Report from Chicago: Did Wright Mean to Hurt Obama?

[DeepModem Mom]

CBS2, Chicago: Pastor vs The Pol: Did Wright Mean To Hurt Obama?
Chicagoans Who Know Both Men Tell The Story Of Betrayal; Controversy Continues On Despite Obama's Best Attempt To Cut It Off
Jay Levine reporting

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Chicago friends of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Sen. Barack Obama say both men are simply sad following a controversy and eventual falling out that came to a head Tuesday. Just how did the battle of wills play out behind the scenes? CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Obama felt betrayed and Wright felt sand-bagged.

Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church said he has been speaking to both men as the events of the past 24 hours unfolded. He counseled Obama Tuesday morning, and while CBS 2 talked to him Tuesday evening, Rev. Wright called his cell phone. "I don't think he had any intention to hurt Barack. He loves Barack," Pfleger said. "I think the pain and the moment took over." That moment was in a place Pfleger called "a lion's den" – The National Press Club.

"The people who were close to him pleaded with him not to do it," said WVON radio host Roland Martin. "We knew what the questions were gonna be, but it really was the antics, the looks the dismissive tone, the strut. It was being flippant, some say being pompous and arrogant."

That appearance Monday was far from a pastor's comfort zone, like St. Sabina on the South Side, the site of Wright's first appearance after his words drove a wedge between him and Obama. Fr. Pfleger says Wright's first instinct Monday was to defend his reputation. "Sometimes you get caught up in the emotional response because you're hurt, because you're injured," Pfleger said....

***

"People are still saying how could you, as the pastor, knowing full well this is your member has a chance to do something no other African American has had a chance to do in the history of this nation, and you still move forward as if its no big deal," Martin said....

http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/obama.jeremiah.wright.2.711811.html

[barbtries]

1. i just watched the event on c-span

and i highly recommend it. i don't think reverend wright meant to hurt obama - i do think that the press corps, with their questions that included a lot of assumptions not all of which were valid, meant to hurt both the reverend and obama.

the man is extremely well spoken. he got his questioners (more like inquistioners, they never asked a single question that spoke to the substance of the speech he gave) to admit that they had not even watched the entire sermon that he gave on the day after 911. the one we've all been treated to the most inflammatory soundbites from over and over ad infinitum.

he is human. i am a huge fan of this guy, after watching the sermon in its entirety, his interview with bill moyers, and this, and i never do religion. but he has a great grasp of history, literature, the bible. he's been doing good works since day one in his church. and when you actually listen to what he says it is just not possible, imo, to see him as a racist or anti-american or divisive by design or intent.

[jbnow]

6. I understand the questions were stupid but he had to know

they would be because people were stupid about the issues.
I don't blame him for being furious when those clips were presented as the whole of him.
Wright voluntarily took questions. He knew the type they'd be, he knew what people felt.
Wright says he answers to God. That God is the God of all people. Would God say "Jeremiah, you go give them hell, don't put up with their sh*t" or possibly "Jeremiah, be patient with my children, help them understand, bridge that gap a little"

I understand his anger, he was really screwed by the media. Then he should not have taken questions yet.

He's smart enough to understand that some statements would trouble many people and there are kinder, more respectful ways to not really answer or especially to really answer. He could have shared the ending to that 9/11 rooster speech in the same loving tone he did when he gave it. It did bring peace, connection to God...it was wonderful.
Instead he got irritated that people hadn't seen it and questioned it, that Obama hadn't seen it and criticized it.

He could have been a bridge to understanding, he has that in him. The answers he gave were appropriate if he was at home hearing some talking head note a list of questions they'd like Wright to answer and giving those responses to a friend.

I am sad it went that way and I mean for Wright too

[barbtries]

7. yes.

damn the ignorance, really

[liberal N proud]

2. Wright is hungry for fame and he is using Obama as his ticket to ride

He thinks he can ride Obama to fame and fortune. He thinks he can be then Next Jessie Jackson and the only way he can get there is because Obama is in the spotlight.
Top that off with a case of the crazies and the love the media has for associating crazies with Democrats and he has his wish.

I have another theory and it involves intentional damage to Obmas chances at the white house. But it's best that I stay with theory one.

[MADem]

3. I think Theory One is a good piece of it. I also think Wright feels like a

Big Old Dawg who is taking umbrage at one of his pups treating him disrespectfully. The old "I MADE you, now I can BREAK you" routine.

[liberal N proud]

4. But why would he want to break him?

It plays into my theory no 2.

Personally, when someone who I mentored or taught went on to do better than I, it would be a proud moment and I would do nothing but praise their ability to rise above.

But Wright appears to be bent on taking him down, Ask yourself WHY?

[MADem]

5. Just because someone has Doctor Reverend in front of their name, and is called PASTOR, doesn't

mean that they can't be overwhelmed by the Green Eyed Monster.

He may not have felt that credit was given where credit was due.

The old "I made you, I can break you" routine.

This is Wright's last song--and because of Obama, he gets to sing it on a larger stage than he ever imagined....