Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

« Previous | Main | Next »

More Wright Stuff

March 27, 2008 7:54 PM

Some more controversial, even offensive, material emanating from Sen. Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in the South Side of Chicago, and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This material attacks Israel, Italians, and the US government.

1) ISRAEL BUILT AN ETHNIC BOMB TO KILL ARABS

The June 10, 2007 church newsletter on the Pastor's Page includes some rather incendiary charges -- made by an Arab-American activists -- claiming that Israel worked with South Africa to develop an "ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs."

2) SLURRING ITALIANS

New York Newsday reports that in the Dec. 2007 edition of the Trumpet magazine, published by Rev. Wright's daughter, the pastor in a eulogy for Asa Hilliard wrote that Jesus's "enemies had their opinion about Him... The Italians for the most part looked down their garlic noses at the Galileans." He calls the crucifixion "a public lynching Italian style" executed in "Apartheid Rome."

3) THE US GOVERNMENT IS RUN BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS

In that same eulogy Wright says that the US "government runs everything from the White House to the schoolhouse, from the Capitol to the Klan, white supremacy is clearly in charge, but Asa, like Jesus, refused to be defined by an oppressive government because Asa got his identity from an Omnipotent God."

3) HAMAS OP-ED

Bizzyblog has published the July 22, 2007 church newsletter in which Wright reprints an article by Mousa Abu Marzook, deputy of the political bureau of Hamas, which the US government named a terrorist organization in 1995. (UPDATE: The full Bizzyblog post on this can be read here.)

Marzook was named a Specially Designated Terrorist by the Treasury Department In 2004, the Justice Department indicted Marzook for conspiring to violate U.S. laws that prohibit dealings in terrorist funds.

The op-ed was first published on the Los Angeles Times op-ed page.

Sen. Obama in an interview to air Friday on ABC's "The View" says he did not read the bulletins in his church. "I don't purchase all the DVD's and I didn't read all the church bulletins," Obama told the ladies of "The View". "People are mixes of good and bad. I saw mostly the good, there were some things that I disagreed with. But I didn’t see some of the things that were said that I would have taken offense to."

Obama also said he's spoken to Wright since the controversy erupted. "I talked to him after this episode; he had come back from a cruise. I think he’s saddened by what’s happened, and I told him I feel badly that he has been characterized just in this one way, and people haven’t seen this broader aspect of him."

- jpt

March 27, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (174)

User Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

OBAMA WON!!!!!!

Posted by: SickupandFed | Dec 8, 2008 4:26:52 PM

Yes, these reprints are the decision
of lunatic Rev. Wright and not Obama.

Here is the problem;

- Obama is running for president by
that juncture; 7/07

- He therefore learns of this garbage
quickly. Somebody alerts him. He emails
a Jewish organization with renouncement
of the pro-terror literature.

- Wright remains on his campaign
advisory commitee, NO PROBLEM!


Posted by: Mike W | Apr 1, 2008 2:31:11 AM

Why did Barack Obama choose a spiritual advisor/mentor who agrees with the world view and teaching of James Cone and Black Liberation Theology?

Why didn't Barack Obama choose a spiritual advisor/mentor who agrees with the world view and teaching of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.? Rev. King warned against "drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

Posted by: ConcernedCitizen731 | Mar 28, 2008 9:03:39 PM

There's a balanced piece of reporting on Rev Wright today in the Christian Science Monitor. Even if the name of the paper implies Bible Belt - they are highly respected - especially for their unbiased reporting. (It was one of the reasons they were able to save a string reporter in Iraq who was held hostage a couple years ago.) It won't influence people who want to hate and want to hate him - or the journalists who feel that their job is to fuel that fire of hatred - but it's a good piece. I'm old. I remember when journalists tried to report both sides of a story.

Posted by: Mara | Mar 28, 2008 6:53:26 PM

Mahesh,
Great post. Thank you, brother.

Posted by: An Opinion | Mar 28, 2008 5:09:47 PM

And Obama keeps trying to "explain" this guy to us. Lord help us.

Posted by: God Help Us All | Mar 28, 2008 4:53:43 PM

Obama was understandably outraged by Don Imus's disgusting comments last year. I can't believe that he didn't once consider how hypocritical his disdain was when he continued to embrace his own racist pastor. There's something missing in his character because I don't see how he continues to make distinctions.

Posted by: morningside | Mar 28, 2008 3:40:59 PM

I'm married to an Italian from a wonderful family. Italians have a lot of pride and they don't forget slights readily.

It's one thing when a crazy, anti-american minister assaults and blames the "white race" at large,- it just sounds crazy and stupid. But it feels very differently when his targets are italians, jews, and other ethnic groups - the melting pot- that we're all proud of and that experienced their own struggles in the early part of the 20th century.

Posted by: morningside | Mar 28, 2008 3:33:57 PM

A hypothetical and very meaningful question is:

Had Obama not ran for president, would he denounce Wright (somewhat like now)?

Posted by: Victor | Mar 28, 2008 3:27:09 PM

Has Obama instructed his two daughters not to read Trumpet Newsmagazine and the website of the church?

Posted by: Victor | Mar 28, 2008 3:11:44 PM

Kravitz,

The media has given Obama a free ride.

Posted by: John | Mar 28, 2008 2:57:27 PM

I see the obsession with Wright as masking true feelings of racism. Wright is a vehicle to safely call Obama an brainless black without actually having to call him the N word. If the press could still do it, that's the term they'd obviously use. There needs to be one standard for judging religion in the lives of our candidates. Either Hillary Clinton and John McCain need to be brought up to this standard of scrutiny, or the subject must be dropped. I've seen no endless looping or loopy revisiting of controversial comments by Rod Parley, John Hagee, Tim ($$$) LaHaye, or Douglas Coe. So the standard is not the same.

Or the culture of the reporters is not the same as Obama. If not mistaken, the press corps is mostly white. Fewer, if any of those reporters would have had exposure to black churches or the neighborhoods of those churches. So the titilation of the reporter is stronger with comments like Wright made, and less so to the comments Hagee has made.

Put another way, I don't see why you still hear "Brown Sugar" or "Some Girls" by the Rolling Stones, or "Island Girl" by Elton John on the radio. Listen a little closer - you may not hear what I hear in those moneymakers.

Posted by: kravitz | Mar 28, 2008 2:53:02 PM

There is only one way I will vote for Obama....

IF HE SUPPORTS A REVOTE IN FLORIDA/MICHIGAN.

and of course HOWARD DEAN WOULDN'T CARE WHAT A PASTOR SAYS BECAUSE HE'S AN EXTREME LIBERAL.

Posted by: John | Mar 28, 2008 2:47:48 PM

Senotor Obama wake up this is not about RACE this is about HATE the devil wants us to be offended that what he operates on .He wants us to feel victimized and oppressed. You made a statement that some black people still feel the pain and anger.One thing you did do is make me appreciate my pastor and my church we can all wallow in being victimized for one thing or another if that is what we choose to do.There are all kinds of predjudices my pastor tells us we are to go out and lead people to Jesus regardless of color we are to bring the prostitutes,drug addicts to our church and let the LOVE OF GOD FLOW THRU US not spew hate..I pray for all those who have been blinded by this doctrine that they will discover a church like mine ....

Posted by: gail | Mar 28, 2008 2:43:13 PM

How many white posters want to be held accountable for every racist thing one of THEIR friends have said? Obama is far more qualified to be president than McCain: an ignorant man who can't tell Sunni from Shiite muslims, and who by his own admission knows nothing about the economy. Don't destroy this country with four more years of Republican lunacy in the White House!!

Posted by: ChristianPinko | Mar 28, 2008 2:28:01 PM

I hope there are a lot of people out there that believe in the power of prayer because everyone who believes in the power of prayer should start praying now..for our nation.Pray that the truth will be revealed and that those voters who cannot see the truth,God will reveal it to them..I heard Howard Dean say on CNN that people don't care what someones pastor says..He's wrong again thats why he is not president..Most of our country does care..Its what we must care about the most..I take offense to the typical white person comment because I raised my children to not judge a person by the color of their skin.We would defend any person that was being oppressed or mistreated regardless of color.I attend a church that is equally mixed and sit under a pastor that remind us that we are all brother and sisters in Christ and that you cannot be a christian and hate your brother.If God is not mostimportant our nation is lost...

Posted by: gail | Mar 28, 2008 2:23:58 PM

Tell obama to stop copying hillary clinton's economic plans then we will have something to compare and/or decide when he is going start withdrawing from Iraq. Ever since the Samantha Power gaff he doesn't have a date anymore.

Posted by: Bob | Mar 28, 2008 1:06:13 PM

What are Wright's views on Israel?

He should come out of hiding and say what he stands for.

P.S. I hope he doesn't compare himself to Jesus.

Posted by: Don | Mar 28, 2008 12:57:15 PM

How was Hillary and/or Bill supposed to know this guy agrees with ANTI-ISRAEL ORGANIZATIONS and WROTE HATEFUL THINGS TOWARD ITALIANS?

OBAMA should have cut ties with him five years before deciding to run for President!

But he stayed because he didn't want to get verbally attacked like Oprah did.

Posted by: John | Mar 28, 2008 12:20:52 PM

drop out hillary!!!!!!


Bill invited Jeremiah Wright to the White House when it served his political purposes...now Clinton Hate Squad bash him when it serves their political purposes.

proves HILLARY CANT BE TRUSTED

she is a pathological liar

Posted by: AtTheMoon | Mar 28, 2008 12:14:03 PM

Post a comment





 

POLITICAL VIDEOS