Rejection of Wright comes way too late
Sorry, but I don't buy the thesis of The Sun's editorial "Rejecting hate" (April 30) that "we believe the candidate when he says with some emotion that his goal is to bring Americans together, not divide them, as Pastor Wright's rhetoric would."
The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. was Sen. Barack Obama's minister for 20 years, a person Mr. Obama has described as "a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible" and someone who he could "no more disown ... than I can disown the black community."
Pastor Wright was correct when he said, about Mr. Obama, "He's a politician, I'm a pastor. We speak to two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. ... I do what I do. He does what politicians do."
Mr. Obama is doing what politicians do, which is pandering to what they think the voters, and The Sun's editorial board, want to hear.
Is this change? Hardly.
Twenty years of keeping Pastor Wright as his pastor and spiritual adviser speaks much louder than Mr. Obama's recent denunciations of the man.
Douglas Dribben, Woodstock
At long last, Sen. Barack Obama distances himself from a 20-year relationship with his hate-mongering pastor, whom he has referred to as "family," and The Sun would have us believe that this is not a matter of political aggrandizement.
The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. is wrong about many things. But his assertion that Mr. Obama is saying what is necessary for political purposes is exactly right.
Jerrold L. Brotman, Timonium
So, Sen. Barack Obama spent a decade or two listening to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.'s racist rants and conspiracy theories, but apparently never gave an "amen."
I couldn't help but recall President Bill Clinton explaining that he had tried pot but never inhaled.
However, I applaud Mr. Obama's belated condemnation of Pastor Wright's musings. That is change for the better.
Philip M. Wright, Elkridge
It's quite ironic that the Rev Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. wrongfully used the adage "chickens coming home to roost" regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Now we find that Sen. Barack Obama sat through 20 years of race-bating, U.S.-hating, false accusations by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. as he began his political career.
