000.

This year Mr. McCain has called for a respectful (i.e., non-race-baiting) campaign and has gone so far as to criticize (ineffectually) North Carolina's Republican Party for running a Wright-demonizing ad in that state's current primary. Mr. McCain has been posing (awkwardly) with black people in his tour of "forgotten" America. Speaking of Katrina in New Orleans, he promised that "never again" would a federal recovery effort be botched on so grand a scale.

This is all surely sincere, and a big improvement over Mitt Romney's dreams of his father marching with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Up to a point. Here, too, there's a double standard. Mr. McCain is graded on a curve because the G.O.P. bar is set so low. But at a time when the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll shows that President Bush is an even greater drag on his popularity than Mr. Wright is on Mr. Obama's, Mr. McCain's New Orleans visit is more about the self-interested politics of distancing himself from Mr. Bush than the recalibration of policy.

Mr. McCain took his party's stingier line on Katrina aid and twice opposed an independent commission to investigate the failed government response. Asked on his tour what should happen to the Ninth Ward now, he called for "a conversation" about whether anyone should "rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is." Whatever, whenever, never mind.

For all this primary season's obsession with the single (and declining) demographic of white working-class men in Rust Belt states, America is changing rapidly across all racial, generational and ethnic lines. The Census Bureau announced last week that half the country's population growth since 2000 is due to Hispanics, another group understandably alienated from the G.O.P.

Anyone who does the math knows that America is on track to become a white-minority nation in three to four decades. Yet if there's any coherent message to be gleaned from the hypocrisy whipped up by Hurricane Jeremiah, it's that this nation's perennially promised candid conversation on race has yet to begin."


Do not go grouping all
whites into one community like you'ns doins to the "Black Community".

This editorial was directed at many here.....

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex
"The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis."

---This ISN'T a conspiracy theory... this is fact... http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/tuskegee/

So, it doesn't surprise me that rumors would fly on the southside of Chicago in the black church about AIDS (I've heard them before, and not from blacks who went to Wright's church)-- this conspiracy theory also provides cover for bisexual black men... but it's not much different from hearing a Tulsa-area pastor in a baptist or pentecostal church talk of the United Nations paving the way for one-world government or characterizing the catholic church as the "whore of babylon" spoken of in the book of Revelation.. I find most conspiracy theories pretty dubious...

Again, I'm thinking sports injury...  You're just like altruismsuffers, your links don't back up your claims, either that or you just aren't reading what you link to.

News Flash!  The government NEVER infected black people with syphilis.  They had syphilis already.  Not that I would have expected you to read the NPR report YOU linked to.

So the jackass reverend is wrong yet again, but hey, don't let that stop you from defending him and enjoying his sermons, since he is 80% correct...

[iplaw]

Oh boy FauxTurd, thanks for the column by FRANK RICH, why don't I just link to a KARL ROVE column about Obama and call it Truth TM