Tag: Rev. Jeremiah Wright

(in happier times)

More than 700 comments and you all have more to say on Barack Obama's press conference renouncing Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Memeorandum has a wrap-up from around the blogosphere. So does the New York Times.

The transcript of the press conference is here.

Here's what Obama said about Wright in his Philadelphia race speech:[More...]

Update: The live-blog below is of the q and a after the statement, when I first tuned in. I'm watching a replay of his speech and it's even more harsh on Rev. Wright. It was unequivocal. Be sure to watch the replay of his original comments. CNN will replay at 3pm ET.

Barack Obama is on CNN now giving a live press conference on Rev. Wright. I'll live blog.

He's throwing Wright under the bus. When he hears conspiracy theories about AIDS or that Farrakhan is a great person, it goes directly contrary to what he believes.

The person he saw yesterday was not the person he has come to know over 20 years. He understands Wright felt villified and attacked and wanted to defend himself. But the insensitivity and outrageousness of his statements and performance during q and a period shocked and suprised him.

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The New York Times reports on Reverand Jeremiah Wright's monomania.

Now it turns out that Mr. Wright doesn’t hate America, he loves the sound of his own voice. He is not out of touch with the American culture, he is the avatar of the American celebrity principle: he grabbed his 30-second spots of infamy and turned them into 15 minutes of fame.

.... Chuck Todd, the NBC political director... summed up Mr. Wright’s apologia by paraphrasing a Carly Simon song: “You’re so vain, I bet you think this campaign is about you.”

David Axelrod: "“He is doing his own thing,” Mr. Axelrod said wearily by telephone. “There’s not a thing we can do about it.”

Another blast from the past: This February, 2007 Rolling Stone article about Obama and Rev. Wright.

This is an open thread.

Barack Obama, who has not been known for accessibility to the press the last few weeks (see the waffle story) called a "hastily arranged press conference" today to again disassociate himself from Rev. Wright, including his most recent remarks. The press conference lasted six minutes on the airport tarmac and he took three questions.

"Some of the comments that Rev. Wright has made offend me, and I understand why they offend the American people. He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign," Obama said.

"Many of the statements that he's made, both that triggered this initial controversy and that he's made over the last several days, are not statements that I have heard him make previously. They don't represent my views," the senator added.

He asked that he be judged by his "20 years of service" and the values he's espoused more than by his past associations. More...

Rev. Wright today spoke at the National Press Club. He continued his attacks on the media and again asserted Barack Obama speaks with electability in mind. Jake Tapper at ABC News writes:

He clearly was not doing Obama any favors, not only by reappearing before a ravenous media thus distracting from Obama's attempt to relate better to white working class voters in Indiana and North Carolina, but by implying Obama's condemnation of some of his sermons was not sincere.

"Politicians say what they say and do what they do because of electability," Wright said, arguing that Obama had not seen the sermons played in the media that Obama has called "offensive." "He had to distance himself because he's a politician...Whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God."

Wright also defended the comments in his past sermons that have placed him in the media spotlight.

But he didn't distance himself from any of the sentiments underlying the clips shown on television. Indeed, the former pastor embraced the most controversial items he has said.

On Louis Farakkhan [More...]

Rev. Jeremiah Wright attacks the coporate media today in a speech to the NAACP. The audience of 10,000 gave him a standing ovation.

You can watch the entire speech here.

Update: Comments closing, a new thread on the speech is here.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of the Trinity Church, gives his first interview since becoming a household name to Bill Moyers on PBS tonight.

You can watch a clip and read some details of what he says here.

I was struck by his comments that Barack Obama's race speech was "the politican talking."

Wright said he was hurt by what he considers unfair use of the sound bites, but understood why Obama had harsh words about his statements during a speech on race that the candidate delivered in Philadelphia. Wright said he is obligated to speak as a pastor, but Obama addresses audiences as a politician.

"I don't talk to him about politics," Wright said. "And so he had a political event, he goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician.

I'm not sure whatpoint the Obama campaign thought they were making by providing the New York Times with a picture of Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a room full of people at a 1998 Prayer Breakfast at the White House shaking hands with Bill Clinton.

In providing the photograph to The New York Times, the Obama campaign appeared to be trying to divert some attention to the Clintons after a week in which Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright has left him facing one of the biggest challenges of his campaign. There is nothing in the picture or the note that addresses whether Mr. Clinton had met Mr. Wright prior to the White House meeting or whether he or Mrs. Clinton knew anything about Mr. Wright’s views.

The Clinton campaign had this response (received by e-mail, no link)

"Less than 48 hours after calling for a high-minded conversation on race, according to the New York Times the Obama campaign is peddling photos of an occasion when President Clinton shook hands with Reverend Wright. To be clear, President Clinton took tens of thousands of photos during his eight years as president."

Update: Comments now closed.

On Larry King Live: (live-blogging)What Wright said is unacceptable. His statements were hurtful and reckless.

He wasn't aware of them, he wasn't in the church when he said them.

His church is a typical traditional AA Church. It's a bedrock of the South Side of Chicago with people from all walks of life.

Had I known that these comments were made, I would have confronted him directly, and I might have left.

His own career is about bringing people together. His own background is one of diversity. He's rooted in the AA community, there are flaws in the AA community, just as there are with all communities.

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