By Guest Column Aaron Goldstein——Bio and Archives--March 16, 2008
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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.The preceding simply does not pass the smell test. Obama has been a member of Reverend Wright’s congregation for nearly two decades. Reverend Wright married Barack and Michelle Obama. Reverend Wright baptized their daughters. Does Obama really expect us to believe that in nearly two decades he never attended a service where Reverend Wright uttered an unkind word about America? Did Reverend Wright only go off the deep end on the Sundays when Obama wasn’t around? Does Obama really expect us to believe that in nearly two decades, the man whose sermon inspired his book The Audacity of Hope, never told him face to face he believed the United States was responsible for spreading HIV against people of color? Or what he really thinks about Israel? Does Obama really expect us to believe he would not demand a white Republican politician disassociate with a church whose pastor denounced African Americans? Not on your life. Even if that pastor’s retirement was imminent. If he does, Obama must really think the American people are stupid. One would hope that Democratic Primary voters might begin to clean their rose colored glasses. This, however, might not be in the offing. If Obama should prevail against Hillary, I suspect it will not be the last time we hear the name Jeremiah Wright. People are judged by the company they keep. It is hard for me to believe that Obama would title one of his books based on one of Wright’s sermons and yet be unaware of what he preaches. That Obama should protest he only became aware of Wright’s views at the outset of his presidential campaign and yet retains him as a national leader of his campaign’s African American Religious Leadership Committee descends to the depths of disingenuousness. Now that’s what I call audacity. Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston.
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