Hell Hath No Fury Like A Preacher Scorned
Did Wright Mean To Hurt Obama?
CBS2 Chicago
Jay Levine
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Obama felt betrayed and Wright felt sand-bagged. Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church said he has been speaking to both men as the events of the past 24 hours unfolded.
He counseled Obama Tuesday morning, and while CBS 2 talked to him Tuesday evening, Rev. Wright called his cell phone.
“I don’t think he had any intention to hurt Barack. He loves Barack,” Pfleger said. “I think the pain and the moment took over.”
That moment was in a place Pfleger called “a lion’s den” – The National Press Club.
“The people who were close to him pleaded with him not to do it,” said WVON radio host Roland Martin. “We knew what the questions were gonna be, but it really was the antics, the looks the dismissive tone, the strut. It was being flippant, some say being pompous and arrogant.”
That appearance Monday was far from a pastor’s comfort zone, like St. Sabina on the South Side, the site of Wright’s first appearance after his words drove a wedge between him and Obama.
Fr. Pfleger says Wright’s first instinct Monday was to defend his reputation.
“Sometimes you get caught up in the emotional response because you’re hurt, because you’re injured,” Pfleger said.
Mayor Richard M. Daley called the current flap a dangerous distraction.
