Quote :

"ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - Barack Obama has resigned his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister. Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had resigned from the church "over the last few days." Campaign aides said they weren't immediately certain how the resignation took place, whether by letter or in some other fashion, and were trying to find out. Messages left for a church spokeswoman in Chicago were not immediately returned Saturday afternoon. The development came as Obama campaigned in South Dakota. Obama said he disagreed with Wright but initially portrayed him as a family member he couldn't disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years. But six weeks after Obama's well-received speech on race, Wright claimed at an appearance in Washington that the U.S. government was capable of planting AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested that Obama was acting like a politician by putting his pastor at arm's length while privately agreeing with him. Obama denounced those Wright comments as "divisive and destructive." Comments by Wright inflamed racial tensions and posed an unwanted problem for Obama, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, as he seeks to wrap up the nomination. More recently, racially charged remarks from the same pulpit by another pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, kept the controversy alive and proved the latest thorn in the side of Obama. Pfleger mocked Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as a guest speaker at Obama's church. Although Obama condemned comments by both Wright and Pfleger, the controversy has persisted. For months, Obama has been hamstrung by the rhetoric of Wright, whose sermons blaming U.S. policies for the Sept. 11 attacks and calls of "God damn America" for its racism became fixtures on the Internet and cable news networks. Initially, Obama said he disagreed with Wright but portrayed him as a family member he couldn't disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years. But six weeks after Obama's well-received speech on race, Wright claimed at an appearance in Washington that the U.S. government was capable of planting AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested that Obama was acting like a politician by putting his pastor at arm's length while privately agreeing with him. On Thursday, Obama was again forced to reject another man of the cloth, this time Pfleger, who made racially charged comments mocking Clinton in a guest sermon at Obama's church. Obama made it clear he wasn't happy with the comments - in which Pfleger pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show" - and said he was "deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause." Pfleger, too, issued an apology, saying he was sorry if his comments offended Clinton or anyone else. The timing of Obama's decision was clearly planned with an eye toward Washington and the calendar. The news broke late on a Saturday and while most of the political attention was focused on the Democratic National Committee's struggle to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan. Republican John McCain also has had his woes with religious leaders. Earlier this month, McCain rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths. McCain spurned the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable." He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent. "

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080531/D910TLRG0.html

So the anti-American hatred and bigotry wasn't enough for Obama to resign before. Hey, after all, Wright is like family! But only when it starts to weigh on his political life does he do the one thing he should've done 20 years ago.

What a politically expedient POS. You stood up for Trinity for 20 years, why now? They didn't just turn crazy, you know.

5/31/2008 9:06:52 PM

[Edited on May 31, 2008 at 9:08 PM. Reason : p.s. there's nothing Obama could possibly have done to make ^ happy]

5/31/2008 9:08:09 PM

As good as this is for him to leave that place. I support the move.

Somehow I don't see this helping his campaign still.

5/31/2008 9:08:40 PM

It doesn't. He should've stuck to his guns. At least you could admire him for that.

This in no way distances himself from his 20 years of membership. At most it does nothing for him. At worst, it shows him bowing to political pressure and shows a real lack of judgment because this should've been done years ago.

5/31/2008 9:10:51 PM

yeh, a best case scenario for him = he honestly had no clue growing up that this church was so loco. i'd be willing to give him that benefit of the doubt, b/c in all honesty i figured he joined that church to just be more part of the community he was in.

oh well. that's the only good scenario i can think of though.

5/31/2008 9:16:22 PM

good judgement.... finally.

5/31/2008 10:10:32 PM

Obama is simply finished with Trinity.

He used the church as a springboard into black respectability in Chi-town. And now the church has become a hindrance to his plans.

Resigning from the church does not necessarily mean he is resigning from the marxist craziness which church leaders spew.

5/31/2008 10:59:09 PM

Like Obama or not - this had to be done by him. This story is far from over, and it is politically convieniant for him to leave - but if he is being honest then it would still be time for him to go at this point.

5/31/2008 11:08:29 PM

He's banking on 1 month down the road people forgetting about the events leading up to this, and he'll just be able to say "yeah, STFU, i quit the church okay?" and this will actually be enough.

This is more a move preparing for debates with McCain, and it's really the best move for him to make, politically. This is pretty much the only thing that McCain had against O'bama, and now that it's gone, McCain will have to dig deeper to smear Obama.

5/31/2008 11:39:09 PM

haha, except how in the world is it gone?

5/31/2008 11:46:47 PM

You over estimate the public's collective memory span.

5/31/2008 11:48:50 PM

you underestimate the power of the GOD DAMN AMERICA soundbyte.

John Kerry also underestimated the American memory...

6/1/2008 12:01:15 AM

haha this is so awesome...u know the obama propaganda machine(read like 65% of media) is gonna turn this into such a positive...prolly gonna show him to be like such a christian cause he moves to a different church...gonna act like he relates to those that do that etc

6/1/2008 12:46:12 AM

Quote :

"John Kerry also underestimated the American memory proclivity to be easily duped by false and misleading smear campaigns, as well as allow an entire state to have it's election process hijacked by the rabid right-wing fundamentalist state Director of Elections with gubernatorial aspirations, who teamed up with Diebold to "deliver Ohio for Bush""

but i digress.

i will admit that Kerry was also an out-of-touch elitist and the kind of guy who would drink white wine at a pig pickin', and had no clue how to connect with the common voter.

6/1/2008 1:43:42 AM

Quote :

"you underestimate the power of the GOD DAMN AMERICA soundbyte. John Kerry also underestimated the American memory... "

Obama is far more intelligent and articulate and charismatic than Kerry. I don't think he'll have big problems with this issue, except for the "white working class" of appalachia.

6/1/2008 1:58:21 AM

plus the liberal media hadn't hammered home how much of a mistake the iraq war thing was etc

6/1/2008 2:31:29 AM

Quote :

"Obama is far more intelligent and articulate and charismatic than Kerry. I don't think he'll have big problems with this issue, except for the "white working class" of appalachia. "

Moron, I agreed with you up til this post. Why is it that everyone who isnt voting for Obama or is concerned about his connections and judgement, not to mention the HORRIBLE policies, is labeled some uneducated white hick?

Obama is simply a better salesmen that Kerry. Obama could screw a 4 year old on national TV and the majority of his supporters would come up with an excuse or say "out of context" or "lets talk about real issues". There is NO WAY obama can loss the black vote, I dunno care what he does. That vote is automatic. By this time most people have made up thier minds and nothign will probably change it. What scares me is how emotional some of these obama supporters are over a politician. a politician.

6/1/2008 7:52:51 AM

The "white hick" vote is important. If you extrapolate that to mean the solid south, then both John Kerry and Al Gore lost because they couldn't carry a single southern state. Last democrat to win the presidency? Bill Clinton who carried a few southern states.

Had Al Gore won his own home state of Tennessee, the recount wouldn't had been necessary.


So again, the "uneducated stupid white hick vote" as you put it, or as I put it, good salt of the earth people, is massively important and the democrats utter failure to attract these voters should be underscored. Al Gore couldn't relate. Kerry couldn't relate. Obama is not faring so well in the primaries in these states (although he is carrying a few... but we'll see how he does in the general).

6/1/2008 9:30:38 AM

^ I just wanted to let you know that you're a douche.

--this is the sort of name-calling with no substance whatsoever that you can't do in this forum. knock that shit off.

-theduke866

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 1:49 PM. Reason : asfdads]

6/1/2008 11:16:41 AM

good edit duke

Quote :

"The "white hick" vote is important. If you extrapolate that to mean the solid south"

i dont

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 6:50 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 6:50 PM. Reason : there are hicks everywhere]

6/1/2008 6:43:41 PM

Quote :

"Moron, I agreed with you up til this post. Why is it that everyone who isnt voting for Obama or is concerned about his connections and judgement, not to mention the HORRIBLE policies, is labeled some uneducated white hick? "

I wasn't making a subjective statement, I was making a factual observation of democratic primary voting patterns thus far.

Quote :

"The "white hick" vote is important. If you extrapolate that to mean the solid south, then both John Kerry and Al Gore lost because they couldn't carry a single southern state. Last democrat to win the presidency? Bill Clinton who carried a few southern states. "

I wasn't talking about "white hicks" and I don't even know how you'd define that. On the democratic side at least, whites in the south didn't even swing away from Obama as rabidly as whites in appalachia did. I guess maybe these are the white hillbillies which are a minority of white voters.

And there are more than enough blacks in the southern states to swing those to Obama. Obama is not going to have a problem in the south. It's Florida and the mid-west states that will have a problem, but the north east and western US (traditional democratic states) and the south should be easy for Obama.

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 9:08 PM. Reason : ]

6/1/2008 9:02:35 PM

Why do you care what church he goes to?

Maybe start evaluating candidates by their leadership qualities (or lack thereof) rather than their spiritual/religious beliefs...

6/1/2008 10:11:41 PM

Yet another liberal who doesn't have the courage of his convictions--is it really any big surprise?

6/2/2008 1:10:17 AM

Quote :

"Obama is not going to have a problem in the south."

In the General Election?

Haha you wish

6/2/2008 1:15:37 AM

I honestly wish kinda he were atheist anyhow but an atheist will NEVER get elected in this country

Which sucks

I also actually have to agree that the South isn't going to be easy for him at all. I think he can turn VA and maybe NC but SC, GA, AL, and the rest are going to be Republican. IA, KS, CO, NM on the other hand could certainly be doable. The fact of the matter is that both Hillary or Obama could win the general if they were nominated but they'd definitely be taking different routes.



[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 1:30 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2008 1:26:03 AM

Quote :

"i will admit that Kerry was also an out-of-touch elitist and the kind of guy who would drink white wine at a pig pickin', and had no clue how to connect with the common voter."

Obama buys arugula at Whole Foods.

Quote :

"There is NO WAY obama can loss the black vote, I dunno care what he does. That vote is automatic."

Seems kind of racist.

6/2/2008 1:33:00 AM

McCain Seen as Candidate Most Likely to Reach Across Party Lines

Quote :

"If John McCain is elected President, 63% of voters say it's at least somewhat likely that he will reach across party lines and work effectively with both Republicans and Democrats. Fifty-two percent (52%) say the same will be true if Barack Obama is elected President."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/mccain_seen_as_candidate_most_likely_to_reach_across_party_lines

6/2/2008 1:41:11 AM

isnt rasmussen like owned by fox news?

6/2/2008 1:45:07 AM

^^There's also an article saying that McCain is more trusted on the economy, his own admitted weakness. Let's let the general election play out and see what happens now that McCain might actually have some of his negatives presented on TV like the Democrats have had for the past 3 months.

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 1:47 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2008 1:46:58 AM

Quote :

"I also actually have to agree that the South isn't going to be easy for him at all."

South Carolina has voted Republican in presidential elections ever since that "nigger-lover Lyndon B. Johnson" signed the Civil RIghts Act in 1964

but, then again, SC is 40% African-American, by population, and they ain't never seen a black man make a serious run for president.

the rest of the deep south, is similar, if not quite as extreme as SC....

it will be interesting.



[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 1:54 AM. Reason : ]

6/2/2008 1:52:00 AM

^^^

Quote :

"Rasmussen Reports is an American public opinion polling firm. Founded by pollster Scott Rasmussen, the company updates its President's job approval rating daily and publishes at least one poll a month for each United States Senate and state governor race on its website. Reports by Slate Magazine and The Wall Street Journal found that Rasumussen Reports was one of the most accurate polling firms for the 2004 United States presidential election and 2006 United States general elections, respectively."

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

Quote :

"Rasmussen Reports was also the nation's most accurate polling firm during the 2004 Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome. During both Election 2004 and Election 2006, RasmussenReports.com was the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/about_us



[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 2:45 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2008 2:42:45 AM

well anyways...i'm sure we can both agree that he did the right thing by leaving that church...how bout a little bipartisanship for a change, eh?

6/2/2008 5:03:06 AM

^ Yeah, and it only took Obama about twenty years to reach that decision. BTW, if "bipartisanship" means agreeing with you, I decline.

6/2/2008 6:09:49 AM

I wonder if the media will love this as much as Obama's first speech on Wright (his famous "race speech" a.k.a "More Perfect Union" speech). Let's see what members of the Press had to say about Obama when he was defending Wright (kinda).

Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic:

Quote :

"I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian"

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/03/18/on_obamas_speech.html

Joe Klien of Newsweek:

Quote :

"The rhetorical magic of the speech—what made it extraordinary—was that it was, at once, both unequivocal and healing. There were no weasel words, no Bushian platitudes or Clintonian verb-parsing. Obama was unequivocal in his candor about black anger and white resentment—sentiments that few mainstream politicians acknowledge (although demagogues of both races have consistently exploited them). And he was unequivocal in his refusal to disown Wright. Cynics and political opponents quickly noted that Obama used a forest of verbiage to camouflage a correction—the fact that he was aware of Wright's views, that he had heard such sermons from the pulpit, after first denying that he had. And that may have been politics as usual. But the speech wasn't. "

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723960,00.html

Gary Wills at the NY Review of Books:

Quote :

"Obama's speech has been widely praised—compared with JFK's speech to Protestant ministers, or FDR's First Inaugural, even to the Gettysburg Address. Those are exaggerations. But the comparison with the Cooper Union address is both more realistic and more enlightening."

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21290

I wonder if this latest move is "politics as usual" or if it is also transformative and enlightening?

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 8:10 AM. Reason : ``]

6/2/2008 8:10:33 AM

Quote :

"and the south should be easy for Obama"

lol. .

6/2/2008 8:15:01 AM

Rev. Pfleger: 'America is the Greatest Sin Against God'

Quote :

"In September, the Obama campaign brought Pfleger to Iowa to host one of several interfaith forums for the campaign. Pfleger has given money to Obama's campaigns and Obama as a state legislator directed at least $225,000 towards social programs at St. Sabina's, according to the Chicago Tribune. Pfleger appears to have been scrubbed from the Obama campaign's page that features the testimony of faith leaders, but you can see the cached version HERE."

Quote :

"UPDATE: Asked for a response to this newly-posted excerpt from the sermon, the Obama campaign has re-released the same statement it issued last week after the video of Rev Pfleger's mocking of Sen. Clinton was released: 'As I have traveled this country, I've been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that that unites us. That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause.' - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois"

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/rev-pfleger-ame.html

DEVELOPING: As much as $15 million of taxpayers' money may have gone to Trinity United Church of Christ over the years--it is likely unrelated to anything done by Obama, though.

So, where are you atheists and antitheists now? Many of you continually howl about the separation of church and state--let's hear it.

Can you be candid on this issue--for once?

6/2/2008 4:30:13 PM

Why would any of our positions change regarding the issue?

Church's should not be able to get tax money unless they are taxed.

Preachers who endorse candidates (and are active preachers) should lose their tax exempt status.



I'm not against the idea of church's helping people, I'm against the idea of my tax money funding a religion.

6/2/2008 4:33:52 PM

I agree with monky.

This church should lose its tax status. I dont see how thats even in question.

6/2/2008 4:35:43 PM

^^ and ^ So, both of you also denounce Obama's church?

6/2/2008 5:18:26 PM

the only church i *DON'T* denounce is

Brother Hooksaw's Holy Rollin Church of Saint Spittlefest.

because who else will drive the liberal media scourge from our beloved country?

6/2/2008 5:39:17 PM

JoeSchmoe didn't heap enough praise on hooksaw's church.

I publicly denounce him.

6/2/2008 5:51:48 PM

^^ and ^ Idiots. If I went to church, that might be funny. Back to reality, though, those posts simply reveal your tired, stereotypical views of conservatives and the world. Pity.

My God doesn't require a middleman. I have a one-to-one relationship with the Almighty.

6/2/2008 5:58:47 PM

Then do you denounce all churches ever?

I demand that you denounce them!

6/2/2008 5:59:22 PM

Mr. Hussein Obama must've thought of all this shit before he finally quit. lol. hey, he's the one who went to this shit hole. not a conservative Joe Schmoe. your leader went here.

lol

6/2/2008 6:02:35 PM

^^ It's called pluralism--look into it. I'm not an atheist or an antitheist--it's not incumbent upon me to denounce theism.

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 6:03 PM. Reason : .]

6/2/2008 6:02:41 PM

So what you're saying is...

you shouldn't necessarily have to denounce everything that you disagree with?

6/2/2008 6:04:23 PM

^ Um. . .anti means "against." And I clearly stated what I'm "saying"--try reading:

Quote :

"It's called pluralism--look into it. I'm not an atheist or an antitheist--it's not incumbent upon me to denounce theism."

6/2/2008 6:24:26 PM

Quote :

"So, both of you also denounce Obama's church?"

I don't care whose church it is, what I stated above was a universal, I really don't know what you're trying to get from me, I'm not a politician so I don't make a habit of 'denouncing' things publicly.

6/2/2008 6:39:44 PM