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<<I really dont think theres much grass roots support for this moral despotism propogated by the right wing. >>
Michelle, does it not bother you at all that Clinton is using the church to try and lift his image? Is he pandering to the right wing?
Appreciative Clinton Back in Church
By SONYA ROSS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton was back in church Sunday, apparently
strengthened by the friendly embrace he got from black members of Congress the night
before.
To show appreciation for that gesture, the president -- before attending church -- stopped
at a pier along the Washington waterfront to speak briefly at a fund-raiser for Rep. Donald
Payne, D-N.J.
Payne, wearing a blue captain's hat, greeted Clinton at his limousine, shook his hand and
stood with him as he waved to the crowd. The president got enthusiastic cheers there from
many of the same people who were in the audience Saturday night when he addressed the
Congressional Black Caucus' annual dinner.
He told the black caucus he appreciated its support ''from the heart,'' and thanked them
''for standing up for me and understanding the true meaning of repentance and
atonement.''
At the dinner he also said he had directed Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo to seek
legislation that would require public housing authorities to outline admissions plans aimed at
reducing poverty and racial concentration through new tenants.
''We cannot rest while any communities are thoroughly segregated by income or by race,''
he said. The new admission policy for public housing would ''deconcentrate poverty, mix
incomes and thereby mix racial balances,'' he said.
Sunday, Clinton heaped praise on Payne and then excused himself.
''I have to go pick up the first lady and try to avoid being late for church. I don't need that
today,'' Clinton said. His motorcade zipped back to the White House.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was waiting at the south driveway when the president arrived, and
they made it to Foundry United Methodist Church in time for the unusually crowded 11
a.m. services. It was the first time they've been to Foundry since the Sunday before his
Aug. 17 grand jury testimony and public admission to an inappropriate relationship with
former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
While the Clintons listened from their usual pew down front, the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman
delivered a sermon on ''Zion's Song in Babylon,'' focused on the role of music in the life of
a church.
Wogaman drew from Matthew 7:1 -- which begins ''Judge not, lest ye be judged'' -- and
from Psalm 137, describing the agony of the Hebrew people during the capture of
Jerusalem. He spoke of how the process of destroying one thing in civil life inevitably
destroys others until ''what is destroyed is the nation.''
''Do not take the precious things of your faith and put them forth in an environment where
they will be treated with contempt and derision,'' Wogaman said.
The Clintons appeared upbeat when they left church. Mrs. Clinton chatted with Wogaman
and Clinton spoke to an associate minister who had delivered a sermon on science and
technology the last time he attended church.
Later Sunday, the president and first lady were to travel to New York, where Clinton had
an evening meeting with Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy.
AP-NY-09-20-98 1542EDT
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