You Don't Know Me, But...

Time was when Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama were pretty tight, what with Barack accepting a call to Jesus after a Wright sermon and packing tapes of Wright's sermons to provide edification while at Harvard.  But now Barack tell us that Wright was "never my, quote-unquote, "spiritual adviser."  He was never my "spiritual mentor" and in fact, Obama couldn't pick Wright out of a line-up if the only other person in it was Bill Ayers.

Jim Geraghty and Jim Lindgren remember happier days.

Comments

[Paul Zrimsek]

Doesn't Obama have to deny him three times before he can be properly crucified?

[Neo]

deny him three times

spot on

Wish I had thought of that.

[BumperStickerist]

for Tom -

If you're looking for a title for the omnibus wrap-up article regarding this matter, try: "Charge of the Wright Brigade"

~ cough ~

-

If you're looking for a soundtrack for the 2008 campaign - here's a though

{to the tune of "Son of a Preacher Man"}

Sound of a Preacher Man
~0/ Reverend Wright was a preacher man and
he talked about God and about His plan.

When they gathered around and Wright started talking, Barack took Michelle and they went walking

Out of the church away from Wright's words
and when Barack went out campaigning
Lord knows to his surprise.

The only thing that could beat Obama
was the sound of a preacher man
The only thing that could defeat Obama
was the sound of a preacher man
Defeat Hope, Defeat Change ...
mmm yes, defeat him.

---------

apologies to Dusty Springfield.

[Ranger]

Was Obama lying then or is he lying now?

It would be nice to have a reporter ask Obama if he still agrees with Wright that "White peoples greed runs a world in need"?

The audacity indeed.

[Perfect Sense]

Those reality-based Democrats sure know how to pick 'em.

[Danube of Thought]

“What I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks was somehow political posturing.”

More than the AIDS conspiracy. More than putting drugs in the ghetto. More than the chickens coming home to roost. The ultimate, unforgivable utterance was accusing Barack of posturing.

This is rich.

[Gmax]

Well yeah, the ultimate sin was not recognizing the Messiah when he appeared.

[Jane]

The link under my name is a pretty compelling consequence of the next Obama dust up. Here is a taste:

During the April 16 debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, moderator George Stephanopoulos brought up “a gentleman named William Ayers,” who “was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He’s never apologized for that.” Stephanopoulos then asked Obama to explain his relationship with Ayers. Obama’s answer: “The notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was eight years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn’t make much sense, George.” Obama was indeed only eight in early 1970. I was only nine then, the year Ayers’s Weathermen tried to murder me.

[jimmyk]

There are tapes? Bring 'em on! This could be like Watergate. Maybe there will be an 18 minute gap where the Reverend said things like "God Damn America!" to give Obama some plausible deniability.

[Elroy Jetson]

There is not much real estate left underneath that bus. The bodies of Samantha Power, Rev. Wright, Barack Obama & Obama's grandma are taking up all the room.
Let's do a bus pool- who's next? I vote Michelle Obama. Barack hasn't been showing much loyalty lately.

[Danube of Thought]

Byron York gets it:

"...the threat from Wright remains, all the way until November 4. Wright knows the true nature of his relationship with Obama. He knows what they have said to each other. He knows whether Obama finds Wright’s views as offensive as he has said. There are more than six months left before the general election, and if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, that is a lot of time for the voluble — and publicity-loving — pastor to remain silent."

[narciso]

This doesn't stop flacks like Yglesias, rationalize Ayer's acts, by explicitly comparing them to Kissinger's Vietnam
policy; using a picture from Mylai as the illustration; and implicitly to Iraq. If
America was such a police state, like author
David Wise suggested around '73, Ayers, Boudin, Dohrn, Rudd, & co, would have been
'doubletapped' long ago, or committed
'suicide' like Ulrike Meinhof & Andreas Baader. Instead they served as inspiration for AQ's spoiled Wahabbis two generations later. And stepping stones for the "Sumatran
Candidate".

[Ranger]

Jane, that is an excellent article. To me the key element is this:

Nobody should hold the junior senator from Illinois responsible for his friends’ and supporters’ violent terrorist acts. But it is fair to hold him responsible for a startling lack of judgment in his choice of mentors, associates, and friends, and for showing a callous disregard for the lives they damaged and the hatred they have demonstrated for this country. It is fair, too, to ask what those choices say about Obama’s own beliefs, his philosophy, and the direction he would take our nation.

I think the Weather Underground Victims for Truth idea is finally taking off.

[Danube of Thought]

Jane, I hate to tell you this, but Mr. Murtagh must be mistaken. (I strongly recommend going to the link under her name, above.)

You see, one of our reliable correspondents here--was it Foo Bar or Apalled?--has assured us that Ayers always phoned in warnings of his bombs, so that no one would be hurt. Musta been somebody else.

[Gmax]

Weather Underground Victims for Truth idea is finally taking off.

So Obama cant be swift boated he said. Can he be Weathered? Undergrounded grounded?

[MarkO]

I guess Obama had never read the Old Testament. That would have given him a clue about wild, religious men named Jeremiah.

[DebinNC]

The South Side of Chicago seems like another planet. You've got radical whites like Ayers and the headquarters of Rainbow Push and The Nation of Islam sharing the same turf. TUCC and Wright may have seemed like an oasis of sanity by comparison ... in Obama's young, unformed 1988 mind. He hasn't experienced "normal America" except as a visiting anthropologist.

[Paul Zrimsek]

I think we're all bozos under this bus.

[hrtshpdbox]

That article Jane links to is one of the more compelling things I've read lately; I was glad to see it's dated today - maybe it will get some traction.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Too bad we can't have one of those You Tube debates now. My question for Hillary would be, 'Senator, do you think it's possible for your opponent and his wife, who together hold four Ivy League degrees, to have attended a church for twenty years and not noticed that their pastor was a racialist nut?'

[pagar]

"has assured us that Ayers always phoned in warnings of his bombs, so that no one would be hurt." But what if no one answered the phone?
Did they come back and defuse their bomb?
How would one know they always phoned in warnings unless one was there?

[Cecil Turner]

. . . deny him three times before he can be properly crucified . . .

. . . the ultimate sin was not recognizing the Messiah . . .

. . . wild, religious men named Jeremiah . . .

[snortle] Too much fun!

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Chelsea obviously gets it.

[jimmyk]

The South Side of Chicago seems like another planet. You've got radical whites like Ayers and the headquarters of Rainbow Push and The Nation of Islam sharing the same turf.

And somehow also the University of Chicago economics department, the bastion of capitalism and free enterprise.

[fdcol63]

If Obama can be "hoodwinked" and betrayed by his pastor, how will he hold up against deceitful tyrants like Mahmoud Achmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, Bashar al-Assad, Hugo Chavez, et al?

[Veeshir]

Oh c'mon, this should be the theme song for this most entertaining and ridiculous election.

[kim]

John Murtaugh's Circle Tour of Manhattan's boat highlights all the sights in record swiftly flat thumps just under the waterline.
==================================

[LindaK]

So where does this go from here? A counterpunch from Wright? Airing of video and tapes? And of course, the burning question of where BO now turns for spiritual advice.

[Rick Ballard]

"the burning question of where BO now turns for spiritual advice"

Why, the Good Books, of course. If the answer can't be found in Das Kapital, then it will be revealed in The Little Red Book. BHO has it covered.

[MikeS]

If Obama can be "hoodwinked" and betrayed by his pastor...

Don't you mean "bamboozled?"

[DebinNC]

"And somehow also the University of Chicago economics department, the bastion of capitalism and free enterprise."
........................................
Is that where he learned this?

Obama's Real Faith, Investor's Business Daily, January 23, 2007

Obama, meanwhile, has been getting in touch with his African roots. . . .

"I believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change," he recently asserted. He said his faith has also led him to question "the idolatry of the free market." This reflects Trinity church doctrine that no African-American can really rise to the top echelons of a "racist, competitive" white society on merit.

[MikeS]

"the idolatry of the free market."

I'm pretty sure BrockO got his formal training in economics from the Rev. Wright.

[MikeS]

clicked on the wrong button!

[Cecil Turner]

. . . this should be the theme song . . .

This one works, too.

[Pofarmer]

All those folks claiming that "Bush lied", Yeah, here's your reality check.

[JB]

"The ultimate, unforgivable utterance was accusing Barack of posturing."

In a strange way, I find Obama's open narcissism kinda refreshing. He loves America because of what it can do for him, and is not afraid to say so.

Turned on Leno last night. Seems the new pop-culture narrative is "Poor Barack! Why did Wright do him like that?" What a tawdry melodrama.

[Pofarmer]

""I believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change," he recently asserted. He said his faith has also led him to question "the idolatry of the free market." This reflects Trinity church doctrine that no African-American can really rise to the top echelons of a "racist, competitive" white society on merit."

Uhmmm, holy crap Batman!!!

I wonder if some folks in Iowa don't want a do over right about now.

Al Gore looks positively sane and desirable by comparison

[Gmax]

Something for you conspracy minded to noodle on, The NY POST is reporting an unnamed source close to Rev. Wright as having said this:

"After 20 years of loving Barack like he was a member of his own family, for Jeremiah to see Barack saying over and over that he didn't know about Jeremiah's views during those years, that he wasn't familiar with what Jeremiah had said, that he may have missed church on this day or that and didn't hear what Jeremiah said, this is seen by Jeremiah as nonsense and betrayal," said the source, who has deep roots in Wright's Chicago community and is familiar with his thinking on the matter.

[MikeS]

I have a suggestion for a campaign theme.

[narciso]

Back in the day, shows like "Law & Order" used to use their 'torn from the headlines'
plug to go after the likes of Katherine Power, Soliah et al. By the second or third
season, they were more interested in'framing
the problem' as the secretive BOSSI unit of the NYPD, who would unwittingly kill
informants. The mathematical crime drama
"Numbers" took a similar tack;featuring an FBI undercover agent, who was provoking attacks back in the 60s although ended up pinning the problem, on a '60s wannabe activist wanting to reignite the "Days of Rage" over Iraq. Wright, alongtime associate of Mssr. Kadaffi, like his good friend Louis Farrakhan,

The double standard is clear, Ahmadinejad, the Iranian version of Ayers, was a kidnapper, torturer,"interrrogation specialist," overseas assassin of
dissidents, yet he was given a standing ovation at the UN. professors at Columbia, issued an apology for the lack of etiquette from President Bollinger, when dealing with an honored guest. Hugo Chavez, an admitted member of the Red Banner marxist group, supported by the Marxist FARC in his attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan Govt in '91, financed in part from Iraqi and
Libyan security service coffers (according to accounts of former DISIP officers) he
gets a standing ovation, Danny Glover, Sean Penn, and the sine quanon of stupidity, Cindy Sheehan sing his praises.

On the other hand, Rumsfeld has to be careful what foreign cities he might travel on a future book tour. Feith, despite having always been an enemy of Wahhabist; his notes in War & Decision, include an early piece of the Saudi use of the 'oil weapon' dismissed from GeorgeTown, but the Wahhabi mouthpiece Esposito, has his book on every shortlist including the Pentagon preferred reading list. Yoo is being threatened with removal from the UC Berkeley campus,over policy memos, having to do with detainee issues, military tribunals. as if he was Globke* dictating the Nuremberg Laws (future secretary to German PM Adenauer)We know how "Cully" Stimson, was purged from Defense's detainee office, because he dared question how America's Fortune 500 was underwriting,
"the rope from which they shall all hang"
for supporting law firms which take up Gitmo detainee cases, ended up at the Heritage Foundation. Wolfowitz was hounded from the World Bank because he didn't fit
the demanding standards set by Robert McNamara; ineptly prosecute a war, you don't
believe in, give millions to corrupt tyrants
everywhere. That could set a bad example. The FBI is still pursuing grand juries against Posada Carriles, because there apparently aren't any real terrorists to go after. Mo' Davis, the stalwart fmr. Gitmo prosecutor, now blabs to all who will listen that the Administration, was pressing for trials, too soon, This is after
the ACLU has been debating everything but the word 'is' for.

[Pofarmer]

Is there a full transcript of that Investors Business Daily article?????

PPPLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEE?

[DebinNC]

IBD: "Obama's Real Faith"

[mbeexx]

Obama was ahead by 21% in NC according to a Public Policy Polling announcement of March 25. At what percent victory will he really be losing? Would a win of 5% be construed as a loss? 7%?

We should expect to hear Chris Matthews expositing on this.

That poll was one week after Barack Obama "confronted the controversy with his pastor by making a major speech on race".

[Gmax]

Did Governor Easley call Obama a "pansy" during his endorsement of Hill? I am getting the sense that he did, some lefties sure seem worked up over it.

Anyone else think the word fairly descriptive?

[Sue]

Pofarmer,

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=289784519414202>Here.

[Danube of Thought]

I understand that Easley was describing how tough Hillary is, and he said "she makes Rocky look like a pansy." Apparently some gay groups are all ticked off about that.

[DebinNC]

It turns out "the idolatry of the free market" phrase was from a doctor whose email Obama referenced at the end of a speech here.">http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060628-call_to_renewal_1/">here. The doctor was saying he rejected the Republicans and their "idolatry of the free market", but was concerned that Obama was pro-choice. To which Obama went into "Kumbayah" mode.

The speech was given at a Sojourners conference. Sojourners founder, Jim Wallis, is an evangelical activist who I believe is more Obama's mentor now than Wright. Wright quoted Wallis, who he identified as "a white man" during one of his weekend speeches as saying, "America's sin of slavery has never been confessed, much less repented from." Wallis and Obama have been described as "close friends" who are working together to bring people of faith back to the Dem fold to facilitate the cause of "social justice".

[PeterUK]

"Jeremiah cried, "Dem dry bones!
Jeremiah cried, "Dem dry bones!
Jeremiah cried, "Dem dry bones!
Oh hear the word of the Lord.

The foot bone con-nected to the (pause) leg-bone,
The leg bone connected to the (') knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the (') thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the (') back bone,
The back bone connected to the (') neck bone
The neck bone connected to the (') head bone
Oh hear the word of the Lord!

Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun'
Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun'
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun'
Oh hear the word of the Lord

The head-bone connected to the neck-bone,
the neck-bone connected to the back-bone
The backbone connected to the thigh-bone
the thighbone connected to the kee-bone
the kneebone connected to the leg bone
the leg bone connected to the foot bone
Oh hear the word of the Lord".

[Jane]

GMax,

Real gays don't whine. Look at Gay Patriot's response to pansygate in the LUN.

[fdcol63]

MikeS ..... yeah, "bamboozled" works, too. LOL

[Appalled]

Briefly --

Obama probably did enough to stop the bleeding. But, since he keeps claiming he didn't know about all the vileness spewing from Wright's mouth, he leaves himself open to someone claiming he did, or proving he was in the pew one day when Wright said something disgusting.

Byron York is probably right. This issue will be back again. Not quite finishing the job seems to be a hallmark of Obama's campaign style.

[PaulL]

Michelle Obama is going to be on TV night. She will save the day.

LOL! Is the Obama campaign really this clueless!?

[DFR]

Audacity, impunity, punishment. Harvard nut bars. Their books are all the same. They want US govt money.

http://www.impunidad.com/index.php?idioma=us

[DebinNC]

"NBC's Meredith Vieira will sit down with Barack and Michelle Obama today in Indianapolis for an interview that will air on the "Today" show Thursday. A segment of the talk will air on NBC's "Nightly News" and on MSNBC this evening."

Visons of Steve Croft with Hillbilly on 60 Minutes comes to mind.

[centralcal]

Vierra and the Obamas. Another Moyers-esque lovefest?

[Pofarmer]

Ya know, the irony is, I feel myself becoming more cynical.

Help me, Obama Hussein.

[LindaK]

The Obamadrama is turning quite Oedipal. Rejected by his biological father at a tender age, Obama rejects his spiritual father for getting in his way. BO/MO on TV! This is getting messy.

What's appalling about this whole thing is that Obama was willing to publicly spurn the man closest to him over falling poll numbers. His calculus must have been that no matter what, the black voters will stick with him, but he was worried about the white middle class voters. But perhaps -- and hopefully -- he is wrong. A Kos blogger is "disgusted" that the "scales fell from my eyes" and that he's a "weak man and a standard politician". Agreed. And then some.

[LindaK]

The Obamadrama is turning quite Oedipal. Rejected by his biological father at a tender age, Obama rejects his spiritual father for getting in his way. BO/MO on TV! This is getting messy.

What's appalling about this whole thing is that Obama was willing to publicly spurn the man closest to him over falling poll numbers. His calculus must have been that no matter what, the black voters will stick with him, but he was worried about the white middle class voters. But perhaps -- and hopefully -- he is wrong. A Kos blogger is "disgusted" that the "scales fell from my eyes" and that he's a "weak man and a standard politician". Agreed. And then some.

[SlimGuy]

Well I agree with the quote running around the web

A Danish person wonders about our election

You have a lawyer married to a lawyer against a lawyer married to a lawyer on one side and a true war hero married to a blond with a big chest and a beer distributorship.

What is there to decide?

[Gmax]

Byron York has it nailed in the latest column, the reason why Obama went nuclear on his former spiritual advisor was not what he was saying about whites or race in general. It was because he was telling people Obama was just another Democrat politician saying what he thought voters wanted to hear to get elected. That could not stand.

If voters believe that Obama fundamentally rejects Wright's views, they might question Obama's judgment in remaining close to Wright for 20 years. But if voters believe that Obama secretly agrees with Wright but is putting on another face to win an election, then all is lost. "People could ask why somebody with good judgment would take so long to do this," a Democratic strategist told me Monday night. "But that's certainly better than the subtext being that Obama is an angry black man, because if he's an angry black man, then he simply cannot win, period."

[Enlightened]

Well, I'm still stuck on the "staged or not" meme.....

When the Wapo initially reported on the NPC debacle, a pastor in support of Wright said this:

The Rev. James Forbes, pastor emeritus of the Riverside Church of New York, said: “In all of this hullabaloo, the question is: What is the message that God is trying to get through? It is more serious than the presidential election

Which leads me to believe that Wright thinks his message is more important than Obama being president. At least he did then. Maybe Obama got pissed at him for not following his implicit instructions to shut up (ongoing instructions since 2007 apparently). Maybe Obama told him (again) to "shut up until I'm in office, fool".....I'm still curious why Wright has slithered into the woodwork if his message is more important than the election.

wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802339.html?nav=rss_print/asection

[Syl]

The quote I have in my notes:

ben posts at jom:

Lord Shockley, a commenter at Redstate, puts the Presidential race in a different perspective...

"Hmmmmm...who to vote for this fall....well on one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer....
on the other side, you have a war hero married to a total babe who owns a beer
distributorship....where I come from that is known as a 'no brainer'."

[Danube of Thought]

I didn't watch the Moyers interview, but did see extensive clips from it on H&C. I must say, Moyers's unctuous, fawning manner was not just embarrassing, it made my skin crawl. One can only hope he was suitably mortified after Wright "clarified" things a bit at the National Press Club.

[Enlightened]

Hah! Pansygate. Some people are claiming he meant Obama is the pansy! I just can't twist my brain in enough pretzels to understand how these people got "she makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy" into "she makes Barack Obama look gay"...........more popcorn and margaritas tonight.

Michelle Obama....tonight. National TV. Muzzled or no?

[Gmax]

Mary Mitchell black columnist of the Chicago Sun Times is sad today.  But she puts the lumber to Obama about denouncing Wright.  Here is most of her screed:

 

Obviously, Wright's timing for a press conference about his sermons couldn't have been worse.

Still, when Obama says he is "offended" by Wright's latest comments -- given in defense against an orchestrated assault on his character and on his ministry -- he's opening up a can of worms.

There is no institution in the black community more respected than the black church. And the notion that white pundits can dictate what constitutes unacceptable speech in the black church is repulsive to most black people.

Even so, after Wright's fiery speeches surfaced on the Internet, most African Americans understood why Obama had to distance himself from Wright.

Obama's cross-cultural appeal, which, by the way, made some blacks suspicious of him early in his campaign, is largely because of his ability to make white people feel comfortable with his blackness.

But Wright speaks to a different audience, and that audience has been supportive throughout his ordeal.

On Monday, for instance, when Wright spoke at the National Press Club, the predominantly black crowd cheered, clapped and punctuated Wright's speech with shouts of "amen."

So, when Obama says America was "offended" by Wright's harsh language, he isn't speaking for or to Black America. He is speaking to White America.

As much as I want to see Obama make history by becoming the first black man to be elected president, I don't want to see a warrior like Wright denigrated to prove to white voters that Obama is not a radical.

When Obama denounced Wright's angry words but refused to disown him, it signaled that he understood the sensitive tightrope he is being forced to walk.

His "outrage" over Wright's latest remarks signals something quite different. With the gap narrowing, Obama advisers are obviously scrambling for every white vote.

But really, what more should blacks have to sacrifice? Their dignity?

Frankly, Obama and Wright risk becoming metaphors for the ongoing struggle of blacks to unite politically.

Obama shouldn't have held a press conference to deal with Wright.

He should have been able to pick up the phone.

[clarice]

Getting cynical?!? Oh, no, where's Hit to perform the cynicalectomy?

[Enlightened]

Sweetness and Light reports Wright has been whitewashed from Obama's website.....

I sense a disturbance in the force. I think the good Rev is furiously rehearsing his next vile sermon. Only question left is - to whom does he sermonize? Back at the home church? Somethings up.

And the gal in Chicago linked above - woah. It leads me to believe that many blacks are on the Rev side and not Obama's.

PS: MO is gonna be on Anderson Cooper tonight - even gonna talk about the good Rev. My cup runneth over.

[clarice]

It's long past time that someone told Mary Mitchell a fact of life.
She says:
"There is no institution in the black community more respected than the black church. And the notion that white pundits can dictate what constitutes unacceptable speech in the black church is repulsive to most black people."

Oh, what B.S.==Life is not an Antioch College dorm where you can pull this carp off. Wright is not "the black church". If he is, it deserves to be criticized.
Period.

[Porchlight]

Well, I'm still stuck on the "staged or not" meme.....

Me too, Enlightened. I firmly believe that Obama and Wright have discussed/calculated various contingencies between them, likely starting with Wright's conveniently-timed retirement announcement just before Obama declared hs candidacy.

But whether the situation spun out of Obama's control leading up to Wright's latest nuttiness...or whether the recent nuttiness was again arranged between them so that Obama could smack it down...I don't know. Wright's behavior in the coming days will tell us the answer, I suspect.

[Rick Ballard]

Porchlight,

I think that a review of TUCC's financial operations over the past ten years or so might prove fascinating. Run the membership count against donations from members and then check the last three years to see if there has been some kind of change.

Wright is a crooked hustler, like Sharpton or Jackson. Would you be surprised if he reneged on his buyout deal and came back for more? Did Rezko/Auchi fund the buyout as well as BHO Manse?

I don't think the septic tank at TUCC has been pumped anywhere near dry and I think BHO is standing a bit too close to the overflow valve on the pump truck.

[Porchlight]

Yes, Rick. I'm even willing to entertain the idea that the Wright McMansion in the suburbs might have been part of that little golden parachute.

Read somewhere (here?) in the last few days that when TUCC stopped taking clothes donations after Katrina, they asked church members to just make checks out directly to TUCC. Would love to see that audit. Speaking of, wasn't the IRS looking into TUCC?

[Porchlight]

Oops, posted this on the most recent thread, but it should really go here - bgates (commenting at Volokh) gets some love from Jim Geraghty:

"My favorite comment in a while"

Congrats bgates. I am not surprised that others admire your excellent comments. :)

[Ranger]

Speaking of, wasn't the IRS looking into TUCC?

Posted by: Porchlight | April 30, 2008 at 05:04 PM

My understanding is that this was related to questions about the church's tax exempt status and engaging in politics, such as Wright's Christmas 07 sermon, which was basically a speach about why Barack was 'black enough', and how stupid it was for blacks to vote for Hillary instead of Barack. That's why Wright had to say in the middle of it: "I see some of you are worried, but I'm still in the text." He was supposed to be responding to a passage in the bible, but was really just stumping for Obama.

[clarice]

RICK, Atlas Shrugged ran a piece on TUCC's collection for Katrina victims where no one can find where that money went as it's not listed among the Illinois contributors. Now it certainly might have made through another operation but I bet a good search will turn up lots.

[bgates]

Thanks, Porchlight, I hadn't seen that. That is a fun thread over at Volokh. Lots of Obamatons insisting Wright can't be fairly described as Obama's mentor unless Obama is quoted in print using the word "mentor", by which standard Harriet Miers isn't a Bush crony and Dick Cheney isn't an opponent of Joe Wilson.

[bgates]

Clarice, I bet the notion that the broader society can dictate what constitutes unacceptable financial conduct in the black church is repulsive to "most black people" too. I just hope the scare quotes are justified.

[Ranger]

Interesting about all that Katrina relief money seemingly unspent. I wonder if that has anything to do with Rev. Wright's decision to retire?

[clarice]

I am so sick to death of mau mauers like this Mitchell chick. Really. As if acceptable standards of conduct and discourse were different depending on the color of the person involved.

[MikeS]

Someone should take Mary Mitchell under their wing an explain that some things are wrong no matter what your race, no matter what your religion, and no matter who your pastor is.

Really

It's not just white people trying to trick you or stick it to you.
Racism, hate, and intolerance are wrong. Really. No kidding.

[Porchlight]

My understanding is that this was related to questions about the church's tax exempt status and engaging in politics

Ranger,

I wonder if the IRS investigation would turn up some other interesting info - or are these things extremely limited in scope?

bgates,

My pleasure. I enjoyed the Volokh thread. Your Miers comment put the "spiritual mentor" notion in excellent perspective.

Watching Obama try to spin out of the idea of Wright as his advisor/mentor is the thing I find most infuriating about this whole to-do. I simply despise that condescening tone of voice he uses when making statements like this. His inflection, where he sort of drops off at the end of the sentence, drives me around the bend. Hard to explain in print, but perhaps you guys have noticed it too.