Does Obama have a double standard ?

Clearly, a double standard. He's toast come November.

Great point...just highlights the fact that as a liberal politician he has no real standard. A leader sets a policy/standard and lives with the consequences. Dems have always based their policy/standard on public opinion polls and that's what makes them look well I think the technical term is wishy-washy

He gave a speech on the senate floor saying that withdrawing troops by congressional edict as opposed to realities on the ground would be dangerous and the wrong thing to do...guess he changed his mind on that too...or has he because he is not saying how many troops he will pull out...might only be 10 guys for all we know...

No, he has no more double standard than any other policitician I have followed. the difference in Rev.Wright and Imus is that Wright was speakng to a congregation in his church and Imus was speaking to a world wide audience. I find it a simple non issue.

Agree with Spencer.

Don't try to excuse Imus. He has learned from a mistake, and his show is really great. Please take a listen. It's a great show. Most of all, he says good things of Obama on a daily basis, while repeating he is voting McCain as he did in 2000.

The Obama camp jumped all over and twisted Geraldine Ferraro's innocent and far from racist comment into calling for her to step down from Senator's Clinton's campaign. Yet here we have Obama's friend and spritual advisor and member of his campaign makes several anti-American and anti-Semetic comments and yet he has failed to admonish and distant himself from this man. Yes he has used political speech in order to make it seem like he has distance himself but in reality he has not.

So Spencer and Alan does the size of the audience make the difference in what punishment should dealt ?

yes, it is double standards. Wright teaches hate and racism, Imus, didnt teach anything , he called some girls names, both are wrong, but Wrights are downright dangerous. He can get people fired up into a frenzy if he tries hard enough. Anyone who supports the things that Wright says is clearly a racist and shouldnt be allowed to run for the president of the USA.
Wright and Farakhan is no different than the hate groups out there. Where is Jackson an Sharpton on this? Where are the black panthers on this? Oh, thats right they dont defend the white people just the blacks. Seems like that is racist within itself....

I wasn't excusing Imus just asking a question and framing it with information.

First of all, you conveniently take it out of context, in that his first statement was if they worked for him (neither did), and made perfect sense, as no one in the public eye could condone Imus's statement, and the rest was a statement of his personal opinion. Second of all, the audience does make a difference, and I doubt the good reverend would have been speaking the way he was to a larger audience, and I think Obama is capable of taking that into account. Perhaps you should, too.

Of course it is a double standard. Don't you know that blacks are the only ones allowed to be racist?

Apparently not, Delores.

Easy Ron don't get too upset it was only a question but I gues since it was about Obama it should have never been asked. Huh little touchy.

But you cleared it all up Ron thanks.

Of course there is a double standard. Imus was speaking on a radio program. If you don't like what's said, turn the station. Obama spent twenty years in Wright's church listening to his drivel. He must subscribe to the same beliefs or he would have gone elsewhere. If McCain had been a member of a church that spreads hate and racism, the news media would already have crucified him. Double standard, you bet your A**.

The only reason Senator Obama is publicly distancing himself from his friend and spiritual advisor is because he has now become a liability. If he really had any problems with Rev. Wright's anti-American and anti-Semitic views and teachings he would have stopped going to his church, but he never did. Instead he chose to listen to this rhetoric for over 20 years.
Now if he had owned up to this instead of saying that he never heard or learned of the Rev.'s hateful views, I would be more sympathetic to his plight.

Juan one of the things I noticed was that he seems to speak about Rev Wrights comments as if throughout the las t 20 to 30 years of sermons that there have only been enough comments to fill a 30 second loop. However I think that there has probably been more but these are the ones that have been recorded. So there have probably been more just might not be recordings of them.

No the size of the audience has nothing in reality to do with it. The point I was making is that in essence Wright was not speaking to you nor the general public but Imus was speaking to the world.

Lets see if we can make a parallel. It was known throughout Reagan's presidency he literally "hated" anyone who was a shade darker than he and often made disparaging comments within the confines of his homes or office. Most were aware of it but since we rarely actually heard him say anything publically offensive it was a "quiet" issue. Whats the difference with Wright accept that investigators spent hours searcing thru tapes of his sermons "looking" for something offensive. Can we do the same with Reagan? Are there tapes from his presidency or are they locked up for 50 years too. Imus was on a nationallty broadcast radio station. Does that make any sense to any of you or is Reagan acceptable to you?

I still like Obama and still support him regardless of the "sermons" of Rev. Wright. Although I am curious though, is there any evidence at all that Rev. Wright has been saying these things for the twenty years that the Obama's have been in the pews? I have always been fascinated how, in this country, that we have become such hyper-sensitive namby-pamby's that we are all just waiting for someone to say something wrong so we can advance our own adgendas.

If Senator Obama truly subscribed the off the wall things that Rev. Wright said, don't you think that it would have come up before? I mean, how does someone get through a rather esteemed career in local and senatorial politics if he is a hate-filled racist and a proponent of anti-American sentiments? And I don't buy the theory that it is only an issue now or only worth looking into because he's running for the highest office in the land. If that's the case, shame on the local Chicago media and shame on the Illinois media for missing something so obvious up until now.

I just don't buy it.

But bonus points to the Republican party for creating something out of nothing. That is and always will be the undoing of the Democratic Party. They have yet to come to the realization that the Republicans are master politicians. They know how to 1) wrap themselves in the flag 2) hold a gun in one hand and the bible in the other 3) call your religion and patriotism into question if you are not in lock step with them and 4) somehow manage to convince the general public that if you do not accept the status quo (when a Republican is at the helm) then you are un-American and ... gasp ... a liberal.

At this point, I have no idea who is going to win this thing. But it will not surprise me one bit if McCain wins. Once the Democrats have ripped themselves apart, the only one left standing just might be the Republican. Who knows?

Well Nick I know one thing for certain and that is that if McCain does win there will be cries of another stolen election. But I think that McCain isn't that far removed from Obama or Clinton. I personally would throw them all out and start over. I'm not a big fan of any that are running right now. None have given me the answers that I would like to hear so as it stands I have no clue who will get my vote. But I will vote regardless who runs in the general.

Spencer sure go through them. He might not have been speaking directly with the world as you call it but the things he says does not stay in the church they resonate out through the congregation so they do make it to the world by a different medium.

I have nothing against Obama I just want to know how he's going to make all this change he talks about. All I've gotten so far is that taxes are going up.

"But bonus points to the Republican party for creating something out of nothing."
Be fair Spencer the dems are just as good at this too.

That was mine. And you're right. They are good too but the Republicans are masterful at the art of politics. The Dems seemed to be more ham-handed when they try to play.

It's a moot point and vain attempt to create a character issue when nobody is listening. Latest polls have Obama in better shape now than pre-Wright and .5% behind McCain, and we ain't even started yet.

The wisdom of Obama on the Wright issue is manifest. He knew that Wright would get him in trouble so he crafted his race speech to defuse and then refused to be bullied by the RW harpies who strove to define him via Wright. In the end he wins game set and match. Imus?? Who cares?

Most people don't believe everything their minister has to say at the pulpit. The Rev. Wright story is over. It went out there, Obama responded to it, and the rest is history.

I agree Dave those are good.

Sorry Nick been up too long lol.

Well Sam it's been said and I agree that those who were die hard Obama supporters were never going to be swayed one way or another.

I don't think you give the Dem's enough credit Nick they can spin with the best of them.

Big double standard, he lies and wants people to believe yet he's the first one to call out others,...obamalies,..20 years and can't recall,..wow,..and he wants to be president. obama has been caught many.many times with the lie factor, wait for it...BTW,...for not ever hearing wrights hate,...have you read the speech obama named his book after, the audacity of hope.

Research?? We don't need no stinking research!!!

Charles you guys have been flinging mud at Obama since day one and NOTHING sticks. "Die hard?" Obama is the winner in this race because he represents everything Bush and neo-con do not. Time amongst the Repubs might be much better served if you can come to grips with the bad decisions and trust you put into Dubya AND your party's failure to deal with the moron sooner. You guys created this disaster for your party, deal with it.

Sam breath deep breaths Sam...
Oh I know that the Republicans have screwed the pooch for years and I have voted dem (Clinton) before but this time I'm not impressed with the "solutions" that they are pushing. Plus if you read above I'm not happy with McCain either. So I point things out that get my attention and ask for others thoughts some change mine some don't but if thats mud slinging then so be it. So calm down and take a breath cause I'm sure that you candidate of choice will win. And if they don't you can yell cheaters!