Here is how Barack Obama defended Rev. Wright in his speech earlier this week, which I thought actually made sense even if I wasn't all that impressed with other aspects of the speech.
Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
But how am I supposed to square that with this from the NYT about a prayer breakfast Bill Clinton hosted in 1998 (via Talk Left):
Among those in attendance, was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who is seen shaking hands with Mr. Clinton in a photograph provided today by the Obama campaign. Mr. Wright’s relationship with Senator Barack Obama, as his longtime pastor, has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent days because of incendiary excerpts of sermons Mr. Wright gave at their church, Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago.
In providing the photograph to The New York Times, the Obama campaign appeared to be trying to divert some attention to the Clintons after a week in which Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright has left him facing one of the biggest challenges of his campaign. There is nothing in the picture or the note that addresses whether Mr. Clinton had met Mr. Wright prior to the White House meeting or whether he or Mrs. Clinton knew anything about Mr. Wright’s views.
A week into our new racial dialogue and I'm already so very confused. It's okay for Obama to have attended Wright's church for 20 years because, while Wright might have said some incendiary things, he and his church have done a lot of good as well. But somehow it's not okay or equally bad or something that Bill Clinton once shook his hand. WTF
?
No, seriously, WTF? It's not that I object to Obama releasing the photo, it's that I am as confused as the NYT about why he did it. Won't it just keep Wright in the news? Why would he do that? It's not like Bill's fucking Wright in the photo, he's shaking his hand in a room full of people. WTF?
And one more thing that has nothing to do with Obama because I don't believe that the candidates are responsible for every word their surrogates and supporters stupidly utter, but let me just say a big, giant FUCK YOU to Claire McCaskill for saying Obama is "for the first time, I think, as a black leader in America, has come to the American people not as a victim, but rather as a leader.” I mean, aside from being racist, it's also just one of the stupidest things I've ever heard and I used to represent stock brokers. I can hardly wait to hear Keith Olbermann's special comment on it. And, no, I won't be holding my breath.
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I remember Jacksons's "they work every day" speech
at the Democratic National Convention.
There was nothing, nothing of the victim about it.
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
The first black "non-victim" leader?
What about MLK? Jesse Jackson, Barbara Jordan, Andrew Young, Muhammed Ali, Jackie Robinson, etc, etc?
For the GOPers, what about Colin Powell? He used his credibility to sell the Iraq invasion but he's never been a "victim."
x
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
More than surrogate, but a father figure
Obama chose Wright to be his spiritual mentor, a man to help guide his life. And they have been close for over 20 years. That is why what Wright says is important: they reflect the views of someone very influential in Obama's life someone who is his "sounding board" and a "moral compass." Remember, Obama's entire campaign is: judgment, character, the vital importance of faith, and words matter. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Claire McCaskill (Obama is no victim--unlike other blacks) and John Kerry (Vote for Obama because he's black!) are hilarious! I love it. I can only imagine the fun the 527s will have when they get their hands on those two gems in the GE.
He stuck his fingers in Pandora's box
and when he opened it all this gunk started coming out.
I said Obama was making a mistake by playing the race card - I said it would come back to haunt him.
I just thought it would happen later on, in the general election.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned.
x
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
Swimming in the Same Sea
It’s okay for Obama to have attended Wright’s church for 20 years because, while Wright might have said some incendiary things, he and his church have done a lot of good as well. But somehow it’s not okay or equally bad or something that Bill Clinton once shook his hand. WTF
?
You left out at least one other possibility: Somehow it's OK or equally good or part of the U.S. religious-political landscape that Bill Clinton once shook his hand. I think the point might be that socially active religious personalities are a wide-spectrum phenomenon.
Frederick Douglass
To name just one who pre-dates our current political landscape. Great black leaders go back a long ways in this country (and I'm just talking about the famous ones that even I know about). It was a deeply stupid and insulting thing to say.
Going back to the Obama photo, I honestly don't know what to make of it. There's almost a suggestion in it that Wright should be some kind of pariah, where even just shaking his hand makes Clinton as "guilty" as Obama. But, while I don't like a lot of what Wright said or more accurately how he said it, I haven't seen anything that suggests he somehow has to be shunned. And Obama apparently hasn't either because he hasn't done it himself.
It makes me think this is a campaign that's become deeply dependent on the Clinton Rules and they were hoping the rules would get them out of their political mess. They threw the photo out there like chum to the press, hey look Bill Clinton, hoping that would start a feeding frenzy away from Obama. Which doesn't particularly bother me, what bothers me is that Obama's campaign has become so dependent Hillary hate. She isn't going to be around in November.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt
You came in late, then?
"Obama’s campaign has become so dependent Hillary hate...."
I think, in a lot of ways, the OFB
was a leading indicator. Things evolve more rapidly on the Intertubes.
Actually, there were three bright shiny objects in a row: For the universities, The Greatest Speech Evah, for the press, this photo, and for the goo-goo types (among whom I number myself) the passport thing (pushed by K.O., one notices, and brought to the attention of State by who exactly in the press?).... From the Department of Changing the Subject....
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Normally, I'd Be Offended
By the latest personal attacks from Obama's campaign on Clinton (see http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/200...). But this just seems kind of desperate - like more chum in the water to try to distract from his own problems. Look, Clinton's a liar. Over there, over there. Nevermind the latest poll numbers showing us getting pasted by McCain and her beating him. And, yes, we know we were using these metrics to argue why Obama had to be the nominee last week, but that's last week.*
First, maybe Clinton has trustworthiness problems because Mr. Hopey and his team has been calling her a liar for six months? And if people hate her so much than why did more of them vote for her in Texas and Ohio and more prefer her in Pennsylvania and West Virginia?
Second, one meeting fifteen years ago where the First Lady - shockingly! - promoted her husband's position on NAFTA. Really? All those pages and pages of scheduling documents, ones you screamed for along with the media, and that's all you got? The First Lady publicly supported her husband's position on NAFTA. Does this mean Michelle won't be publicly supporting, including with members of Congress, President Obama's positions? Or does she just not have a mind of her own and agree with every single thing he says, like Keith Olbermann?
* For the record, I've always thought the GE polls were meaningless this far out, but this is the standard Obama's Team set, not me. It's not my fault he's now failing his own test.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt