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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 6835
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 - 11:20 am: | 
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Obama Denies Attending Controversial July ‘07 Wright Sermon; Official Schedule Places Him in Miami
by FOXNews.com
Monday, March 17, 2008
Barack Obama has issued a firm denial to a report that he was in church when his controversial pastor delivered an anti-white sermon in Chicago last July.
Further doubt was cast Monday on the story as records showed the Democratic presidential contender was in Miami that day.
On the “fact check” portion of Obama’s campaign Web site, the campaign states: “Fact: Obama Did Not Attend Services on July 22.”
Click here to see the denial on Obama’s Web site.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. delivered the controversial sermon on July 22. Reports have circulated that Obama was in attendance, but a copy of Obama’s schedule viewed by FOX News as well as video of Obama speaking appear to place him in Miami that day at a convention of the National Council of La Raza.
And a National Council of La Raza official recalls Obama arriving on time for a 1:30 p.m. event that day that was part of the group’s annual national convention.
It is not clear whether he might have been able to attend church in Chicago before flying to Miami for his appearance. The National Council of La Raza official told FOXNews.com he was not involved in any travel plans for Obama to arrive at the convention.
Click here to see a video of Obama speaking that day in Miami.
Obama in the last few days has denied being present for any of Wright’s inflammatory speeches at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright retired last month as senior pastor.
Obama’s purported attendance at the sermon was first reported by NewsMax.com freelance reporter Jim Davis; it was noted again Sunday by NewsMax.com writer Ronald Kessler.
Davis reported last Aug. 7 that Obama and his Secret Service detail had been among the parishioners attending the July 22 sermon in which Wright spoke of the “United States of white America” and blamed the Iraq war on “Bush administration bull—-.”
Click here to read the original report by Jim Davis.
Click here to read the report Sunday by Ronald Kessler.
The report was advanced Monday by columnist Bill Kristol, a FOX News contributor, in his weekly column in The New York Times. Kristol cited Kessler’s report as evidence that Obama is not being fully candid about his relationship with Wright.
Click here to read Kristol’s column in The New York Times.
Wright’s comments in the July 22 sermon were mild in comparison to other sermons he delivered, sermons Obama has said he did not attend.
In one sermon Wright repeatedly said, “God damn America”; in another he blasted former President Bill Clinton, saying he “did” blacks “just like he did Monica Lewinsky.”
Following mounting pressure last week, Obama denounced Wright’s words, and Wright stepped down from Obama’s African American Religious Leadership Committee.
Obama told FOX News Friday that he condemned the text of Wright’s controversial sermons, in which he condemned the United States as institutionally racist and blamed the government for HIV and the Sept. 11 attacks. Video clips of the sermons were played in heavy rotation on national television late last week.
“Once I saw them I had to be very clear about the fact that these are not statements that I am comfortable with,” Obama said. “I reject them completely — they are not ones that reflect my values or my ideals or Michelle’s.”
Obama called Wright’s remarks “inflammatory and appalling” in a written statement Friday.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has yet to comment on the matter. Clinton faced heavy criticism over a racial issue of her own last week after top campaign adviser Geraldine Ferraro said the only reason Obama had gotten so far in the presidential campaign was because he was black. Ferraro resigned from the campaign’s finance committee shortly after her remarks.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/17/report-places-obama-at-controversial-jul y-07-wright-sermon-official-schedule-places-him-in-miami/ |
Nels
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Nels
Post Number: 1092
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 - 09:59 pm: |
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Yes, he was actually in Miami. Unfortunately, he's got to deal (forcefully and honestly) with this (very serious) distraction if he's to succeed in his bid for the nomination. Lest to say, the other two candidates have issues of their own to contend with. Wouldn't it be nice (for a change) if you could turn on the TV, read a newspaper or a blog and see "the" issues and not the "hyperbole" and "rhetoric". |
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