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Barack Obama has just done a difficult - and necessary - thing. He has ended his relationship with Rev. Wright. I watched most of Sen. Obama's press conference (missed the very beginning but heard most of his opening remarks and all the questions he took) and am now listening to Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, and others analyze this developing story as I write. I think both Chris and Andrea are correct in saying that - in starting what may now be an on-going fight with Rev. Wright - Barack is clearly telling the American people "I believe the opposite of what Rev. Wright believes". While Barack touched on this in his Philadelphia speech on race, he is now making it crystal clear: Those religious leaders who look backward and only see the problems of the past - without seeing the progress we've made AND the opportunities for continued healing and progress in America - have beliefs that are the opposite to those of Barack Obama. Chris Matthews thinks that the Rev. Wright will take to this fight because - in Matthews' opinion -the Rev. Wright sees Senator Obama as the young upstart who is looking to replace him as the Black leader in America. To those who say (as Pat Buchanan just did) that Barack Obama should have known that the Rev. Wright was "always like this" (given their relationship over the last 20 years), I would offer the following parallel: People respond to levels of stress they haven't experienced before in different ways. It's called "reaching the breaking point". Bill Clinton has - in my opinion - experienced a similar extraordinary level of stress in recent months, as he has experienced this "young upstart" replacing both his wife and him as the leader of the Democratic Party. That's why the Bill Clinton we see today is so different from the Bill Clinton most of us have known over the years. As this extraordinary level of stress and anger has led Bill Clinton to say the crazy, hurtful things he has said (such as "They played the race card on me."), I believe the incredible stress the Rev. Wright has been under - from seeing his words taken out of context and his 40 years of work being trashed in the court of public opinion to hearing Senator Obama say that the Rev. Wright's teachings are obsolete (my choice of words) in their frame of reference - has caused him to reach the breaking point... leading him to become someone who Senator Obama did NOT know he was. Based on what the Rev. Wright said at the National Press Club, Senator Obama has seen clearly that the Rev. Wright has a very dark side... a dark side which has now come out. It may have been there all along, but it wasn't controlling Rev. Wright's behavior. Sadly, it is now. Senator Obama, you have made a wise choice. You may be in a fight with Rev. Wright for the duration of your campaign, but you will be seen as being on the right side... the progressive side... the side devoted towards bringing America together - rather than pulling American apart - of that fight from now on. I believe today will be seen as a landmark in Senator Obama's campaign... a positive turning point in which he finished defining himself in the context of what religion can be in America (and has been in the case of the work of other, constructive religious leaders). Religion can be - and already is to many - a healing force in America. Sadly, that does not appear to be what Rev. Wright believes. But fortunately, that IS what Senator Barack Obama believes. www.trimtabmanagementsystems.com Steve Brant is an independent researcher, theorist, and Corporate Social Responsibility brand-building consultant. His mission is to help the Corporate Social Responsibility movement transform the global sociopolitical economic system so that sustainable peace and prosperity for all becomes a reality. Through Trimtab Management Systems, Steve offers an innovation-based synthesis of the systemic redesign principles developed by Drs. Russell L. Ackoff, W. Edwards Deming, and R. Buckminster Fuller as the most powerful approach for achieving that global transformation. Key innovation leverage points for Steve are the CSR movement's potential capability to make war obsolete by advocating a "one world/one human family" political reality, and the entertainment industry's ability to communicate a hopeful vision of the future to the public at large. Such a vision is essential if humanity is to live together in peace. Steve has participated in The UN Global Compact since 2001 and is currently writing his first book, entitled "A World Beyond War In Our Lifetime".
Richard Mynick is a US citizen who, despite the best efforts of the corporate media, noticed something disturbing about how the 2000 election was decided, & felt it augured poorly for democracy.
I disagree with your interpretation. What has really happened here is that the media has forced Obama to get down on his knees -- and, after correctly perceiving that they'll gladly destroy him if he doesn't conform to their demands, he complied. Rev Wright is a very good guy. I saw his Q&A yesterday at the National Press Club. I don't agree with the bit about "AIDS is a US govt plot to kill people of color," but on the whole, he's right about almost everything that he said. If there was a competition for truth & accuracy between Rev Wright's view of the world, and the view supported by the US corporate media, Wright would win hands down, every day of the week. By the way, what's this with your referring to press-titutes like Mathews & Mitchell by their first names, chum-style? You think fools like those two have anything to say that's worth hearing? They're both disgraces and corrupt idiots. by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1024 comments)
on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 3:16:49 PM
Hater of Nazis above all. Hobbies include activism, military model building, military history, exciting and vital conversation with retired crooks. Retired
Once again the Democrats let the Republicans call the tune. Obama should have just ignored the buckets and buckets media shit. by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 830 comments)
on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 4:10:27 PM
Writer, Poet, Social Commentator
Barack Ends His Relationship With Rev. Wright In order for Barack Obama or anyone else to become a member of Trinity they had to make a personal commitment to embrace an exclusive Black Value System and pledge allegiance to all black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System. In other words embrace Black Liberation Theology. Until Barrack Obama renounces and repudiates not just the remarks of Rev. Wright but the separatist ideology inherent in black liberation theology his rhetoric of hope and a country united will be harder and harder to hear and see. These events are indeed momentous. There is a whole lot of shakin’ going on in the White and Black church. The missing piece in liberation theology and fundamentalism has always been reconciliation and forgiveness. Rev. Wright clearly espouses the views of his mentor James Cone the author of Black Power and Black Theology which has always given short shrift to Reconciliation Theology which is what the gospel has always been about. Barack Obama has been placed in the unique position of helping to heal the wounds of America if he can recognize that neither Fundamentalism nor Liberation Theology unites people it only divides. He has another step to take. by
Nicholas Stojakovich (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 6 comments)
on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 8:47:44 PM
I think that all people must be held accountable for their actions under the law. Everyone must be treated the same under International Law, National Laws, and Local Laws, NO EXCEPTIONS! ----- www.CitizenAmendments.org ----- I support the Mike Gravel National Initiative for Democracy (WWW.NI4D.US)
Does Jeremiah Wright Support Hillary or Barack? Jeremiah Wright met with Bill and Hillary when Bill was President. Is Jeremiah Wright working to help get Hillary elected? by
Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 252 comments)
on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 11:40:02 PM
I'm supporting Dennis Kucinich for President.
Problems The problems America has now are even worse than those of the past. Claiming that America has made progress is bullshit. Our country has been deteriorating for many years especially since the Reagan revolution. The only unity Obama wants is unity between all the corrupt politicians so they can promote bipartisan tyranny. by
Ty Shlackman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 572 comments)
on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 9:56:14 AM
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