The American Spectator

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Special Report

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He even made a direct threat to his most famous congregant. "I said to Barack Obama last year that, if you get elected, then November 5 I am coming after you because you will be representing a government whose policies grind under people," Wright said.

WRIGHT'S Q&A SESSION did leave some of the people upset -- with the questions.

"I thought some of the questions were kind of unfair and intended to keep the controversy going not so much to understand Rev. Wright as a pastor," said one participant, a former congregant of Wright's now living in Richmond. Wright was "just doing his best to answer the questions in the manner with which they came."

Howard University's Straker said Wright took the questions a little personally but that he had reason to be frustrated. Wright was being "condemned and maligned" for remarks when people "haven't heard the entire context."

"Yes, Wright has condemned white racism but he has never condemned white people. In fact, in comparison to others in that rhetorical tradition, his work has been rather mild and his call for reconciliation is a distinctive addition." Stacker explained.

Nobody seemed to worry much about whether Wright's speech would hurt a certain someone's chances of getting elected. "I don't think he is out to hurt Senator Obama. I think everyone knows that. I think he is out to help him as much as he can but he is also out to protect that church tradition with everything that is within him because he is accountable to God," Cosby said.

Asked to explain why he was speaking out now, Wright paraphrased from the book of proverbs: "It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

He didn't mean himself, though. Rather he meant that the media had opened its collective mouth and removed the doubt. As for Wright, he was just setting the record straight. "How long can you let somebody talk about your faith tradition before you speak up and say something?" he asked.

Funny how these proverbs work.

topics:
Barack Obama, Religion, NATO, Africa