DOES BARACK KNOW WRIGHT FROM WRONG?

I now have a nice community of readers and commenters on this blog. For the most part, they are friends and family. Old friends who I am now in touch with because of the blog (Jon Slotkin, Jeff Few and others). And new friends (Andy Swan, Howard, Frederic Guarino and others) who stop by every now and then and join the discussions. And everyone knows that I am on the fence with this election. I'll support the dem nominee but don't feel strongly for either.

This week was a strange week. Our governor fell hard. Bear Stears almost imploded. The CNN Center in Atlanta was hit by a tornado. And Barack had been barraged with questions about his former pastor and spiritual adviser (Jeremiah Wright).

I'm not going to recap everything here. But in a nutshell, footage of Pastor Wright surfaced showing him bashing Hillary because of her race, comparing Barack to Jesus and blaming America for the 9/11 attacks. The footage was anti-American, anti-Jew and basically all around offensive.

Now I'm not saying Jeremiah Wright represents fully Barack's views. But there's no denying the two are and were close. So close, in fact, that Barack named Jeremiah to his official campaign adviser list (a large list, at that, but still on the list nonetheless).

Listen, tons of people hate America and don't particularly care for Jews. We've been pretty successful and success often brings jealosy, animosity and loathing. So the issue here isn't Jeremiah's views.

The issue for me is what do we know about Barack? He's been a master at dodging issue-related questions. And he has successfully kept the press out of his personal business. He is pro hope and change. But isn't every non-incumbent pro change? Hope for what? Change for what?

What do we really know about Barack? Are we ready for an unknown to be president? A first-time senator with some experience on the state level? Is the risk of the unknown better than the risk of the known (Hillary)? I like that the democratic primaries are dragging on. Maybe the process will help shed some light and keep us out of any issues in the fall.

Comments

[Leslie Bocskor]

Have you seen this interview?
http://www.breitbart.tv/html/62894.html
I have been watching Jeremiah Wright for a bit. I did not really get that he is anti Jew, or even anti American; just that he is still grinding the axe that is dragging on from slavery in America, and the leftover racism that is still so prevalent. I do not support what he has been quoted as saying most recently, while I do understand to a certain extent where it comes from and recognize that I may be very challenge to really identify with it in any way.
Great post.
L

[Julia]

I have been watching Pastor Wright for a bit myself. I didn't get at all that he was anti-semetic. If you've seen something specific please pass it on. I think his issue is RACE in America, AND whites keeping the black man down. While I don't agree with most of what he's said, I feel much of it was exaggerated and meant to rile his congregation up.
I do have a question though - When people say that he is anti American they are referring to his comments on 911, but were his comments so very different from what others have said before and with more diplomacy? That America's foreign policy and arrogance has cause Mid East hatred of the US, and has resulted in terrorism?
Obama is definitely more of an unknown than Hillary,(while I continue to think what I know about Hillary is not so great!) and therefore it is important to learn as much as possible about him, so I will continue to listen for any further relevant information. I wonder what we would find out if we vetted Hillary's and McCain's pastors as thoroughly?

[Trudy]

Yes, Pastor Wright's are hateful bigotry and anti-American. We can't get away from that. We can try to excuse them, but they are still there. I, for one, am not willing to excuse his behavior in favor of Obama. I can't be that blind, sorry.

[Michael Lazerow]

Listen, I know many of you love Barack. And if he does it for you, great. He seems like a good guy. I'm not attacking him. But I also don't think we should give him a free pass. A few comments in response to the comments above:

~ Pastor Wright is not Jew-friendly. He may not HATE Jews. But from the speeches and his associations, he's not an ally. We can argue semantics. Anyone who gives an award to Louis Farrakhan for lifetime achievement is not in our camp. Sorry Julia et al.

~ I don't think Barack is anti-jew or anti-Israel. However, this comes back to my original concern. He was a state senator and junior senator for 1 term. So we don't know enough about his support for jewish issues.

~ The Jewish agenda is one of many issues. So if being jew-friendly is important to you, then you probably vote for Hillary. But if it's not, then this isn't a deal breaker. This election isn't going to be won based on the tribe vote.

~ Will this be Swiftboat 2008 or just a bump in the road? No idea. Feel free to comment.

~ Hillary doesn't wear her religion on her sleeve like Barack. He has had to b/c of his name, lest middle america thinks he's muslim.

~ Ultimately, this isn't about Jeremiah Wright. I don't really care for the guy. Don't know the guy. And I'm not voting for the guy. But the question is about Barack. Do we know enough about him?

I would urge you all to read Gerald Posner's piece in Huff Po, a site I love. Not only because I know and like Betsy Morgan, the CEO. But because their writers are smart and funny and on target much of the time. Gerald is a big supporter of Barack but writes in this piece (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-posner/rev-wright-and-barack_b_91693.html):

"Come on, Barack. I'm backing you because you are not 'one of them.' You have inspired me and millions of others because you are not a typical politician. You tell it like it is, don't fudge the facts, and don't dodge and weave with clever words to avoid uncomfortable truths.

Tell it straight. Was Reverend Wright so radical that his post 9/11 comments did not cause a stir at the Church, and you never learned about them until 2007, nearly 6 years later? Why, when you did learn about them, did you not ask Revered Wright to step down from his role in your campaign?

Give us the plain truth. You won't lose us by being brutally honest. You only risk shaking our faith in you if you seem like so many other politicians that crowd the field."

[jslot]

Very glad that this discussion about Mr. Wright and his relation to Obama has come up in detail. Obama has only very recently distanced himself from Wright, despite that he admits he knew of Wright's comments at least several months go. Obama claims that he was aware that Wright was on the verge of retirement, so no earlier action needed to be taken.

Obama has recently claimed that he views Wright like an "uncle" whose views you do no always agree with. The reason I don't buy that analogy is that unlike an uncle or a brother (flashback to Roger Clinton or Billy Carter), a "spiritual advisor" is a person you can choose, and choose to leave.

As everyone here has already read, Obama had Wright perform the marriage of he and his wife. That is a very personal and deep choice for a lot of people. In addition, Obama admitted last night on AC360 that from law school on he ordered tapes and DVDs of Wright's to listen to in his car. And of course Obama's break out 2004 speech and 2006 book, _The Audacity of Hope_, are based on Wright sermons. I am not worried about what all of this means about what lever Obama would and has pulled on votes. As AIPAC has pointed out, Obama's voting record on Israel has been good. I am worried about what this choice and relationship over the years tells us about Obama's soul.

Look- even if he was not physically present for these particularly inflammatory speeches by Wright- are any of us naive enough to believe that to some extent Obama did not know that Wright held these beliefs?.

To add fuel to the discussion, as I threw out there about a week or so ago on this blog (comments under 'The SNL Factor') -I would also be curious to know what everyone on Lazerow.com thinks about Obama's relationship with his formal political advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski....

[jslot]

I would follow-on by pointing out that Brezinski is an ardent supporter of the (I hope you would agree) highly controversial work "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"

[Julia]

I agree that ultimately this isn't about Jeremiah Wright, but about Barack Obama. I don't support or endorse Jeremiah Wright. My impression of Barack is that he is an honorable and moral man, and would bring change to a country desperately in need of it. If I were to find out that he is anti-Jew or believes in Wright's extreme philosophies, I would be morally obligated to not vote for him. However, we do not know this to be true! Posner's piece is a good one. As he said, "Guilt by association is totally unwarranted. Barack is not responsible for Wright's views. However, how he responds to those views - and whether he is being straight with us, the voters - is critical as to whether he should lead our country." So, ultimately we need to learn more. We will certainly be given the opportunity as the media will investigate further. Let's just not swiftboat him without cause.

[Justi Mcmorrrow]

I am sad that our media (mostly right owned) continues to make this such an issue. obama's pastor, while his delivery was hilarious to me, was not so shocking or bizarre. When I heard about it I was expecting some anti semetic rant or some hate message. I didn't get either from what he said. His message was "we" created this situation and now it came back to haunt us. Why was this so shocking or offensive? It wasn't, just an oppurtunity for our media to create some drama against a man who appears to me, to be our best candidate.Was this really scary to anyone? Now Obama has defend himself, his family, etc. So Hilary bashes Obama, Obama does back, she somewhat endorses Mccain, politics is silly business, unfortunitely it affects us all. Pick who you believe can lead us swim through the sewage the media displays. It will take 200 years to undo big Georgies disaster. Whoever is next will have thier hands full and they are all better then he to lead, imo...

[Justi Mcmorrrow]

ps- I did not take it as" anti-American". But we, (as Americans) it is our duty to not be blind to how much hate and violence we have created in the world. 911 was disgusting, sad, a gross diplay, by a violent group. we are to blame (not for 911) but for what we have done in the world. Bush and his group are no different to me then a common group of thugs. The job they have ton is anti-American and much more offensive then some silly pastor...

[jslot]

Some interesting commentary by Juan Williams, an NPR national correspondent:

“This is a man who he chose to be associated with. It’s not a family member. He chose to be associated with Reverend Wright and saw advantage in it. And that’s why he exploited it up to a point when he realized, especially when he was announcing, that he couldn’t have Wright by his side for the announcement in Springfield and now seeks to somehow distance himself. But it speaks to his character, and it speaks to the judgment which is the basis on which Barack Obama has been running his campaign. So I think it could be a big problem.”

[Frederic Guarino]

Got to hand to Mike for once again doing a great Sunday sum-up ! Jslot, thanks for the Juan Williams quote.
The issue of Obama's association with Wright should definitely be looked into in detail, as should Hillary's with numerous characters like Norman Hsu, Frank Giustra (through Bill), etc... Surrogates, good or bad (and more often not they're bad, anyone remember Teresa Heinz Kerry?) speak a lot about character but should not cloud the whole picture. I would hope Obama fully addresses the issue and puts it behind him, lest we go back to a circle of back-biting that is only putting more in McCain's corner.

[Julia]

Thanks for your posts Justin. I couldn't agree more!

[Michael Lazerow]

I'm leading toward supporting neither. Check out Fred's post here:

http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/03/bloomberg-for-p.html

Barack is turning out to be just another poliician. Hillary is Hillary and has her weaknesses. Ideally, none of the 3 current candidates were to be elected president!

[Alexis Sanford]

Did you see today's speech? I think Obama went to the heart of the issue and stood in the white hot heat of the reality without flinching. It was both personal and provided a meaningful context.

I disagree about what we do or do not know about Obama. His speech today, which he wrote, is consistent with his writings in his first book about his feeling about race and the legacy of racism in America. I believe that his decision to stay in the church is emblematic of his beliefs about how to heal the racial divide in this country. It is to see it, to name it, to stay present in it and work to change it while understanding the ugliness and divisiveness that is born of it and from it.

If you did not see the speech today, I encourage you to consider it. I think he addressed the issue of racism today with bravery and conviction and put it in context of why we need to work to heal it so we can begin to create sturdy bridges that can unite us to address the truly urgent issues that face our country and our world.

[jslot]

And so it begins:

Reuters, March 19, 2008

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The poll showed Obama had only a statistically insignificant lead of 47 percent to 44 percent over Clinton, down sharply from a 14 point edge he held over her in February when he was riding the tide of 10 straight victories.

Illinois Sen. Obama, who would be America's first black president, has been buffeted by attacks in recent weeks from New York Sen. Clinton over his fitness to serve as commander-in-chief and by a tempest over racially charged sermons given by his Chicago preacher.

The poll showed Arizona Sen. McCain, who has clinched the Republican presidential nomination, is benefiting from the lengthy campaign battle between Obama and Clinton, who are now battling to win Pennsylvania on April 22.

McCain leads 46 percent to 40 percent in a hypothetical matchup against Obama in the November presidential election, according to the poll.