“Senator Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism, but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.”
Stephanopoulos: "Do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?"
Stephanopoulos: "Do you do believe he's as patriotic as you are?"
Stephanopoulos: “A gentleman named William Ayers, he was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s… Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?”
KEEP IN MIND THAT OBAMA WAS AS YOUNG AS EIGHT (8) YEARS OLD IN THE 1970s.
To be fair, here is Barack Obama’s response. He suggested that no one was talking about real issues and was indulging in “politics as usual” during the debate.
SEN. OBAMA: “George, but this is an example of what I'm talking about.”
“This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.”
“And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.”
“The fact is, is that I'm also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions.“
“Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn's statements? Because I certainly don't agree with those either.”
“So this kind of game, in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, is somehow -- somehow their ideas could be attributed to me -- I think the American people are smarter than that. They're not going to suggest somehow that that is reflective of my views, because it obviously isn't.”
Which network was the first to report the brief words of the retired Pastor Jeremiah Wright? How many reams of videotape had to be sifted through to find these two minutes that would forever change the life of this elderly, 66 year old former United States Marine that is thought to be “dangerous” by some (but is the same man that cared for former President Lyndon Johnson as a cardiopulmonary technician at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland in 1966)? Was his life forever changed solely for political reasons, a man caught in the mower blades of national politics? Keep in mind that one would have had to search back five long years to find these controversial words out of hundreds of sermons.
In an article written by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times, it appears that ABC News was the first and only news team that saw the words of Rev. Wright as something of great importance.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/03/sweet_abc_news_report_on_obama.html
NBC, CBS, CNN and even FOX News did not share the same urgency until after the ABC report. The judgment of the other networks (at the time) may have been that a religious minister does not necessarily speak for one of the flock.
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