Obama disagrees with, condemns preachers comments

Barack Obama:

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

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... the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

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He says he did not hear the messages of hate that have been the subject of controversy. I suppose that is possible, but they are so emotionally and strongly presented that it is hard to imagine that over a 20 year period of time Wright would have saved these sermons for when Obama was not there.

I think that what really happened is that as with many people Obama heard what he wanted to hear and disregarded the rest. I suspect that we have not heard the last of these "sermons."