Peter Johnson, Jr.: Obama at the Prayer Breakfast Sounded a Lot like Rev. Wright

"Is that what the president is saying? Yeah, I think that’s what he’s saying. That pay back is expected, that empathy should be extended to the Islamic caliphate, that we are no better than the people who pursued the Crusades, and that the risk of pursuing Islamic extremism in a drastic way is the same risk as the Crusades.

The president sees the Crusades as an attack on the Islamic people and that we are sinners and that we have an innate depravity and that if we succumb to that, we will succumb to the same sins that those who engaged in the Crusades did. So not enough lifting message, a message consumed with guilt, a message consumed with shame, remorse, and saying that we need to be really careful before we get up on our high horse ..

I think he’s confused. I think this entire White House administration needs some therapy to expiate and purge the guilt that they seem are consumed with, need to understand whether it’s Islamic based, whether it is sectarian based, it is a threat and an existential threat to the United States. Let's look what getting on your high horse means, what the president talked about. It means 'to act as if you’re better or more intelligent than other people.'

President advises us not to get up on our high horse. Let’s not act superior or more intelligent or more morally superior. We need to understand the conduct of the United States is morally superior to the tragic terrorists, Islamic extremism that we’ve seen and that we need to act in accord. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We should not be extending empathy or sympathy. We need to act in a way that’s consistent with Christianity, the Judeo-Christian ethic and, yes, a Muslim precepts that we can accept in this country.

The president’s comments, in my view, are not helpful and are confused and confusing and he needs quickly to make it clear what he really means about American exceptionalism, superiority, and keeping our homeland safe."