CBS: Bad News For Obama

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/28/politics/main4050606.shtml

(CBS) This news analysis was written by CBS News Senior Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield
If you had a chance to listen to Rev. Jeremiah Wright-- at his NAACP appearance in Detroit, or in his talk at the National Press Club -- you came away with two impressions: first, Rev. Wright is a learned, compelling, often hilarious speaker; second, he is a genuine threat to the presidential hopes of Barack Obama.

His NAACP speech was shaped around the theme that “different does not mean deficient.” He talked about how blacks and whites were “different” in everything from language to music to religious worship. He interposed his speech with snatches from speeches, songs -- at one point, brilliantly imitating the sharply different styles of marching bands. Michigan State, he demonstrated, simply did not move on the field the way the Grambling Band did.

He also offered a highly inclusive vision of the change America needed --rejecting exclusionary thinking whether it was white vs. black, black vs. white, straight vs. gays, Christians vs. Jews. There was nothing in that part of the speech that was objectionable or offensive.

So what’s the problem for Senator Obama? In his National Pres Club speech, we saw another side of Rev. Wright -- utterly unrepentant about any of the things he has said, and insistent that the wave of criticism aimed at him was really “an attack on the black church.”

That argument is familiar -- even pervasive. When a visible member group that has suffered exclusion is challenged, that individual is frequently heard making that argument. Senator Huey Long argued that attacks on his honesty were really attacks on the poor for whom he spoke; Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton both argued that attempts to hold them accountable for misconduct were really attacks mounted by their political enemies.

In wrapping himself in such an argument, Rev. Wright never even seeks to confront the core of the criticism: What did you mean when you said what you said? Why tell your congregation that AIDS was a government conspiracy to commit genocide on African-Americans?

FULL story and video at link.

[anonymous171]

1. OBAMA DO SOMETHING NOW!

[MNDemNY]

12. He's been doing something for twenty years!

He'd now have to burn Wright in effigy on the steps of Trinity to extricate himself from the words of his "spiritual adviser"

[LSparkle]

25. I agree ... Tweety just said he'd made a statement at an airport

They're getting tape of it. Obama's got to cut this guy
loose -- it's obvious he doesn't have Obama's best interests
at heart, and this is the perfect time for Obama to REALLY
distance himself from Wright.

[Raine]

60. I agree...

Obama needs to cut him loose and do it FAST!

[PurityOfEssence]

73. Controversies are things he's skilled in avoiding, not confronting

Enough of that, though; he's really in a pickle here. What can he really do? He risks being seen as disloyal if he repudiates the guy, and the issues here are such hot-button ones that the very act of addressing them is dangerous.

Quite a nasty mess.

[BobbyVan]

2. Rev. Wright is making Obama appear weak

[goclark]

4. SPINNERS ~

[Avalux]

3. So WHY is this bad for Obama? He never really explains why.

Obama is not accountable for what Wright says. Period.

[redqueen]

9. Because the M$M says so! Do not question the M$M's motives!

When they lie, they have good reason! Just like Hillary!

[msallied]

11. lol... we echo each other's sentiments.

This is getting more ridiculous by the minute. I think I might need to take a break from this place. Feeling a bit nauseated.

[redqueen]

18. Same here...

just when you think things can't get any more ridiculous... they get ridiculouser. :P

[Tesha]

27. Because the media will say, a hundred thousand times, that...

it *IS* bad for Obama and the great unwashed will believe
it as the newest received truth.

Tesha

[reggie the dog]

44. sorry if I sound like a snob

but the great unwashed need to get their heads out of their asses and have a "grown up" discussion. The infantile nature of so many adults in this world baffles me.

[Innocent Smith]

31. Here is why it may be bad

It will cost him votes from some average swing voters. Specifically the sub-set that is more politically ignorant and will wrongly attribute Wright's ideas to Obama. I don't know how large that group is and it could be very small. Indiana and North Carolina results will tell a lot about how this plays out. If Obama wins both then it is over for Hillary. If Hillary win both though then she will be back from the politically dead although still have a rough road to actual take the nomination.

[yardwork]

35. I'm tired of living in a country whose leadership is determined by morans.

I'm feeling genuinely sick of it. Every year we get this crap.

[reggie the dog]

46. Hate to be the one to tell you

but the majority of the world probably classifies as "morans" because they willfully choose to put their heads in the sand/up their ass. I know it is annoying, but us thinking folks are a small minority of the USA, France, and the world.

[Mooney]

5. I don't see how this is bad news.

This will change nobody's mind on either side.

[tridim]

6. Doom, check

Gloom, check.

[cbayer]

42. Ok, I see what you mean now.

But so much of this seems to becoming from long time members and posters. Is the the media that is driving it?

[Swamp Rat]

52. yes n/t

[BeFree]

7. CBS

Crock of Bull Shit

Turn off your TV, son.

[msallied]

8. blah...blah...blah...

I guess this means it's TRUE! A news analyst said it! Fall in line! Don't question!

[flpoljunkie]

10. Rev. Wright apparently has an ego as big as Bill Clinton's. It's not about the black church, Rev.

Wright--it's about you and your legacy. Sound familiar?

[stillcool]

34. Why is it such a problem for this man..

to defend himself? He has been publicly lynched and used as a pinata to trash and bash because of 'excerpts' from a sermon that are being used to taint a Presidential candidate. His church, with over 10,000 members is getting bomb threats. This issue was never going away. I'm glad that Reverend Wright has presented his side of the story, and refused to allow the media to define him and his church.

[flpoljunkie]

53. I understand his anger, but I do not condone his performance today. It was about his legacy, not

about the black church. This is what is hurtful to Obama, and I don't think Rev. Wright intended to hurt Obama, but he did exactly that today at the National Press Club.

[anigbrowl]

47. Funny, I thought it was about articulating the mission of the NAACP

I wasn't aware that it was the National Association for the Reassurance of White People.

[anigbrowl]

68. My bad though, I only addressed one aspect of the news with the above.

[lisa58]

13. except....

...Obama didn't say it - Wright did.

McCain actually screwed up Sunni and Shia - in his own words

Hillary actually recounted her trip to Bosnia - in her own words

Wright not being repentant is not a reflection on Obama - it's a reflection on Wright.

[Nitrogenica]

14. Worthless post. There's no reason to worry about false argu,ments this election.

[madfloridian]

15. Hillary's tactics are working quite well, aren't they?

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2039

Give the lady and her hubby :applause: for divisive politics.

[Swamp Rat]

54. The M$M are happy to oblige

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. I think people are tired of hearing about Wright and want to hear about real issues

judging by the national polls.

[NJmaverick]

17. Wright is defending himself against smears and Obama is runnng for president

Two men, two different agendas.

[undeterred]

19. Let me get this straight: Blacks are supposed to be repentant?

Wow. Just wow.

[EFerrari]

32. That's right. "Those people" have some fucking nerve

being brilliant, successful and popular and, calling for change? Are you KIDDING ME? Arrogance, vanity, egotism. They need to go away. :sarcasm:

[reggie the dog]

51. you see

Wright and Obama aint nuthin but biggity up north niggers runnin round stirrin up trouble. But you know what, our down south niggers loves segregation, they loves it so much they aint never said nuthin gainst it and they dont even vote anyways cause they know us whites knows better, sides if they did try anthing, we id jus hafta string em up....

[Swamp Rat]

59. Tweety just criticized Wright for having a big ego!

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

75. LOL!

:rofl:

[undeterred]

66. Now I've heard everything.

Sheesh.

[EFerrari]

76. I thought I already had. Wrong again. n/t

[indimuse]

20. He also offered a highly inclusive vision of the "change America needed" --

There is their sound bite! Hope and Change! They will attach it to Wright!

[LSparkle]

28. And Bill has NEVER put his foot in his mouth during this campaign?

I'm sorry, but Wright's comments/behavior aren't any worse
than the FORMER PRESIDENT, who ought to have more sense than
to lie and spin and basically flail about trying to get his
wife elected.

[nichomachus]

21. The same Jeff Greenfield who said that Obama

dressed too much like Iranian president Ahmadinejad

If you wondered which campaign Greenfield gets his orders from, you don't have to wonder much longer.

[shayes51]

22. Yes he is!

[nichomachus]

29. Would you care to discuss HIllary's guru -- Rev. Coe -- and his views?

The Fellowship's long-term goal is "a leadership led by God—leaders of all levels of society who direct projects as they are led by the spirit." According to the Fellowship's archives, the spirit has in the past led its members in Congress to increase U.S. support for the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the Park dictatorship in South Korea. The Fellowship's God-led men have also included General Suharto of Indonesia; Honduran general and death squad organizer Gustavo Alvarez Martinez; a Deutsche Bank official disgraced by financial ties to Hitler; and dictator Siad Barre of Somalia, plus a list of other generals and dictators. Clinton, says Schenck, has become a regular visitor to Coe's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters.

[OnionPatch]

69. Death squads?

Who cares about that? Wright said "Damn America!!!!"

:sarcasm:

[Vinca]

23. I listened to the entire speech and the q&a and I'm not getting

the faux outrage at all. The man is trying to retrieve his image from the media and it almost has nothing to do with Obama at all. He's highly intelligent, well read and has reasons for his beliefs. Compared to McCain's buddy Hagee, he's the King of Sanity.

[BlooInBloo]

24. hahahaha! It's hilarious watching white folks ditch Obama at the first available opportunity.

[EFerrari]

33. When the gesture is made at all:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5720830&mesg_id=5721241

[BlooInBloo]

37. hahaha! Worst. Gesture. EVAH.

[w13rd0]

36. I don't think Greenfield was ever an Obama supporter...

...so I fail to see the merit in your statement.

[BlooInBloo]

65. Of course you do.

[book_worm]

26. Yawn! So Obama is responsible for what a private citizen does or says?

[SeattleGirl]

40. Sure he is. Obama is black. Rev. Wright is black. And you just

KNOW that "they" all think alike! :sarcasm:

[NOLALady]

78. Well,

It's not so much that they all think alike.

They have weak minds and can be led astray quite easily.

Since Obama is half white, he did not experience racism like typical blacks. He had to learn all about racism from this radical minister who came of age in the 50s/60s. If that Wright Rev had not come along, Obama would have been as clueless about race relations as the typical white person.

:sarcasm:

[truebrit71]

30. Jeff Greenfield is a rightwing tool and scumbag bush-enabler..

...he's also really, REALLY fucking annoying...he has that little smirk thing he does that drives me up the wall...

[Swamp Rat]

62. Yes, he is.

[xxqqqzme]

38. After listening to Moyers & Wright

I think white men need to STFU about Wright. They obviously don't get it.

[bhikkhu]

39. At MSM, "analysis" is the same as "making crap up".

Not much more to be said, but why in the world do they still have an audience, or do they really still have an audience?

[tishaLA]

41. The Jeff Greenfield who linked Obama to terrorism?

But, in the case of Obama, he may be walking around with a sartorial time bomb. Ask yourself, is there any other major public figure who dresses the way he does? Why, yes. It is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, unlike most of his predecessors, seems to have skipped through enough copies of "GQ" to find the jacket-and-no-tie look agreeable.

And maybe that's not the comparison a possible presidential contender really wants to evoke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GREENFIELD: Now, it is one thing to have a last name that sounds like Osama and a middle name, Hussein, that is probably less than helpful. But an outfit that reminds people of a charter member of the axis of evil, why, this could leave his presidential hopes hanging by a thread. Or is that threads? -- Wolf. TPM

[Stand and Fight]

64. Greenfield is a brainless little turd.

I'm a Clinton supporter, but I am about sick of these lame ass attempts to attack Barack Obama. Get a grip, folks.

[Life Long Dem]

43. MSM are monsters. n/t

[guyanakoolaid]

45. Bad news for CBS: we see you keep pushing this non-story and framing it as a pivotal issue

You, along with ABC and the rest of the M$M, will never be forgiven or trusted again.

[blogslut]

48. A threat to who, Jeff?

To you, maybe?

[Patchuli]

49. Obama has stated that Wright is his "former"

pastor. I still don't understand why people are so ready to hold him responsible for everything Wright has ever said. That's stupid.

I'm a Christian. I'm also a lefty and have always been so. I don't agree 100% with my pastor who is opposed to abortion. I am for a woman's right to choose. He on the other hand, has the good sense to NEVER preach about such things and to specifically say, "We cannot legislate morality." He also says that abortion is not going to go away and basically, it is a waste of time to try to make it so. He is a conservative. I am not. He still preaches to Word of God and we agree on most other things. He has even come as close to admitting what a failure * and the Iraq Debacle as I ever expected.

I think that it's ridiculous to hold Barack responsible for Rev. Wright's sermons but if that is the case, then I think that McCain should be held responsible for Rev. Hagee and his hate-mongering sermons against gays and the people of NOLA. I fully expect our side to do that if necessary!!! Play their own dirty games back at them!

[Uncle Joe]

50. The Tuskegee experiment of letting blacks suffer through syphilis

didn't go back to slavery, Jim Crow doesn't go back to slavery, the majority of lynchings were done after slavery and the Civil War, Civil Rights laws didn't come along until the 1960s a hundred years after slavery. Does Greenfield believe the black church stopped growing after the Civil War and slavery or that oppression ended then?


"It may well be true that most white Americans do not know or understand the nature of the black church in America; that it was formed and grew in response to the fundamental evil of slavery and oppression. But in his comments, Rev. Wright seems not to believe that the United States has in any serious way come some considerable distance -- and one of the surest signs of that is the plausible presidential candidacy that Wright’s comments have so seriously harmed."



I also don't understand why Greenfield can't understand that one truth doesn't negate another opposing truth?


That argument is familiar -- even pervasive. When a visible member group that has suffered exclusion is challenged, that individual is frequently heard making that argument. Senator Huey Long argued that attacks on his honesty were really attacks on the poor for whom he spoke; Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton both argued that attempts to hold them accountable for misconduct were really attacks mounted by their political enemies.


Whether you consider Huey Long, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton corrupt or not, they were indeed attacked by their political enemies.

[BigDDem]

55. but I keep reading on DU that he is a "hero"

he's "telling the truth"
"America needs more like him"

Obama / Wright 08!!!

[Cha]

56. jeff greenfield is a cnn mediawhore..

:wtf: do you think he's going to say?

So, did jeffield of cnn go over the cbs?

[Texas Hill Country]

57. damn... its spinnin out of control now!

Obamawreck.

[Divine Discontent]

58. clueless people, yeah you!

you actually think that there'll be a mass of people, like there is for Obama, for Hillary come November? That the support from the excited voters that is seen in the 1.5 million donors to Obama, will be there for Obama? DREAM... ON...

The Midwest despises Hillary & Bill - he's a cigar and a hooker to them. Hillary, a loud obnoxious complainer.

We need her to hurry up with her grand exit she's demanding! It almost appears like they WANT McCain in office.

[anigbrowl]

61. So what's the thesis here...Wright causes people's heads to explode?

More like Wright is a genuine threat to Jeff Greenfield's sense of superiority. Perhaps he can go cry on George Will's shoulder.

[madrchsod]

71. lays open the racism in america...

[DefenseLawyer]

63. Bad news for Jeff Greenfield:

No one cares.

[wisteria]

67. Reverend Wright is not running for President and he isn't trying to change Constitutional Law.

Senator Obama is his own man.
What about the RE Evangelicals? Their leaders say outrageous things, try to influence an threaten Republican candidates and they are trying to change Constitutional law.
Come on this who thing is BS and needs to be put into perspective.

[madrchsod]

70. NEVER SHUT THE FUCK -UP REV WRIGHT!!

let`s put the uppity black guy back in the back of the bus

they have no right to express an opinion about their lives in white america...

let`s throw the uppity black man under the bus because he should`t be riding in the bus in the first place


i`d rather stand by him than those who cower before racism in this country-

[high density]

72. If Greenfield watched some of those sermons instead of the 15 second clips from Hannity...

...Greenfield would understand why Wright is "utterly unrepentant about any of the things he has said."

The Bill Moyers interview was very enlightening in this regard.

[frylock]

74. rev wright is soooooooooo february 4th..

honest to krap, is this all they have on obama?!! just keep on beating that dead horse.

[kwenu]

77. Dang. I'm not going to vote for that Wright guy.

Go Obama!!!!

[question everything]

79. Yes, that comment about AIDS is still troubling (nt)

[Texas Hill Country]

80. Roland Martin looks like he is gonna have an aneurysm! Gergen is disgusted... bound to happen

[barack the house]

81. He said it for this reason...

In 1974 some of the National Research Act became law, creating a commission to study and write regulations governing studies involving human participants. On May 16, 1997, with five of the eight remaining survivors of the study attending the White House ceremony, President Bill Clinton formally apologized to Tuskegee study participants: "What was done cannot be undone, but we can end the silence ... We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eye, and finally say, on behalf of the American people, what the United States government did was shameful and I am sorry."

Infamous examples of real racism in the past such as Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972) have injured the level of trust in the black community towards public health efforts. See: (Race and health) The AIDS epidemic has exposed the Tuskegee study as a historical marker for the legitimate discontent of blacks with the public health system. The belief that AIDS is a form of genocide is rooted in recent experiences of racism. These theories range from the belief that the government promotes drug abuse in black communities to the belief that HIV is a manmade weapon of racial warfare. Researchers in public health hope that open and honest conversations about racism in the past can help rebuild trust and improve the health of people in these communities.<11>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_experiment