Hillary: Wright "Would Not Have Been My Pastor"
Okay, here we go. In an interview today with reporters and editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Hillary made what I think are her first extensive critical remarks about the Jeremiah Wright controversy, suggesting that Obama should have moved to another church in response to Wright's comments...
"He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."...The Clinton campaign has refrained from getting involved in the controversy, but Clinton herself, responding to a question, denounced what she said was "hate speech."
"You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (who was fired from his radio and television shows after making racially insensitive remarks), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that," Clinton said. "I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving."
That is an implicit criticism of Obama for not "speaking out" or "moving" churches in response to revelations about Wright's views. Obama, however, has spoken out against Wright, denouncing his more controversial views in multiple interviews and in his big speech on race relations, though he has not disavowed the church.
Hillary made the comments in a newspaper in blue-collar-voter-rich Pennsylvania, where she needs a big win on April 22nd to keep her electoral hopes alive. The Tribune-Review says that some of what Hillary said was in response to a question. We'll bring you video or a transcript as soon as we can.
Comments (363)
You knew this was coming, didn't you?
March 25, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, speaking out about Don Imus! That definitely passes the Commander in Chief Test. Can't wait to hear what she says about Ahmadinejad!
March 25, 2008 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, she spoke out about Chris Matthews and David Shuster, too. But what Carville said about Richardson is just fine. So is whatever Bush wants to manufacture about WMDs.
It's a serious case of selective-speaking-out-ism.
March 25, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
It makes you wonder why since she's taken on these guys that she's given McCain a pass:
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html
Ain't selective memory a funny thing....
March 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can anyone find a clip of her speaking out about Imus? Or is she misspeaking again and was really speaking out about her favorite pancake plate being taken off the IHOP menu?
March 25, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
"You don't choose family" ???
But you chose Bill. Are you implying something catty about your own daughter ? I wouldn't put it past you. May be your daughter is seeing what a repugnant mother you are and is rebelling ?
March 25, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of catty, I like your avatar.
March 25, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wasn't being catty, btw. I really do like it.
March 25, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. But you should see what she brings home everybody,... umm.. not unlike HRC, I would say.
March 25, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
oops, that should have read:
Thanks. But you should see what she brings home everyday,... umm.. not unlike HRC, I would say.
An aside - Greg, do you plan to have editing facility in your site ? (That could also help you emend - that is right, not amend - your snorky BHO comments)
March 25, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know when I read what she said I thought" that makes sense..." but of course you are quite right... she chose Bill, and when Bill did things she didn't like... she stuck with him.
Now most people don't think they are "married" to their church in quite the same way, so what she says may sound possible.
But Obama, if he REALLY wants to play hardball, could say "I noticed you didn't leave Bill when he behaved badly... well I didn't leave my pastor when he behaved badly."
Will the public buy that? Maybe not. Or maybe yes. Hmmmmm.
March 25, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
She digging herself in a deeper hole. After that Bosnia lie, she trying to turn the page. We aren't going to let ler. Where's those tax returns Hillary?
March 25, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, but let's not take the bait. Today's talking points: 1). Hillary's technicolor imagination on Bosnia trip; 2). tax returns.
And then we focus on the positive momentum from Obama's race speech. No need to jump back into the mud with Hillary.
March 25, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
No , today's talking points as are everyday's: who should be the nominee of the party.
Don't be distracted.
Today's statement says more about her character than anything in any tax statement or the embellished recollections of her Bosnia trip. She is throwing her chips in with those who think Wright is preaching hate speech and who think Obama is stained by the association.
March 25, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. Hillary has been outspoken against people using divisive language?
That is simply amazing.
Hey Hillary! How about your's and Bill's longtime family friend Sheriff Harry Lee?
Quotes from former Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee:
"If there are some young blacks driving a car late at night in a predominantly white neighborhood, they will be stopped. There's a pretty good chance they're up to no good. It's obvious two young blacks driving a rinky-dink car in a predominantly white neighborhood -- I'm not talking about on the main thoroughfare, but if they're on one of the side streets and they're cruising around -- they'll be stopped."
"I'm going to catch that bastard, and when I catch him, he is going to be black. I just don't give a damn what people think of me anymore. If that was their daughter and we weren't doing that, they would be on our ass."
When residents of an all-black neighborhood in Avondale complained about police brutality, Lee pulled all deputies from the neighborhood.
Notably, after Hurricane Katrina, Sheriff Lee sent his deputies to assist the Gretna PD prevent evacuees from New Orleans to cross the Crescent City Connection Bridge into Jefferson Parish.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSsgwajStCo
-----
Harry Lee hosted a private fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in May. Hillary Clinton was in attendance at the fundraiser.
Both Clintons are longtime friends of Sheriff Lee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/politics/20commenc...
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/10/local_and_s...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Lee
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4917694
You did not disown him when he put up an armed blockade preventing Katrina victims from crossing the bridge to meet the buses the victims were told were coming.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSsgwajStCo
She makes me sick
March 25, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, I didn't. I really thought she was turning over a new leaf. I thought she had seen the writing on the wall, and had decided to keep going -- but in a classy way.
Obviously, I'm disappointed.
March 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I concur. I have been rolling it over and over in my head for the last week. If Hillary did crush Obama in PA and beyond and won the nomination above boards, I've been convincing myself that I MUST vote for the party's nominee and remain involved in the process in a positive way. Every time I manage soften my thoughts with regards to her candidacy, she drags me back into the gutter. Why can't she tell me in a positive manner; her plans for the presidency? Can she do anything besides pander?
She used to be my second choice. I can't deal with 4 or 8 more years of drama. I'm spent.
March 25, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
She knows what she's doing - re-opening the wound so she can get her Bosnia headlines off the cover. If there were any doubt that she's willing to tear down the Democratic party, this seals it. She now sounds like Rush Limbaugh talking about the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Super delegates, what more do you need? End this.
March 25, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh you mean like changing the subject from Rev Wright when you cry and whine about your passport being looked at. That worked until it turns out Hillary and McCain's had been as well and the person responsible was a Obama Campign worker.
March 25, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez, it's time consuming rebutting the lies you keep putting out there. PLease supply the link that documents that the person who looked at Obama, McCain, and Clinton's passport was an Obama campaign worker, or, STFU.
March 25, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well she decided not to tackle race, but she did try Bosnia:
"I was sleep-deprived, and I misspoke."
Yep! She got it right!
March 25, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. Transparent attempt to deflect attention from her misstatements.
2. Natural question is why did she and Bill invite this guy to the White House then?
3. The "Family"?
March 25, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's the big deal about "The Family"? I read the article that some unhelpful Obama fan posted half a dozen times. Hillary goes to prayer breakfasts with Republicans. How is that supposed to be a negative?
March 25, 2008 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's also called "The Fellowship."
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer-2.html
I don't like my Democratic candidate meeting secretly with anyone.
Especially not Republicans like John Ashcroft, Reaganite Edwin Meese III, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Tom Delay, and Sam Brownback.
But, hey, if that's OK with you...
March 25, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hm, I am with RabbitSmorgasbord here. Eating breakfast with John Ashcroft and Sam Brownback is not that terribly great a concern to me. There are a million good reasons not to vote for her in this election, but this is not one of them.
March 25, 2008 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Spiritual Leader of this group has said some pretty off the wall crap. It wasn't about hanging out with John Ashcroft.
March 25, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
If viewed in full, Rev. Wright's sermons aren't the least bit frightening either.
The problem here is that HILLARY is using Rev. Wright as political fodder, while her own faith hasn't been vetted. For something that is described in the articles posted below as "Theocratic Fascism", shouldn't that concern us a little bit?
March 25, 2008 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Family" has supported directly some of the most unsavory characters out there, including the fascist Suharto, whom they actually got the U.S. government to support against its own policies (not to mention the Brazilian Junta and a few other dictators). They are quite clearly fascist.
BTW, They are also reported to have a pretty scary fascination with Hitler...
This is not an innocent "prayer breakfast" we're talking here. This is a bona fide group of fascists.
And Hillary is one of them.
March 25, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did those people at the fellowship made anti american remarks such as KKKAmerica, Damn America, etc...
Well?
March 25, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you TOOK THE TIME TO READ Wright's statements in full, you would discover that he said NOTHING anti-American. Did he criticize America's willingness to attack other countries and kill innocent civilians with no regard to possible consequences? Yes. Did he condemn the white-against-black racism and discrimination that still persist in our country? Without a doubt. But he did NOT make blanket statements against all of America. Forgive me for not subscribing to your narrow-minded jingoism, but valid criticisms of American society are NOT the same as explicit hatred toward everything American.
March 25, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's also called "The Fellowship."
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer-2.html
I don't like my Democratic candidate meeting secretly with anyone.
Especially not Republicans like John Ashcroft, Reaganite Edwin Meese III, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Tom Delay, and Sam Brownback.
But, hey, if that's OK with you...
March 25, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
And, she wouldn't be sleep deprived at 3 am answering the red phone?
March 25, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
i'm starting to get this sick feeling in my stomach that the next president is going to be john mccain...
March 25, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome to the club. I've been here about a week.
March 25, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
NO! No not this time, banish those thoughts. We will win because we have to win. Get out there like mad, campaign till you ruin your health. Use some of those storied Chicago Style politics, unleash hell. And if somehow, somehow we lose in November have it be at 3 am after the last polls close and come at you like the left hook you never saw coming.
None of that talk!
March 25, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a Carter confidant wryly observed, "the Clintons are right there when they need you."
DAVID BROOKS
Parasites
March 25, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't get too comfortable quoting Brooks for your own purposes. He will attempt to assassinate Obama's character when the time is right.
March 25, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Link please?
The Clintons know that their chances this time around are getting slimmer and slimmer. Their best hope now is for 2012. Therefore they must try to assure a McCain victory in '08 by trashing Obama as much as they can. They have already several times explicitly stated that McCain is preferable to Obama. They do not care one bit for a Dem White House victory this year unless they are at the head of the ticket. Their decision to exploit the Wright imbroglio is an obvious part of their commitment to thoroughly destroy Obama's chances of winning against McCain. I'm surprised it's taken them this long to get around to it. Maybe they first had to market-test it to make sure it wouldn't backfire.
March 25, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, it's an obvious part of their commitment to thoroughly destroy Obama's chances of winning PA.
March 25, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee lets all listen to republican davis Brooks for advice.
March 25, 2008 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a better idea. Let's all listen to Republican Hillary Clinton!
March 25, 2008 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, let's all attack fellow Democrats in the pages of a paper owned by the guy who funded the Arkansas Project.
March 25, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who cares what David Brooks thinks!
March 25, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Tribune-Review, of course, is Richard Mellon-Scaife's money-losing, rabidly right-wing Pittsburgh corollary to the Washington Times.
March 25, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Hillary's looking for the Limbaugh vote again
March 25, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah. PA is a closed primary. It is one thing to create mischief in the Democratic primary by becoming a Democrat for a day; but for dittoheads, to register as Democrat is probably a bridge too far. Moderate Republicans that changed the registration in good conscience will probably far outnumber mischief makers.
March 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Tribune-Review, of course, is Richard Mellon-Scaife's money-losing, rabidly right-wing Pittsburgh corollary to the Washington Times.
March 25, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Think of the children! How could he have exposed his daughters to that kind of stuff over so many years?
Is that where we are going with this?
How could she have exposed her daughter to a Dad who was repeatedly unfaithful?
How about we leave it at: Nobody outside the marriage or the church can ever know in full what the relationship is about, and those questions are irrelevant to the choice before us.
Let's pick our best nominee and defeat McCain.
March 25, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Obama, however, has spoken out against Wright, denouncing his more controversial views in multiple interviews and in his big speech on race relations, though he has not disavowed the church."
Obama spoke out after listening to this American hater for 20 years only after the American public got wind of it. He said nothing and did nothing for 20 years. Enough said.
March 25, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you mean enough said? Naw, F-that. define patriotism for me. Pretty please.
March 25, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Patriotism is drawing a line in the sand when your Pastor screams God Damn America several times in Church in front of children. It is saying America bashing is not cool on the Sunday after 9/11.
You renounce it when it happens. Not years later when using it for political spin.
March 25, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. PRoblem is, reality-challenged poster that you appear to be, Obama wasn't there when Wright blasted those words....Oops.
March 25, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny.
On Easter Sunday, I got into a conversation with an old friend that approached me about Obama/Wright.
She's an old school Dem and she expressed her concern for the party if Obama got the nomination. Concern may be the wrong word. It was more like disgust with the situation.
She refused to believe his excuse that he wasn't there for the sermon. I asked her what would have happened if our pastor had made such remarks and she shot back very passionately: "Not only would ten people have called me by three o'clock to tell me about it, he would have been defrocked by nightime."
People don't buy it. A church is a community. You know all the gossip about everyone and you know all the scandals, pretty much immediately.
That's the reality of church going America, a reality a vast majority of the country knows very well.
March 25, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, that is a different dynamic between white and black folk. I grew in dozens of foster homes. My white foster parents often switched churches. My black foster homes never switched churches.
March 25, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Defrocked by nighttime??? HA.
As a Catholic (and my brother is a priest before you try to go there), I am more sensitive than most to the DOZENS of scandals that have rocked dioceses across the country resulting in hundreds of millions in payouts.
If defrocking and abandoning ministers and churches were as common as you seem to think, MKyleM, there would be barely be any Catholic churches left. However, churches are like family and the ties run deep.
There is NO evidence that Wright's sermons were uniformly critical of American policies.
There is NO evidence that his "United States of the KKK" quip was a common refrain. As an aside, since there was a time in our nation's history when the KKK was not only tacitly ignored by the law, but ENCOURAGED in their pursuits, how is that an explicitly invalid moniker? I'm just saying.
As others have noted, there are thousands of hours of Wright's sermons. There are scores of hours available on DVD. In the weeks since this "scandal" broke there have been no new "horrible Wright quotes" unearthed. That says a lot about how far they had to dig to scrape together their hit list.
Not for nothing, the "chickens come home to roost" sermon specifically referenced UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR PECK. This is anti-American????
Lastly,
March 25, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
so patriotism is eschewing criticism of the state? Was martin luther king jr unpatriotic for suggesting that a just God would bring retribution on the US for the untold death of vietnamese? Is it unpatriotic to criticize american foreign policy?
should our discourse be limited to what can be absorbed costlessly by children?
March 25, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, that is called nationalism. There's a difference.
March 25, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bullshit. Real patriotism includes the right to speak freely about an American foreign policy that created Osama bin Laden for its own selfish purposes before he turned on us and us on him. It has been the same with a whole lot of despots over many, many decades. We make 'em then we break 'em. That's why Wright was talking about the chickens coming home to roost. He's right about that, you know. We humans (collectively) are the architects of our own destruction. It has always been true and it will continue to be true. We reap what we sow.
I think Wright's language was too strong, but you will find no shortage of condemnationof the sons of Abraham in the Old Testament. Live with it.
March 25, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, patriotism means love of your fellow citizens.
Not love of a symbol.
Not love of a piece of real estate.
These are not what nations are made of. Nations are made up of people.
Though inartfully worded, Rev. Wright was speaking out about a group of people our nation has not loved. That is not "unpatriotic". In fact, the most unpatriotic thing that one can do is turn a blind eye to the injustice that one's nation commits against one's fellow citizens. To point out that one's nation is not perfect, that it needs improvement in certain areas - as in its treatment of your fellow citizens - is not unpatriotic.
March 25, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said.
March 25, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, patriotism is what right wing americans feel unquestioningly for their country. When foreigners experience similar feelings for their countries it is called nationalism. People on the left should be too sceptical to have that kind of unquestioning regard for any institution of authority.
Having patriotism is quite a different thing from loving your country. You can love something and still recognize its flaws.
March 25, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm always startled when someone claims that right after 9/11 was no time to criticize America. Before the sun had gone down there were demands for war and invasion, death and retribution. None of that was impolite or distasteful, but in that environment if you asked the question of whether this could have been provoked by the US history of hegemony and interference in the middle east you were screamed down like you were Bin Laden himself.
When is the appropriate time to ask why you are going to war if not then? F@#king Wanker
March 25, 2008 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the people who call anyone who criticizes America as somehow being unworthy of having friends hates America a lot more rev. Wright.
In any event, he wasn't saying things like that every day, it was only very rarely, which is why you only have 20-30 seconds of clips from how ever long that guy's carrier was.
And by the way. Hillary's "Spiritual Advisor" is Billy Graham, who has made anti-semitic comments in the past (on the Watergate tapes)
March 25, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
This same man that served honorably in the US Marine Corps?
This same man that has given 2,000+ sermons, a whopping total of maybe 10 that were offensive?
Suddenly he's anti-American because you happen to prefer a differnt candidate? Have we really sunken to the point where we're going to question one another's patriotism just because we don't agree with their perspective?
Maybe Gen. McPeak wasn't that far off after all...
McCarthyism indeed.
March 25, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are a coward and a liar and until you are willing to serve your country in uniform like Jeremiah Wright did, we all know what kind of person you are. Punk.
March 25, 2008 1:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
that's a ridiculous statement. I served in the military and I don't think it gives me special license to be a patriot.
March 25, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I refuse to let cowards who would never serve their country in uniform defame people willing to do so. We are talking about some vague notion of patriotism here, not treason. Equating dissent with being un-American is the only un-Americanism I see here.
March 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's insane. Someone isn't a coward if they haven't served and they aren't automatically not a coward if they have served. that makes my father a cowad. that makes my mother a coward. That makes my wife a coward. how can you defend that statement? Cowardice is a comment on someone's action and disposition, not their prior record.
Fundamentally, character questions exist closer to the present tense than the past. If John McCain was tortured in North Vietnam that doesn't mean he is right about torture whenever he speaks about it. If he agrees with bush/cheney that torture is ok when we do it, then he is wrong, past experiences nonwithstanding.
March 25, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've silently run from every thread where I or anyone else has asked you this question. Let's do it once more emphasis:
Explain why you believe anything he said is "anti-white" or "anti-american", keeping in mind that those labels by definition mean he was railing against ALL whites and ALL of America.
We'll wait.
March 25, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
And, once again I ask, upon what do you base your theory that the seven minutes you've seen on Youtube are all there is to his ministry? That these seven minutes are typical rather than exceptional? And how do you square that with the fact that, if these seven minutes were typical, there'd be more of it out there, now, wouldn't there?
March 25, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why didn't you post your usual litany of his other sermons? I think that your list of links is a very effective response to this sort of nonsense.
March 25, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
America hater?
What a profoundly stupid assertion by you.
So it is hating America to say that 9/11 was blow-back for our fucked up policies overseas for decades?
So it is America hating to point out the sins of America's history of genocide against native Americans, or medical experiments on black men in Tuskegee, or jim crow laws, or lynchings, of daisy cutters and hiroshima?
What a dumb-fuck statement.
March 25, 2008 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again have to point out: Where in Obama's speeches, writings or actions as an elected official is there evidence that he's taken the worst of Wright's comments (themselves taken out of context) to heart?
I bet those two girls will grow up fine Americans.
March 25, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we finally put this crap to bed: Reverend Wright's sermon in which he allegedly made the comments blaming America for 9/11, He was quoting Ambassador Edward Peck, who made those comments on FOX NEWS the day after the 9/11 attacks. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ
Has ANYONE watched these 'inflammatory sound bites in context?
The real story is how the media influences the national discourse and how utterly gullible the electorate is.
March 25, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is patently untrue and you must know it. Two sermons do not properly represent the entire body of a man's life work. If Wright was spewing anti-Americanism every Sunday, NO POLITICIAN would have remained in the church AND YOU KNOW IT. Stop pretending. It's too Republican(ish); suspending disbelief and all.
March 25, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Were you aware that this America-hater served in the USMC?
Dissent is patriotic.
March 25, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary is such a horrorable person.
It seems like she saw the latest Rasmussen poll in PA showing Obama only 10 points behind, and she decided to try to make Wright an issue again - inject division - and hope the media picks up on it.
March 25, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good way to stay classy, Hillary.
March 25, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
How much do people think the AA turnout would be down from 2004 if by some catastrophe she were nominated? 10%? 20%?
March 25, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is what I was thinking. Not that she really stood a chance before giving this interview, but this interview is just one more reason why she cannot win in November (assuming, of course, that she could miraculously win in August). Attacking the black church is a great way to drive down the turnout of African American voters to the polls in November. Democrats cannot win without a substantial black turnout in certain swing states. Hillary Clinton is playing with fire here and I hope that the superdelegates are paying attention.
March 25, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
One of the key problems in American life is that people abandon communities and groups too easily, and only try to associate with like-minded people so as to avoid engaging diverse views. It is very sad to see HRC endorsing such fragmentation, by suggesting that persons should simply abandon a faith community or association whenever disagreements arise, and suggesting that churches are to be chosen, and unchosen, like breakfast cereals. Obama has done it just right. He expresses disagreement with some of the statements of the pastor, and condemns things that should be condemned, but does not facilely abandon his church.n A faith community is not just a personality cult for the minister or priest or rabbi. Everyone who belongs to a church or synogogue hears things he or she disagrees with, sometimes very strongly, that is no reason to leave the community/congregation itself.
The Clintons, on the other hand, are always quick to dump even close friends if they see any political advantage in doing so: we can also remember that from the 1990s.
March 25, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very well said.
Of course in my personal point of view, I agree with most of what Wright said.
March 25, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mike Huckabee, Jack Kemp, Chris Wallace, Michael Smerconish. These men defended Obama in regards to Wright.
Clinton uses the episode to her political advantage.
Go Democrats! United and strong!
March 25, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
does Hillary even go to church? does she even know the name of her pastor?
March 25, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/ehrenreich
I doubt that the Obama team brings up Hillary's Right-Wing Cult...
...but there's a reason that people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...
March 25, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
hehe, well, religion is actually not a good topic for Mrs. Clinton to delve into, as you can see here - http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer.html
March 25, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The cult of power where Hillary worships hasn't been discussed much lately, but it is pretty shocking.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer.html
March 25, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rev. Wright may not have been her pastor, but the Clintons sure as hell leaned on him pretty hard when they made their appeal to God. Maybe she was too sleep-deprived to remember that.
The madness must come to an end.
March 25, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pennsylvania, where she needs a big win on April 22nd to keep her electoral hopes alive.
A big win in PA doesn't keep her electoral hopes alive. Whether she wins or loses in PA, her only hope is for some sort of major meltdown to happen to Obama, so that the super-delegates have a sound reason to overrule the pledged delegates and give the nomination to Hillary.
They had hoped that Wright would be that blow to Obama's campaign, and Hillary is still trying to fan the flames -- and in the process finding herself out-classed by McCain, who said he knew Obama and knew that Obama didn't share those views.
In any other scenario Obama gets to the convention with more pledge delegates, with a far stronger fundraising record, etc., etc. And the super-delegates aren't going to overrule the pledged delegates in that situation. They aren't stupid, and they know that doing so without a compelling reason would rip the party apart.
March 25, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary just lost what ever vote she had of mine.
March 25, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stop pretending that you were going to vote for her. You can keep your vote.
March 25, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stop trashing our party. I'm trying like hell to soften my mind to an HRC nomination; just in case she does crush him in PA and beyond. I'll vote for her if she wins the nomination above boards. She used to be my second choice and I'm trying like hell. Can you please find it in yourself, CAN WE, to try and continue this race without trashing each other and sabotaging our chances in Novemeber? Subjecting our country to four more years of neocon rule would likely do permanent damage to our cou