Rev. Jeremiah Wright ... friend or foe of Obama?

03.16.08 -- 7:34 PM

By Zim Sidney

Is there some secret agenda by Rev. Jeremiah Wright to derail the candidacy of Barack Obama? According to this CNN report, Wright's church is escalating the war of words over the minister's "incendiary' sermon in which he blasted the United States and condemned it for its treatment of blacks. But isn't it Obama's advantage for this issue to fade out quietly? If Wright really wants Obama to win the Democratic nomination and possibly make history as the first Black president of the United States why would he continue to make "incendiary" remarks that would alienate White voters whose support Obama critically needs to pull it off?

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's former church sharply criticized the media Sunday for recent coverage of his past controversial sermons, saying in a statement that Wright's "character is being assassinated in the public sphere."

The statement comes two days after Barack Obama, a longtime friend of Wright and attendee of the Trinity United Church of Christ, formally denounced the sermons that have recently become the subject of controversy, calling them "inflammatory and appalling."

"It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” the Rev. Otis Moss III, the current pastor of the church said in the statement.

“The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices," Moss also said. "This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”

In the same statement, the Rev. John H. Thomas, the general minister and president of the United Church of Christ — the denomination to which Wright's church belongs — said the media was creating a "caricature" of his congregation.

“It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends," Thomas said.

This makes for a lot of head scratching....

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