"Obama Disavows Pastor's Remarks
Looks like Barack Obama is kicking his crazy uncle out of the basement.

The Democratic presidential hopeful has compared his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, to an "old uncle" with whom he doesn't always agree. But with the controversial preacher's racially inflammatory remarks and sermons burning up the Internet over the past 24 hours or so, the Obama campaign had to respond with some tough love.

In a posting on Huffington Post late Friday afternoon, Obama called Wright's statements "inflammatory and appalling" and said, "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."

Obama also prepared for a blitz of interviews on the major cable television networks in an effort to quell the controversy.

Among his most controversial statements, Wright said African Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America." And he suggested that the Unites States invited the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with its own "terrorism."

Wright just retired from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Obama, his wife, Michelle and their two young daughters attend. But Wright's sermons have been immortalized on the Internet -- unfortunately for Obama.

In one, Wright told his congregation the reason why "so many folks are hating on Barack Obama" is because he doesn't "fit the model: He ain't white, he ain't rich and he ain't privileged."

"Hillary [Clinton] fits the mold," Wright said, delivering a fiery tirade on how "Hillary never had a cab whiz past her and not pick her up because her skin was the wrong color," and how "Hillary never had to worry about being pulled over as a black man driving" and how "Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home."

He also said Hillary has never been called the "N word." (Wright used the actual word.)"

(WaPo Blog)