It's all so confusing.  I thought Rezko was going to sink him, and he had to drop out!

Oh, wait!  I thought the plagiarism thing would be his death knell!

No, no, I remember!  It was NAFTA!

Obama must have more lives than my two cats put together.

I always thought it was the Obama camp who pronounces Hillary dead and she should drop out.  LOL - he is dead.  The bus won't even be enough.

Yea, which is why I've always argued that by the end, the negatives of Obama will be just as high as Clinton's.

If I were a superdelegate, I'd tell them to go into a room alone and come out as a ticket, otherwise I'll vote for Gore.

Speaking of the infamous Mr. Hsu,

Exactly WHEN does Obama plan to give back the $20,000 Hsu gave him, as well as the money raised for Him by Mr. Hsu?

Washington Post has the story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047. html

That's rich come from a supporter of the most self centered power hungry selfish family in the Democratic Party, The Clintons.

You want sad, read his comment about 'not getting it' further down...

You're way or the highway?

Be dismissive, but this in DEVASTATING.

I will vote for Mr. Obama is he's our nominee, but don't think the red states are going to buy this, especially with the forthcoming gd commercial.

It's sad.

So you guys are officially saying you would not vote for Obama ?

Ahhh, so he renounces the bigoted crap but accepts the fluffy bunny preachings, he is taking a nuanced stance....

Gotcha...

Does anyone agree with them?  Obama doesn't, and has said so on multiple occassions now.  And yet you feel the need to do what exactly?  Call him a liar?  Say 'we all know' there's more out there?  Say that contrary to Obama's statement, he really has heard all these kind of things before?  

You're basically propping up this right wing attack, and contradicting Obama's efforts at pushing back against it by basically saying Obama's rejection of what Wright said is a lie.

Well, there is the "God Damn America" thing. To that I say 'meh'. Really - when taken in context it is easy to see where he is coming from. When taken out of context it is easy to get upset.

I have yet to see video of his AIDS comment - though that does seem far more offensive from what I understand.

Wright isn't running for President.  Supporters of our most likely nominee shouldn't have to answer about whether they agree with Wright.  Irrelevant.

Wow.

Jerome, you might want to read some W.E.B. Dubois.

And some Darcus Howe, with the UK New Statesman.

And listen to some Linton Kwesi Johnson.

And while we are on this issue of Wright's "let us say very negative comment about america" maybe now is the time to revisit Michele Obama comment. For the first time in my life i am proud of my country.  I dont know if there is a connection but her comment fits in very closely to Wright's statements.  Just something to think about. Her comment is going to get more air time now because if fits a pattern.  And this if of course fair game because the BO campaign does this every day.

david

To many of us who have visited mydd, it is clear there are many worldviews you are incapable of imagining.

This is much more eloquently put than what I meant, and is what I was trying to convey.

"You can disagree with Rev. Wright but still make an effort to understand where he's coming from... Heck, the knock on us from the right is that we're too open-minded, that we're moral relativists. "

Whether we as liberals, or progressives, or whatever you want to call us can empathize with the rage behind Reverend Wright's comments is immaterial to the discussion of whether we can afford to lead with our chin as Democrats when we nominate a presidential candidate to represent our entire party in this national conversation.

While I can personally empathize with the rage and the wound that underlies his worldview, I also understand that there is an intoxication of self righteousness that accompanies demonizing another race and offers a rush and a thrill when hating others for all the hurt one has sustained. There comes a time when venting that rage turns into a self propelling misuse of an original injustice. That is where we must turn back, or risk turning into the same bigots we decry.

I think it could ultimately be productive for the white community to hear Reverend Wright's worldview, if they have been sufficiently sheltered from it in the past.  

Many poor white people understand the rage very well, because today there is much of the same degree of wounding due to class and poverty issues that is similar to what the black community has unfairly suffered for generations (and I am one of those who does not believe things have improved all that much, or that they could not revert to their earlier horrors all too easily). Poor people are not regarded as human, either. Poor people are allowed to die without health care, and shamed horribly in the process. One could come close to calling it genocide of the poor as a group, and I personally have come close to that, on my most outraged days, when it has been right in front of me as a health care provider. It is very bad judgement, and it is bigotry. The abuse of the poor comes in all colors, for sure. When I am most tempted to get a charge and that deceptively healing balm that comes from condemning others I remind myself of that. I correct myself, before doing harm to others and committing injustice myself.

Reverend Wright's views are not such a stretch for me to empathize with. But if I want the freedom to express such anger in such unfair and uncompromising terms, I don't deserve to run for public office. If I want to tacitly approve such views, and donate money, time, and my verbal approval to a proponent of such views, as Barack Obama has done, I do not deserve to run for office.

On that basis, I do not believe Obama should have run for office. He made choices that disqualify him.

"There are also countless people in the black community who do not agree, and despite their anger at the bigotry and discrimination they face daily, believe Reverend Wright's views go much too far."

I agree. But looking at his statements he is talking about black oppression, is that going to far? I think it is if you are on the pulpit, yes, but for many people this is the only place they'll hear any kind of political discussion regarding black people.

""This worldview is also very toxic on the national political stage,"

He was speaking to his congregation, not campaigning for office. I think though, he should have shown better judgment and toned down his sermon, while still making those relevant points.

"That personal responsibility includes stepping aside when your personal baggage will derail the larger movement."

And this is my point. You have to understand that  this "personal baggage" is very, very, very, very difficult to just step aside from, if you encounter it daily, like many (not all) black people do GLOBALLY.  

"He should have completely disassociated himself long ago from this man he calls his "spiritual mentor" and repudiated those views."

I agree as well, but I also know that spiritual mentor and political mentor a two different things. I do not agree at all with my Pastor's political views (I go to a predominately white conservative Evangelical Christian church). But he is an outstanding preacher and motivates me to be a better person. I know how to separate his controversial statements from his enlightening ones, I'm sure a man like Obama, much smarter than myself, can do that too.

I like how you keep using the word "baggage" that racism/oppression is something that non-whites are handed and must continually dump by the roadside.

Seriously, did you guys skip ethnic studies courses in college?

Beat me to it :D

Whoa.. really?