Barack Obama's 20 year preacher.

[purplefrog]

Fact: Obama attends the church of Rev. Wright for 20 years.

Fact: Obama has called him his advisor and mentor.

Fact: Obama cuts ties with this guy as soon as his (Wright's) sermons become publicly known and Obama decides to run for President.

Fact: Obama has a pattern of behavior along these lines (Ayers, Rashid Khalid, Tony Rezko) to varying degrees.

Conclusion: Throughout his life Obama has been willing to associate with people who have questionable agendas as long as no one is really paying attention. This may mean one or more of the following:

1) He is very naive (e.g. he doesn't realize the questionable agendas until someone from the outside tells him).

2) He is willing to use people for political gain regardless of their background or agenda.

3) He has radical views consistent with these past relationships and is trying (successfully) to hide this.

4) He is just one of those people who seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

5) The media is being too harsh on Obama because most politicians have similar relationships.

Imo, the truth is probably some combination of #1 and #2, but I sincerely fear #3 is also partly true.

[Mavdog]

fact check..

Originally Posted by purplefrog

Fact: Obama attends the church of Rev. Wright for 20 years.

true

Fact: Obama has called him his advisor and mentor.

spiritual advisor and mentor, true

Fact: Obama cuts ties with this guy as soon as his (Wright's) sermons become publicly known and Obama decides to run for President.

first is true, he began his run for president over a year before he disassociated himself from wright.

Fact: Obama has a pattern of behavior along these lines (Ayers, Rashid Khalid, Tony Rezko) to varying degrees.

not a fact, his relationship with these 3 people is different for each one. while it is a fact khalid and obama have been friends and socialized (and obama has not "cut his ties" with him), that relationship is not shown to be true about ayers. there is even less of a relationship with rezko.

Conclusion: Throughout his life Obama has been willing to associate with people who have questionable agendas as long as no one is really paying attention. This may mean one or more of the following:

1) He is very naive (e.g. he doesn't realize the questionable agendas until someone from the outside tells him).

2) He is willing to use people for political gain regardless of their background or agenda.

3) He has radical views consistent with these past relationships and is trying (successfully) to hide this.

4) He is just one of those people who seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

5) The media is being too harsh on Obama because most politicians have similar relationships.

Imo, the truth is probably some combination of #1 and #2, but I sincerely fear #3 is also partly true.

he is not naive, he probably uses relationships for gain as much as anyone else does, these varied people have many varied views, some of which may be deemed "radical" while others are not, he isn't in the wrong place at the wrong time, and media scruntity comes with the territory.

[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by purplefrog

Fact: Obama attends the church of Rev. Wright for 20 years.

Fact: Obama has called him his advisor and mentor.

Fact: Obama cuts ties with this guy as soon as his (Wright's) sermons become publicly known and Obama decides to run for President.

Fact: Obama has a pattern of behavior along these lines (Ayers, Rashid Khalid, Tony Rezko) to varying degrees.

Conclusion: Throughout his life Obama has been willing to associate with people who have questionable agendas as long as no one is really paying attention. This may mean one or more of the following:

1) He is very naive (e.g. he doesn't realize the questionable agendas until someone from the outside tells him).

2) He is willing to use people for political gain regardless of their background or agenda.

3) He has radical views consistent with these past relationships and is trying (successfully) to hide this.

4) He is just one of those people who seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

5) The media is being too harsh on Obama because most politicians have similar relationships.

Imo, the truth is probably some combination of #1 and #2, but I sincerely fear #3 is also partly true.

It's No. 2 and 3.

[dude1394]

It's number 3. He's not using those people....his associations are because he agrees with them. You can say it's only on some level...but you do NOT go to a guys church for 20 years without agreeing with him on many levels.

You certainly do not hold him up as a standard unless you do.

He will also it appear do number 2, but that's not why he's been associated with them.

[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by dude1394

It's number 3. He's not using those people....his associations are because he agrees with them. You can say it's only on some level...but you do NOT go to a guys church for 20 years without agreeing with him on many levels.

You certainly do not hold him up as a standard unless you do.

He will also it appear do number 2, but that's not why he's been associated with them.

It is primarily number 3, but there's a bit of number 2 in the sense that he will (at least verbally) kick somebody to the curb and disassociate from them when it becomes politically inconvenient to remain associated with them.

You're correct about Wright. He said that Wright represents "the finest the black church has to offer." You don't say that about someone whose views you reject.

[purplefrog]

Originally Posted by dude1394

It's number 3. He's not using those people....his associations are because he agrees with them. You can say it's only on some level...but you do NOT go to a guys church for 20 years without agreeing with him on many levels.

You certainly do not hold him up as a standard unless you do.

He will also it appear do number 2, but that's not why he's been associated with them.

I tend to agree with you on Wright. The only way you can sit and listen to those sermons for 20+ years is if they resonate with your core beliefs.

I am not so sure about Obama's naivete or lack thereof. His willingness to sit down with our enemies without preconditions indicates naivete. His statements regarding Pakistan and OBL/Taliban also seem naive.