What Obama's "spiritual adviser" really said

Since Barack Obama's close ties to black pastor Jeremiah Wright emerged in the mainstream media last week, comments deemed anti-patriotic and racist from the democratic candidate's "spiritual adviser" have dominated the news. See some of these infamous remarks straight from the horse's mouth, notably about September 11, along with viewpoints from our Observers on both Democrat and Republican fronts.

"Hillary has never been called a nigger"

Posted 12 March 2008

Jesus was a poor black man who lived in a country and who lived in a culture that was controlled by rich white people. The Romans were rich, the Romans were Italians which means they were European which means they were white and the Romans ran everything in Jesus's country. Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people! Hillary can never know that, Hillary has never been called a nigger! Hillary has never had her people defined as non-person. Hillary hasn't had to work twice as hard just to get accepted by the rich white folk who run everything or to get a passing grade when you know you are smarter than that C student sitting in the White House. Oh I am so glad that I got a god who knows what it is to be a poor black man in a country and a culture that is controlled by and run by rich white people. "

"The stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards"

Posted 14 March 08

Our Observer Wayne Phillips is a supporter of Barack Obama:

Well I, like many people, found Jeremiah Wright's comments appalling. At first glance you think; how can he [Obama] be associated with someone like that. But they're generations apart. Wright grew up in the sixties. Me being 31, I don't harbour the same kind of anger. If you look at my grandfather, he fought in the navy, and had some very different views from me concerning race. But I still loved him and learnt from him. Likewise, Obama isn't blinded by a harsh past, so he can see that progress has been made, unlike his mentor.

The media are absolutely using this against him. The implications behind it are that, behind the scenes, he hates America, [meaning that] nothing he's said for the last year is true. I get the feeling there's a lot of pressure behind the press, especially from the Clinton campaign. Because everyone thought he got a free pass [because of his race], the media had to react, and then they over-compensated. They're just obsessed with racial divisions. Obama has tried desperately not to be painted as a black candidate. It doesn't do him any good [being black].

I personally don't think he'll suffer from this as much as predicted. Mainly because of the way he's handled it. He's not running from it. It was a bold move to make a speech about religion and ethnicity and the effect they have on politics, and he addressed the comments adequately in his speech. It's almost unusual to see a politician take on such a subject head on. It will have an impact, but it won't stop him from being a nominee."

Our Observer Ken Shepherd is the editor of the blog NewsBusters:

I think the media have played this really carefully. For example on CBS yesterday, they didn't directly address the main issues. I think they want to believe that Obama has the best intentions, that he's not too involved with this pastor. And he himself skirted around the issue. It seemed to me that his speech was papering over what the pastor had said; that he was covering it up with excuses. Conservative pundits will pick up on this but the mainstream media won't. It was conservative bloggers who were the ones that pointed out- legitimately- the lack of coverage on the issue.

We'll find out if it affects him when the next votes come round, but that's not until April 22. The story can't dominate the news for five weeks. It'll probably die down in a few days."