Good show, Mr. Obama. You chose your words very carefully. While I do not trust your vagueness, I hope you find peace in this knowing that God is the creator of humanity, not just one skin colour or another which Mr. Wright seems to have remembered at times and forgotten at others. Of course when you befriend someone like Mr. Farrakhan, well Jesus said "He who is not with me is against me." Draw your own conclusions based on who Farrakhan is. Thus, my respect for Mr. Obama has increase, and my concern for his and his family's spiritual well-being has also increased. May the Lord Jesus guide him and his family to life, light, truth, and love to His name's glory.

(If he keeps up this poise, I may consider voting for him this fall.)

oh brother, will all you boys just sleep with barack obama and get it over with! you're so in love with him, even when he's contradicting the liberal progressive anti-establishment rhetoric that got him all of your support, rather than criticize him, you sympathize. Your contradictory treatment of Hillary Clinton and Obama is so sickly sexist. And the sickest part is that you men are so secure on your thrones that you don't even feel the pressure to counter the sexist argument.

I just saw the video of Wright's amazingly racist chatter on the Daily Show. Holy crap that guy is a racist.

Can you imagine if a white dude (or East Asian dude, Indian dude, Jewish dude) did the same mocking routine about black people? Jumpin Jesus!

Wright is exposing the strong current of anti-white racism among black leaders to the whole country. He must be high as a kite if he thinks this is a smart thing to do.

amber, you are quite funny. I'm registered Republican (mistake) so I voted for Ron Paul in the Pennsylvania Primary out of conscience. I had intended to vote for Hillary Clinton, Richard Vilello, and either Jennifer Mann or McCord. At the moment, I will be voting for Nader if Mrs. Clinton isn't given the nomination. (Notice I say given, because Obama has not won the nomination contrary to the opinion of his overzealous acolytes). However, if Mr. Obama proves to me that he is more than talk (which is all he seems like right now), then there is no way he will get my vote. Nevertheless, I am concerned with him. To have your world rocked by someone you trusted - that is painful and in this case may have spiritual implications. I may prefer Mrs. Clinton, but I am human and can empathize with Mr. Obama just as I did with Mrs. Clinton when she was faced with the embarassments of her husband all those years ago (and even now when he sometimes opens his mouth and word vomit comes out.)

Amber....thanks for the laugh. The boys think Obama IS Jesus. That's why they can't keep religion to themselves and out of politics.

silverlucie, Religion will never be out of politics, because a faith or lack thereof is part of who a person is, defines their ethical or moral framework, etc. Being a self-righteous liberal makes you no better than a pompous neo-con. And for the record, Obama is not Lord Jesus of Nazareth. He is a human being. I would well remind you that Mrs. Clinton is also in a religious group on Capitol Hill. So, who will you vote for this election? Mr. Obama - Trinity, Mrs. Clinton - Methodist/The Fellowship, or Mr. McCain - Parsley/Religious Right? Time to grow up out of that imaginary separation of church and state world, because Thomas Jefferson wanted a gate, not a wall. I tire of self-righteous atheists (the religion of self).

Talk about sexism. silverlucie and amber have an answer to those who support Barack Obama: "Man are [deleted] for Barack." That is an intellectual comment on this candidate and those who support him? You didn't have to say it as clearly as I did, amber, because the meaning was loud and clear. I suppose by that logic, women who support Hillary do so because of their lesbian attraction to her? If you are an example of the mind set of the average Hillary supporter, I suppose she does have a lot more in common with the GOP than I had already supposed.

Mark:
I agree with you that religion defines the believer. For instance, as a person who has discovered that there is no outright entity to worship, only a vast and beautiful universe of which I am a happily and divinely aware part, I take personal accountability for my ethical system. A person of the Christian faith, for instance, is compelled not to murder, steal or harm others merely out of sense that upon death there will be a consequence, i.e. no soft afterlife in the pretty gilded castle in the sky. I would not do these things because killing and stealing are simply not right, part of a universally accepted view of right-minded and considerate people. A Christian claims that when they do harm others 'the devil made them do it'. I know that my actions are the result of my thoughts and decisions which means I have to own them. I call that being responsible. My way and the way of many atheistic and agnostic people is not as simple as yours [what could be simpler then saying that a horned beast made you act out against your will?] but considering that the greatest number of people in American prisons and AA groups identify themselves as Christian, I suspect that in this way as so often in life, the results of those who live by the credo of honesty and self-will have the least ill effects on society at large.

By the way, Jefferson wasn't the only figure in shaping American politics. If anyone had wanted crooked priests and pastors popping through the 'gate' when ever they wanted it, they would not have phrased separation of church and state as clearly as they did. Mark, your view is inaccurate. I suspect you learned American history in Christian home school. Although your theory might explain why every American scandel has the word 'gate' added to it - I thought it was because of Nixon, but maybe not...

I think it is so unbelievable that the media is cannot and is not willing to move beyond Rev. Wright's sermonizing. The corporate media needs to continue to denigarate Obama in any and every way they can. They really want Clinton to be the nominee of the Dems. which would give their rep John McWayne leverage. An Obama win would certainly cancel McWayne out. As for race baiting, as a white man I have experienced so much racism against afro-americans in my 57 years by employers, Greeks, Mexicans, Asian Indians to name a few that the criticism that Rev. Wright aims at the status quo whites is certainly not unwarranted. I have no problem with Wright. As far as I'm concerned he speaks the truth and is a refreshing and liberating voice on the scene. If his church was in my neighborhood, I would certainly be there on Sunday morning. And Mr. Brock, let me remind you that the high and holy Thomas Jefferson was a slave holder and certainly became a wealthier man because of it. We are all human and imperfect, embrace the truth and come together.

What the heck does T.Jefferson have to do with my comment?

A racist is a racist is a racist. Wright is a racist.

Reverend Wright is wrong but not for all the reasons this article mentions.

Those who think that he was mocking white people are mistaken. He was goofy, smug, and just plain wacky at times but I don't think he mocked anyone.

His parroting of Kennedy's and Johnson's voices was meant to prove a point about how the difference in the accents of African American children were once considered a kind of deficiency despite the fact that other differences elsewhere were not so defined.

That his imitations were poor can hardly be held against him.

I believe he acted with a lightheartedness and jocularity that is overlooked by the media (and unfortunately so many people allow their opinions to be formed for them by the media). This is in part a cultural difference between white and black churches and should not be seen as a deficiency, as was part of his message.

But in almost every other regard Wright was indeed wrong. He was like a caricature of a man as Obama said of him. His posturing and disregard for a fellow congregant, especially one running for high office, was flagrant and embarrassing. His self-regard was equally obvious. And worse was his false statements about Farrakhan, US motivations in war, and on certain points of historical fact.

It seems some Clinton supporters are not happy that Obama has once again been saved by his character. His response was a portrait in self-composure, tact and gracefulness. He is in many ways the opposite of Wright. And if you ask me, history shows that a man's character says a lot more about him than his religion.

What none of you seem to have faced up to is the fact that this shunning of Wright, who is creative, warm-hearted, and funny, is merely proving to the GOP observers that you are running scared of the redneck rightists, who you clearly accept hold the demographic whip hand. And I choose that term deliberately.

Alright James, then some of my lilly white friends and I are going to go on national TV and in a lighthearted and jocular way make fun of the various ways that black people speak. I will start with Ebonics (done in a very exaggerated way, of course) and then move on to how loud some blacks are in public when compared to Asians and whites.

I'm sure all the lefty blogs will understand my jocularity.

well racist america has found an out not to vote for obama.

said it one year ago white americans are not about to put a black man into the white house.

now they have a reason not to.

no nation deserves mc war more than america. hillary will bring out repubs out of the woodwork.

call your soldiers like mc cain war heros for fighting in illegal wars is the very defintion of imperialism.

he would have bombed every man woman and child in vietnam to win that war to gain the respect of this grandfathers.

and americans love him for that. that tells us how war mongering this country really is.

capitalism must self destruct just as commieism did.

the laws of karma demand that they both self destruct.

one down one to go.

Have any of Reverend Wright's critics read their Bibles? Back in the 1990s I led adult Bible Study at a Presbyterian church on Chicago's south side. The church was about 50/50 white/black. During our studies, we frequently stumbled upon "difficult sayings" in the prophets and Psalms. I gather from the treatment Rev. Wright has received from the press that the media and their owners have never cracked their Bibles, unless it was to locate an over-used "proof-text" or platitude.

I am happy to know that, like many of us, Senator Obama was blessed with a pastor who did not shy away from "difficult sayings." We used to rail against "liberal" ministers who did avoid these verses.

Now, however, apparently it is the conservatives who avoid these verses and (more importantly) avoid what they may have to say to us.

Among the difficult things these verses say to us is that we need to discern whether the person we are speaking with is ready for adult food.

Senator Obama honors us all when he speaks to us as though we are ready for adult food. We are ready to wrestle with the "difficult sayings." Fox, ABC, and CNN dishonor us when they speak to us as though we are not.

Senator Obama also honors us when he discerns that it is time to talk about what really concerns us and not on the dust of death.

I think that, morally speaking, your Obama has discredited himself, and revealed himself as a coward and a hypocrite in relation to the struggle of black USAians for real equality of rights and opportunities in the USA. I will not use the term "Americans" for USAians, because it cancels the existence of the rest of the continent's inhabitants every time it is employed.

Incidentally, your 'remember personal info' button will not work unless the user enables tracking cookies - not a good sign.

Paul Miller, I was raised through the public school system, and my family stopped going to church regularly at about the age of 11 or 12 due to some serious issues. Do not presume to know my background. True Christians take personal accountability, i.e. using the "devil made me do it" excuses is a sign of weakness and usually a cop out of responsibility. As for the gate thing, that was funny, but ultimately a misunderstanding. The founding fathers, many of whom were Freemasons understood that one cannot separate the man and his value system. They also understood the value of theological institutions in a functioning society. Why the gate? Because a gate allows ideas and goods to flow while allowing it to be closed should one side thoroughly offend the other (or try to dictate the other). Perhaps that helps you understand my point of view. Nonetheless, I will reiterate. I dislike his "you know" catch phrase, his lack of specifics in policy and constant referral to what he says with no actions to back it up, but Mr. Obama handled himself with a cool poise, certainly not as gracefully as Mrs. Clinton might have, but he is younger and fresh to this level of politics. His family may also have to find a new church, and I know personally that such a thing is difficult to do. Therefore, I empathize with him while still lean in favor for Mrs. Clinton.

typical religious right....no sense of humor.

Rev. Wright holds and preaches very radical view - which is his right to do.

I have watched the sermons in question in total and not just the sound bites so I could judge for myself. I was appalled. Wright is racist, he hates this country, and he relates to those that wish to destroy us and Israel. Again, that is his right and that of his congregants to support him.

Here is the salient question. Do you really think it took Obama 20 years to come to this conclusion? And if it did take that long, can you trust his judgement on other matters?

Before some of you jump off the sofa or slam your laptop, consider the flip-side of this story.

A white preacher, preaching hate and allegations against blacks, and you find out the white presidential candidate was married and baptized by the preacher and has set in his pews for 20 years.

I have gotten up and left in the middle of a church service for much less than what I heard from Wright - and never returned.

Wright is not running for office, but someone very close to him is.

I was surprised by how different Wright was in his speeches as opposed to his conversation with Moyers. Two very different people.

I was saddened and disappointed by the racism in his performance. This must have been devastating for BHO to watch. And I wonder how the many white members of Trinity feel.

It's a little late for Obama to do this. I really think that the African-American vote will be significantly less racially aligned in North Carolina.

Meanwhile, Wright is giving the whole country a "workout". People are being made to think about race a lot more than if he were not on the scene.

Svend,

You could do that but it will only work if you're funny and not offensive. Rev. Wright was funny and not offensive. That is my whole point.

He was very funny when he mimicked Kennedy and Johnson and the way he explained European tempo vs. Black tempo in music. I'm not sure if you're arguing that classical musicians are offended or that Kennedy and Johnson or his families are offended. It's like saying a Lincoln impersonator is "mocking" Lincoln. No such thing is happening. It's only a perception on the part of whites.

Your hypothetical (you making fun of blacks) is flawed in another sense as well. If a group of ex-Nazis put on a play about Nazi's, it might be considered offensive. But if some gay men from New York decide to do the same thing, they are actually subverting Nazism and it becomes a satire.

My point is that you have a situation here in which it is okay for the minority, the oppressed group to air grievances and talk about the history of their victimization perhaps with more wiggle room than the majority or the group that victimized. I.e. it might come out a little unpretty at times but it's a conversation worth having.

As another poster said here, to shut out Rev. Wright is essentially to say we are not willing to have this conversation, which I think both Obama and Rev. Wright are, in two very different ways, trying to provoke.

hmmm...i seem to remember a lot of people demanding that mitt romney denounce his church for racist policies the mormons maintained before 1976. i guess nobody hauled out inflammatory speeches by ezra benson, though, e.g. http://www.latterdayconservative.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=105

This is folk marxist nonsense:

"My point is that you have a situation here in which it is ok for the minority, the oppressed group to air grievances and talk about the history of their victimization perhaps with more wiggle room than the majority or the group that victimized."

No, there are no double standards outside of the minds of sociology undergrads. If it is rude for one group to do it, it is rude for all. No special permission to be a racist.

The black-white oppressed-oppressor dichotomy is simply useless in the modern context. I thought you lefties were all about nuance?

Race and culture are social constructions. We are all individuals, and that is how we ought to be treated. The marxist idea (very Karl Rove too) of carving the world into little groups, each with differing assigned levels of victim status and each below the evil white male devil (who is permanently punished for the sins of some dead folks he never met.. which is little more than race-based social punishing) is terribly dangerous.

We aren't going to move forward as long as these silly divisions exist. When we are taught to live in a world of "race", and that "race" is the end all and be all of all explanations for everything (and the center focus of ones identity), don't delude yourself that unity will be even slightly possible to obtain.

Racist cops and juries buy into your assumptions, and use them against blacks (a criminal prone black population that preys on whites is the assumption for the white folks that have the other side of Wrights racist views) and now Hispanics and Asians are adopting these values too, in their opinions of black Americans.

Be careful what you wish for. A colour blind America will not be built with nakedly racist double-standards.

Paul,

VERY VERY well said!!!!

I agree with those of you who found Wright an entertaining breath of fresh air! He was funny, illuminating and honest. He seems brighter, bolder and more in step with the real world than anyone I have heard yet! Obama dealt with the political fallout with composure and self assurance. He should be applauded for handling an awkward situation with as much grace as he did. Isn't that an important sign of outstanding leadership? Obama is a FIRST in this country and bravo to him. But it's true, he leaves a lot of people feeling uncomfortable because they're "afraid" of something new and untested. We're going through some extraordinarily difficult economic times and people are worried so Obama appears risky. But remember there's big business out there that would like to keep you very distracted from serious matters with the fluff of the Wright story and so much other nonsense. The corporate world is aided in their quest with a highly intimidated and cooperative mainstream media that happily dwells upon the negatives to keep those ratings up and their advertisers happy. WE'RE the big losers here. Is Wright REALLY an "issue" folks? You're becoming so indignant about the WRONG THINGS! Wright expressed his opinion, his viewpoints, his personal attitude. So what! We're still getting a raw deal when we have to listen to this endless drivel because a bunch of journalists are terrified of losing their jobs if they veer from the status quo and bother with too much reality. We need to focus on what really matters. And hey Amber, gee whiz girl, CHILL already. YOU are downright scarey! If you hate half the world's population with that much gusto you need something to do with your time besides rant. See a therapist already. And take Svend with you. He seems to think that rancor and vengeance is the way to solve problems. Hand him a Zoloft.

Everyone needs to chill out a little. The conversation generated is "about differences and time." A different time, and the times we are in, and it needs to be aired! Not later, but now. Too bad about this conversation messing with Obama's race to the White House. If we examine it, we will find this includes all candidates. This issue is much bigger than a black minister and a black presidential candidate, who their friends are and associates are, and the definition of politically correct conversation. Racism is alive and all too well in this country. It's time to take your heads out of the sand - IF BHO makes it to the Presidency it will be the subject that continues to divide and conquer our "times." SO - Let's get it on! REQUIRE all the candidates take a look at who, and how they have been influenced, and take a stand for whom, and what, they are. Ask of each of them the tough questions! The more dialog, the more opportunity for them to reveal to us just who they are! They may want to keep these things in the closet, by repeating the same few tidbits over and over, BUT damn on us if we let them! We had better know who were voting for this time around, because "fool me once, then twice," has a real bad history!

Rev. Wright is asking us to look at ourselves and our beliefs. If our picture looks ugly, because we believe we are better than someone else, more deserving of God's love, and entitled to have things more perfect for us, then the colored-crayons we've been using have gone outside the lines, making this picture an eyesore. I don't know about you, but I want our next President to be compassionate and respectful to all humans, and all countries. I want him or her to use their brains and their heart, and their well-trained speaking ability to engage those who's opinions may differ from us in a conversation, and discussions to find resolutions that lead to what is best for humanity - not just those war-loving companies in the USA and their friends. I believe ones' position on Equality, in it's most broadest and complete terms, defines that person more than any other fact.

"And take Svend with you. He seems to think that rancor and vengeance is the way to solve problems."

So, a throughly anti-racist position (race is a social construction) is now "rancor and vengeance"?

Hmmmm. The dude making statements about how black kids are genetically unable to behave in school (Wright said this, no word if the legions of hyper successful recent immigrants from Africa got this memo http://www.africaresource.com/content/view/235/68/) is a "breath of fresh air" and the person pointing out that race is a social construction is vengeful.

This is why the left in this country will always be marginalized. You race-freaks on the left all less rational than the Jesus-freaks on the right.

What? No one slamming a candidate for being associated with a religious nut?

Where have all the secularists gone?

Folk Marxist nonsense? I honestly don't know what that is. I don't know Marx and I'm not a lefty.

I agree that race is a social construction but that doesn't make it any less real. The idea of race was once "constructed" to oppress and use one group for the advantage of another--it was called slavery. Certainly, it was a construction, a set of ideas that allowed those crimes to be comitted. No one disagrees about that. But simply to call it contruction does not make it disappear.

The construction, the framework for that crime still lingers in the psyches of people all around us. Wright wants to draw the curtan wide open on that psyche by looking at how it operated in the past. If that gets him worked up a bit, well I don't blame him. I can sympathize with how it might make a person feel if they were made to understand that their ancestors were brought here in chains and treated like animals. And make no mistake, that is a realization that is dawning on a black child every day in this country.

You are wrong! We cannot think race away simply by calling it a construction. To think so is modernist mumbo jumbo. This is a human situation and it requires a human response. I say give Rev. Wright the benefit of the doubt and do not cast dispersions on his name. He may have something to tell us, however unpleasant his delivery might have been.

"Can you imagine if a white dude (or East Asian dude, Indian dude, Jewish dude) did the same mocking routine about black people? Jumpin Jesus!"
Actually we don't have to imagine anything because history speaks loud and clear. What is the record of white America regarding blacks? Not only did whites "mock" blacks, but they also abused, exploited, assassinated, enslaved and debased them. Compared to this, what Wright did was just blowing a little steam.

All I keep thinking is, if the twice-divorced, pro-choice husband of a Jewish woman Rudy Giuliani could take communion from the Pope, surely no person with a functioning cerebral cortex can believe that Obama agrees with Wright's more provocative statements...right?

It seems to me that Obama was simply being another politician. People like Jonathan Falwell and Rod Parsley, who also preach hateful and America-blaming things, have the asses that John McCain, as a white Republican, has to kiss. Wright's was obviously the ass that Obama had to kiss when he came to Chicago. Some people will be disillusioned by that, but one of the nice things about cynicism is that I never expected much else. I still think Obama's an improvement over Clinton, McCain, and, especially, Bush!

Joseph makes some good points.

Most of the Rev. Wright's critics do not seem to understand the fundamentals of Christian faith or the nature of Biblical prophecy as it relates to criticizing kings, tyrants, and earthly institutions. The Bible includes countless instances in which prophets (including Jesus) condemn the spiritual, political, and economic sins committed by political rulers, especially when these sins have been committed by rulers who invoke God's implied or explicit "blessing" of those sins.

While Jeremiah Wright may well be incorrect about AIDS or other matters of "secular" fact, he is also well within the mainstreams of Biblical theology and church history in pointing out the shortcomings of our nation, its leaders, and its policies re: war, imperialism, care of the poor and oppressed, and re: racism. Cogent arguments have been made that the USA has a long history of imperialist behavior, most recently in Bush's ill-conceived wars. And such "sins" affect our social, spiritual, and economic well-being. I regret that more churches have not joined the modern prophetic chorus againbst injustice and war voiced by Ghandi, King, Merton, and many others, including Wright.

It is sad to see such an unequal judgment of Obama's religious and spiritual life--and the faith and worship of millions of people of color--based on gross misunderstandings of the Bible
and cultural differences between churches. The theological ignorance shown in this by the press, voters, and politicians alike is inexcusable and wrong.

As a lily-white, church-going Episcopalian who led county jail Bible studies for 10 years, I am deeply disappointed in my fellow Christians (especially by heretic W) whose politics are dominated by a false--even heretical--understanding that somehow our secular nation and our political decisions are automatically "blessed" by Divine Providence. As a nation, we are far from perfect--or even politically "perfected by faith" as a political and national entity over and above any other peoples or nations. If we as individuals (even as political reporters and presidents) were more humble and more aware of our individual and corporate need for Divine guidance and forgiveness, we might all be better off. Abraham Lincoln was right: we should not assume (or hope) so much that God would be on our side so much as to earnestly seek to be on "His" (or Her) side.

This whole episode has re-embedded Obama so ineluctably in the black community as to lose him the votes of many if not most of the white working class. Even the more enlightened will see him as a small-time kid who can be flummoxed by a big-mouthed preacher.

PS Svend

Dude, you gotta stop throwing around that word "racist." I think you've used it far many more times than Rev. Wright did. I think he said "different is not deficient" more times than he said "racist."

I have a descriptive word for obama, after hearing how he plans to stab the American citizen workers in the back, it darn sure isn't 'positive'!!

Obama is a closet racist. Pastor Wright is out of the closet. Obama is trying to put him back into the closet. We are not fooled. Vote for Senator Clinton. Bill has it right.

Rev Wright has indeed afflicted the comfortable.
Unfortunately he has not comforted his afflicted church member, Senator Obama.
We must admit however that there is as much truth in what he has said as falseness.
That is what is hurtful!

How could anyone not love this guy hes tops in my book was from the very start and will always tops !!!!
THISTIMEWILLBEDIFFERENT Obama 2008!!!!

James, I guess two wrongs make a right. It is like in North Korea, where a son is punished with life imprisonment for the crimes of his father!

Jim, Wright is a clear racist. He has explicitly racist positions. He is a textbook racist.

http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0429hm.html

thank you, thank you, thank you!! this is so well-stated, there is nothing left to say. let's see if indiana is listening...

oops, it's my first time posting. i meant to say thank you to amber!!

Am very disappointed with the level of objective (never mind secular), analysis exhibited by most of your correspondents here. I would have expected more from the readers of Mother Jones.

Svend, Noboby is talking about punishment. I am talking about acknowledgement. You didn't commit any crimes and the people complaining haven't seen the worst of the crimes that were committed. But to completely forego any discussion of this problem is to perpetuate the injustice.

We live in a single society and it's our civic duty to understand the forces that have shaped and continue to exert an influence on that society. For a human community to move forward, like any human relationship, the past must be come to terms with. The son does not deserve punishment for the crimes of his father but he must acknowledge them.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

The people here who are calling Rev. Wright a racist are mirroring the very behavior they presume to critique in the black community. I.e. throwing around the word racist without any sort of substantiation to back it up.

I'm going from memory so please forgive me if I make a mistake but I don't seem to remember Rev. Wright pointing the finger at anyone or calling any specific person a racist. Yet, you have people all over this post pointing the finger at him and calling him a racist. Why not state clearly what you find objectionable about the man or what he said specifically that you feel is racist?

Even curioser: Remember the first few clips of Wright's sermons that surfaced on YouTube and were played on television hundreds of times. Well, one of those clips shows Rev. Wright standing before a seated congregant making the "raise the roof" gesture. I never really understood why this little tidbit of video appeared with all the other "crazy" things Wright was saying. It's almost as if this part of the video was there to prove to white folks that this here's a black man (in case you were misled by his fair skin). Can anyone tell me why this was part of the videos? I find it very curious as this segment of the tape doesn't seem to have any connection to the others but seems to be spliced in as if to add to the damning evidence. Curiouser and curiouser.

Ok...so Wright is racist. Big whoop? That doesn't make Obama a racist person either. I dont understand why people are FORCING those chains to link. That's like saying since I have a racist uncle, by relation, I'm racist too. Just because you associated with someone who has radical views, doesn't mean you share those radical views. Check your history; It's been like that between political leaders for years.

Also, people keep saying Obama needs to prove that he isnt "all talk." Well, it would be a wasted vote on Nader as his "talks" are all full of nonsensical ideas. McCain's "talk" is about the US being in Iraq for another 100, maybe 1000, years. And Hilary's "talk" has been lies about her being under fire.

I must say I fid most comments very silly, simply because they seem based in stupid religious beliefs or insane racist prejudices, while a terrible crisis is falling upon the people caused by Zionist crooks that run genocides, drug monopolies and general corruption. This system has made a debtor, that is a slave,out of every working American. The financial and monetary system based in debt and interests that has caused the present downfall is what people should be concerned on. But, alas, no. Keep discussing the same silly things and you will face reality soon.

Karl, you are so right. STRASBOURG - European Union lawmakers urged Israel not to inflict "collective punishment" on Gaza's population, saying its isolation of the territory had failed and its actions were endangering civilians.
They urged Israel to lift a blockade which has cut supplies to the 1.5 million people in Gaza, run by the Islamist group Hamas, and let in aid and essential goods and services.
"The policy of isolation of the Gaza strip has failed at both the political and humanitarian level," the European Parliament said in an adopted resolution.
"The civilian population should be exempt from any military action and any collective punishment." "The European Parliament calls on Israel to cease military actions killing and endangering civilians, and extrajudicial targeted killings," The resolution said.

Obama supporters are anti-Semites. In an interview with The Jewish Week, [ADL leader] Foxman said this must be just a first step. "He's distanced himself from his pastor’s decision to honor Farrakhan. He has not distanced himself from his pastor. I think that’s the next step. One can now expect from Sen. Obama that he confront his minister." Ultimately, said Foxman, if Obama is unable to influence Wright to alter his stands, "I think he has an obligation to leave."

And the would include the hundreds of thousands of Jews who support him? Real good one Ira! Try again.

According to Israeli law, Amendment 4A (a) to the Law of Return, passed in 1970, "The rights of a Jew under this law... are also vested in a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion."
The law defines a Jew as "a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion." Israel is a religious state. The American Constitution sets up a wall between church and state and we should not send $10billion of taxpayer money to the religious state of Israel anymore than giving $10billion to the Southern Baptists.

A.Bizzie:
Its not so much that Obama has this association with a racist. Obama is runing (first) to be the leader of the Democratic party and next, to be the leader of the entire USA. More is expected from someone seeking such positions. At a minimum, it is generally expected that he will be a LEADER. But he cowars from confronting his associates, when they need a tightening. Lack of adequate leadership.

Hey People,

Most of these posts arefrom people who are on opposits...Mr wright is a VERY Racist man, no one can deny that...!!!
And sicne BHO decided to sit with his KIDS and let them be filled with this black hate, he is complicate..:-(
Anyone in their right minds would have never came back to that church...HUH?
And BHO comments in penn. about bitter, guns etc, are stupid. He is sooo far off base, that the MAJORITY of the American people will vote MCCain in NOV..!!!
You libs had your chance, with so many whites WILLING to vote for that past editor of Harvard Law Review.:-) But instead, you have a gutter black panther who YOU have allowed to ruin his chances.
You people suck..!!!

BIll

I deny that Wright is a racist! What exactly did he say or do that is racist? Please answer me that question. People love to brand this guy a racist but unless I was on a different planet his whole message was "different is not deficient." How is that racist? Please be specific and don't give me the usual "I just know it" bullshit.

If you want real leadership why not look at a real issue Trollstein instead of one manufactured to bring down Obama.

Look at the holiday from the gas tax that Clinton and McCain are supporting. This is pandering at its worst. The savings passed on to consumers will be about $30 for the whole summer but at a cost of 10 billion from our highway funds. It is irresponsible, a gimmick, and a cynical attempt by Clinton and McCain to buy a few uninformed votes.

Virtually all economists, Michael Bloomberg and others are calling the gast tax holiday a "dumb idea." Obama opposes it and is calling it a gimmick. That's real leadership on a real issue.

Don't believe everything you watch on the boob tube because that would only make you a boob. Look a little deeper!

Ira C.

"A group of Jewish Americans all across the U.S. believe Barack Obama would make the best president and hence are in the process of preparing a full-page New York Times ad — to be signed by all of us who would like to be included — showing the U.S. Jewish community?s widespread support for Barack," Levin writes, adding that the ad's sponsors will be known as "American Jewish Patriots."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Jewish_supporters_buying_ad_for_Obama.html