On honesty and integrity: "I could no more disown Rev Wright..."

[Iceburg]

Obama went on nation wide TV only weeks ago to explain his tethers to Rev Wright. Obama was applauded universally by his supporters for having the integrity to stand up for Rev Wright -- for doing the right thing.

So why is Obama denouncing Wright now? Why not 20 years ago? Why not 4 weeks ago when Rev Wright's sermons were be played 24/7?

Rev Wright did not say anything substantially different in his last few press conferences than the remarks he's made from behind his pulpit over the decades. In fact what we saw in Wrights recent appearances was a tamer, gentler Wright.

What changed? The damn poll numbers.

Obama's decision to act NOW on Rev Wright as opposed to 20 years ago, or 1 month ago can be largely attributed to the negative political pressure of down ballot tickets brought to bear on his campaign in the past few weeks. Axelrod, like a good campaign manager responded accordingly, and dispatched a PR firm(1) to provide advice (pro bono apparently) to Wright and TUCC. So what we saw in the last week was the result of a well coordinated PR campaign to cauterize the bloodletting -- a public divorce (however insincere) followed by a full court press to change the topic. Where was the honesty, the integrity? ...sidelined in favor of political expediency.

About Obama's faux-divorce
In his divorce speech, Obama looked rather timid and somewhat ashamed to be denouncing Rev Wright publicly especially at this late stage. There was little confidence in Obama's body language -- there no eye contact with the audience, instead what we saw was lots of downward gazing, and what we heard was halting and hesitant speech patterns -- attributes of man going through the motions of executing a political maneuver that conflicted with his personal thoughts and beliefs. Again I ask, where was the honesty, where was the integrity?

----------------

(1)TPM link
Senior Obama Adviser Asked Top Public Relations Firm To Help Wright's Church
By Greg Sargent - April 3, 2008, 1:03PM
Here's an interesting peek at some of what was going on behind the scenes in Chicago during the controversy over Jeremiah Wright, the pastor at Obama's Trinity church.

I'm told that top Obama adviser David Axelrod privately tried to help Trinity with its raging public relations problem by asking one of Chicago's top P.R. firms to go in and help the church deal with its P.R. mess.

Axelrod confirms to me that amid the controversy, Trinity put out word that it was overwhelmed by media calls and in need of help. Axelrod confirms that he called Jim Terman, the president of Jasculca-Terman and Associates, a major Chicago P.R. outfit that specializes in doing crisis P.R. management for corporations and large institutions.

"I called Jim Terman and asked if they were interested in helping out and they followed up with the church," Axelrod emails, adding that his involvement ended there.

Terman himself confirmed that Axelrod had asked him to help Trinity -- and confirmed that his firm was currently doing pro bono work on the beleagured church's behalf.
more ...

[MNDemNY]

1. They will just keep thier praying hidden in the basement.

[Mezzo]

32. it goes to his judgement. nt

[roguevalley]

36. Tuzla. Hows that for judgment. I hear that if John McCain is the nom

Ann Coulter will help Hillary get elected. Doesn't that just warm your little heart? How many racist rednecked assholes does she have in her corner now?

Newt, Rush, Fox, Ann Coulter, all the rest. Yeah, she's a dem.

[MNDemNY]

46. So, everybody who does not support your flawed candidate is a racist?

Nice, that makes you a un-thinking douche.

[IndianaJones]

2. his typical white supporters were getting mad. nt.

[stray cat]

3. Wright was speaking 24/7 on TV and characterizing Obama as a lying politician

[Iceburg]

10. Wright was performing as directed by Axelrod ... laying some ground work

for the final scene -- a public divorce.

Do you honestly think if an uncontrollable Wright was out to besmirch Obama, he would be silent about Obama's words today. The fact that we have not heard from Wright since Obama's "denouncement" indicates strongly that it was all a well-coordinated political maneuver.

The fact that Michelle Obama could not state/would not state/refused to state that Wright betrayed Barack adds further weight to the above argument.

Meredith Vieira of NBC's "Today" interviewed presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Vieira asks Michelle Obama if she feels Wright betrayed the senator.

Michelle Obama says: "You know what I think Meredith? I think we gotta move forward. You know, this conversation doesn't help my kids. You know, it doesn't help kids out there who are looking for us to make decisions and choices about how we're going to better fund education."

[SparkyMac]

13. I like Wright. At least he is honest.

[democrattotheend]

22. If that were the plan, it would have happened 4 weeks ago

When the initial controversy was still going on. Why would it be in Obama's interests to get the media talking about Wright again?

[Iceburg]

27. Because he has been tanking in the polls in the last 2 weeks

and in NC, in particular, he was getting a lot of flack from down-ticket candidates. The GOP operatives were using anti-Wright propaganda (videos & talking points) against the DEM candidates.

[democrattotheend]

30. And this made it worse, not better

Trust me, if he were going to pull a stunt like that that could temporarily hurt his poll numbers, he would not have done it less than a week before two important primaries.

[Iceburg]

33. I don't think they were banking on making the situation (ie. Obama's) worse ...

-- but I do believe it is as a consequence. The PR divorce plan was seemingly hatched sometime mid April under pressure from the DEM down tickets who were feeling the heat from Obama/Wright association. We tend to forget that there are other contests at stake here.

I do think they expected some flack ... but there is clearly more fallout than originally anticipated. Part of the reason may be attributed to Obama's shaky delivery of the divorce papers -- he was not convincing -- his body language betrayed him.
2ndly, Michelle failed to bring the message home in her interview with Meredith.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

44. Take this with ya...

:tinfoilhat:

[JKaiser]

4. The tide is turning! GO Hillary!

[Waya]

6. LOL......you wish...............

[burythehatchet]

43. The tide is leaving human waste on the beach. That's the only thing the Clinton tide is doing.

[Pawel K]

8. I really have a hard time understanding you people

you are really willing to give McCain the presidency because of your blind support of Hillary?

Do you understand that your ship is already sinking and the longer you stay on the more damage you do to our chances in November?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. I Was Taught That If A Proposition Can Easily Be Turned On Its Head It's Worthless, Ergo:

I really have a hard time understanding you people
you are really willing to give McCain the presidency because of your blind support of Obama?

Do you understand that your ship is already sinking and the longer you stay on the more damage you do to our chances in November

[closeupready]

38. Maybe they understand stand that as well as their champion, Hillary?

Pretty sure most of them will be around in 2011, just like she will. Get it?

[mtnsnake]

5. K&R

[grytpype]

7. Keep praying to Saint Jeremiah, it's all you have left.

Sadly, for you, that bullshit is played.

[Iceburg]

12. Actually Jeremiah was of little consequence to me until Obama pulled a 180 on him/nt

[defendandprotect]

9. Unfortunately, in the interim, I think Obama started watching TV . . . big mistake!!!

[Armstead]

11. It's Simple -- Obama gave Wright the benefit of the doubt but Wright betrayed him

Obama tried to do the politically necessary thing as decently as possible when the Wright story first broke.

But Wright chose to subsequently stab Obama in the back and unflicted further political damage.

Therefore Obama was hurt, disappointed, and angry. So he said "Enough is enough."

It's not fucking rocket science.

[Iceburg]

14. Problem is -- Obama didn't look hurt, disappointed or angry

he looked timid, ashamed and embarrassed.

The "enough is enough" argument holds little weight since nothing Wright said in the past week came anywhere close to his controversial remarks made long before the Philidelphia speech. Obama's primary objective of his recent speech was to stop the bloodletting before NC and IN.

Accept that Obama is simply a politician (not unlike McCain, or Clinton) trying to survive in a very competive contest.

[Armstead]

16. I accept that Obama is a politician

And your point is.....?

Personally I'd rather see someone who is able to control his emotions -- but say very strong things -- than a Drama Queen or King nominee or president who engages in histrionics and constantly needs to be the center of attention. We've had eight years of that. I prefer someone like Obama with a cooler head.

[Iceburg]

19. Fair enough...

But what you might characterize as excessive others might view as appropriate degree of passion. Funny enough when Hillary started the campaign she was viewed by many as too controlled in her emotions -- it was considered a negative trait at the time. By contrast Obama initially viewed as engaging and connected, is now viewed as staid, scripted, detached and out of touch.

Good or bad, I guess we will all see what we want to see, nothing more and nothing less.

May the best candidate win -- be it Hillary or Obama.

[yodermon]

31. Completely subjective analysis

I saw the PC and to me it looked like Obama was subdued because he was a very unpleasant task. Does "hurt, disappointed or angry" really look that much different from "timid, ashamed and embarrassed"? To you I guess so.

And Wright's additional statements *were* significantly different from the Sermon clips in 2 ways:
1) He further reiterated all his original sound-bite points from the sermons, showing a complete insensitivity to Obama's Philadelphia speech
2) He stated, outright, that Obama's Philly speech was just political posturing. Obama was clearly upset by this.

[Iceburg]

35. More subjective analysis...

Rightly or wrongly I believe that eye contact (or lack thereof) communicates as much as the words themselves. If you review the clips, Obama's difficulty in making and sustaining eye contact is quite startling.

That said, I agree that the interpretation of body language is largely a subjective exercise -- but not entirely.

I don't recall Rev Wright stating that Obama speech in Philly was "political posturing". Did he say that specifically or is that an interpretation of his remarks?

What do you think of Axelrod's actions -- ie. dispatching a PR firm to advise Rev Wright?

The gestalt of the entire situation tells me that this was a well-coordinated political maneuver/plan that had a less than stellar execution and outcome.

[ellacott]

23. No it's not rocket science, The logic of some of these people is mindboggling

You are correct. It all came to a head during the Q&A at the Press Club.

[Iceburg]

37. What specifically did Wright say in the Q&A that he did not say

before Obama's Philly speech?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. I Have Tried To Stay Out Of This

The only posts I have made on the subject are posts reflecting my sadness at the demonization of Reverend Wright and turning him into a clown...

But you can not honestly or logically reconcile Obama's stalwart support and then vehement rejection of Senator Wright...

[wowimthere]

15. have you denounced and rejected people you know who've said ridiculous statements? Hillary didn't.....

either. Hillary said you don't get to pick your family members but you pick your pastor. Really? As I can recall didn't Hillary pick Bill. And after he cheated on her for all of those years, she still chooses to be with him. Should she denounce and reject Bill for actually pardoning terrorists? She's known Bill a long time. Has she disowned all of the right-wingers who trashed her for years? Looks likes she's embracing all of them now.

Your argument is specious and makes no sense. This war was started by Neo-con, enabled by a woman who was trying to prove her testicular leadership and you're going on about a pastor while scores of people have died at the hands of her mistake.

While you're trying pick the kernel out of someone else's eye, keep in mind that you still have a log sticking out of your own.

[wowimthere]

18. Some of you are hypocrites... You hated this war because it was at the hands of a GOP

and then you gave Clinton a free pass because guess what... well she's a democrat who votes like a Republican. And now you want to rip a candidate to shreds because of what someone else says... Congratulations. You've made defending Clinton and impossibility. If you want to judge the candidate on what he or she says then fine but judging a candidate on words he never uttered is a hellish Right wing thing to do.

Look at yourselves. Some of you have heard neighbors, relatives, friends, co-workers you've known for years say things that you don't agree with and many of you no doubt explained it away as long as those words didn't come from your mouth. But you still break bread with them. You still go bowling with them. You still work side by side with them.

Look at yourself first. You may lie to everyone else, jump on the hypocritical sandbox but you know you can't lie to yourself. Stop this. If you are going to attack a candidate on something... anything... let it be about issues. You are democrats. Act like you want to continue to be one... otherwise go be a Neo-con because some of you sure act like one.

[jasmine621]

17. Now that he has "disowned" Wright, will he next disown the black community? nt

[ellacott]

26. So why should he do this?

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. It's clear that the only nuance recognized by Hillarians has to do with the meaning of "is"

They are, further, completely perplexed by honest and complex arguments in the public sphere, having been conditioned like dogs to accept lying, pandering, "feel your pain" nonsenses. For this reason, anytime anyone speaks honestly, calls for more complex analysis of problems, or changes with time, they immediately see lies, contradiction, or incoherence. They have what Thorstein Veblen would call a trained incapacity for thought: fifteen years of slavish and slobbering Clintonism being the key culprit of their incapacity.

[DemGa]

21. Political expediency

Are we to believe that a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School -- a Constitutional scholar -- has no idea of events which affect him intimately?

It's absurd and implausible.

[nichomachus]

24. I have a great respect for anyone

who can change his mind on the basis of new information. So unlike the Bushes and Clintons who just blunder on.

[Iceburg]

25. Agreed. But where or what is the new information?

The examples of Wright's controversial remarks Obama gave in his latest speech were entirely from the previous decades. Help me out -- what recent remarks specifically tipped Obama over the edge?

[ImpeechBush]

42. the new information from the polls

that Wright was turning into a liability. I don't blame him for that. It's what any typical politician would do.

[Iceburg]

45. I agree ...any typical politician would do the same.

That said I think a person with better judgement would have parted ways with Wright much sooner ...like 2 decades sooner.

To summarize: it appears that Axelrod, Obama and Wright colluded -- Wright agreed to go back into the limelight for the sole purpose of giving Obama a stage to denounce him in public.

That's politics.

[Freedom Train]

34. K&R!

Sock it to the Obots!

[EFerrari]

39. So, you have a problem with a person who

tried to take the least harmful course of action for everyone involved. That's called ethical behavior -- the greatest good for the greatest number.

Someone who doesn't go ballistic when presented with a problem -- who feels no need to obliterate a perceived opponent when more diplomatic courses of action remain untried?

You have a very shallow grip on relationships and am I glad you're not in government. Geezus on a trailer hitch.

[ImpeechBush]

40. "...unless my polls show I'm taking a hit."

Probably he said that and it was cut off because they were using "snippets" right?

[mudesi]

41. Is every Clinton supporter this illogical or is it just you? (nm)

[stillcool]

47. What changed?

You trashed and bashed the man 24/7 for 3 weeks running, by repeating selected excerpts from a Sermon, out of more than 30 years of Sermons. No human being is your personal dog to kick. I wonder how you would fare, as a private citizen if the same thing were to happen to you. How do you think you would react to death threats? How would you react to bomb threats? You think you might go off a tad? Or are you insulated from that lofty perch you sit on?