he was saying how you hear about more republican sex scandals than democrats in general i think.

that said, its probably because the repubicans are repressed and indulge in their fantasies when they cant stand it anymore [/psychobabble nonsense]

Maybe I'm trying to split hairs here, but Obama said he wasn't present during the specific statements that were being aired. However, from his March 18th speech:

"Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely."

I thought Obama handled the issue very well in his speech. Acknowledged issues of anger in the black community without pandering, yet also addressed the concerns of white people. Jon Stewart put it pretty well: "[he] spoke to Americans about race, as though they were adults."

Anyway, it's not like Wright is running for office--Obama is. This is just a sideshow, yet another attempt to prove that Democrats aren't patriotic enough to hold office. It deserves attention, but seems to have been overblown.

However, Obama has an interesting ally in this issue: Huckabee! Politics makes strange bedfellows (but not the Eliot Spitzer kind this time).

I wonder why he went to that church in the first place. At least it's not more raving about him being muslim.

Obama saying, "Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely," doesn't mean that he heard specifically anti-American rhetoric. From what has been said, there were plenty of other political views held by the pastor that would have classified as "controversial."

kill whitey

I like Obama more and more every time I hear him.

Still not sure about him as a candidate, but he sure seems to be a level headed, decent man.

Considering the fact that Hillary was probably the person who orchestrated the whole issue....

The fact that he wrote the speech himself is a huge deal. You've got a presidential candidate who can actually articulate his thoughts on issues without coming across as a moron. Think about what he could achieve in discussions with world leaders. It's been decades since a presidential candidate or president has written a speech for themselves (not that speechwriters are bad, it's just nice to know that the person themselve is capable of coherant thought too).

The reason Bill Clinton was popular outside of America was that when walking around in a crowd he actually made eye contact with people rather than just doing the vague "oh! I'll pretend i see someone I know a little way off and share a little imaginary joke with him" that film stars tend to do. Genuine charisma does wonders for the effectiveness of a leader.

Bill Richardson is now endorsing Obama. That is saying a lot.

Obama isn't to blame. Backstabbing in the media. It's nothing new. But it's hurting the democrats right now. And I'd like to see Obama win.

Hah, there's more stuff getting ready to explode. Obama's passport information was looked up via the State Department from 2 outside contractor's and 1 employee. Right now, the whole "blame game" is going on, but the identities of the people involved haven't been released. I won't take sides on this one, because God only knows who the people were affiliated with. You could make an argument for either side.

Here's the funny part of the recent news. I'm going to cut the details down because there's just too much going on.

For the Republicans, it's Obama's Chicago ties that are under indictment look like they're going to explode, giving both Clinton and McCain ample ammo to torpedo Obama's campaign. This, however, is all still unfolding.

That doesn't leave the Republicans out of the hot water. This is the real gem. Spitzer's resignation was part of a plea arrangement for his involvement in the international prostitution ring. However, he was getting ready to blow the lid off the whole sub-prime lending fiasco. The FBI is currently investigating 17 corporations (with more likely to be named) for several charges, ranging from accounting fraud to insider trading.

The new Fed Chairman just **** out over $200 billion to select banks to guarantee their mortgage-backed junk bonds. The banks repackaged loans on the verge of foreclosure into bonds. They were able to obtain "AAA" ratings on these bonds through rating agencies. Well, when the loans started going sour, the value of the bonds went in the toilet. Citigroup's stock value went up $10 billion.

Hey, guess what? This happened the same day Spitzer was publicly exposed in the prostitution case.

This sounds pretty amazing but I'm woefully under-educated in economics and finance, can someone explain this in simple-speak for a dumbie like me?

Wow, thanks for taking the time to put that together. It was really eye opening.

I just listened to the whole thing Vinny, thanks.

You're slightly off the mark here. They looked at all three candidates information. It's easy to understand why they did it. Because they could. Obama was hoping to make a bigger deal of it to get him out of hot water for his response to the preacher issue. Where he started talking about his grandmother's racist views and then back tracking to say she was just a typical white person.

Of course now Hillary is taking the fire off Obama with her repeated lies about sniper fire in Bosnia. This stuff is clasic and I can't wait to see which one of these losers is appointed the Democrat nominee by the super delegates.

Are you an idiot? His speech was one of the most important speeches of my generation, and you're trying to make idiotic partisan slams? How is that even a decent argument? He backtracked on his Grandma's racism?

I don't think you actually think about any of these issues. You must have a script. You can't be that biased.

I've noticed over time that many of Wookie's statements read as though they've been directly cribbed from conservative blogs.

Don't important speeches usually concern important things? I mean, I know it was important for the primary, but in perspective, that's all it was. It didn't really address anything new.

While the speech was made for political reasons, I think it discusses topics that reach far beyond this political primary. If Obama does not become president, the speech will still have value and meaning. It raises some important issues about racism that other prominent black leaders have not even touched the surface on. It was beyond PC and on a level of realism that hasn't been spoken to the public before.

Quite frankly, I don't think they were ready for it.

...reallllllllly

I wouldn't say that he didn't read anything good during the speach but he did have some missed opportunites. And referring to his grandmother as a typical white person was just such a typical black person thing to say.

Maybe I'm reading too much into your word choice, but Obama actually wrote that speech himself.

so you're saying he was wrong?

That's what I've heard. He still read the speach when he gave it. Obama is good at delivering speaches from the teleprompter. He is not good on the fly (except in debates where he usually owned Clinton) where he ends up saying some really dumb stuff. Like "typical white person".

so you're saying the things typical black people say are wrong?

:neckbeard::hist101::neckbeard:

Wait, can you please explain to me what your point actually is? Are you pivoting your criticisms on using the word "typical?" Are you dense?

You never have any valid points to make against anyone, and this is no different. How did the speech fail? How did it offend you? At what point was it "stupid?"

Go away. Your pariah starts using phrases like "typical white person" after his 20 year relationship with a radical black preacher becomes an issue. So he wrote a nice speach that was certainly far from as orgasmic as some imply. If you want me to explain things to you then stop being an *** to me.

You are such a typical white person Wookie

reverse rassims teh blacks r taking over

Yes, Spitzer was kind of a big deal, at least in NY. He did resign, mere days after the story broke (as opposed to Craig, I think it was, who promised to resign but still hasn't). It got a crapload of press coverage throughout NY. Not sure how much throughout the rest of the country/world.

I really don't see what the big deal is though. As long as he wasn't using government funds (which I don't think he was), and as long as she's really hot (she was), I don't see the issue. (I mean, obviously there's an issue about him cheating on his wife, etc, but these things aren't as big of issues as they make them).

I'm not being anywhere near mean to you. You make baseless claims casually as if they're fact, but you never explain it to anyone, assuming it all simply makes sense. I'm only pointing out your daft inability to comprehend topics or develop your own poited opinion.

But I don't need you to explain it. You're ignoring the entire speech, its treatment of the black and white issue, and how it addressed the Wright issue. You'd rather play the exact PC card that Democrats have been playing for years and claim that, because Obama used the wrong couple words to describe a white person, he must be a pandering racist. You're the definition of a NeoCon, and it's stupid-silly.

Prostitution is still illegal

You can get around it. Just record it and call it pr0n.

Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it's against the law.

I think.

It's legal in some places.

NeoCons don't ridgedly adhere to conservative principles, which I do. People like our current president are more aptly described as NeoCons. NeoCons are more likely to adopt some liberal policy positions. As a "moderate" I don't know what you would really have against NeoCons.

That they're the worst of both worlds.

And you're trying to call PC on Obama; A rather liberal bullstat tactic.

That's garbage. I don't care about PC. If you agree with Obama referring to "typical white" people, I don't care. Just reinforces his black supremecist views that he is lying about. There is no way in hell he maintains a long standing relationship and donates tens of thousands of dollars to a black supremecists church and does not understand the positions of the preacher and church. Of course, as he stated, I am "untrained" with regards to black religion and have "typical white" views "bred" into my "experience".

Damn, I can't believe that he is so bad that I would be happier with the combat tested Hillary. Maybe the super delegates will select somebody other than either one of them. Hopefully not as either one of them will lose HUGE to McCain. Not that he is much better.

Are you joking? I know you like to kid around sometimes to get a rise out people. But are you serious?

Well, I guess it is possible that his personal and financial support of his preacher and church could be pandering for the "black vote" but even if that is the case he would still be lying about his understanding of what was going on there.