Rolling Stone: Obama has "openly radical" background; another shocking Rev. Wright quote

Back on February 22, 2007, Rolling Stone published "Destiny's Child" by Ben Wallace-Wells (link). After first quoting an unnamed aide as saying that Barack Obama is not "wedded to any ideological frame" and quoting one of his friends calling him a "human Rorschach test", it includes this quote from Reverend Jeremiah Wright (now under BHO's bus):

"Fact number one: We've got more black men in prison than there are in college... Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run! ...We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional KILLERS. . . . We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. . . . We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. . . . We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means!" The crowd whoops and amens as Wright builds to his climax: "And. And. And! GAWD! Has GOT! To be SICK! OF THIS SHIT!"

The video of his speech is here.

The first fact may be correct. The second "fact" is only very slightly correct. The U.S. wasn't designed to be some sort of plantation; the use of slavery was an artifact of the age. And, those who are racists have very little power; those who have actual power in the U.S. are mainly interested in maintaining that power and in enriching themselves. I'll leave the guns and drugs bit to someone else if they want. The "killers" bit is probably a reference to the School of the Americas, but knowing Wright's other comments he could be referring to the U.S. military. Most of the rest is his opinion, and most Americans are going to strongly disagree.

In fact, even Rolling Stone admits he's an extremist:

This is as openly radical a background as any significant American political figure has ever emerged from, as much Malcolm X as Martin Luther King Jr. Wright is not an incidental figure in Obama's life, or his politics. The senator "affirmed" his Christian faith in this church; he uses Wright as a "sounding board" to "make sure I'm not losing myself in the hype and hoopla." Both the title of Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope, and the theme for his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 come from Wright's sermons. "If you want to understand where Barack gets his feeling and rhetoric from," says the Rev. Jim Wallis, a leader of the religious left, "just look at Jeremiah Wright."

Politics · Mon, 10/13/2008 - 11:10 · · Importance: 9