Obama's Farrakhan Test

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, January 15, 2008; Page A13

Barack Obama is a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Its minister, and Obama's spiritual adviser, is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan.

Maybe for Wright and some others, Farrakhan "epitomized greatness." For most Americans, though, Farrakhan epitomizes racism, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, even denigrating the Holocaust by falsely attributing it to Jewish cooperation with Hitler -- "They helped him get the Third Reich on the road." His history is a rancid stew of lies.

It's important to state right off that nothing in Obama's record suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views or agrees with Wright when it comes to Farrakhan. Instead, as Obama's top campaign aide, David Axelrod, points out, Obama often has said that he and his minister sometimes disagree. Farrakhan, Axelrod told me, is one of those instances.

Fine. But where I differ with Axelrod and, I assume, Obama is that praise for an anti-Semitic demagogue is not a minor difference or an intrachurch issue. The Obama camp takes the view that its candidate, now that he has been told about the award, is under no obligation to speak out on the Farrakhan matter. It was not Obama's church that made the award but a magazine. This is a distinction without much of a difference. And given who the parishioner is, the obligation to speak out is all the greater. He could be the next American president. Where is his sense of outrage?

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402083.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Renew Deal]

1. Richard Cohen is an "Odious Slime Peddler"

According to Josh Marshall

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/063742.php

[Renew Deal]

2. Playing With Fire: Smearing Obama Among Jews

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2008/jan/15/playing_with_fire_smearing_obama_among_jews

[BenDavid]

24. I think it is important we find out if obama agrees or disagrees

with the statements made by Jeremiah A. Wright (his mentor i e obama's book) whether he agrees with Wrights anti Israel and anti Jew commits.

[Mass]

3. He also asks an interesting question to which he does not give an answer.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com

1.15.08 -- 12:08PM // link
Just a Thought

Who do you figure pitched Richard Cohen on the Obama/Farrakhan column?

[cali]

4. He may be all that, but is you don't think this is something that's

going to be a real issue, you're wrong.

[Renew Deal]

7. I don't think it will be a big issue.

It's a narrow-minded smear that's going to be easy to deal with. Just read the second link I posted.

[cali]

9. I disagree. I'm worried about this and I agree with Rosenburg

"Cohen must know that but, in his dotage, he has descended into Ed Koch/Jackie Mason land where the Cossacks are always at the gates. Tthis column will be circulated widely and will hurt Obama, perhaps badly.

Richard Cohen was once a liberal. He often invokes civil rights activists Mickey Schwerner and Andy Goodman (who were murdered in Mississippi along with their African-American friend, James Chaney in 1964). .

Does Cohen not understand that these two Jewish boys died in pursuit of a dream that Barack Obama embodies? Does he think Goodman and Schwerner would want the first viable black candidate for President in our history to be smeared because of something his minister did? Would they want him libeled because he is not a hawk when it comes to West Bank settlements?

The answers are obvious. Cohen should be ashamed. But, rest assured, none of the people involved in the race-baiting of Barack Obama are capable of it."

[goldcanyonaz]

11. You're right, this will be a very big issue if Obama is the nominee, it's been given a pass thus far

Clinton is used to this type of shit, and that's not a reason to have her be the nominee, so please don't read it like that.

We need to be ready to go after their candidates like we have never done before.


Nothing will be off limits in this upcoming election, and we need to be prepared to fight back with a vengeance!

Never again will they steal another election from us by rumor and innuendo.

[debatepro]

12. Encourage your candidate

to come out and speak against such non-sense then...

[cali]

17. I have a strong sense that Obama will handle things like this just

fine. And other than McCain, their candidate are either a treasure chest of lurid crap or in the case of Mitwit, the most flippity floppety candidate ever.

[ellacott]

18. He hasn't been given a pass

This has been all over Fox. His Pastor was even on Hannity's show and it became very combative with Hannity trying to tear him down.

[AtomicKitten]

5. The not too veiled suggestion of antisemitism by proxy is really reaching.

[Skidmore]

8. Where did you get that really cool Obama 08 picture?

[AtomicKitten]

13. it flowed down the series of tubes into my sig line ;)

[Skidmore]

15. Those internets tubes are amazing, aren't they?

:)

[goodgd_yall]

28. You know, this morning I was thinking

"I wonder if/when the Jewish vote in relation to Obama being black will come up"---and then I see this post.

[AtomicKitten]

31. Just a matter of time before your worst thoughts are brought to fruition.

This election is starting out on a really nasty trajectory. :-(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4075208

[Skidmore]

6. Another smear?

Guilt by association with an acquaintance. Six degrees of separation could make us all guilty of something.

[rocktivity]

10. 1982 was 26 years ago...

:boring:
rocknation

[bunkerbuster1]

14. Not this shit again...

Christ almighty.

[robbedvoter]

16. Didn't Cohen attack Colbert as "unfunny" - for telling off *?

But, yeah, Obama supporters, file this for future rebuttal - it will be repeated. So far, you know only a few of THEIR talking points - this is one of them.

[ProSense]

19. Cohen

is despicably transparent.

[Kingofalldems]

20. Another hit piece on a Democrat by Mr. Cohen and

the OP.

[David Zephyr]

21. I read this in my morning paper. The Clinton campaign is in full swing now.

This is about as vile of piece of writing I have ever read.

Pretty fucking evil.

[sufrommich]

26. This has nothing to do with the Clinton campaign.

A whole lot of posters on here seem to be developing a case of seletive memory about the state of media in this country,or at least pretending they do.How can anybody be shocked that the media would ever try to find "dirt" on a candidate ?.Gosh,that's never been the case in the past! It's beginning to sound like freeperland paranoia where every thing revolves around those Evil Clintons who mastermind All That Is Wrong With The World! Stop your sobbing.It's beginning to sound pathetic.

[David Zephyr]

30. Yes, it does. And like all of their stealth attacks, there will be another one in this new tactic.

Watch.

This is just part one of a new attack on Obama. Cohen was the first in this line of bullshit and there will be a second and then a third and then a denial from the Clintons.

Same shit, different day.

[DrFunkenstein]

22. Desperately Searching For a Reason to Be Outraged

It says more about Cohen than anyone else. This is the kind of baloney that makes conservatives win arguments about political correctness while undermining the credibility of events where true discrimination occurs.

[ProSense]

23. Obama's statement

here.

[H2O Man]

25. Thank you.

Cohen = Farrakhan. Both are snakes.

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. Awesome

Obama once again shows that he is smart enough to handle himself in a crisis. I've got two weeks to decide who to vote for, and is is going to be tough to decide between him and Hillary.

[goodgd_yall]

27. It's like this

If the Trumpet Newsmagazine was a parish effort and Farrakhan was given this award, I'd have to seriously question my continuation as a member of that particular church. If it's the brainchild of one of the pastors, it's his own opinion. The church members might want to discuss the wisdom of the Newsmagazine possibly being seen as reflecting the views of its members, but the connection of the magazine and its editorials to the church is substantially weaker. I think Obama's statement on this settles the matter.

[ProSense]

29. No, it's like

this:

More specifically (to take a not-so-random example), Billy Graham, who made some unambiguously anti-Semitic remarks to Richard Nixon which ended up on tape, appears to have been a major figure in Hillary Clinton’s spiritual life (see also this speech made by Bill Clinton at the inauguration of Graham’s library last year). While nowhere close to Farrakhan’s league (he appears to have been a repentant and occasional anti-Semite rather than an unrepentant and consistent one), he was a direct influence on the Clintons rather than an influence-on-an-influence. I don’t recall Richard Cohen, or anyone else, muttering that there was no evidence that Hillary and Bill Clinton were anti-Semites, but that they needed to voice their outrage or else. And for good reason; any suggestion along these lines would have been treated as crazy. Knowing that Billy Graham was occasionally anti-Semitic doesn’t tell you anything about what Bill and Hillary Clinton believe.