Obama Condemns Pastor's Remarks
By Peter Slevin
CHICAGO -- Sen. Barack Obama, a Christian who has battled rumors that
he is Muslim, is now facing criticism for the fiery sermons of his
former pastor at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which he
has attended for nearly 20 years.
The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who presided over Obama's wedding and
supplied Obama's signature line, "the audacity of hope," is the focus
of a fresh spate of news re****ts and commentary, including a re****t on
ABC's "Good Morning America" and an opinion piece in Friday's Wall
Street Journal that was circulated by the campaign of Sen. John
McCain.
In the Journal op-ed, author Ronald Kessler quoted a January 2006
speech at Howard University, where Wright said "racism is how this
country was founded and how this country was run...We believe in white
supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in
god."
Obama's association with Wright, said Kessler, "raises legitimate
questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country."
In a statement sent to The Huffington Post this afternoon, Obama
sought to put some distance between himself and Wright, calling his
comments "inflammatory and appalling."
"All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are
ones that I vehemently condemn," Obama wrote in a letter that
discussed his early connections to Wright and his sup****t for the
church, one of Chicago's largest and most prominent. "They in no way
reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this
country."
"pres" <afamre****t@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:965b9bbf-ae37-4d14-b4b6-092caeae3af4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.afamre****t.com
>
> Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who retired last month, in one 2003 sermon
> said
> of the treatment of African-Americans by the U.S., "The government
> gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, p***** a three strikes
> law and then wants us to sing 'God bless America,' No, no, no, not
> 'God bless America,' God damn America -- that's in the Bible, you're
> killing innocent people, God damn America for treating us citizens
> as
> less than human."
>
> ....Uh, oh......
>
> Click on: 'News Stories' at the top, scroll to Obama 's
> Controversial
> Pastor: 'Hillary Ain't Never Been Called a N-----
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