**Douche-bag Alert** Ahhh, the real McCain.

Obviously, that would be "defend Clinton."

Aw, did widdle Johnny get his feelings hurt by the big ol DNC running ads and decide to be the real McCain for a minute? The one who is a prime asshole?

I was just reading the lower thread that that was a hell of a speech Wright gave, and I'd sure like to see it.

McCain called Falwell an agent of change but then realized his only chance to fulfill his ambition of becoming president before he croaks is to kiss up to the dominionists. So, he went to Falwell's university and gave a speech. He went to beg for support from John Hagee's apocalypse cult. He even changed from being a Methodist to being a fundamentalist Southern Baptist. Maybe it's easy for McCain to change religions just for politics, but Obama's connection to his church and community run deeper. We know all we need to know about McCain's sense of loyalty from the fact that he left his first wife after she was in a car accident for a younger, wealthier woman. The "smart" thing according to DC insiders would have been to ditch Wright and Trinity UCC when he went into politics, expecting this kind of controversy. Even though I'm not religious I can respect Obama for sticking with a church that does so much for its community even though he doesn't agree with everything Wright has said and could even be hurt politically by some of it.

"Of course you agree that it's a legitimate political issue. You're a Clintonista/Freeper troll."

So anyone that backs Clinton and posts on TPM is a "troll", and thus in turn, only Obama backers are worthy of posting on this site.
Are only Obama posters legitimate? I see very little policy discussion in these blogs comments, but thousands of posts on trivial matters of who is smarter or who said something mean. Can there be no adult discussions here without name-calling and put downs?
I thought that the Obama movement was one of inclusion and change. The more I read the posts on this site the more I feel that I am on TNR or Redstate. Don't forget it was this same type of childlike pandering that saddled us with our current leader.

A legitimate political issue?

I am honestly dumbfounded that Obama would concede this. I guess that's the pound of flesh that the Foxnuts demanded.

Apparently it's a conveniently legitimate political issue in this instance, and for this particular candidate, but remarkably this type of association has never been a legitimate political issue before this election, nor will it ever be one for any Republican.

Funny how that works, isn't it?

McCain is hypocritical on this if he uses this opening to attack Obama for being as open to criticism as any great leader should be.

Using reverend Wright for his remarks or for his remarks this weekend is simply attrocious and deliberately tries to wedge differences between the races. What kind of country did John mcCain fight for?

When listening to the Wright's NAACP speech tonight I realized I couldn't stop thinking: "How is this going to effect Barack Obama?" -- and it drives me nuts that I have to think that way.

If it weren't for the political implications I would have simply been uproariously entertained and deeply enlightened on issues from theology to linguistics. He had the room moving, thinking, and, mostly, laughing, at his good natured characterizations of "differences" in language and culture that he insisted were not "deficient" but just "different." It was an uplifting message that would rock any congregation, black or white, in America.

But I know that Clinton and McCain will find ways to manipulate the message.

Watching Wright reminded me of a Steve Martin gag from the 1970's when the great comic pretended to try to entertain a convention of "plumbers and pipefitters" with "plumber humor." The joke he told was incomprehensibly technical and filled with jargon about wrenches and pipes. The gag was that he was talking to the wrong audience and no one understood a word Martin was saying.

Reverend Wright was speaking to the thousands of people at the NAACP event, to millions of people who yearn for a new day in race relations, and to me. But he wasn't speaking to the non-plumbers -- Sean Hannity, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain.

There were moments when I cringed at Wright's mocking imitations of John Kennedy's and Lyndon Johnson's regional accents. Of course, in context, he was making the point that "all" Americans speak with some dialect of English and that "urban" sounding English (think Jesse Jackson even at his most eloquent) is often labeled as "bad English," while Kennedy and Johnson are regarded as quintessentially American speakers. But no matter the context, Fox News will run the humorous clips over and over and establish among the ignorant that they are deeply offensive to Bostonians and Texans. I'm sure there is a treasure trove of other soundbites that also could cause Obama problems as he tries to woo Indianans and North Carolinians to his hopeful cause. Once again Wright, a fine man, will be exploited to undermine Obama.

The problem is Wright's uplifting ideas are surely going to be translated not only through the lens of racial and socio-economic prejudice -- but worse -- through the lens of a political culture run amuck.

Note to Obama: no thoughtful, authentic response to a question shall go unpunished.

McCain is talking to the Democratic superdelegates and primary voters here, as he was with the Hamas BS. He's trying to scare them away from nominating Obama, because he knows these attacks won't be that useful in the general.

Again, if McCain thought he had so much ammunition against Obama in the fall, why would he be trying to sabotage his nomination?

It is weird that Obama claimed that his association with Wright as a "legitimate issue" but it's pretty easy for him to pivot on that. Essentially: "I'm committed in transparency in government and I feel I've addressed all of the public's questions with regards to Reverend Wright. I could have just laid low and waited for some other scandal to grab the media's attention but I didn't. I spoke directly and honestly to the American people and that's something that, frankly, Washington doesn't do enough of." (and so on)

Geez, I'm glad Obama is smarter than the people who cover him and comment on him on web sites.

He comported himself very well today. By saying he understands why people are turned off by Wright he's giving the people who were offended the opportunity to get past it. He didn't pander to Wallace or the Fox audience. He was respectful and Wallace was won over.

It's no wonder Bill Clinton gets so riled with Obama, he is a smooth operator of the same vein. A very good politician who wears well. We are lucky to have this guy as our nominee this year. If he wins it we will be locking in a whole new generation of Democrats. Something Clinton almost did, but ultimately failed at.

Obama's basic decency shines through all the slime hurled at him by Fox, McCain, and the various committees formed specifically to slime him.

And, in a strange way, the slime helps him because it creates such a caricature that, seeing and listening to him, it's impossible for ordinary people to believe the slimers. With each attack, he gains credibility while they lose credibility.

The Wright "issue" is a legitimate issue. Why do people hate the government? Wright speaks not only for blacks, but for all of us repulsed by the current political and economic regime.

The tut-tutters on Fox, CNN, and the WSJ (not to mention most of the Republican party) haven't figured this out yet. They haven't figured it out because they wrongly believe their status is deserved. In fact, they are the problem. This becomes increasingly obvious as they accuse Obama of indecency while he responds with decency and intelligence.

McCain,by nature and by political inclination, represents the basest negativity for the GOP.He has demonstrated that he values slime and slander over legitimate political points and that makes him the least trusted of the three candidates.

Gee, it's funny how he came out of nowhere to take out the "inevitable" Hillary despite being such a goof.

Look, Huggy Bear sold what was left of his soul in '04 for this run. You think he wasn't going to use Wright or anything else he can?

complete fruitcake racist

I'm pretty sure Obama would prefer for Wright to shut the hell up. The more controversy it creates, the more it disillusions swing voters. We don't need that, folks.