My cousin Gale said it best: “While you can’t be responsible for what comes out of other people’s mouths, I was always taught (as I teach my children as well) that it says a lot about who YOU are by the people YOU ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH!”
We should think long and hard about who Barack Obama really is by taking a look at his close and intimate relationship with his Minister, Reverend Wright.
If you want to understand who Minister Wright is, read the following link. This commentary by former Wall Street Journal editor Ronald Kessler, which also appeared as an Op-Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, presents a portrait of someone who “may” reflect the true Obama’s views, underneath the candidate’s political rhetoric:
http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/obama_minister_wright/2008/03/06/78440.htm
If Senator Obama’s true face has been hidden behind the mask of “Hope” and “Bringing Us Together,” we ought to consider whether he may be a far more complex and shadowy figure than we have heretofore understood. If that is the case, he may also be the most talented Pied Piper ever to come to the political stage - and where will he lead us if he is elected? What will all the Ted Kennedy’s of the world say if they have bought into a great pretense? And what of our country?
March 14th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Senator Obama does not have in his heart what Rev. Jeremiah Wright emotionally speaks and says. While Rev. Wright appears to be defending Senator Obama, please remember that Rev. Wright came under close observation soon after the news found Senator Obama to be a member of his church. What is interesting to me at this point in my life is that the life or views of ministers to previous political or Presidential candidates have never received the coverage than the views of Rev. Wright. One of my white high school teachers told us that his minister would preach the Sunday sermon and then would tell the congregation to meet in the back for a KKK meeting. You know that lots of white politicians still have these kinds of ministers. Why don’t you give this type of coverage to the include all candidates. Also, Bill Clinton has sent his mother racial postcards according to the internet news. Why don’t you give fair coverage to this part of Hillary Clinton’s life. This is a former President and now husband to a Presidential candidate. Give news coverage to all candidates so that you will not be one sided in your coverage. Therefore you are not giving the real characters and personnas of all Presidents from the past to the present.
March 14th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Hello “Realitygirl.” I appreciate your response. Let me say that there is no evidence or substantiation from a credible source about Bill Clinton sending his mother racial postcards. From the best of my knowledge, Bill Clinton doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.
But it is a fact that Senator Obama has a close and intimate relationship with Rev. Wright. It is a fact that Rev. Wright helped Senator Obama in his campaign for the Senate. It is known that the Reverend is a spiritual mentor and advisor to Senator Obama.
The issue of race carries no weight with me. The issue of what people stand for, their belief systems, their points-of-view with respect to policy and the direction of this country is very important. It is apparent to me that Rev. Wright is an angry man, and a man full of resentment. He has the right to be angry if he wishes, and full of resentments if he wishes. The struggle among African Americans for equal rights has been a long one, and African Americans have been disenfranchised and abused for too too long. But it seems to me that a Christian, a Minister of the Gospel, or a Minister of any major wisdom religion, should preach and emulate the principles of unconditional love and of forgiveness for all of God’s children.
It seems to me that Rev. Wright is a divisive man - and preaches divisiveness. The Rev. Martin Luther King, who struggled so long and hard for equal rights, did not preach in this way. A Minister in Harlem, New York City, the Reverend Calvin Butts, head of the Abysinnian Baptist Church, a Church I have frequented when I lived in New York, does not preach hatred or divisiveness. He is fully aware of social inequities, and he speaks to that, but from the context of righting wrongs, and bringing African Americans - and all minorities - into full and equal opportunity and civil and human rights.
It is also a fact that Rev. Wright has applauded Louis Farrakhan. Minister Farakhan is without question anti-Semitic, and a racist. He may be brilliant, he may be about empowerment for African Americans, but he, like Rev. Wright, is full of resentment and he preaches a divisive message.
The Declaration of Independence, when it was written, and when Thomas Jefferson wrote the words, “All men are created equal,” was a document published at a time when slavery still existed. But once the words were written, it made it absolutely impossible for slavery to ultimately endure; or for human and civil rights not to gain ground.
Our nation is a work in progress, and the idea emblazoned in the Declaration was the seed that has allowed human and civil rights to evolve and for progress in that area to continually grow.
America is not perfect, but it is evolving - and the forces of Light must encourage that evolvement. I do not believe Rev. Wright encourages unconditional love between the races; nor does Minister Farakhan.
I believe we have the right to question the relationship of Senator Obama to Rev. Wright, and to Minister Farakhan, beyond the Senator’s denunciations of their statements. We need to explore these relationships to understand whether at deeper levels, Senator Obama has inherited their philosophies. We have that right because Senator Obama is moving towards the nomination, and potentially towards the occupancy of the White House.
As a citizen, I am not convinced that the Senator Obama on the outside, is the same as the Senator Obama on the inside. I think he is a brilliant man, and I embrace his inspirational messages - but every candidate, especially those who’ve reached this level, must be investigated beyond their prose.
I am concerned about Senator Obama’s relationships with hateful men. I think that is worth and deserves further exploration.
Thank you again for your response to my blog. I do appreciate your point-of-view. - Mike Schwager