[Sambonius]

Please hate us for our freedoms...duh. Ask Sean Hannity guys.

[2k]

Lets not play stupid with Wright. We know how “God Damn America” sounds and we know what it meant. It was a rant on foreign policy and racism. No more and no less. Maybe I’m wrong I missed Rev Wrights criticism of American Livestock, our shatty performance against the Puerto Rican national team, our boring wildlife compared to the mutha land, cowardly military, our dirty air, lazy people, contrived jazz music, increase in gingivitis, our antiquated form of government, etc etc. This was a foreign policy rant. There is no place for calling him treasonous or saying he hates America. If I was a Christian fundamentalist I might say that America deserves a good smite for its sins too.

[2k]

Lets not play stupid with Wright. We know how “God Damn America” sounds and we know what it meant. It was a rant on foreign policy and racism. No more and no less. Maybe I’m wrong I missed Rev Wrights criticism of American Livestock, our shatty performance against the Puerto Rican national team, our boring wildlife compared to the mutha land, cowardly military, our dirty air, lazy people, contrived jazz music, increase in gingivitis, our antiquated form of government, etc etc. This was a foreign policy rant. There is no place for calling him treasonous or saying he hates America. If I was a Christian fundamentalist I might say that America deserves a good smite for its sins too.

[Minstrel]

Originally Posted by Talkhard

But yes, a president should love his country unreservedly and be committed to making it as good as it can be.

If your definition of "unreserved love" is "making the nation as good as it can be," I think that is precisely what Obama wants.

He seems to regard himself as an outsider, an oppressed minority, and a victim of white America.

I don't agree. He seems not to feel that way at all. When he spoke of the racial divide, he spoke of both black anger and white anger. He was honest, not accusatory. His message was, "Let's not pretend racial tensions don't exist, because they do. And they exist from all sides, not just from one or a few sides. And we need to work to end those tensions." I think that's the exactly right message...sober evaluation of the truth, no finger-pointing as to which "group" is responsible and a commitment to solving the problem.

He has never suggested that he is a victim...of white America or anyone else. In fact, he consistently emphasizes how fortunate he's been.

Just look at the people Obama chooses to associate with. Besides hanging out with a founder of the Weather Underground terrorist group

Every politician accepts campaign contributions from whoever will give money. Politics runs on cash flow. A $200 (or whatever tiny sum it was) isn't a story in politics, for any candidate, nor is a meeting with a contributor.

he chose to attend a church for 20 years whose pastor is one of the most virulently racist and angry guys I've ever seen.

I think you're quite overstating the "virulence" of Wright. His comments were extreme and some of them inappropriate, but they are also quite understandable from someone old enough to have lived through true oppression in this nation, a nation he fought for as a Marine. I don't think there's anything untoward about Obama attending his church and listening to him preach. Wright may be too clouded with emotion to make a good President, but Obama seems far more clear-minded and not in the least bit racist or angry.