A Brief for Barack

[SteveDinMD]

The following is an article by Patrick Buchanon from 'Human Events Online.'  Barack Obama would do well to read it ... and LEARN. 


A Brief for Whitey

by Patrick J. Buchanan

How would he pull it off? I wondered.

How would Barack explain to his press groupies why he sat silent in a pew for 20 years as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered racist rants against white America for our maligning of Fidel and Gadhafi, and inventing AIDS to infect and kill black people?

How would he justify not walking out as Wright spewed his venom about "the U.S. of K.K.K. America," and howled, "God damn America!"

My hunch was right. Barack would turn the tables.

Yes, Barack agreed, Wright's statements were "controversial," and "divisive," and "racially charged," reflecting a "distorted view of America."

But we must understand the man in full and the black experience out of which the Rev. Wright came: 350 years of slavery and segregation.

Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country.

The "white community," said Barack, must start "acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds ... ."

And what deeds must we perform to heal ourselves and our country?

The "white community" must invest more money in black schools and communities, enforce civil rights laws, ensure fairness in the criminal justice system and provide this generation of blacks with "ladders of opportunity" that were "unavailable" to Barack's and the Rev. Wright's generations.

What is wrong with Barack's prognosis and Barack's cure?

Only this. It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, "everybody but the rioters themselves."

Was "white racism" really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said -- that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new "ladders of opportunity" for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for "deserving" white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

[LouiseVargas]

Racism is the Real Issue

Dear SteveDinMD,

Excellent article and thank you for posting it. I learned a lot.

I very much feel that whites, Hispanics and Asians do not understand the black experience. 350 years of slavery and segregation. I cannot imagine it. Strong African tribes captured weaker tribes and sold them to slave traders who took them to America under the most horrible conditions. They lived in the crowded bottom of the ships and many died on the way. Then they were put on a stage for sale. Whites bought them. Families were torn apart never to see each other again.

From your article, Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country. The "white community," said Barack, must start "acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed.  Not just with words, but with deeds ... ." Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America. Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

Since we are Americans, we have to do something to reconcile this problem. We need more understanding of the Black Experience. I would take black and white leaders to UCLA for a shrink treatment where everyone talks honestly. Maybe that way we can get a glimps of what the problems are.

[SteveDinMD]

Louise, to put it plainly, the legacy of black slavery and discrimination isn't my guilt trip, and I owe blacks (and any other ethnic group, for that matter) precisely NOTHING in recompense.  In fact, I can almost guarantee that I’ve been the victim of more overt prejudice and discrimination than any black person in this country who is under 40 years of age. I’ve been the victim of overt race discrimination. I’ve been the victim of overt sex discrimintation. I’ve also been the victim of overt religious discrimination. More than anything, though, I’ve been the victim of the most prevalent form of discrimination extant in our society — NEPOTISM. Irregardless of talent or industriousness, or lack thereof, the progeny of wealth and privilege enjoy disproportionate opportunities as compared to those (myself among them) born into families of more modest means. I’m sure this last item is true in your own life, as well.

I'll also have you know my ancestors have suffered no less grievously than any black American's. Some were held in slavery (serfdom) from at least the 13th Century until as recently as 1864 -- that's over 600 YEARS. Those who came to the U.S. circa 1910 faced terrible, crushing prejudice for over two generations.  My Great-Grandfather, for example, despite having been a university graduate, and despite being fluent in 6 languages, was only offered work as a day laborer — so much for equal employment opportunity. Others of my family, who did not immigrate to the U.S. were eventually murdered by the Red Army. Still others were dispossessed of their property by the Communists in the aftermath of the Second World War.  By comparison, Barack Obama has absolutely NOTHING to complain about.  At all of 46 years of age, this man of modest accomplishments, this NOBODY, now stands as a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States.  To have advanced any faster, any easier, he practically would have had to have been annointed President at birth! 

Anyway, what does all this injustice mean to me today? It means practically NOTHING. Despite the legacy of adversity that I inherited, and the unfair, unjustifiable obstacles put in my path over the course of my life, I’ve managed to become quite successful. Beyond that, I have achieved a level of maturity such that I can recognize and appreciate the blessings of U.S. citizenship that I enjoy, and hold that citizenship to be priceless. In life, one must “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and strive to overcome them. Failure to learn this lesson condemns a person to failure in general.  Those black Americans who are yet prisoners of the hate and ignorance sown by Jeremiah Wright and his ilk would do especially well to learn it. 

[crazybabyborg]

I believe that Dr. Martin Luther King understood and verbalized true equality when he said, ""I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Character is worthy of judgement, character is shaped, chosen, and influenced by it's possessor and character is self evident to all who encounter it, be it employer, friends, family, or acquaintances. It's the catalyst for reputation, recommendations, and acceptance. Furthermore, character solicits respect or disdain even from the blind and that response is an inherent reaction that transcends race.

Sadly, in this country, there is and will always be a remnant of ignorant white people who will always need someone they feel superior to and can achieve that by no other means than to exploit a difference in skin pigmentation. That group is disdained not only by blacks, but the overwhelming majority of whites as well. I believe the counterpart to that remnant in the Black community, is a larger percentage. Frankly, I believe that the response to conscience raising around racial issues has been greater in the white community and that many black leaders have a real interest in fostering reverse racism.

I do not believe that Rev. Wright is an anomaly. I find myself asking what career Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have without it. Above all else that struck me watching Rev. Wright was the overwhelming realization of the crippling message to his congregation he was delivering. He shouted the despair of inevitable victimization and unearned entitlement. There was no call to impart work ethics to your children, no call to meet personal responsibility and accountability to be involved parents overseeing school performance, monitoring peer associations, and standing firm against drug abuse. Instead, there was encouragement to blame white society, affirmation of helplessness, and bolstering of a hands out mindset for white society to fill. There was no recognition of opportunity, hope, or future but insistence on looking back to injustices. If Jews had adopted such a view after World War II, they would have been crippled into annihilation in no time. THEY have suffered injustices, but all they wanted was a dried up piece of land, and all they had was a burning faith in God and themselves, and a work ethic. I can't help but contrast the two, because their view of the past has produced such different results.

The Jews don't ever forget their injustices either, but they have chosen, through their character, to honor and memorialize it with recognition of the heroes that endured. They have taken unspeakable atrocities, and translated them into strength, and beauty, and livelihoods in a land they have utterly transformed. I don't think anyone can think of Israelis as "helpless".

There is no denying that slavery happened. It was cruel, inhumane, and it was finally recognized in those terms by a white society, and a white president launched the bloodiest war in history, that still stands as having the greatest loss of American lives, to bring slavery to an end. There simply were no communities or families left untouched by the Civil War, and the entire South was brought to its' knees for generations afterwards as a result. It still has financial and stinted growth wounds from it and certainly suffers stereotype perceptions to this day. The South was no where to be for years and years, long after the war ended.

In 1870 Blacks were given the vote, women were not given that privilege until 1920. I do not perceive the "victim" mindset among women that exists among many blacks of both genders. There has been an attempt, IMO, by Hillary Clinton to reverse that during the campaign, but frankly, I am too secure in myself to need to "relate" to a candidate on the basis of sex. I want a President that shares my views on issues, not a therapist.

My point is this: I can take a civil service exam in hopes of gaining employment in any number of government jobs, and my score will be lower than a black person' with the same number of right answers. They receive points by virtue of being black. I can apply to a University, or to any corporation that operates remotely under Government authority ( virtually all corporations of any size) and a black person with the exact skills will be given preference by law. How do Dr. King's words stack up to the current situation? Aren't Blacks being judged by the color of their skin, and not their character, or even their skill or accomplishments? And aren't they demanding it not only remain so, but grow into more privilege based on the color of their skin only?

There are those in the Black community that agree with my estimation, including Bill Cosby. Even Jesse Jackson said, in a 1993 New York Times interview:
 Jesse Jackson is traveling the country with a tough anti-crime message that he is delivering to inner-city youngsters. In Chicago he said, "There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery -- then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.
Crime rates are Crime rates, and it doesn't matter what color of skin is committing crime, but I am left to ponder whether it is slavery's fault that crime is higher among blacks or whether there is a gaping hole where responsibilty should be caused by a society that beats into an entire race that they are victims and have no hope.

I want to know when it is time to apply color blindness as the only real answer to achieve equality. The crazy thing is that I really do believe that answer is far better for the black community. I know that if I had raised my son on a belief that the world owed him a life, rather than empowering him to believe in his abilities to create one and while he may not have the same starting point as everyone else, HE can choose his own finish line, I would effectively cripple him.

Just My Own Opinions and Thoughts!

[crazybabyborg]

I wrote the above post late last night, and wanted to edit. I didn't mean the Civil War had been the bloodiest in all History, but in all of American History. Actually, at least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some experts say the toll reached 700,000. The number that is most often quoted is 620,000. At any rate, this toll exceeds our nation's losses in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam. For comparisons, 290,000 American deaths were suffered in World War II.

If a pound of flesh is required to atone for slavery, I would suggest that our Country has risen to do that from the Civil War through affirmative action legislation. I believe that we are at, and past, the point of atonement and arrived some time ago at dependency and detriment.

Any further true progress in racial relations will have to come from the individual heart, and many Black leaders and spokespersons, as well as unequal distribution of opportunity are hindering that progress. I can't think of a more poignant example than the colorblindness that helped rocket Obama to a strong frontrunner position in the current campaign, only to be deflated by Rev. Wright. It's not slave masters that are causing oppression and racial divide, and I don't feel obligation to right a self imposed wrong.

MOO!

[LouiseVargas]

Any further true progress in racial relations will have to come from the individual heart.

Amen.

[mrs. red]

I want to know this.... how can a man educated at Harvard with a wife educated at Princeton, two Ivy League schools that many qualify for, and yet never get to attend, complain that black people have no opportunity in this country?  I have never, ever met anyone that went to Harvard (and I know more than my share of Harvard grads) that cannot do anything they wish, door open for Obama and Michelle Barack based on the schools they went to.

I guess since there are still signs standing for historical significance, Irish need not apply that for that portion of my heritage, I should get reparations?   

Please, opportunity has always presented itself to those that wish to perservere, just ask any Cuban - or Mexican that has entered this country taken jobs that no one wanted and made a living and a life from it and, in fact moved beyond it.

[SteveDinMD]

I want to know this.... how can a man educated at Harvard with a wife educated at Princeton, two Ivy League schools that many qualify for, and yet never get to attend, complain that black people have no opportunity in this country?  I have never, ever met anyone that went to Harvard (and I know more than my share of Harvard grads) that cannot do anything they wish, door open for Obama and Michelle Barack based on the schools they went to.

I guess since there are still signs standing for historical significance, Irish need not apply that for that portion of my heritage, I should get reparations?   

Please, opportunity has always presented itself to those that wish to perservere, just ask any Cuban - or Mexican that has entered this country taken jobs that no one wanted and made a living and a life from it and, in fact moved beyond it.

Mrs. Red:  Obama attended both Columbia AND Harvard -- a rare "privilege," indeed.  As for his heritage, his father was a black African who came to the United States on a student visa around 1960 and went back home shortly after graduation.  There are no slaves among his ancestors, and he grew up in the post civil rights era, as did I.  Barack's mother, however, was descended from SLAVEHOLDERS.  Now, if he would be so kind, I'd like for Obama to explain to me precisely why he bears less responsibility than I do for the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination in the United States.  My ancestry is certified 100% "Slaveholder Free," by the way. 

[Auntiem]

  Mrs. Red and Steve, you two are so right.  My ancestors were in Europe until the early 20th century, or late 19th...came from peasants over there...France and Ireland.  I had a"bag boy" at Publiks once ask me if I was a Yankee....and being it was world series time I said yes, so he said,"Well my ancestors and your ancestors were enemies",  I looked at this kid in amazement and told him no one in my family lived here during the Civil War.

     Well I guess ALL prejudiced people aren't "uneducated", just ignorant, if Obama and his very ignorant wife, Michelle, both attended Ivy League schools!! IMO, they have every right, freedom of speech, to go around bad-mouthing the US, white people, the President.  They can be as un-patriotic and racist as they choose........what they don't have the right, under the afore mentioned circumstances is to inhabit the White House for 4 or 8 years!!

[Tamikosmom]

Barack Obama's opportunity to distance himself from the anti-white, anti-Jew and black-supremist theology of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan .... was on November 2, 2007.  That is the date when Obama's long-time pastor/friend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr bestowed a "lifetime achievement" upon Farrakhan.

Barack Obama's opportunity to refute the anti-white and black-supremist theology of his pastor/friend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. would have been sometime in their 20 year relationship.

Barack Obama did not speak out until challenged while striving for the leadership of the Democratic Party  ... a position which could ultimately lead to him being elected President of the United States of America.

I contend that the politically correct appeasement of Islam and its  sympathizers by the democracies of the free world is giving this ideology an opportunity to gain control while using the democractic system as a means to an end.

Democracies of the free world ... WAKE UP!

Janet

++++++++++++


February 25, 2008
Farrakhan hails Obama as 'hope of entire world'
Senator's spokesman repeats Dem's objections to Nation of Islam leader

CHICAGO - In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better.

The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.

"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."

Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.

"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."

Small jabs at Clinton

Farrakhan also leveled small jabs at Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, suggesting that she represents the politics of the past and has been engaging in dirty politics.

Said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: "Sen. Obama has been clear in his objections to Minister Farrakhan's past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister's support."

Farrakhan rebuilt the Nation of Islam, which promotes black empowerment and nationalism, in the late 1970s after W.D. Mohammed, the son of longtime leader Elijah Mohammed, moved his followers toward mainstream Islam.

Farrakhan has drawn attention for calling Judaism a "gutter religion" and suggesting crack cocaine might have been a CIA plot to enslave blacks.

In recent years, however, officials with the Nation of Islam have promoted unity and tolerance among religions. Farrakhan now often quotes the texts of other religions, such as the Bible, in his speeches.

Farrakhan's keynote address at McCormick Place, the city's convention center, wrapped up three days of events geared at unifying followers and targeting youth.

It had a different tone from a year ago, when Farrakhan made what was called his final public address at a Saviours' Day event in Detroit. The 74-year-old was recovering from complications from prostate cancer and months earlier had temporarily passed on leadership duties of the organization's day-to-day activities to an executive board.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23333598/


+++++++++++++++++


January 27, 2008
Obama's pastor disses Natalee Holloway
'White girl goes off and gives it up' in Aruba, preacher pal

Sen. Barack Obama's longtime friend and spiritual adviser trashed the memory of a missing and presumed dead American teenage girl, according to church publications reviewed by WND.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial minister of Obama's church in Chicago, cited the case of Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba in complaining about what he sees as the media's bias in covering white victims of crime over black victims.

"Black women are being raped daily in Darfur, Sudan, in the Congo and in Sub-Saharan Africa. That doesn't make news," Wright said in the August 2005 edition of Trumpet Magazine, a publication of his Trinity United Church of Christ.

But, "One 18-year-old white girl from Alabama gets drunk on a graduation trip to Aruba, goes off and 'gives it up' while in a foreign country, and that stays in the news for months!" he added. "Maybe I am missing something!"

The circumstances involving the coed's disappearance remain unclear, and the case remains unsolved. Holloway left Mountain Brook, Ala., on a May 2005 senior class trip to Aruba.

Attempts to reach her family for comment were unsuccessful. But her mother, Beth Holloway, has written a book, "Loving Natalee," in which she reveals her daughter named Jesus Christ as one of the most influential people in her life in a trove of writings she found in her bedroom.

In the same 2005 church publication, Wright suggested "white America" had the 9/11 attacks coming, while calling for business "divestment from Israel," which he refers to as a "racist" state along with America.

"In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01," he wrote on page 7. "White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just 'disappeared,' as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns."

Obama says he is "proud" of Wright and values their 20-year friendship.

Though Wright has nurtured Obama's political career as a close adviser and mentor, the Democrat presidential hopeful says they don't agree on everything. Wright married Obama and baptized his daughters.

In the November/December 2007 issue of Trumpet, Wright sang the praises of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has described whites as "blue-eyed devils" and Jews as "bloodsuckers."

"He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest," Wright said. "Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and 21st century giants of the African-American religious experience."

Wright then held Farrakhan up as a pillar of "integrity."

"His integrity and honesty have secured him a place in history as one of the nation's most powerful critics," he continued. "His love for Africa and African-American people has made him an unforgettable force, a catalyst for change and a religious leader who is sincere about his faith and his purpose."

Farrakhan's photo is splashed across the cover of the church magazine, which gushes "the Minister truly epitomized greatness."

On Nov. 2, 2007, Wright presented Farrakhan with a "lifetime achievement" award during a Trumpet gala held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The tribute included a three-and-a-half minute video lionizing "the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan."

"For his commitment to truth, education and leadership, we honor Minister Louis Farrakhan with the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award," the video announces.

Last week, Obama distanced himself from Farrakhan, but did not distance himself from Wright or disavow his praise for Farrakhan.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59887

[Tamikosmom]

Maybe sometime in the past twenty years ... Barack Obama should have disassociated himself with the anti-white, black-supremist and anti-America theology of his friend/mentor/pastor which he supports to the tune of 27,000 a year.  However ... Obama waits until he is challenged with the issue while campaigning for the highest office in United States of America and ... thousand are buying it.

I don't get it.  If Clinton and McCain had a twenty year connection with a church where the pastor friend/mentor put forth a reverse theology to that of Jeremiah Wright in regards to the race issue ... their political career would have ended abruptly and ... there would have been legal consequences for exciting hate.

The double standard of the politically correct tolerance of the democracies of the free world are uncomprehensible.

Janet

++++++++++++++

Obama suggests ex-pastor is contrite
Associated Press
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 28, 6:20 PM ET
 
WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama seemed to suggest in an interview aired Friday that his former pastor has acknowledged that his controversial remarks were inappropriate and hurtful, although there are no public accounts of the minister having done so

Obama discussed his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on ABC's "The View," which was taped Thursday and aired Friday.

"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church," Obama said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the senator's remarks did not imply that Wright has expressed misgivings about his statements.

"Sen. Obama was clearly saying that were Rev. Wright not retiring, he would need to be assured that the reverend understood why what he had said had deeply offended people and mischaracterized the greatness of this country," Burton said.

Wright, who officiated at Obama's wedding and his been his spiritual mentor for years, recently retired from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. He became an issue in Obama's presidential bid in recent weeks when videos circulated of Wright condemning the U.S. government for allegedly racist and genocidal acts. In the videos, some several years old, Wright called on God to "damn America." He also said the government created the AIDS virus to destroy "people of color."

In a highly publicized speech last week, Obama sharply condemned Wright's remarks. But he did not leave the church or repudiate the minister himself, who he said was like a family member.

Wright has not spoken publicly since the campaign controversy flared up. He canceled plans this week to speak in Florida and Texas.

Obama said Wednesday he has spoken with Wright since making his speech on the controversy in Philadelphia.

Obama's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said this week she would have parted ways with a pastor who made the remarks that Wright had made.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/ap_on_el_pr/obama_wright

[Tamikosmom]

A standing ovation!!!  It just does not make sense!!  Jeremiah Wright is unrepented regarding his anti-white, black-supremist and anti-America theology yet ... he receives a STANDING OVATION.  What am I not getting?



Obama has done an about face and ... renounced the the theology of his pastor/friend/mentor following a 20 year relationship.  Obviously ... the connection was not advantageous in regards to his political ambitions.

Anybody think that maybe Obama just might be a wolf in sheep's clothing and ... his true nature will be revealed when he has the power to implement his ideology into American politics.

Janet

++++++++++++


Rev. Jeremiah Wright Surprises Chicago Church With Appearance
by Associated Press
Saturday, March 29, 2008

CHICAGO — Barack Obama’s former pastor, who canceled several public events following an uproar over his incendiary comments, surprised a Chicago congregation by attending an event to celebrate poet Maya Angelou’s birthday.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright got a raucous standing ovation when he entered Saint Sabina church on the city’s South Side on Friday night, according to video from WBBM-TV. Members yelled “Hallelujah!” as Wright embraced the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Saint Sabina’s pastor.

The smiling Wright accepted an invitation to give the benediction at the Roman Catholic church but did not address the furor over his past sermons. He also sang “Happy Birthday” to Angelou, whose birthday is April 4.

Afterward, he went into an office off the pulpit to greet audience members.

Pfleger told the CBS station he invited Wright because he is a fan of Angelou, who was at the church for a speaking engagement.

“I wanted him to come tonight as a guest because he loves Dr. Angelou, and I wanted him to see the love of people for him,” Pfleger said. “And so when I asked him about coming, he said he’d be honored to come and it was a blessing for us to have him here.”

Obama has condemned remarks from Wright that denounced America for allegedly racist and genocidal acts. Videos of Wright’s remarks circulated on the Internet and on television.

Wright has not spoken publicly since the controversy over his sermons began. He recently scrapped plans to receive an award in Texas, and to speak at churches in Houston and Tampa, Fla.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/29/rev-jeremiah-wright-surprises-chicago-church-with-appearance/

[Tamikosmom]

Obama was a member of Trinity United Church for twenty years and ... the Wright was his pastor/friend and mentor.

Does Obama honestly expect the masses to believe that he was unaware of the docutrine of his own church which he financially supported to the tune of $27,000 a year.

Janet

+++++++++++++

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/barack-obamas-church-ultra-left-and-afrocentric

Trinity United Church of Christ

About Us

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

http://www.tucc.org/about.htm



BLACK VALUE SYSTEM

Statement of Purpose

We honor Dr. Manford Byrd, our brother in Christ, because of the exemplary manner in which he has thrice withstood the ravage of being denied his earned ascension to the number one position in the Chicago School System…

The Black Value System

These Black Ethics must be taught and exampled in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect the following concepts:

Commitment of God

“The God of our weary years” will give us the strength to give up prayerful passivism and become Black Christian Activist, soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind…

Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect

To accomplish anything worthwhile requires self-discipline. We must be a community of self-disciplined persons, if we are to actualize and utilize our own human resources instead of perpetually submitting to exploitation by others. Self discipline coupled with a respect for self, will enable each of us to be an instrument of Black Progress, and a model for Black Youth.

Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”

Classic methodology on control of captives teaches that captors must keep the captive ignorant educationally, but trained sufficiently well to serve the system. Also, the captors must be able to identify the “talented tenth” of those subjugated, especially those who show promise of providing the kind of leadership that might threaten the captor’s control.

Those so identified as separated from the rest of the people by:

Killing them off directly, and/or fostering a social system that encourages them to kill off one another.

Placing them in concentration camps, and/or structuring an economic environment that induces captive youth to fill the jails and prisons.

Seducing them into a socioeconomic class system which while training them to earn more dollars, hypnotizes them into believing they are better than others and teaches them to think in terms of “we” and “they” instead of “us

http://www.tucc.org/about.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bMjyAJ0qIM

[Tamikosmom]

Pastor Jeremiah Wright - Barack Obama's Pastor/Friend Mentor for 20 years.

Janet

+++++++++++++++++

Barack Obama's Pastor his Christianity Jeremiah Wright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUbUBTlmAiA&feature=related

BARACK OBAMA Pastor ANTI-AMERICAN Rev Jeremiah Wright Racism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQWuQVE6sw&feature=related

Barack Obama Pastor Jeremiah Wright NEW TAPES!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc2FCJ7zWEQ&feature=related

[Tamikosmom]

A VOICE OF REASON

Sunday's Dirty Secret
By Armstrong Williams
Monday, March 17, 2008

Arriving in Washington DC during the 80's, my most difficult challenge was finding a church home. Having grown up in the Pentecostal and Methodist faith Sunday worship was a staple of my weekly routine. For almost 10 years I canvassed the nation's capitol seeking a church that would nourish my fleshly failings and remind me of what our creator expects of us as human beings. What was consistent in going from pulpit to pulpit was that ministers were more interested in political rhetoric, the endorsement of political candidates, and the denouncing of some government or community proposal, than the gospel. It was quite disheartening for many years knowing that ministers were not teaching or preaching the word of God, but that their sermons were becoming political rallies. I was stunned at the blame cast upon the White man, the racial divisive, and all the things that seemed to divide and separate us from our neighbor. Then in 1995 I attended First Baptist Church in DC where the Rev. Frank Tucker presided and my spirit finally found what it was seeking. I will never forget meeting with the Pastor prior to joining and expressing my feelings about what I was looking for in a church. I made it clear that my interest was in the word of God and not political rallies, condemnation of America, and various politicians occupying the pulpit on Sunday. He shared my concerns and promised that this wasn't the case at his church. Since being a member of Pastor Tucker's church for about 13 years, he's never disappointed my spiritual yearning. Throughout the years I've taken Whites, Muslims, Jews, and people of all walks of life to worship with me and they all have left feeling that they could join the pastor's congregation.

There are still pockets of so called black churches and mosque today that can identify with the Rev. Wright‘s lace-filled, anti-American, hypocritical sermons. During the 50's, 60's and 70's the black church was a place where blacks could gather and unite away from the harshness and brutality of racism and vicious hatred. It was a place where ministers could help their congregation express their anger, frustration, and America’s ungodliness towards their brethren. Many ministers during those tumultuous times were considered heroes and pillars of the community for they were preaching against an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. People like Jeremiah Wright are still preaching as though we’re in the 50’s or 60’s and are locked in this time warp. They refuse to elevate and celebrate the progress of America and how Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign is evidence of that amazing paradigm shift.

It is impossible for Senator Barack Obama and his wife to have patterned Rev. Wright's church and not have embraced his teachings and vision of America. My minister does and has always had a profound impact on my outlook about life and strengthening my spirit to forgive the transgressions of this world and not to induce more hate and separation. I find it difficult to believe Senator Obama when he tells us that he was unaware of his Pastor's vicious message from the pulpit and that had he known there would have been condemnation. Many black intellectuals are still angry for what they perceive as the continuous crippling effect of racism and slavery in America on their careers. The irony is that many of their children have embraced this country, finding success and prosperity, while their parents continue to allow their wounds to be nurtured in this hopeless mindset preached from the pulpit. Michelle Obama’s expression of how for the first time she was proud of America was indicative of the influence of her Pastor.

Senator Obama should admit to the fact that since campaigning he’s seen a different America. He must show that he rejects and repudiates this school of thinking. Furthermore that no one should be a member of congregations and mosque that preach this hatred and conspiratorial thinking, which continuously emphasize the worst in our country and not the phenomenal progress made. This past week was not an exemplary moment for the man who prided himself on integrity and honesty throughout this campaign. The fact is the Senator has no plausible excuse for why he remained a member of Rev. Jeremiah's church. He and his family should have immediately left his congregation for the embrace of a church that teaches the bible rather than the alienation, lunacy, and outright mockery of Christian teachings.

It was impossible for my spirit to endure these churches, as can be evidenced by my negative descriptions of them. It makes no sense for someone in search of America’s promise and potential to worship in a place where a doctrine of hatred is the central theme. I was taught that church was a place of escape and rest, but I didn’t want someone who is supposed to be a religious leader feeding me poisonous information. My reason for going to church has always been for a spiritual recharge, not more of the same; I deal with politics 24/6, and one day a week I get a chance to take a break from all that. I believe this to be healthy, and think it sad that I had to try so hard for so long to find a church that was able to provide the rest or Sabbath, mentioned in the Bible. The day must come when churches (Black or otherwise that preach this hate speech) will return to the Word. No one should ever be forced to search for such a lengthy duration or give up and settle in a church that is unacceptable and pay the price that will eventually implode Senator Obama’s to date well run campaign.

Armstrong Williams is a widely-syndicated columnist, CEO of the Graham Williams Group, and hosts the Armstrong Williams Show. He is the author of Beyond Blame.


ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS IS BLACK! ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS IS A TRUE AMERICAN!

[Tamikosmom]

Sunday's Dirty Secret
By Armstrong Williams
Monday, March 17, 2008

http://krla870.townhall.com/columnists/ArmstrongWilliams/2008/03/17/sundays_dirty_secret

[Tamikosmom]

SteveDinMD

You and I could not be further apart on the Madeline McCann issue but ... this topic we are one.

Thank you for your well articulated post.

Janet

[Tamikosmom]

WASHINGTON TIMES

Obama's church founded on radical creed
By S.A. Miller
April 1, 2008

The church where Sen. Barack Obama has worshipped for two decades publicly declares that its ministry is founded on a 1960s book that espouses "the destruction of the white enemy."

Trinity United Church of Christ's Web site says its teachings are based on the black liberation theology of James H. Cone and his 1969 book "Black Theology and Black Power."

"What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love," Mr. Cone wrote in the book.

Mr. Cone, a professor at the Union Theological Seminary in New York, added that "black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy."

Mr. Obama's campaign, which for weeks has weathered criticism about inflammatory racial language by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. at Trinity, said the candidate "vehemently disagrees" with those tenets.

"It's absurd to suggest that he or anyone should be held responsible for every quote in every book read by a member of their church," said Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin.  "Barack Obama is not a theologian, and what he learned in church is to love Jesus Christ and work on behalf of his fellow man, regardless of race, class or circumstance. This is a faulty and disingenuous approach to a church, and a flawed way to judge a candidate," he said.

Mr. Obama has been a member of Trinity, on Chicago's South Side, since finding religion there 20 years ago under Mr. Wright's mentorship. Mr. Wright married the Obamas and baptized their children, and a sermon of his inspired Mr. Obama to title his book "The Audacity of Hope."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080401/NATION/766118950/1001

[Tamikosmom]

Why is Trinity United Church ... the church which Barack Obama has held membership in for the past 20 plus years ... editing its website.

Janet

+++++++++++++

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

Who's Scrubbing the Trinity United Church of Christ Website?
March 31, 2008 2:34 PM

The website for Sen. Barack Obama's church -- Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago -- not long ago described the "Black Value System" in the "About Us" section of its website.

And it used to provide a link to the Trumpet Magazine that once gave an award to Louis Farrakhan -- a magazine published by Rev. Jeremiah Wright's daughter.

No longer.
http://www.tucc.org/about.htm

You can see the old webpage, including both the Black Value System and a link to Trumpet HERE
http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/obama3.pdf
 
Interestingly, Trumpet used to have a web presence and now it doesn't seem to.

Here's the Google cache of the Trumpet Magazine heralding Louis Farrakhan ("When Minister Farrakhan speaks, Black America listens,” says the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright,likening the Minister’s influence to the E. F. Hutton commercials of old. “Everybody may not agree with him, but they listen…Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and 21st century giants of the African American religious experience.")

Through a web archive search I also found THIS ARTICLE from the September 2005 Trumpet, in which Rev. Wright wrote: "Conservative fanatics line up on the side of al-Qaeda or they line up behind George Bush. Both are terrorists! Both believe that war is the answer. Both believe in murdering innocent people…"
http://web.archive.org/web/20051024000859/www.tucc.org/pdf/trumpet_article_9_05.pdf

Who's scrubbing the web to sanitize this story?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/whos-scrubbing.html

[Tamikosmom]

THE TRUMPET NEWSMAGAZINE

The Trumpet Newsmagazine which Jeremiah Wright's daughters and editors could until recently be accessed through the church's website but ... no longer.  Also ... the Black Liberation Theology statement no longer appears.

PRIOR TO CONTROVERSY (UNEDITED)
Trinity United Church's Website
- Link to Trumpet Newsmagazine
- No Black Value System
http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/obama3.pdf

FOLLOWING CONTROVERSY (EDITED)
Trinity United Church's Website
- No link to Trumpet Newsmagazine
- No Black Value System
http://www.tucc.org/about.htm

Janet

+++++++++++++++++

Obama's Farrakhan Test

By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, January 15, 2008; Page A13

Barack Obama is a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Its minister, and Obama's spiritual adviser, is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan.

Maybe for Wright and some others, Farrakhan "epitomized greatness." For most Americans, though, Farrakhan epitomizes racism, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, even denigrating the Holocaust by falsely attributing it to Jewish cooperation with Hitler -- "They helped him get the Third Reich on the road." His history is a rancid stew of lies.

It's important to state right off that nothing in Obama's record suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views or agrees with Wright when it comes to Farrakhan. Instead, as Obama's top campaign aide, David Axelrod, points out, Obama often has said that he and his minister sometimes disagree. Farrakhan, Axelrod told me, is one of those instances.

Fine. But where I differ with Axelrod and, I assume, Obama is that praise for an anti-Semitic demagogue is not a minor difference or an intrachurch issue. The Obama camp takes the view that its candidate, now that he has been told about the award, is under no obligation to speak out on the Farrakhan matter. It was not Obama's church that made the award but a magazine. This is a distinction without much of a difference. And given who the parishioner is, the obligation to speak out is all the greater. He could be the next American president. Where is his sense of outrage?

Any praise of Farrakhan heightens the prestige of the leader of the Nation of Islam. For good reasons and bad, he is already admired in portions of the black community, sometimes for his efforts to rehabilitate criminals. His anti-Semitism is either not considered relevant or is shared, particularly his false insistence that Jews have played an inordinate role in victimizing African Americans.

In this, Farrakhan stands history on its head. It was Jews who disproportionately marched for civil rights and, in Mississippi, died for that cause. Farrakhan and, in effect, Wright, despoil the graves of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and, of course, their black colleague James Chaney.

I can even see how someone, maybe even Obama, could dismiss Farrakhan as a pest, a silly man pushing a silly cause that poses no real threat to the Jewish community. Still, history tells us that anti-Semitism is not to be trifled with. It is a botulism of the mind.

The Obama and Clinton campaigns are involved in a tasteless tussle over the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. What is clear from rereading King's celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech of Aug. 28, 1963, is how inclusive that dream was -- "all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' "

This, though, is not Farrakhan's dream. He has vilified whites and singled out Jews to blame for crimes large and small, either committed by others as well or not at all. (A dominant role in the slave trade, for instance.) He has talked of Jewish conspiracies to set a media line for the whole nation. He has reviled Jews in a manner that brings Hitler to mind.

And yet Wright heaped praise on Farrakhan. According to Trumpet, he applauded his "depth of analysis when it comes to the racial ills of this nation." He praised "his integrity and honesty." He called him "an unforgettable force, a catalyst for change and a religious leader who is sincere about his faith and his purpose." These are the words of a man who prayed with Obama just before the Illinois senator announced his run for the presidency. Will he pray with him just before his inaugural?

I don't for a moment think that Obama shares Wright's views on Farrakhan. But the rap on Obama is that he is a fog of a man. We know little about him, and, for all my admiration of him, I wonder about his mettle. The New York Times recently reported on Obama's penchant while serving in the Illinois legislature for merely voting "present" when faced with some tough issues. Farrakhan, in a strictly political sense, may be a tough issue for him. This time, though, "present" will not do.

cohenr@washpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402083.html