Apparently Senator Obama's speech did not put this issue to rest and he is feeling the need to further distance himself from his pastor and the philosophies preached at his church. To me, this is too little, too late.
Obama: Had Wright not retired, I'd have left church
(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama says in an interview scheduled to air on TV Friday that he would have left his church if his pastor had not retired and had not acknowledged making comments that "deeply offended people." (Sure, he says that now...)
Obama talked about the dispute as it continued to brew over some of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons and comments, which many viewed as anti-American and racist toward whites. (Um...what do you mean "viewed"? Have you read some of the quotes? If not, click here for a sample...)
Bulletins from Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in 2007 include comments -- reprinted from other sources -- that maintain South Africa and Israel worked on "an ethnic bomb that kills blacks and Arabs." They also quote a historian who said that "what the Zionist Jews did to the Palestinians is worse than what the Nazis did to the Jews."
The articles appeared in a church bulletin section called the "Pastor's Page," and include one that originally ran in The Los Angeles Times. That article was written by a senior official with Hamas, which the U.S. government considers a terrorist organization. (To me, the Israel angle is a red-herring, a distraction to get people to stop focusing on the racist, Anti-American comments that have come out in previous weeks)
Obama denounced the articles this week, telling the Jerusalem Post that the church was "outrageously wrong" in reprinting the pieces. (You have to ask yourself, why does he feel the need to denounce these view now, after years 20 years of sitting silently in the pews?)
In an interview scheduled to air Friday on ABC's "The View" -- excerpts of which aired on CNN on Thursday night -- Obama talks about Wright's reaction to the controversy.
"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church," the senator said. (I don't see how his retirement is relevant. Senator Obama was fine with this message for 20 years, even donating $20,000 last year to the church. His retirement was not a factor in the decision to attend, continue to attend, or to support the church for the past two decades)
Wright retired earlier this year, before events erupted.
Obama also said on the ABC talk show that he has spoken with Wright since the uproar over the pastor's comments.
"I think he's saddened by what's happened, and I told him I feel badly that he has been characterized just in this one way and people haven't seen the broader aspect of him," Obama said. (So basically, Senator Obama is depicting the preacher as a victim while continuing to defend of this type of speech. Can you imagine the reaction if the preacher had been white and spoke that way of African Americans?)
Mark Halperin of Time magazine told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night that aides to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, believe the controversy will give their candidate an opening if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee.
"If you talk to McCain's people about it, they are -- choose your metaphor -- licking their chops," he said. "They believe that if this does not derail his chances of becoming the Democratic nominee, it will be invaluable to them in gaining support among key constituencies -- that's code for white voters -- in the general election."
Even so, polls show that Democrats believe that Obama has responded very well, CNN's Jessica Yellin reported. She cited a Thursday poll showing Obama with a 10-point lead over his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton. Yellin said polls showed that "Obama appeared to rise in Democrats' estimation after the controversy -- after he addressed the Wright controversy."
Obama leads Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination, with 1,622 delegates compared with 1,485 for Clinton, according to CNN estimates. A candidate needs 2,024 delegates to win.
One of the church bulletins that came to the fore Thursday, from July 22, 2007, includes an article by Mousa Abu Marzook, deputy of the political bureau of Hamas. "Why should anyone concede Israel's 'right' to exist?" he wrote.
Another bulletin, from June 10, 2007, contains on the "Pastor's Page" an "Open Letter to Oprah" by Ali Baghdadi, an Arab-American activist. He refers to "Israeli death squads" in a letter urging Oprah Winfrey to explore Palestinian suffering on a trip to the Middle East.
"Arnold Toynbee, the world-renowned historian, stated that what the Zionist Jews did to the Palestinians is worse than what the Nazis did to the Jews, because, as he stated, Jews should have learned from their tragic experience," Baghdadi wrote.
Wright's old sermons came under fire after a news report turned some of his most contentious comments into a YouTube phenomenon.
In one, the minister said America had brought the September 11 attacks upon itself. In another, he said Clinton had an advantage over Obama because she is white. He also accused the U.S. government of adopting policies to systematically oppress African-Americans. (Um...this is the PG rated version of his comments. Once again, click here for the adult version)
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