Pirate's Cove

OK, let me get this straight (as so many others have said, as well): Barack Mary Obama has been going willingly to Reverend Wright for 20 years. Wright married Barack Mary Obama and his wife Michelle “America is just mean”. Obama’s children were baptized by Wright. Obama’s kids go and listen to the hate speech of Wright. When Obama became a United States Senator, the Obama’s continued to go this same church of hate, blame America, demean America, say America created the HIV virus to kill Blacks, conspiracy theories, and segregation, among others. Obama continued to have Wright be not only a part of his families life, but his campaign.

So, how do we believe this repudiation of Wright, which, strangely, is posted at the Huffington Post, rather then through a press release (h/t Stop The ACLU)

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue…

Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Now, really, as far as it goes, the only people this is aimed at is the middle ground voters, the folks who could vote either way. So many of these folks voted not for Kerry in 2004, but against Dubya. But, this could piss off some of Obama’s supporters in the short term, but, doubtful it will harm his chances of getting the DNC nomination. But, come the time when Obamessiah is campaigning for the general election, some folks who do not really pay that much attention will say “good, he distanced himself from the hater” without thinking “why didn’t he do it a long time ago.

Hopefully, McCain, or at least the RNC, will bring this back up sometime in September or October, just to remind people that Obama has a history of associating himself with people like Wright.

As Jay points out, Jim Geraghty questions the timing

He chose to post that statement on… the Huffington Post. At 4:30 p.m. eastern on a Friday.

David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo wonders if this is a death blow for Obama. Na. There are way too many guilty white liberals out there.

Kafir at The Jawa Report: How can we trust this man (Obama) to make the right call, if he can’t even determine the true nature of a man who has been so close to him for over two decades?

Lots more at Memeorandum and Hot Air.

More: But, wait, if you check the bold above, let’s fact check that, per Little Green Footballs through the NY Times memory hole

In Monday’s interview, Mr. Wright expressed disappointment but no surprise that Mr. Obama might try to play down their connection.

“When his enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli” to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Mr. Wright recalled, “with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell.” Mr. Wright added that his trip implied no endorsement of either Louis Farrakhan’s views or Qaddafi’s.

Mr. Wright said that in the phone conversation in which Mr. Obama disinvited him from a role in the announcement, Mr. Obama cited an article in Rolling Stone, “The Radical Roots of Barack Obama.”

According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”

Jeez, if only the Obamessiah could just erase that pesky Interwebz thang!

Cross posted at McCain Blogs. Come visit!