The WHOLE Wright

Stories

12 Stories

May 2008
- The Long, Slow Breakup of Wright-Obama
  
  New York Times | May 1, 08 10:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama has a very long fuse, the New York Times notes, and so his break-up with his pastor and surrogate father has been playing out in slow motion, since even before the day he launched his presidential campaign. It took Jeremiah Wright's direct assault on Obama's credibility in his speech Monday to make the candidate finally snap, Michael Powell observes in a look at why a man so focused and formidable has fumbled in handling the biggest crisis of his campaign. More »
April 2008
- Offended, Black Ministers Decry Wright's Comments
  
  Los Angeles Times | Apr 30, 08 1:49 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Jeremiah Wright's ideas don't "represent mainstream black thought on Sunday morning," black ministers and parishioners tell the Los Angeles Times —and they're worried that his recent comments are offensive and damaging to Barack Obama’s candidacy. “This didn’t have anything to do with the black church—it was basically an attack on the individual message he proclaimed, which hurt some individuals,” says one pastor. More »
- Wright Tests Obama's Anger Management
  
  New York Times | Apr 30, 08 10:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama has spent his entire career trying not to be an Angry Black Man, but yesterday Jeremiah Wright forced him to tap his rage, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times . Wright, seemingly among the angriest of black men, had created a full-blown crisis for Obama, forcing the Democrat to commit “a painful form of political patricide.” More »
- Pastor Strife Forces Obama to Get Tough
  
  New York Times | Apr 30, 08 6:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama's angry break with his former pastor marks a dramatic change in tone for the Democratic hopeful—and the party's superdelegates are paying close attention, the New York Times reports. Obama's forceful handling of the furor has impressed many but the revival of thorny racial issues ahead of next week's primaries is causing some to fret. More »
- Snarl Suits Obama; Will Wright Bark Back?
  
  Guardian (UK) | Apr 29, 08 5:35 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In throwing Jeremiah Wright “to the dogs,” Barack Obama today finally showed the anger he’s too long denied his public, Michael Tomasky sighs with relief in the Guardian —but only time can tell how hard Wright will work to sink the Democratic candidate. The even-tempered Obama—“anti-McCain, emotionally”—needed to show voters he can get “angry over important things.” More »
- 'Outraged' Obama Blasts Away Ties to Wright
  
  Boston Globe | Apr 29, 08 1:46 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama fired back at Jeremiah Wright today, calling his former pastor’s media tour a “spectacle,” and saying his “rants” give “comfort to those who prey on hate.” In all but severing ties with Wright, the Boston Globe reports, Obama said the reverend had done “great damage” to their personal relationship—and added “I may not know him as well as I thought.” More »
- 10 Takes on What Obama Should Do
  
  Salon | Apr 29, 08 11:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Six of 10 pundits Salon asked what Barack Obama should do about the Jeremiah Wright problem say the candidate must get rid of the reverend. Andrew Sullivan calls Wright’s latest remarks “bitter and racist” and “a provocation"; he must be "clearly and irrevocably disowned." Martin Kaplan calls Wright “part of the negative politics that our country needs to transcend.” More »
- Wright's Reappearance Is Good News for Obama
  
  Slate | Apr 28, 08 7:27 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Jeremiah Wright’s return to the limelight looks bad for Barack Obama at first blush, but in fact it may be helping the hopeful: Wright is distancing himself from Obama (and mocking his role as a “spiritual advisor”) as he redirects attention to the black church, Christopher Beam writes on Slate. More »
- Wright Blasts 'Attacks on Black Church'
  
  Associated Press | Apr 28, 08 9:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Jeremiah Wright gave an impassioned speech this morning, calling the controversy around his theology and statements "an attack on the black church, not an attack on Jeremiah Wright." He said the press "made a fool out of itself" over black church traditions, which he called "different," not "divisive." The Navy vet dismissed charges he's not patriotic, saying, “I served six years in the military, does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?” More »
- Wright Lashes Out at Media
  
  Detroit News | Apr 28, 08 6:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The controversial pastor who triggered trouble for Barack Obama delivered a fiery, unapologetic speech to a sold-out NAACP crowd in Detroit yesterday, blasting "corporate media" for painting him as un-American . "I am not running for the Oval Office," said the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "I have been running for Jesus, and I'm not tired yet." Just hours earlier Wright reemerged as a campaign issue in comments by both Obama and McCain. More »
- Wright Received Death Threats
  
  Guardian (UK) | Apr 27, 08 9:39 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial rants scuttled Barack Obama's "post-racial" campaign, reemerged in the headlines yesterday just ahead of the Dems' primary showdown on May 6. Asked by PBS' Bill Moyers if he’d received death threats, Wright says: “Yes, and bomb threats at the church. People (are) telling us how they are going to wipe us off the face of the Earth in the name of Jesus.” More »
March 2008
- The Real Rev. Wright: The Footage Fox and the Other Networks Won't Show
  
  AlterNet | Mar 24, 08
  
  Fox News. You corrupt mouthpiece for a corrupt administration. I usually just ignore you and your leader Rupert Bush, but now you've gone too far. Several days ago you aired a clip of Jeremiah Wright - Barack Obama's former Spiritual Advisor. The clips you found were incendiary, hateful, and taken out of context...anti-American. I was shocked to hear such words coming from the mouth of a man whose sermons I had listened to for at least three years as when I was a resident of Chicago and a member of the Trinity congregation.