April 12, 2008
Civil Dialogue on the Issue of the Rev. Wright (Lanny Davis)
On April 9, 2008, I had an op-ed column published in The Wall Street Journal that respectfully raised questions about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) response to some of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons and urged the senator to address (or re-address) these questions now rather than later.
The op-ed was also re-published on TheHill.com, the Huffington Post.com, on CNN.com, and elsewhere.
It drew a considerable reaction, pro and con, sent to me by e-mail or posted as comments on these and other websites.
One e-mail sent to me, however, moved me the most, giving me a better understanding of Sen. Obama's reaction to the Rev. Wright's sermons. While not answering all my concerns, it still opened my mind and heart much more than before.
It came from a highly respected attorney from New York City, Mr. Jeh Johnson, who happens to be an African-American. Jeh is a strong and steadfast supporter of Sen. Obama. I have known of and admired Jeh from afar for many years. He also admires Sen. and President Clinton and served with me in the Clinton administration.
After reading Jeh's e-mail, I responded and thanked him for sending it to me. I then asked him if I could re-publish it on the blog sites that published my op-ed piece, and he consented.
Please see below and take the time to read it carefully.
My simple reasons for wanting to publish Jeh's e-mail are:
First, while I am still a strong supporter of Sen. Clinton, I hope that others like myself, who consider themselves to be loyal, progressive Democrats but still have some concerns about the Rev. Wright issue, will read Jeh's comments and gain a better understanding, as I did, of Sen. Obama and his speech about the Rev. Wright's sermons.
Second, I hope that, by reading Jeh's comments, thoughtful supporters of both Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton will realize that continuing this type of respectful and civil dialogue helps, not hurts, the Democratic Party's chances in November.
Finally, I want to contrast Jeh's approach to the ugly haters and name-callers I also heard from in response to my op-ed piece. Sens. Clinton, Obama, and McCain unfortunately know about these kinds of critics — who demonize those with whom they politically disagree; who rant and name-call on daily radio talk shows and nightly cable TV programs; and who fill the blogosphere with personal attacks and character assassination, usually under a cloak of anonymity that precludes accountability.
The Jeh Johnson approach of civil and informative discourse, even where there is disagreement, should appeal to everyone — regardless of candidate or party preference — as the best antidote to these practitioners of the politics of personal destruction. Mr. Johnson proves we can vigorously debate and disagree on the issues — and yet, after the nominating process is completed and the next president is elected, we can still work together as a nation to get back into the solutions business.
———————-
Message from Jeh Johnson:
Lanny —
I write this for myself, and not as a representative of Barack Obama or his campaign. I was prompted to write you when I saw your question, "Why did he stay a member of that congregation?"
I think much of the debate over Rev. Wright and his statements overlooks the unique role of the black church in the black community. I've never been to Trinity in Chicago, but I've been to many churches like Trinity. Historically, the black church is the one place for blacks free of any white influence, something blacks can call all their own. It's the fraternity, the funeral director, the marriage counselor, the lawyer, the tax preparer, the therapist, the AA anonymous. Black churches such as Trinity are often the center of the black community, the one place where people of different economic classes come together to see each other, worship God, engage in community service and outreach, and it is about much more than the pastor.
I am not biracial and I did not grow up in Hawaii. I did grow up in an overwhelmingly white community, and was constantly plagued by my minority status. I had no place to turn to find my own identity. My parents then had the wisdom and good sense to send me to Dr. King's alma mater, Morehouse College in southwest Atlanta, the only all-male black college left in the country, and that four-year experience basically made me who I am today. While there, I started attending the Baptist church across the street (though I am an Episcopalian). It was a real, down-home black church. My very first reaction to it was shock and slight amusement. The pastor was often over the top in his sermons, and he drove a Mercedes despite his poor congregation. I would listen to the good Rev and often disagreed with much of his overheated rhetoric, but I kept going back to this church.
Why did I do that? For the first time in my life I felt like a full participant in the black experience, with no conditions. No one questioned who I was, where I came from, what I had done before to prove my blackness. There was just an elderly lady with a big smile at the door who handed me a program and said "God bless you son." While there I witnessed poor and uneducated black people shake off misery, poverty, addiction, alcoholism, death, sickness, relatives in jail and all the other stuff that makes life challenging in the big city. Women in white uniforms walked the aisle to catch people as they passed out from it all. During the service, a deacon or someone else would describe all the different church-related activities for outreach, helping someone who had lost a job, or visiting the sick and shut-in who could not make it to church. On the way out, someone else would say "come back again and see us young man" though they didn't know me at all. By attending that church, I felt part of the community around me, and it was quite uplifting on Sunday after I went back to the books. Barack has never explained it this way, but I suspect given the way he was raised he felt some of the same things when he first started attending Trinity, and why he found a home there.
In the course of my own life, I have encountered many very militant and angry elements of the black community, much of them as formative for me as the large corporate law firm in which I am now a partner, the Clinton Administration, or growing up in Wappingers Falls, New York. But, it would be an act of sheer hypocrisy for me to try to renounce any of this. For example, at Morehouse many educated teachers and invited speakers blasted the white man, black men who acted like the white man, and condemned our whole society as fatally racist. When I graduated in 1979, Louis Farrakhan was our baccalaureate speaker and Joshua Nkomo, leader of the armed struggle to liberate Zimbabwe, was our commencement speaker. With Coretta Scott King sitting near the front row, I vividly recall Nkomo preaching "the only thing the white man understands is the barrel of a gun." I certainly didn't agree with that then, and I don't now. But I love Morehouse and would rather quit all involvement in public affairs before I had to sever my ties of support to the school. Morehouse is part of what makes me a proud African-American. A good friend to me from my parent's generation, a retired ivy-league professor who is like an uncle to me, was branded a dangerous radical and subversive by our government in the 1960s. J. Edgar Hoover wiretapped his conversations with Dr. King. But, if someone combed his books and found something he wrote with which I disagreed, I'd rather disassociate myself from my right arm than publicly renounce this man.
The reality is this: Those of us who participate in both the white and African-American experiences will very likely have a Jeremiah Wright in our lives — it could be our teacher, our uncle, our brother, our father, or our pastor. It is simply part of the American experience. But, here I am, a patriot who — I can honestly say — harbors no "anger" or racial animosity toward anybody, including my white law partners, my white neighbors, or my white family members. I can't guarantee much about anything in life, but I can guarantee, from what I know about Barack Obama, that he feels the same in his heart and soul.
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Good try, but no touchdown. If you attend an educational university, particularly an all black university, which by the way it would be illegal to have an all white university that received public funds, then surely all forms of views on society would be welcome and even considered. However, it doesn't come close to explaining why you would affiliate with a church that expouses hate towards any particular group because of their race, or any particular group because of their religion. Claiming to have a right to hating a group on a racial basis because that is what was part of your heritage is what produced Adolf Hitler. It's this type of sophistry that encourages further hate and racial gerrymandering. If Obama was white, his campaign would be over. You can't have equality without equality for all. Anything short of that goal is simply a falsehood. Apologies which justify racial hatred have little real value, less than the paper they are written on. These types of justifications can only lead to further justification for future racial hatred from anyone who can cite this type of thinking as an example. It is interesting that Michelle Obama and many other blacks, including the author of the letter, can respond so negatively to a country who gave them such success.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — April 12, 2008 @ 8:20 am
I am unimpressed by this "heartfelt" rebuttal. I understand that the church is the center of thought, help, and social activity for the black community. Yet, there are black churches that do not speak condescendingly towards other races, promote unpatriotic ideals, or, and most importantly, preach hate. There are kids that grow up in these churches, and when all they hear is something negative towards the country and its people, that is what they believe. On the other hand, this attorney grew up outside of this society and was able to disagree with speech that was wildly hateful. Sen. Obama was raised like the attorney; however, both the attorney and Sen. Obama should have stood up for the kids being indoctrinate with hate. Additionally, both Johnson continued to go to the Church just because he did not have to justify his blackness. That is, to me at least, him sacrificing his ideals into order to belong.
The Democratic Party is one that is progressive and liberal, in thought and attitude. However, these churches are anything but. They are backwards politically and promote a backtracking way of thought in the black community.
Comment by Orlando Pryor — April 12, 2008 @ 8:45 am
Lanny-
Thank you for posting that letter and I think it took courage. I still vehemently disagree with the approach you took to address your concerns and it did look as if you were fanning the flames of an issue many felt had been adequately addressed.
I highlighted some parts of Johnson’s letter and Obama’s speech”.
"The reality is this: Those of us who participate in both the white and African-American experiences will very likely have a Jeremiah Wright in our lives — it could be our teacher, our uncle, our brother, our father, or our pastor. It is simply part of the American experience. But, here I am, a patriot who — I can honestly say — harbors no “anger” or racial animosity toward anybody, including my white law partners, my white neighbors, or my white family members. I can’t guarantee much about anything in life, but I can guarantee, from what I know about Barack Obama, that he feels the same in his heart and soul. "
On why he remains a member of Trinity and perhaps the crux of folks’ displeasure with your Op-ed since many felt he adequately addressed the issue here:
"Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way"
And now notice the similar point regarding the African American community:
“That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America. "He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.”
And Finally, why he will not disown and disavow Wright:
"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community-These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love."
Comment by Theard — April 12, 2008 @ 9:19 am
Lanny, that was a good old college try at being soft and reasonable. But the problem is this; you are just being a cheap hack.
It's very transparent you are trying to give the 'rev.wright story' CPR. It's also become very apparent over the years that you and your DLC cronies have failed miserably. Hillary is DONE. Give up the ghost.
Comment by Lester — April 12, 2008 @ 11:53 am
So called "Black Colleges" do not all discriminate against whites who might want to go there. Most Black Colleges have a few White Students who have ignored the racial propaganda from Bigots of both races to get an education they could not otherwise afford.
I'm not voting for Wright; the last I heard he wasn't running for president.
Comment by Donaldd — April 12, 2008 @ 2:07 pm
wow mr. davis you have always seemed so nuanced towards sen. clinton, that i never expected you to present something so "big" in an honest way. i applaud you, and am now more willing to listen to what you have to say, and can accept that honest disagreement is american and healthy. it is also the route to finding common ground to make life better.
i might suggest also that if you and others who viscerally reject rev. wright take time to even read or watch the whole 9 min "9/11″ speech, and give yourselves and others a greater context for both his intent, obama's unwillingness to leave, and the larger white society's repulsion, then we all have a chance of doing and being better.
if america gets to be about big conversations and big issues, rather than pin pricks to our unhealed wounds, we can truly be great rather than just pretend to be great while winking at torture, etc.
Comment by greg johnson — April 12, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
If Mr. Davis were to be moved to an epiphany regarding the Reverend Wright issue, he then would simply cease his veiled attempts to continue making it an issue.
Comment by Rob A. — April 12, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
This letter reads like a white man from the South in the 1960s trying to justify not renouncing the Klan. Sorry, we are electing a president of the United States here, not someone trying to find his black (or white) identity and not able to renounce the prutrid parts of his historical past.
IMHO, Obama likes what the pastor is preaching or he wouldn't be attending his church and if I am wrong the the letter writer is correct, then Obama isn't ready yet to lead a nation of many different races.
Comment by Richard1 — April 12, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
We are chosing the President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, a person who may doom us all if he or she isn't careful, or may just do a lot to dramatically affect our lives one way or another. While it may or may not be understandable why a black man will chose, without any ouside pressure, to sit and listen to the worst hate imaginable, let's err on the side of caution. Let's not chose someone who MAY have believed even some of this hatred or was affected by it, or had a predisposition to listen to it to be the President of the United States.
Comment by Igor R. — April 13, 2008 @ 1:47 am
'I have known of and admired Jeh from afar for many years. He also admires Sen. and President Clinton '
Well, since you are both attorneys honesty or in this case an absence of, would not even be a consideration yet what is it that you and Mr. Johnson find to admire about the deadly duo?
the following are some possibilities:
his luck in governing during prosperous economy that no president controls?
her senate record?
her thirty five years of undocumented experience as anything other than spouse?
the efficient way in which they have run her campaign?
their total lack of personal responsibility (it's always the staffs' fault?
The fact that they are both sociopaths?
Her intelligence and its practical application?
Please address some of these concerns in a future column.
Comment by james d granata — April 13, 2008 @ 5:53 am
Lanny- your heartfelt try is akin to clinton's honesty–it is not there!!!
Bitter and Angry in Rural Pennsylvania: Obama's Reality vs. Hillary's Fantasy
by astral66 [Subscribe]
Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 03:47:47 PM PDT
Maybe there aren't many Bubbas driving around in pickup trucks with the classic bumper sticker "God, Guns and Guts Made America Free" where Obama's detractors live, but here in rural Pennsylvania that line may as well replace "e pluribus unum" as the motto on the national currency.
I live in western Pennsylvania, and I can tell you, people here are bitter and angry. Poverty is prevalent. People hunt squirrels and eat them, along with racoon stew. People also hunt deer here, not for sport, but so they can put meat in their freezer so they can feed their families. They cut wood in the forests and heat their homes with wood stoves because they can't afford to pay the gas bill. I know a guy who goes to old landfills to dig up old milk and beer bottles to sell on eBay. He uses the proceeds to buy clothes for his family at the Salvation Army (and to pay for his dial-up connection).
Racism and prejudice are ever-present here. A friend of mine is part-owner of bar in a small rural town south of where I live. I meet up with him there occasionally and watch as down-and-out people come in with their disability and welfare check money and drink it away. It's a pretty depressing place, but it does serve as the social center for a town that has seen its few industries shut down and the local people's jobs eliminated or shipped off elsewhere.
I hear the usual rants there, that it's all the fault of gays and minorities and immigrants (although those aren't the terms used, but rather the usual, virulent slurs). A black man walked in the last time I was there, and a guy near me at the bar muttered in a not-so-quiet way, "What's he think he's doing in here?" When I brought up the presidential race and Obama with another man at the bar, his response was, "there ain't no way America is ever going to vote for a black guy." Later on my bar-owner friend told me about his experience talking about Obama with another woman at the bar, and her angry response was that "it's because of half-breed n*****s like him that America is in such bad shape today."
Prejudice, racism and fear do run rampant in areas like this. People are poor. They are in bad health, overweight from a deep-fried diet, and toothless from the lack of dental care. They are unemployed. They are uneducated. They do cling to their hunting rifles and to their religious beliefs. For many, it is about all that they have. The towns around here are full of decaying, boarded up buildings. People live in rundown old trailers with abandoned cars in the front yard. I have seen people using an old car as a stable, with their goat tied to and living in it. I could drive you by a least three old houses that have Conderate flags in the windows.
So go ahead and discount Obama's talk of how bitter and angry that some of the people of rural Pennsylvania are. Call him elitist for taking the time to pass through areas such as this to listen to what the people have to say, and to then relate what he has heard to people in more prosperous parts of the country when he is asked about it. I have lived in San Francisco, and let me tell you, there is a marked difference between the general attitude there and the attitude here in the "rust belt". Go ahead and dismiss everything that Obama said as political posturing. Let Hillary and McCain "pick him apart" and parse his words. But please keep in mind that when Obama said:
"it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
that he is 100% accurate in his assessment.
I know, because I live here, my family and my friends' families have lived here for generations, and we see it every day, all around this region. There is a very fine line between poverty and prosperity here, where making above $20,000 a year puts you in the realm of the "haves", but also knowing that you're one contract termination away from joining the ranks of the "have-nots".
I come from a family of dairy farmers. I know what it's like to spend up to 12-16 hours a day sitting on a tractor for three dollars an hour, which I did through high school and every summer until I was fortunate enough to head off to college. Many of my friends were also fortunate and went to school, and then relocated to other parts of the country. Some of us were able to come back under better circumstances, but the large majority of people here are not as fortunate.
Thirty years worth of the right wing dismantling our public education system has taken its toll. Thirty years worth of mismanagement of the economy, of shutting down factories and shipping jobs out of the country, of subsidizing corporate farms and taxing family farms out of business, has taken its toll.
Yes, people are angry, and bitter, but Obama never said that they aren't resilient, opitmistic or hard-working. Those are Hillary and McCain's twisted words, and for them to stand up and suggest that rural Pennsylvanians aren't fed up with the way things are, only reveals how out of touch they really are with at least this part of the country.
Of course, all McCain has to do is suggest to poor rural folk that the party of gun-control, gay marriage, and NAFTA is going to take away what little they have left, and rural conservatives will vote for him, just as they did for Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. As for Hillary, the more she "takes apart" Obama's message, the more she does the GOP's work for free. If Hillary can't see that the people of rural Pennsylvania are bitter, and angry, and mad as hell about the way things are, then she needs to step down from that one hundred million dollar platform of hers and take a real look around.
In western Pennsylvania I hear two things: the "God, Guns and Guts" crowd see John McCain as the heir-apparent to the mantle of rural conservative values; and the people who hope for some kind of change see Barack Obama as the person who understands the situation that we are in, and maybe is the one who can lead us in a new direction. What I don't hear is anyone talking about whatever and whomever it is that Hillary claims to stand for.
In the end, I think this is all a "lost in translation" much ado about nothing episode.
Going back to Obama's statement, and keeping in mind that he was speaking to a specific group of supporters in San Francsico, and keeping in mind that he was discussing a variety of "talking points" in the previous paragraph, I think that it is the absence of the word "issue" in this particular portion of his response to one of the attendee's questions that is lost in translation from the actual event to the transcript spun in the media.
So let's break it down:
"'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is — so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing — close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.
Obama is offering: - closing tax loopholes - roll back taxes for the top 1 percent - tax breaks to the middle class - health care for every American
But:
"But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them."
"So it's not surprising then that they get bitter" and "As a way to explain their frustrations…they cling to" issues that focus on: - guns - religion - antipathy to people who aren't like them - anti-immigrant sentiment - anti-trade sentiment
It's the usual laundry list of GOP hot-button talking points.
What Obama was doing was contrasting his talking points, with the tradtional GOP talking points that he has to contend with if he is going to break through and reach these tradtional blue-collar voters.
I can't imagine that anyone who was in the room with Obama misunderstood this. It's only when the transcript is removed from the context in which the information was delivered that the MSM begins to spin it into something that it's not.
Comment by Bink1 — April 13, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Mr. Davis,
It is very important to me about Rev. Wright and Obama. His book for the encoouragement of Rev. Wright and perhaps helping Obama write his book about his Father. We middle class and educated Americans want to know more about this man. I think he is a phony and the America people will not elect this man for President. This man is arrogrant and his wife hates the white people. This is why they feel comfortable at their church. This is the teachings that has appealed to the Obamas. The sins of our fathers look at his father the mole is set they will continue the hate for the white people by teakings of their church their daughters will carry with them threw their lives.
We the American people will not elect this man.
Texas Democrat
Comment by Ann Chamberlain — April 13, 2008 @ 11:11 am
My response to Jeh Johnson's letter to Lanny Davis:
In response to this blog I have to respectfully disagree with the theme and context of the open letter being delivered to Lanny Davis.
After hearing of Senator Obama's recent statements in San Francisco at a private fund raiser I have to question his honesty and credibility about his faith which he considers the cornerstone and foundation that defines his values. Below is a snip of his statements.
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
“They cling to guns or religion”. Obama has been trying to finesse his position on guns to appeal precisely to gun owners and thus we start to see that his repositioning is cynical to the core. No rural Pennsylvanian clings to religion more than Obama himself, who for 20 years sat silent in the pews, while a hate-spewing minister damned his country and most everyone else. The question is not why Pennsylvanians “cling to their religion”, but why do the Obamas still cling to the Trinity Church that seems far more extreme than anything I’ve seen in rural America.
“Antipathy to people who aren't like them”—as in the case of Rev. Wright’s views of Jews, whites, Italians, or Americans in general? In short, Obama accuses rural Pennsylvanians of a racism that they haven’t expressed while contextualizing the racism that his own Rev. Wright has.
Let me get this straight: Obama goes to the Bay Area to an affluent liberal enclave to give a condescending take on the supposed poor fools that he is currently trying to court. This is not just hypocritical, but abjectly stupid. All of Pennsylvania surely is asking today what is so hip and sophisticated about the Trinity Church and Rev. Wright?
So here we have the essential Obama, a walking paradox between the postmodern hip-Ivy-Leaguer who sneers at middle-class America’s supposed prejudices and parochialism, while at the same time courting an anti-Enlightenment, prejudicial demagogue like Jeremiah Wright. For free trade or anti-free trade? For 2nd-amendment rights or not? Post-religious or pious and fundamentalist? For public campaign financing or not? A uniter of various groups or someone who sees America in terms of “they”? Straight-talking or someone who evokes "context" to explain away the inexplicable?
Again, we will see more and more of these condescending statements of the Michelle Obama strain, more and more of Revs. Wright, Meeks, Lee and others peddlers of division like them, and more and more clues to a long hostility to Israel—in what will eventually become the most disastrous chapter in recent Democratic history.
References:
James H (April 13, 2008)
Victor D. H. (April 11, 2008)
Comment by James H. — April 13, 2008 @ 11:43 am
The Apostle Paul was a Jewish man, and the book of Romans is Paul's letter to introduce himself to Rome. It would be a good thing for Reverend Wright to read the whole book of Romans, because this will answer many of his questions he seems to have about his racism. Isn't this Paul's warning to us in Romans 1:25?
If I judge you than I will be judged, and so I know from Romans 12:9-21 that I love you. I love Senator Obama, Louis Farrahkan , David Duke, Reverend Wright, Reverend Lee, all who may not love me, I love you.
I can look to Roman 3:1-14 to know that Anti-Semitism is a sin, and racism is forbidden.
When Jesus Christ walked this earth as a man and the son of God, he was a Jewish man, I know this from reading the gospel, and when Jesus left the tomb he became our Messiah.
I do believe all of the Apostles were Jewish, but we are alike in his eyes, all races, and religions who believe.
When reading the entire book of Romans I feel that a man who goes to this kind of church can not be a leader to all races and religions, because racism in any man is the same.
Satan is always at work and he uses the White Supremacist Groups, and the Preachers of hate against the races for his bidding. Romans 16: 17-20
Paul closed his letter with Romans 16:27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
I feel it is all there in the book of Romans and I feel I love Senator Obama, and his Reverend and I cannot judge you.
I will vote for Hillary Clinton, who is smart enough and strong enough to lead a country of all Religions and Races.
Comment by WE KNOW — April 13, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
Moral of the story: after Rev. Wright and the Pennsylvania gaffe , Obama is going down like a lead balloon. Who needs a President who seems to hate white people and whose only skill is hiding it well most of the time.
Comment by Igor R. — April 13, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
lanny didn't have the guts to stand by what he originally said!
it's ironic that as he blogs a convenient lie about his "true thoughtful, heartfelt feelings", HRC supporters stand-up & throw it back in his face. either DEM will lose in november, so just pick one and quit insulting our intelligence, lanny.
and those who fell for it, c'mon…and those posting a 5-page essay on your feelings, shore it up a bit if you want anyone to pay attention, regardless of your party…
Comment by j — April 13, 2008 @ 7:23 pm
This blog thread is most interesting.
I've followed the Obama/Rev. Wright scenario like most Americans and to see Jeh Johnson comment on it raises my attention to it more.
I've known of Jeh since I was kid. He was and always has been a stand-up, clean cut gentleman and scholar. A role model even now. I'm an accom;lished writer and illustrator and quite the political activist myself so I feel I can comment on this issue and hopefully add something positive.
We all have members in our families and other social groups who may be a bit harsh, brash, or downright offensive in their expressions of life.
I looked at the Obama/Wright scenario with a bit more humor as it reminded me of the classic tv sitcoms. From the "Honeymooners" to "All in the Family" to "The Cosby Show" and on, we all have those people in our lives whom we love and adore but don't always agree with. To me, if a reverand isn't full of 'spit and fire' something must be wrong with him or her. We're talking 'preaching' here.
Are we talking the right to spew racist dogma, diversive rhetoric? No we're not because it's his right to do so but also the responsibility of himself and his parishioners to openly debate, challenge and if possible change his viewpoints.
That's the opportunity that was missed here. Rev. Wright's comments should have been taken to task instead he rushed off to silence when the opportunity to listen to these comments and confront and correct them was at hand.
There are religious groups throughout the U.S. where some of the most idiotic, racist, bigoted, nonsense is spewed on a daily basis but we all know they have the Constitutional right to do so.
Yet, just because you have the Constitutional right to do something does it mean you should?
Politicians live on a diet of 'foot in mouth'. Religious leaders are judged on a more harsh level.
Maybe the best lesson is what another religious leader who was constantly in trouble with the authorities and churches about his comments and sermons once said about forgiveness is the best remedy here.
Comment by Greg — April 13, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
Lanny,
I have to agree with most of these writers, Obama, has a major credibility problem,and intelligent caring people(voters) realize this and will vote accordingly.
Quite simply Lanny, Obama, is prejudice against white, and people of Jewish faith again these voters will more then likely vote for Clinton if she is on the ballot or McCain in November.
Comment by diane b — April 14, 2008 @ 12:35 am
Just listen to a typical Obama speech. Full of whining about White's racism and ending with Iraq or Katrina. Yet his solutions are always the same, more Government intervention with Obama at the helm! No wonder people are angry and "clinging to their guns and religion"…. These folks are just sick of his demagoguery and his thugs-friends starting from his beloved Reverend and all the way down to Lester. Just imagine looking at Obama for at least 4 years with his angry wife at his side as our First Lady?
Comment by Misha F. — April 14, 2008 @ 4:04 am
I think it's sad that we can't get past our own personal agendas to help this country be a better place. there is so much at stake right now. it's like the tower of Bable where no one can understand anyone else and we all loose out.
if obama is not elected it will be because we did not deserve him and we will all live to regret it.
mark my words and remember.
HE IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE WHO TRULY MADE THE CHOICE ALL HIS LIFE TO SERVE THE PUBLIC AND IMPROVE LIVES
Comment by robin m — April 14, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
Misha F, Diane B, Igor R and some of the rest. From the comments, especially from teh above mentioned, I find your reasoning and logic very funny. The three of you are not going to vote for Obama and in the past have had some very dubious and downright snide things to say about him. If you missed it, and I'm preety sure you did, Fox News went to PA and interviewed a couple of people about Obama's comments. Here is a clip of what they said:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/13/foxnews-rural-pennsylvanians-find-little-to-argue-with-barack-obama/
So go ahead and misrepresent what he said but coming from folks in PA and elsewhere, he is telling the truth. Whether you like it or not, doesn't change it.
Comment by Mike Coleman — April 14, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
coleman-
you belong on "air america", which is either a compliment or an insult–depending on which propaganda a person believes…
keep rockin' it misha
cheers to thehill!
Comment by j — April 14, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Mike belongs to the "my Obama right or wrong" crowd. Ask him one negative thing about Obama, and he'll probably tell you that it would be better if his halo was more visible. Mike, Obama is radical scum and he going down.
Comment by Igor R. — April 14, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
J and Igor;
Thanks for the complements but what I try to do is back up my posts with fact. You know that facts have a liberal bias, don't you? Anyway Igor, are you off your meds again. In another post, you made some rather insulting comments about Sen. Obama and I wanted you to back them up with links to post or video where you claimed he said the things you quoted him as saying. To not do so will classify you as a liar.
Comment by Mike Coleman — April 14, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Igor;
Are you really that angry that someone of Obama intellegence is beating all of your notions of how we (African American)act, think and cope with situations. Your rants are thing that Obama addressed in his comments over the weekend. You, white folks, insecure and they hold on to things that they relate too. Guns, God and the like. You wouldn't be one of those "bitter" types would you? I think an Obama presidency could do wonders for your attitude.
Comment by Mike Coleman — April 14, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
Mike, I would be overjoyed if some magazine did a profile of the top 1000 American self-made businessman, scientists, and engineers and most of them were African Americans. Nothing would make me feel more proud of this country than to see the highest level of business and academic achievement and the lowest levels of criminality of all the ethnic groups among them. I would say: "America, you took the descendants of the people you enslaved and turned them into the best of the best."
Mike, I wasn't even two months in this country when I was robbed of just a few dollars and a bus pass by two young African Americans, who took the books I had for an English class and threw them in the dirt while laughing and saying "you're probably a good student". I couldn't go to my part-time job because I had nothing to pay for the bus, yet I was grateful I wasn't physically hurt. But am I bitter or have I developed feelings of hate? Not at all. I've always gotten along well with other African Americans because I treat them the same as anyone else. You, on the other hand, continuously attribute my dislike of Obama to his race. You have to realize that this is a transparent tactic and there is no evidence to back it up.
Comment by Igor R. — April 14, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
Igor could be talking about Obama negatively today, because many Americans are. I think many of us are so tired of any person who talks out of both sides of his mouth.
Many Americans don't like to hear G D America, at any time, and from anyone, I don't care how beautiful some of the Obama supporters think it is to hear. We don't like to hear it, and it's upsetting to us.
Comment by WE KNOW — April 14, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
Igor, I told you months ago to put the crack pipe down.
You warn us all repetitiously of a looming mess if Obama is elected. Yet you voted for Dumbya Bush twice. Why didn't you see the Bush disaster comming if you are such a great prophet? I'll tell you why; you are a brainwashed neocon, dittohead that cannot think for your self.
Comment by Lester — April 14, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
Lester, I have never voted for Bush. I have never said I voted for Bush. I have posted here before that I never said I voted for Bush. Lester, you are a liar and a sick, pathetic excuse for a human being.
Comment by Igor R. — April 14, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Hi Lanny. First Hillary message. I BLAME THE MEDIA. How long has the media been saying that Obama's nomination is a fait accompli? The more that this idea is rubbed in the fewer contributions Hillary receives. The polls say that many who vote for Hillary think Obama will be the nominee. Voters think they are wasting their money EVEN AS THEY VOTE FOR HER! At least half the democrats have voted for Hillary and THE VOTING ISN'T OVER! How can this be that anyone has the gall to say she should quit. She has paid the dues. she has the worthy resume. If the charismatic novice wants to heal the party, he can offer to be Hillary's V.P. I'm afraid that some of us are so angry that we may shoot ourselves in the foot.
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 9:34 am
Hi Lanny. Second Hillary message. Caucuses stink. I early voted (easy) and caucused (difficult for a 70 y.o. with no car and a partially paralyzed husband at home in a night that dragged on) for Hillary here in Texas. I know the analysis as to which groups are discriminated against in caucuses - I have my personal experience. It's unjust that Obama could win in caucuses when Hillary won the popular vote.
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:22 am
Hi Lanny. Third Hillary message. We have mauled over the race card, but nobody wants to touch the white-guilt vote. I was seduced by Obama's speech before the Democratic convention. I e-asked him to run. I gave him money. I went to an Obama party (taking my daughter who still supports him) and gave more money. I took a bus, dragging my husband, to an Obama rally. One motivation was the fact that my parents blatantly discriminated against blacks. Second-hand guilt is a poor reason for choosing a president.
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:27 am
Hi Lanny. Fourth Hillary message. As a legal resident of France, I saw Segolene Royale brought down by sexism in her debate with the,now, French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. He baited her with a subject about which she was passionate. When she defended her position as a male counterpart would have, he interrupted, "Calmez-vous, calmez-vous, madame Royal". The French media said she appeared "trop agressive". In the New Hampshire debate, Obama and Edwards ganged up on Hillary and when she defended herself, the media said she appeared too aggressive. This was the insult that finally made me defect to Hillary.
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:32 am
Hi Lanny. Fifth Hillary message. The DNC and others pushed delegates to decide. They did this as the media kept insisting that the Obama nomination was a fait accompli. What was How Howard Dean's problem? Pissed that another Clinton, especially a woman, might reach the White House when he had blown hos chance?
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:36 am
Hi Lanny. Sixth Hillary message. Less than 4 years ago, Obama said in an interview that he wouldn't seek the presidency because he didn't believe that one should be a candidate for a job for which one was not qualified. "I'm not that kinda guy". He hasn't paid the dues. He doesn't have the resume. I'm so angry that his ego has caused him to cut in line and his charisma is letting him get away with it that I'm feeling as if I'd like to shoot us all in the foot. The only thing that makes sense, including for healing the party, is 8 years of Clinton/Obama (while he builds up his resume) then 8 years of Obama/someone. What are the idiots in the party thinking when they suggest that Hillary bow out?!
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Hi Lanny. Sorry about the type-o's. Jean
Comment by Jean Clelland-Morin — May 25, 2008 @ 11:46 am