It's both.

He denounces Wright's inflammatory commentary, but he explains to us from where it comes and asks us all to find a way to move beyond them.

Racial issues are not "black and white", but very deeply embedded in our culture.  Our only hope is to find a way to move forward, and as I've said a couple of times, it starts with each of us looking in the mirror and understanding we are all a part of the problem.

Are you planning on posting the same diary again?

It only reinforces the views of people with whom you agree. It doesn't persuade anyone who hasn't been persuaded by last umpteen diaries exactly like this one.

That's pretty bold.  Anyways, to address your point..

You either didn't experience the speech or you missed some parts of it.  He denounced the pastor's inflammatory remarks, defended the pastor as a human being who more often spoke positively than not, and called for unity to confront AMERICAN problems.

It was an utterly masterful piece.  Will it end the Wright controversy?  Probably not, because they'll always be those that not only can never be reached, but there are those who want to beat Democrats.  However, to repeat- it was a masterful piece.  I don't think anyone else except Barack Obama could have delivered that speech.  He wrote much of it himself.  And while it still may not be enough to end the subject, he certainly has changed the narrative dramatically.

Considering what he was up against, I don't think anyone can honestly say he didn't perform well under pressure.  He was ready for prime time.

I'm glad that you are adressing Wright strange version of Christianity. It seems lots of posters around here have no idea how offensive he is. Everytime one of those clips is shown it makes me want to be sick. Obama did AA's no favors in my opinion with his speech. Trying to excuse Wright while decrying his rhetoric is just simply confusing. And he never addressed the patriotism issue.

Obama's presentation will go down as a great American moment...win or lose.  It was honest, intelligent, written by the candidate, and a call for unity.  This avoiding the content and engaging in ad hominem attacks shows the saddest side we Americans possess.  I think you need to hear the man's request that we put this bickering aside and move forward together.  Or as Obama asked of us:

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

It's kind of interesting to me that this Christian right journalist thought it was a great speech - and is more fair than some mydd posters in noting what Obama actually said about hearing remarks in church--

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/341390.aspx
Obama Addresses Racial Issues

We won't know for awhile how voters view Barack Obama's speech today on race relations but The Brody File saw it as a HUGE positive for Obama and a successful turning point for the future of his campaign. The Obama campaign tells me he told high level staffers on Saturday that he wanted to do this speech. He ended up writing it himself on Sunday and Monday and then finished it up this morning.

With all those American flags behind him, the background was very "State of the Union." It was very presidential and Obama looked like and sounded like a President in the speech.

There were a number of factors that made the speech work. First of all, he didn't just devote a couple paragraphs to Pastor Wright. He wove him throughout the entire speech. It came across as a masterful stroke because he didn't minimize the controversy and yet at the same time was able to explain how Wright's comments fit into the larger "anger" issue within the black community.

In addition, as it relates to the Pastor Wright controversy, I thought the key lines were these:

"For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely."

The reason this part was important was because Obama was able to insulate himself on the authenticity issue. In other words, this was a pretty full mea culpa. He admitted that he sat in church while hearing remarks that were controversial. He will always have his doubters. Some will say he should have left right then and there but Obama argues that you have to look at the whole picture. He's making the case that Wright's ministry needs to be seen in totality. Voters will decide if that is a sustainable argument.

Some may question his judgment, but once you lose your authenticity, you lose everything. One of the big concerns people had was that Obama was making it sound like he had no idea that his pastor was controversial -- like Obama was living in some sort of bubble. But in this speech, Obama was clear that he knew about "stuff" that his pastor was saying. It was a raw moment. We'll see if it comes back to bite him. I think him coming clean about it has more upside than to deny the obvious.

The speech was so sweeping as he talked so much about what divides this country. He was able to shine a light on the racism that existed and still exists in America, but he was able to do it in a way that didn't seem condemning. By confronting the anxieties in both the white and black communities, he was able to get in the weeds a little bit and tell it like it is. Anytime a politician is being "candid" with their audience, it's a good day. Obama had a good day.

The best part of this for the Obama campaign is that their candidate got a chance to look presidential. He got a chance to talk about a major topic in America. It may not have come under the best circumstances but what was impressive is how the campaign didn't go into hibernation. They knew they had a problem and Obama and his campaign didn't wait long at all to be pro-active on this. They went against the grain. Instead of trying to distance themselves, they went head on into it and my guess is they'll be better for it.

Did he go far enough in distancing himself from Pastor Wright in this speech? There will be those who say he had to be stronger in his language. I'm not so sure. Look, the guy defended his pastor who has done a lot for the community but he also chastised him numerous times too. What do we want to do here? Have Obama bring out a dart board complete with a picture of Wright and have Obama start throwing darts at the bulls eye?"

Knight,

I think this is a good and well-balanced diary, though I don't agree with everything you wrote in it.

Cheers

Spectacular Diary. Wonderfully written.

WOW!

in a week or so.  People will see bits and pieces and they'll see the clips of Wright's messages that prompted this speech.  They'll WATCH Obama's posture and facial expressions - and Wright's and they'll have one or two questions.  Those few questions - and their answers - will determine whether they will "buy" Obama or not.

At least, that's my humble opinion.

I appreciate you point of view.  Look, my support for Hillary is based on my thinking about who would be the best person for the US at this time.  The reason that I support her is because she has already shown her vast knowledge and preparation to actually do the job.  I do not dislike Obama.  I like him fine, but I think he has a huge ego that is basically only concerned with one thing and that is getting this nomination,.  

He will say or do anything to get it, including disenfranchising millions of voters in two states that democrats need this fall.  The states that Obama touts are not going to vote for the dems this fall, states like those red states where he used a few party left activists, young people, AAs and the far left elite and combined that with some indys/repubs to get these delegates.  

I do not think that the democratic nomination should be selected by those who are not democrats.  Democrats are voting in the majority for Hillary.  The pundits have already anointed Obama, but by my lights, Obama cannot win this nomination without the help of the SDs and neither can Clinton.  If Obama cannot get the base of the democratic party to support him, why does he deserve the SDs to vote for him  and not Hillary?  Why is 100 delegates that such a big lead, if he cannot win without the SDs either?

It just may be possible for her to take the lead in votes, even if you don't count delegates from Mich and Fl. the voters still voted and those votes do count, whether Obama says so or not, he cannot just discount their votes.

If Hillary overtakes him in the popular vote, and especially if she wins big in Penn, where only democrats can vote, this will be a big indication that Obama will have trouble this fall.  I fear that if he is our nominee we will lose big this fall.  While I understand his appeal, his coalition is not enough to win the WH.  He actually needs the base of the party to hope to win in the fall.  This vote is by no means one Obama can count on.  I actually think Hillary could win, the best thing for our party is to have a Clinton/Obama ticket.  It is the only way that Obama will ever be acceptable to enough of the American people to win the WH.  He just simply must have more knowledge, more preparation, more, dare I say it, experience, which is the basis of judgment, not the other way around.  His judgment so far leaves many questions.

I really think this garbage that the Obama camp and supporters bring up about tax records, WH records, and Bill Clinton's library and charity are just more republican tactics, he is trying to imply there could be some thing "bad" there, but what?  The innuendo is there, not one fact only smears and pretense.  

This is what is so disturbing about the Obama supporters and their awful and distorted attacks on Clinton, this ugly name calling, this is exactly what the republicans tried to do to her and Bill in the 90s.  Now people decry that and yet do that very thing themselves, and then say see, I killed my parents, now I throw myself on the mercy of the court because I am an orphan.

How can people say that she is so divisive when it is themselves who are being the divisive ones.  Why is it so that she is the victim of these twisted rumors and slurs, nasty insults, and then she is to blame for the insults and attacks.  How stupid is that?  Why is it her fault that she is trying to win this nomination, that she is attacked for trying to win?  

The fact that Obama is trying to win at any cost, including not allowing Mich or Fl to get wavers, even though those other states all got wavers, why didn't they?  Why is it up to Obama and why is he satisfied to pretend those people didn't vote?  As if he can dismiss their votes because they didn't vote for him, or because of when they voted, as if that is the thing, when not that they did.

Don't forget PIAPS.

I am reminded of the saying "My country right of wrong, when she is right I salute her, when she is wrong, I try to correct her"  the problem with Wright is he condemns and hates her, he makes terrible statements against Hillary and Bill in such disgusting terms, and then Obama somehow tries to justify his relationship by saying there is some truth there. No truth only insults and hate speech.

BTW  I have no idea why she hasn't released her returns, but unlike you I don't think that there must be some terrible thing there, she must be guilty of something, if we can only find it, then we could crown Obama, and stop her getting all those democratic votes instead of the chosen ONE.  She is ruining him, merely because she is getting all those votes.  Shame on people, actually voting for her.  Geez!