18 MARCH - Obama admitted witnessing controversial sermons of wright today during his speech in Philadelphia.

TRANSCRIPT OF PHILADELPHIA SPEECH

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.

The 18 March admission contradicts the words Obama penned in his Huffington Post essay on 14 March.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.

Obama's 18 March statement contradicts words he uttered during an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN on 14 March.

OBAMA: And, as I said, Anderson, if I had heard any of those statements, I probably would have walked up, and I probably would have told Reverend Wright that they were wrong.

But they were not statements that I heard when I was in church.

COOPER: So, no one in the church ever said to you, man, last week, you missed this sermon; Reverend Wright said this; or...

OBAMA: No.

Obama's 18 March admission contradicts statements he made during an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on 15 March.

Q: Do you need to distance yourself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

A: "He's retiring. He preached his last sermon and is on sabbatical until his official retirement in May. I put out a statement today very clear about my clear rejection of the statements that have caused controversy. I'll be honest with you. I wasn't in church when any of those sermons were issued. I've known Rev. Wright for 20 years. I've known him as a former Marine, as a biblical scholar who's well-known and well-regarded around the country and has taught and lectured at some of the top theological seminaries. He is someone who is not my political advisor but has talked with me about faith and family and my relationship to God. I'd never heard him, he's always preached a social gospel, in a style that, I think, was more casual, less traditional than a lot of people. But the sermons I've always hear were no different than the sermons you hear in many African-American churches. I had not heard him make such, what I consider to be objectionable remarks from the pulpit. Had I heard them while I was in church, I would have objected. Had that been the tenor of the church generally, I probably wouldn't be a member of the church. The church I know, Trinity, is a pillar of the community, one of the most active and well-established churches in the country. It is a welcoming church that is visited by people from all across the world, particularly in the United Church of Christ family, so I strongly reject the statements that he's made. Given that he's on the brink of retirement, we have a new pastor, Rev. Moss, I don't intend to leave the church. The way I view it, Carol, is, Rev. Wright is like an uncle who you love and respect but who has lately said some things that you really disagree with and anger . . .

"I'll be honest with you[;] I wasn't in church when any of those sermons were issued."  But three days later he admits he witnessed controversial remarks while sitting in the pews of Trinity.  

Barack Obama cannot be trusted.  If he prevaricates and equivocates when confronted about Jeremiah Wright, how can he be trusted with national security? Would he fabricate military intelligence? Because Obama has manipulated the press and the public, I believe Barack Obama is unfit for the Presidency.