Let’s break down Barack Obama’s statement a little bit.
First of all he called the remarks inflammatory and appalling and he “strongly condemned” them as well. That’s a lot stronger than what he had said in the past.
He also managed not to trash Wright or his Church in the process which I’m sure is very important to him. At the same time he tried to distance himself from this idea that Wright was any sort of “political advisor”. Also, the fact that Obama talks about how he bases his life on the gospel of Jesus is important to say and will resonate with many I’m sure.
There are, though a couple of red flags. Obama says that “the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.” He also says, ”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 or heard him utter in private conversation.” Here’s the thing. If this turns out not to be true (and at this point, there’s no reason not to believe Obama) then Obama has a problem. In other words, if there’s a “You Tube” moment of Obama sitting in the pews listening to any controversial sermons, this thing is going to balloon in a major way.
The question that really hasn’t been answered yet is the following: Are we to believe that Obama was totally unaware of these sorts of comments before his presidential run? Here’s the key paragraph:
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 or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.
He says he never personally heard the comments that were the cause of this controversy or never heard him utter them in private. But it still doesn’t answer the overall question which is: wasn’t he aware of some of the controversial sermons Wright was preaching over the twenty years he was there and if so, why didn’t he say anything back then?
Did the statement go far enough? Is the controversy over?