Jeremiah Wright's AIDS conspiracy theories are, of course, bunk. But there's another important context for such paranoia.

He probably remembers the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study, which went on until the early 1970s. That was a rare example of a true conspiracy, albeit on a much smaller scale than AIDS. No-one who knows about that can dismiss out of hand the prospect of governments experimenting on human beings.

Very true, and of course Russia has had similar problems. The now dissolved CCCP once wiped out an entire town that was infected with a mutated anthrax virus from a nearby chemical weapons lab.

Still, just because something could have happened doesn't mean it did.

And while we're on the subject, let's give it up to Jerry Fallwell. For a man who lived through Vietnam, Edi Amin, the Khamer Rouge, Saddam, Osama Bin Laden, etc..He's figured out what really pisses God off. Until Provincetown falls into the ocean (statistically gayest town in America located on the mushroom tip of cape cod) I'm not buying it.

it sounds as if you two will give the reverend a mulligan because he is just a stupid negro. the soft bigotry of low expectations rears it's ugly head yet again.

We only have low expectations of you Irving. No, I think I can speak for the others in saying it is sad and misleading and wrong to believe such conspiracy theories. The difference is that we recognize that the Pastor is hardly alone in holding a crazy belief whereas you seem to focus on him to the exclusion of all others.

irvingchang:

the soft bigotry of low expectations...

Now, that's a curious phrase. Where might you have picked up something like that?

Ah. Right. Never mind...

True that the good pastor is not alone in holding AIDS is a US government invention. Sounds like our next president might also believe, or at least be sympathetic, to that argument.

"True that the good pastor is not alone in holding AIDS is a US government invention. Sounds like our next president might also believe, or at least be sympathetic, to that argument"

Exactly, let's not loose sight of the subject at hand. The world is full of crazy pulpit pounders, the problem is that Obama still buy's it.

Oh yes he does.

A chiang clang is the sound of a mind slamming closed.

Obama may, or he may not personally "buy" into this. But he most definitely saw nothing wrong with the idea being pounded into the black congregation of his church It was fine and dandy until it was shoved in his face by the media and the controversy was going to cost him votes. Then "all of a sudden" it was heinous. Then Obama failed to correctly refute the lie. He just said HE didn't believe it.

Bob Beck:

Jeremiah Wright's AIDS conspiracy theories are, of course, bunk. But there's another important context for such paranoia.

He probably remembers the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study, which went on until the early 1970s. That was a rare example of a true conspiracy, albeit on a much smaller scale than AIDS. No-one who knows about that can dismiss out of hand the prospect of governments experimenting on human beings.

the credibility does not lie in imagining that people wouldn't do this kind of thing. the credibility lies in imagining that people could. the technology isn't there yet.

Scoot'r-d:

Obama may, or he may not personally "buy" into this. But he most definitely saw nothing wrong with the idea being pounded into the black congregation of his church It was fine and dandy until it was shoved in his face by the media and the controversy was going to cost him votes. Then "all of a sudden" it was heinous. Then Obama failed to correctly refute the lie. He just said HE didn't believe it.

so.... does the religious leader of your choice never say anything with which you disagree, or have you taken the opportunity to refute him/her when he/she does? me, i just sit there because, frankly, the folks around me are barely interested in what he/she has to say, and definitely not at all interested in what I have to say.

Groveramherst:

Very true, and of course Russia has had similar problems. The now dissolved CCCP once wiped out an entire town that was infected with a mutated anthrax virus from a nearby chemical weapons lab.

sverdlovsk, now ekaterinburg. didn't wipe it out, but sure put a dent in it at the time. it's a big place, kind of the russian version of chicago, big middle of the country city whose industrial base is now all tapped out.

Has no one in our country ever had a stupid friend? Liking someone, respecting someone, even turning to someone for advice; does not mean you agree with them on everything. I had a very wise, very intelligent friend once who was convinced that he was the reincarnation of a witch hunting angel. It was absurd, but he wasn't a bad person, and when speaking on most anything else he was a really smart guy. Just avoid the topic of re-incarnation in his presence.

Having a friend with crackpot viewpoints doesn't mean you have the same view. Many people have grandparents set in very outdated, very racist viewpoints. This does not mean that they feel the same or that they should disavow their grandparents.

As to how he answers the question, the man has said repeatedly that he does not harbor the same viewpoints. Stop breaking out dictionaries to analyze the potential sub meanings by utilizing the original definitions of the root words he may or may not have used.

Come on people, there is a difference between careful scrutiny and a witch-hunt. No angelic puns intended.

gzuckler.... First off, I'm not running for president and Obama is. Secondly, Obama is claiming to be something he has demonstrated he isn't.

As for me personally I had a very close high school friend who did something that completely surprised and sickened me. As we walked to school one day a cat crossed our path and he kicked it with real intent to kill it, and laughed heartily. I let him have it that second and had nothing to do with him from that moment on.

Obama admits to knowing about Wrights ugly sermons for over a year (see Obama's CNN interview today). He did and he said nothing. Obama only broke ranks when he was challenged. I guess he's not as upset about crass racial speeches as he tells everyone. That, or he finds crass racial rhetoric acceptable from radical blacks and any blush of racial concerns from whites quite horrid.

If Obama didn't have kids, I wouldn't be as disturbed by his going to a church run by a racist crackpot. Clearly, his membership in that church helped him politically in that community. It is one thing to let your kids watch a TV show that has something you don't agree with. It is something else to drag them to listen to an authority figure fill their heads with rather damaging rhetoric. I find it hard to believe that any good parent would expose his kids to such dribble unless he believed it on some level. So either he is a closet racist, or he risked damaging his kids for politial gain.