Member of Hillary's finance committee and long-time ally compares Rev. Wright to David Duke

[ProSense]

Hillary Finance Committee Member Compares Wright And David Duke, Says Obama "Used Race Where It Suited Him"

By Greg Sargent - March 25, 2008, 2:37PM

The Wright Stuff is coming fast and furious from Hillary and her supporters.

First Hillary criticized Obama today for not sufficiently distancing himself from the controversial pastor.

I've now learned that a member of Hillary's finance committee and a longtime ally of the Clintons has made some very explicit statements about Barack Obama's ties to his controversial minister, Jeremiah Wright, saying that it's "legitimate" to raise questions about those ties, comparing Wright to David Duke, and claiming that Obama has "used race where it suited him."

The finance committee member, Niall O'Dowd, made the comments on Saturday in an unnoticed interview with RTE Radio in Ireland. The Wright issue has been raised by Hillary surrogates Lanny Davis and Joe Wilson, making O'Dowd the third Hillaryite (or fourth, if you include Hillary herself) to hit Obama over Wright.

The interview is worth a listen, because it's another example of supporters of the candidates (see Power, Samantha) getting themselves in potential trouble by saying things abroad in settings where more candor is possible, and indeed expected, than here in America...

(Video)

The comments from O'Dowd -- who's long been close to both Clintons, having served as a key adviser on Irish affairs to Bill Clinton and hosting a big fundraiser for Hillary last year -- go farther on Wright than Hillary and her supporters have thus far.

O'Dowd said that the Wright comments raised "a legitimate question" and observed that "it's interesting that Barack Obama sat in the pews while all this was going on, and never once in any of his books or anything else" did he denounce Wright, adding: "He worshipped this man."

O'Dowd also compared Wright to Duke and inadvertently said that the Hillary campaign is actively making an issue of the Wright controversy, something the campaign (Hillary's comments today notwithstanding) has been careful to avoid doing. O'Dowd said:

more

Video: Wright in context: quoting a retired U.S. diplomat

Why is Hillary ignoring the facts and her own past with Rev. Wright in an attempt to intentionally destroy him?

From imaginary sniper fire to a campaign in the red, Hillary's primary run is one of the worst

Hillary should be ashamed!




edited typo

[george_maniakes]

1. wow, wright and david duke. theres a fair comparison.

By that logic, because jesus said "i come not to bring peace but to bring a sword" he was a warmonger, and because hillary doesnt know the difference between being under the threat of sniper fire, and being under sniper fire, shes, well, messed up.

[roguevalley]

18. yeah. poor david duke. all those ancestors who were slaves and

then there is all the years of Jim Crow. Must have left a mark on him having to get up and go to the back of the bus everytime a black person got on board. There is nothing more loathsome than this. They are beneath contempt. By the by, is this dick head a veteran? did he serve his country? Didn't think so I'm sure.

[ProSense]

2. Since the drug dealer implications, the smears have been ongoing. Regardless of who you support,

Obama or Hillary, you cannot pretend this is dignified. It's not even normal!

Also, ignore doesn't make her despicable actions go away!

[george_maniakes]

3. Its hard to remember these two people are on the same team. n/t

[ProSense]

4. "Hillary campaign is actively making an issue of the Wright controversy"

Agree, hard to imagine!

[ProSense]

5. Clinton takes the low road, goes after Obama on Wright

Clinton takes the low road, goes after Obama on Wright

Posted March 25th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

When the controversy surrounding some of Jeremiah Wright’s sermons first erupted a couple of weeks ago, the Clinton campaign went out of its way to say absolutely nothing about the story publicly. If a reporter brought it up during one of the campaign’s many conference calls, you could practically hear tumbleweeds rolling. The flap

<...>

Clinton has been offered repeated chances to comment on the Wright controversy for three weeks. She’s not only declined, she’s avoided saying a single word. Today, all of a sudden, Clinton has all kinds of concerns she’s anxious to share. What a remarkable coincidence.

<...>

Less than a week ago, former Mondale campaign manager Bob Beckel said, “Many liberals like myself, who would be happy to support Hillary Clinton if she earned the nomination, would abandon her if her campaign seeks to exploit the Wright controversy either in the remaining contests or with superdelegates.”

Now, it appears she’s doing both. I’d hoped Clinton was above this.

That would be good news!

[ProSense]

6. Red-faced Clinton stokes Obama pastor row

Red-faced Clinton stokes Obama pastor row

by Stephen Collinson

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Hillary Clinton on Tuesday revived the row over the fiery racial rhetoric of Barack Obama's former pastor, saying she, unlike her White House rival, would have left his church.

Clinton's decision to reignite the controversy came as she battled to shrug off her own embarrassment, after admitting that her claims that she dodged sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia in 1996 as first lady were untrue.

"I made a mistake, that happens. It proves I'm human, which, for some people, is a revelation," Clinton said, in a news conference in Pennsylvania in which she pointedly discussed Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

"I think, given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor," the New York senator said.

link

[Bullet1987]

7. She's fucking done...and this is proof

Stooping to the lowest of the low. Get the hell out while you still have some respect left.

[VolcanoJen]

8. Hill sure does have some "loose cannons" on her "very large financial committee."

:-)

Chuck Todd just ripped her one for stoking the Rev. Wright coals in an attempt to deflect from TuzlaGate. Very interesting!

[kwenu]

9. Terrible comparison. Wright doesn't promote racial superiority. Duke does.

[yardwork]

16. Wright has never run for office, either. David Duke was elected to LA House

and ran for Lousiana governor.

This is really low.

[ProSense]

10. Hillary

Video: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/25/151540/516/123/483979">Hillary Reiterates Criticism of Obama's Ties to Wright

Sleeping With The Enemy

[ProSense]

11. When the superdelegates start weighing in

Cantwell supporting Clinton -- for now

[Experience-counts]

12. Obama should be ashamed for selling out elderly grandma

who lives alone in Hawaii.

Christopher Hitchens writes in Slate that Obama knew that he would have to double cross Wright. ....It's been more than a month since I began warning Sen. Barack Obama that he would become answerable for his revolting choice of a family priest. But never mind that; the astonishing thing is that it's at least 11 months since he himself has known precisely the same thing. "If Barack gets past the primary," said the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the New York Times in April of last year, "he might have to publicly distance himself from me. I...
http://www.slate.com//id/2187277/pagenum/all

Obama is not pure and he is no better than any other politician. He should be judge on what he's really accomplished over his political career, which is nothing.

[corkhead]

13. proper etiquette is to wait until at least a dozen or so posts before you reveal yourself

enjoy your brief stay:hi:

[stevenleser]

17. An Obama hater and Snitch quoter. This is an easy one... IGNORE!!!!

Bye!

[roguevalley]

19. Christopher hitchens is a rednecked drunk. he didn't sell out his

grandma. And you are a freeper. Get lost. Or better yet, stay and stoke your 1 message crusade until you are tombstoned. Ping, freeper.

By the by, fuckhead Hitchens called Rev. Wright a priest. He's not a priest, Barack didn't dump Wright, and Hitchens isn't a man. Buh-bye!

[calicat]

14. So should Duke or Wright be outraged? n/t

[ProSense]

15. Racist much? n/t

[roguevalley]

20. by freeper. you really need to get together over there and really

go over how to disguise your racism better. we can spot you a mile away. give my regards to Jimbo. PING!

[ProSense]

21. Rev. Wright receiving death threats

Wright Speaking Engagements Cancelled, Security Cited As Concern


Now a man's life is being threatened because of a bogus media controversy!

[Scurrilous]

22. K & R

:thumbsup:

[ProSense]

23. Bill's political expediency

Bill Clinton To Campaigns: Stop Telling Each Other's Staffers To Resign, Already!

By Greg Sargent - March 26, 2008, 1:50PM

An interesting moment from Bill Clinton on the trail today -- he openly mocks all the calls for resignations of staff aides that are flying back and forth between the two campaigns:

"I don't think any of these people oughta be asked to resign," he said. "All these guys that say bad things about any other campaign, they say, 'Should they resign?' My answer is no; they're repeating party line. They oughta stay right where they are. Let's just saddle up and have an argument. What's the matter with that? That's what America's about, right?"

Presumably that includes Samantha Power, right?

Either way, this isn't all that easy a call, when it comes down to it. On the one hand, you can't have aides out there saying anything they want; you expect a campaign to take action against certain offenses, such as the spreading of the false Obama Muslim smear email.

On the other hand, of course, the campaigns often absolutely love it when someone on the other side says something that allegedly offends them and gives them an excuse to shift into high dudgeon. This unspoken truth drives much of our campaign news -- yet everyone has agreed to pretend it isn't the case.

What a hypocrite!