Barack Obama's Pastor Problem

Posted on March 17, 2008

After the Jeremiah Wright scandal broke wide on Friday, Senator Obama did the rounds of the talk shows Friday night to try to stem the bleeding. Obama appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, on Fox News with Major Garrett and on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann. Garrett grilled Obama, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Olbermann lobbed mostly softballs at him. The best interview by far was by Anderson Cooper (see the video here and the transcript here). Obama's defense was really pathetic. After saying earlier that he didn't think his pastor was particularly controversial, he now said he condemned the statements that are upsetting everyone. "If it offends you then I condemn it." How bold of him.

His next defense was that he was never in the church when Wright was making his horrible statements that we saw in the tapes. You know, the statements by Wright that the U.S. created the AIDS virus to commit genocide upon the black race, how FDR lied to the American people, that he knew Pearl Harbor was coming and allowed servicemen to die intentionally, that we deserved to be hit on 9/11 and that blacks should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."

He then previewed what will most likely be his argument in the coming weeks: that Wright is part of an older, angrier black generation and that he is the new generation that can bring us all together. What a load of nonsense. He seemed like a typical uncomfortable, triangulating, disingenuous politician who has been caught in a big lie. And he has. How can he expect voters to believe that he spent twenty years being mentored by this guy -- who he said brought him to Christ and is a spiritual advisor -- and not know about his hate-filled, divisive philosophy?

Reverend Wright married Michelle and Barack Obama. He baptized his two children. He blessed his house (you know, the one involved in the Rezko transaction). Coop got Barack to admit that when he was at Harvard Law School he would listen to tapes of Rev. Wright over and over. His book is based on one of Wright's sermons and he has clearly picked up his oratorical style.

Wright's rants are un-American, racist and full of hate speech, the kind of hate speech that is banned in Germany and France. And the new minister is just as confrontational: Sunday he accused the media of "crucifying" Rev. Wright. Wright crucified himself with his appalling, vitriolic speeches. Now Barack Obama has decided to give a big speech tomorrow about race. Will he defend Wright? Most likely, he'll try to position himself as the great healer, the great savior of America. But it's too late. We've seen he's just another politician. Not much Change there.