Monday, March 17, 2008

Obama Truth: Flimsy Defense Not in Pew During Controversial Comments Challenged

Fox News discussing with Bob Beckel this morning.

... has this been a consistent message from the beginning over time from Rev. Wright?

Was Barack Obama sitting in a pew whenever any of the inflammatory and controversial comments were made?

Beckel returning at 5 PM to discuss more in depth, less sound-bites.

Reference made by host to Newsmax column we found the article/s and posted below.

Note: To date, nobody has referenced every single controversial statement Wright made. A few have been circulating and discussed on news networks.

It's important to stick to the controversial statements highlighted specifically that compelled Barack Obama to recently issue formal statements rejecting and denouncing the statements (those highlighted at the time).

Check statement to:

Fox Major Garrett
CNN Anderson Cooper
MSNBC Keith Olbermann

Here's what we've found so far


Obama's Church: Cauldron of Division
Jim Davis Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

In fact, Obama was in attendance at the church when these statements were made on July 22.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml


Note the date August 9, 2007

Here's what's been reported on Sunday, March 16, 2008

Washington Insider with Ronald Kessler
Obama Attended Hate America Sermon
Sunday, March 16, 2008 7:14 PM
By: Ronald Kessler

Clarification: The Obama campaign has told members of the press that Senator Obama was not in church on the day cited, July 22, because he had a speech he gave in Miami at 1:30 PM. Our writer, Jim Davis, says he attended several services at Senator Obama's church during the month of July, including July 22. The church holds services three times every Sunday at 7:30 and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central time. While both the early morning and evening service allowed Sen. Obama to attend the service and still give a speech in Miami, Mr. Davis stands by his story that during one of the services he attended during the month of July, Senator Obama was present and sat through the sermon given by Rev. Wright as described in the story. Mr. Davis said Secret Service were also present in the church during Senator Obama's attendance. Mr. Davis' story was first published on Newsmax on August 9, 2007. Shortly before publication, Mr. Davis contacted the press office of Sen. Obama several times for comment about the Senator's attendance and Rev. Wright's comments during his sermon. The Senator's office declined to comment...

...In fact, Obama was present in the South Side Chicago church on July 22 last year when Jim Davis, a freelance correspondent for Newsmax, attended services along with Obama. [See: ”Obama’s Church: Cauldron of Division.”]

In his sermon that day, Wright tore into America, referring to the “United States of White America” and lacing his sermon with expletives as Obama listened. Hearing Wright’s attacks on his own country, Obama had the opportunity to walk out, but Davis said the senator sat in his pew and nodded in agreement...

http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/Obama_hate_America_sermon/2008/03/16/80870.html


The LA Times Blog reports

LA Times Blog

« The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was an early concern, Obama aide admits
Website says Obama attended anti-white Wright sermon; campaign says no

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/816965/27161584

In a posting this evening, Newsmax.com reports that its correspondent witnessed Sen. Barack Obama attending one of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's anti-white sermons on July 22 and nodding his head in agreement with the black congregation.

The report on the conservative website directly contradicts the Democratic presidential candidate's recent statements that while he denounced the pastor's controversial anti-American and anti-white rhetoric, he had never heard such declarations himself in church or in private.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html


Notice, in neither the March 16, 2008 article, Obama Attended Hate America Sermon, nor in the August 9, 2007 article Obama's Church: Cauldren of Division does Jim Davis indicate the time of day on July 22, 2007 he witnessed Obama present in the church and listened to Wright's sermon.

Notice the LA Times blogs article does not include the time of the day (July 22, 2007) Barack Obama attended the services.

Only in a comment to the LA Times blog wherein the writer identifies himself as Jim Davis does the author of the original piece Obama's Church: Cauldren of Division indicate Obama was present in the church at 7:30 a.m. (and implies Obama would still have made it to Miami to give a speech to the National Council of LaRaza at 1:30 PM)

I'm the author of the Newsmax article. Yes, it is possible to attend a one-hour church service in Chicago at 7:30 AM that's laden with racially divisive and anti-American rhetoric and nod your head in agreement, get a police escort to zip through traffic to your waiting private jet that has the engines warmed up and ready to go, fly to Miami, get another police escort to zip through traffic, and give a speech to the National Council of La Raza at 1:30 PM.

I notice that NLRC didn't indicate whether Senator Obama started his speech right on schedule. But the weather was perfect for a fast flight.

Posted by: Jim Davis | March 17, 2008 at 03:45 AM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html



We're tracking when the time of Wright's sermon occurred on July 22, 2007.

We checked the referenced site pointed out by a comment made at LA Times Blog

Note the times of the speeches are given in the link where a purchase of a copy can be made. However while a photograph accompanies the Wright, Jr. and Moss III links, one doesn't accompany the Jr. Deacon Anthony Burnette, Jr. link.

Is it possible Jim Davis' hearing isn't adequate, or he wasn't paying full attention to who was being introduced as the 7:30 a.m. speaker, and he only heard Jr.? He may have believed Jr. Deacon Burnette, Jr. who is listed as the 7:30 a.m. speaker to be Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. ???

Rahab The Redeemer - Part 1
Sunday, July 22 2007 6:00 PM
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.
More Info

http://www.tucc.org/store/index.cfm?action=catbrowse&catid=40


I Can't Keep It To Myself!
Sunday, July 22 2007 11:00 AM
Rev. Otis B. Moss III
More Info

http://www.tucc.org/store/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&pid=5940


The Ultimate Friendship: Favor of God
Sunday, July 22 2007 7:30 AM
Jr. Deacon Anthony Burnette, Jr.
More Info

http://www.tucc.org/store/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&pid=5935


Was Barack Obama in the church on July 22, 2007?

We're tracking whether Obama said he WAS NOT IN the church at any time July 22, 2007.

According to a website, Factcheck he was not.

Fact: Obama Did Not Attend Services on July 22
March 16, 2008

Newsmax claims are inaccurate:

"Presidential candidate Barack Obama preaches on the campaign trail that America needs a new consensus based on faith and bipartisanship, yet he continues to attend a controversial Chicago church whose pastor routinely refers to 'white arrogance' and 'the United States of White America.' In fact, Obama was in attendance at the church when these statements were made on July 22."

FACT: Obama did not attend services on July 22nd.

http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/03/16/fact_obama_did_not_attend_serv.php



Despite that, has Senator Barack Obama himself said he was not in the Trinity United Church of Christ on that specific date, July 22, 2007 at the time Jim Davis says he saw Barack Obama in the church at 7:30 a.m.?

We can't currently find a direct quotation from Obama.

Even if it turns out Obama says yes he was in church that day and the factcheck.barackobama.com site got that incorrect, that still doesn't mean Obama was in the church at the time Jim Davis claims he spotted Obama.

For those of us out here in the blogoshere, we want as many facts as possible. Sometimes it is impossible to obtain them, anywhere.

(Net the Truth Online)

Obama's Church: Cauldron of Division
Jim Davis
Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

Presidential candidate Barack Obama preaches on the campaign trail that America needs a new consensus based on faith and bipartisanship, yet he continues to attend a controversial Chicago church whose pastor routinely refers to "white arrogance" and "the United States of White America."

In fact, Obama was in attendance at the church when these statements were made on July 22.

Obama has spoken and written of his special relationship with that pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml


Obama Attended Hate America Sermon
Sunday, March 16, 2008 7:14 PM
By: Ronald Kessler

...Contrary to Senator Barack Obama’s claim that he never heard his pastor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. preach hatred of America, Obama was in the pews last July 22 when the minister blamed the “white arrogance” of America’s Caucasian majority for the world’s suffering, especially the oppression of blacks...

Senator Obama has sought to separate himself from his pastor’s incendiary remarks, issuing a statement Friday rejecting them as “inflammatory and appalling” but failing to renounce Wright himself for his venomous and paranoid denunciations of America.

In his press release, Obama claimed, “The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity [United Church of Christ] or heard him utter in private conversation.”

Appearing on cable news shows this past weekend, Obama claimed when he saw recent videos that have Wright making such comments as “God damn America,” he was “shocked.” Obama implied that the reverend had not used such derogatory language in any of the church services Obama attended over the past two decades.

If Obama’s claims are true that he was completely unaware that Wright’s trademark preaching style at the Trinity United Church of Christ has targeted “white” America and Israel, he would have been one of the few people in Chicago to be so uninformed. Wright’s reputation for spewing hate is well known.

In fact, Obama was present in the South Side Chicago church on July 22 last year when Jim Davis, a freelance correspondent for Newsmax, attended services along with Obama. [See: ”Obama’s Church: Cauldron of Division.”]

In his sermon that day, Wright tore into America, referring to the “United States of White America” and lacing his sermon with expletives as Obama listened. Hearing Wright’s attacks on his own country, Obama had the opportunity to walk out, but Davis said the senator sat in his pew and nodded in agreement.

Addressing the Iraq war, Wright thundered, “Young African-American men” were “dying for nothing.” The “illegal war,” he shouted, was “based on Bush’s lies” and is being “fought for oil money.”

http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/Obama_hate_America_sermon/2008/03/16/80870.html


LA Times Blogs

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html

Wright did not give a morning service as claimed by Newsmax

One the 22nd of July 2007
Anthony Burnette, Jr. gave the 7:30 am service
Otis B. Moss III gave the 11:00am service
Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. gave the 6:00pm service

http://www.tucc.org/store/index.cfm?action=catbrowse&catid=40

Posted by: Tom | March 17, 2008 at 01:45 AM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html


The response to Rev Wright's remarks is twentyfirst century American racism at its most obvious. Clearly his remarks have been taken out of context. Clearlly American foreign policy did contribut e to 9/11, which is not to justify it. Clearly white America remains racist, though not as directly violently so as in the early twentieth century. Clearly the Rev Wright damned America in his sermons as a form of literary license. Certainly his speech relflected justifiable anger on the part of Black Americans for their past and present treatment by the majority. Forty years of "integration", fought for, not freely given, does not compensate for 400 years of slavery. White America's "righeous idignation" over his remarks is yet another example of the double standard by which blacks are judged in this country. Obama should not repudiate the Pastor, but place his remarks in context. Maybe then this could become a springboard for a discussion of race in modern America. Unfortunately in our political system this cannot occur.

Posted by: Karl | March 18, 2008 at 12:41 AM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html


Includes video

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama to the National Council of La Raza
Miami, FL | July 22, 2007

http://www.barackobama.com/2007/07/22/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_21.php


Also see

Bill Kristol: Wrong on Obama/Wright
Bill Kristol cites a report by the "journalist" Ronald Kessler in today's New York Times claiming that Barack Obama attended an incendiary sermon by Jeremiah Wright on July 22, 2007

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2008/03/bill-kristol-wr.html


More to review

To the Max!
Reason Magazine - Hit & Run - 3 hours ago Explore : Barack Obama, Laptops

Reporters are scouring old tapes and notebooks for evidence of Barack Obama in the pews during one of the Jeremiah Wright sermons he claims he never saw. Over the weekend Newsmax.com's Ronald Kessler claimed to find a nut: In fact, Obama was present in the South Side Chicago church on July 22 last year when Jim Davis, a freelance correspondent for Newsmax, attended services along with...

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/125536.html

http://www.wikio.com/news/Ronald+Kessler

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