The Barack Obama Double Standard

So, what would happen if the pastor at President Bush's church, or the Minister in John McCain's church were videotaped making racist and offensive comments during a service? Would Old Media treat them with the same kid gloves that they've treated Barack Obama and the racist pastor of his church, Jeremiah Wright? Would the Republicans have been steadfast in their support?

No, not at all. The Republicans would very rightly denounce their candidate for being even remotely connected to such talk. For some reason, the Dems don't feel the need to become anywhere near that indignant. Neither does Old Media it seems.

Doug Patton's latest column is about this very double standard. He writes:

And yet excuses are made for Barack Obama, who now finds himself in exactly this situation. Obama's pastor of more than two decades - the man who married Barack and Michelle Obama, who christened their daughters, who inspired the title of the candidate's book, "The Audacity of Hope," - is now at the center of a storm that would have destroyed the candidacy of any Republican the day the story broke. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago for the last 36 years, has been caught on tape denouncing the United States and the white race in terms that should shock and disgust every thinking American. Wright and the church swear allegiance to the "mother country" - Africa. (Presumably this includes the Obama family.) Rather than trying to infuse his congregation with hope and encouragement, Wright poisons them with vitriol about how the U.S. government has tried to commit genocide against the black community using drugs and the AIDS virus as weapons of choice. "Don't say God bless America," Wright screams in one sermon. "God damn America!"

Can you imagine the outcry if that last line had been uttered by a pastor for a church that a Republican attended?

More:

If Barack Obama has not been paying attention in church, it is apparent that his wife, Michelle, has. Campaigning for her husband recently, she said that for the first time in her adult life, she is finally proud of her country. In a separate speech, she said America is "a mean country." Obama is friends with William Ayers, an admitted domestic terrorist with the Weather Underground, which declared war on the United States and claimed responsibility for bombing several government buildings, including the Pentagon and the State Department building, in the 1970s. In an interview with The New York Times, ironically published on the morning of September 11, 2001, Ayers was quoted as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough." Now a tenured professor at the University of Chicago (only in America!), Ayers met Barack Obama in the 1990s. They have remained friends ever since. We are judged not just by our words, but by the company we keep. The litmus test should not be whether or not everyone a candidate knows is ideal. That is an impossible standard. The true measure of a man is in his ability to choose friends with which he can be proud to stand shoulder to shoulder, not those about whom he must equivocate and for whom he must apologize.

I can't help but wonder if this is the "change" that Barack Obama supporters keep touting. Change to a racist, militant President? Change to a President that openly keeps friendships with known militants and terrorists?

Perhaps some Barack Obama supporters can leave some comments as to why a racist, terror supporting President would mean a "good change?"

They would have to be some awesomely good comments too. Those of us born after 1964 have no white guilt to give.

You can access the complete,column on-line here:

The Barack Obama Double Standard
Doug Patton
GOPUSA.com
March 17, 2008

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And before anyone starts to claim that "Obama didn't know," please check out the following at NewsBusters.org:

On June 5th, 2007, Senator Barack Obama spoke before 8,000 people gathered in Hampton University's Convocation Center. Most of them were pastors and ministers attending a conference there. He was there to speak on mostly post Katrina issues and to criticize the Bush administration's efforts during that natural disaster. Obama tried his catch phrase of the moment, saying that a "quiet riot" might be occurring in America and he affirmed that he felt that America was a racist nation, that the reaction to Katrina had just "pulled back the screen" on America's racism. Obama also used rhetoric heavily doused with religious symbolism. But, that boiler plate aside, there was two very interesting segments in Obama's remarks concerning his racist "spiritual mentor," Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. that are not getting the press it deserves. ... As the speech kicked off (at 1:07 into the video), Obama introduced the Rev. Wright to the audience with these glowing and highly personal words: "And then I've got to give a special shout out to my Pastor. The guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He's a friend and a great leader not just in Chicago but all across the country, so please everybody give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., Trinity United Church of Christ. Where's he at? There he is. That's him, that's him right there. You wearing a suit today, right"? This reveals a very intimate portrait of Obama and Wright's relationship. Notice the last bit where Obama jokes about Wright's penchant for wearing an Afrocentric style of dress and that his wearing of a suit at that event was uncommon. These are the remarks of a close friend to another loved intimate, not the words of a man making perfunctory comments. Later in his comments Obama mentioned Wright again. (At 13:43 in the video) "You know, I've been on a journey trying to get at the truth that question for a long time. I mention Rev. Wright... I first met Rev. Wright when I moved to Chicago after college. And that's where I met Rev. Wright and started going to Trinity United Church of Christ and he helped me on another journey and introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. And I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things that I was too weak to accomplish myself, maybe he could accomplish them for me if I placed my trust in him. And I learned that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when they believe in him and they come together and are guided by him." So, we see that Obama obviously had a close, long-term relationship with Wright not a casual one where Obama might have missed the Reverend’s long-standing agenda.

Obama clearly knew and now is trying to distance himself. Only the most naive will believe that he "didn't know."

Check out the video of the speech here:

Video Library, CBS Chicago 2
CBS Chicago 2
March 16, 2008

You can check out the NewsBusters article on-line here:

Contrary To Claims, Obama Very Close With Racist Preacher, Wright
Warner Todd Huston
NewsBusters.org
March 16, 2008