Conventional wisdom, conveyed infallibly by Cokie Roberts on NPR and by scores of others, is that Jeremiah Wright’s recent media appearances – on Bill Moyers’ PBS show, at an NAACP dinner in Los Angeles, and at the National Press Club – are a problem for Barack Obama. Ever careful not to challenge the conventional wisdom, watch for Obama to distance himself even more blatantly from his old friend and mentor. I have a dream, though – that Obama will tell Cokie and the others where to go.
Were he to say forthrightly that Wright is right -- except maybe for one over the top remark about the government’s role in spreading HIV/AIDS in the black community and, of course, for the godly spin that shrouds his otherwise keen observations – Obama would move out of the lesser evil category into the ranks of candidates who are worth supporting with (measured and critical) enthusiasm, and not just because of whom they are running against. But this is even less likely than that she whom Obama is running against will come to the aid of her party by just going away. Nevertheless, the fact remains: what the good Reverend said about racism and America’s role in the world is on point, timely and urgent. If there is a pundit sophistically clever enough to show (not just assert) otherwise, she or he is still slouching towards CNN headquarters --or the headquarters of one or another of its (increasingly few) rivals in the pro-regime propaganda business -- to be born.
3 comments:
wright's speech to the naacp was largely lovey-dovey toward all religions and emphasized recognizing that differences in appearance,culture etc.should not be equated with deficiency--fine so far.
but then he emphasized that the brains and nervous systems of africans and african-american children are fundamentally different from those of europeans and euro-americans---this is mischievous,misguided claptrap.
together with his religious claptrap (which i grudgingly admit is
the sort of thing americans seem to have a sweet tooth for) this makes him heavy baggage for obama to be carrying around.
wright's speech to the naacp was largely lovey-dovey toward all religions and emphasized recognizing that differences in appearance,culture etc.should not be equated with deficiency--fine so far.
but then he emphasized that the brains and nervous systems of africans and african-american children are fundamentally different from those of europeans and euro-americans---this is mischievous,misguided claptrap.
together with his religious claptrap (which i grudgingly admit is
the sort of thing americans seem to have a sweet tooth for) this makes him heavy baggage for obama to be carrying around.
I agree that if Obama said that Wright was right, then he would move out of the category of the lesser evil, and into the category of supportable candidate. However, with that said, I have to wonder if he would also move out of the category of electable candidate for the Presidency. I suppose that I have become very cynical over the last several years, but my confidence in the American public's ability to accept the sort of criticism that Reverend Wright gives is very low. It's almost half of Democrats who are voting for someone who voted to authorize the war, for crying out loud. That just says it all.
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