Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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No "Wright" Explanation
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
11:52 AM
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The text of the speech is here. Ultimately, however, the issue is a simple one. Barack Obama attended Jeremiah Wright's church for more than twenty years, was baptized by him, married by him and had his children baptized by him. For a long time, a person who damns America was an important part of the Obamas' lives, and was not repudiated until it became politically necessary. When all Barack's oratory about the matter has been set aside, that's either acceptable to a voter or it isn't.
Knowing Barack, I don't believe that he himself shares Jeremiah Wright's views -- at least in the way they've been presented. Barack himself doesn't hate America, I don't think. But he's part of the liberal, "post-patriotism" elite. You know, the kind who finds it demeaning to wear an American flag pin -- and defines "true patriotism" as the willingness to "speak[] out on issues that are of importance to our national security.” And the kind who sees himself more as a "citizen of the world" than just a plain old American, first, foremost and forever.
Chances are that Barack joined Wright's church to establish a political base and find a way to gain a toehold into a community he intended to organize. And then he stayed because he didn't find Wright's rhetoric particularly offensive, even if he didn't necessarily agree with it. After all, Wright has said very little that one can't hear in the most radical corners of Ivy League universities. And because the oratory didn't particularly surprise or offend Barack, he was entirely able to look beyond it to embrace Wright as a "spiritual advisor."
With all this, it's still a fair question: Knowing the nature of the oratory -- and the political damage it could do -- why didn't Obama leave the church for the same reason (political advancement) he joined? And to that, the answer may be two-fold.
First, it would be interesting to know Michelle Obama's views on Wright. Given some of her earlier remarks and even the topic of her senior thesis, it's worth asking whether her views on race in America might be a bit more confrontational than her husband's (reflecting, perhaps, the perspective of a descendant of slaves, versus the experience of the son of a Kenyan dignitary).
Second, the Obamas may have decided at some point that the political damage that would be inflicted by leaving the church (and creating the perception that they were trying to "move on up" away from their home church and distance themselves from their community) would be greater than simply taking the heat for Wright. They may have stayed so as not to jeopardize their base.
Whatever the reason, here's why this is so hard to explain away. Whether the vitriolic anti-American remarks were simply insufficiently offensive to Barack, or whether they were offensive but outweighed by personal political considerations, there's simply no justification for them. Ultimately, the whole messy episode does either his judgment or else his character no credit. And there's no spinning that away.
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Obama's statement today did not address his relationship to Wright. Whatever his grandmother might have said, I doubt it could rise to the level of "God damn America" or "We asked for 9/11" as shouted from the pulpit by Rev. Wright. Nor can Grand-Ma's racist statements to a few people cannot compare to the hundreds, possibly thousands of people over the years in Wright's congregation who were subjected to his racist/hateful sermons. In the background of those recordings were the loud "amens" of his congregation; apparently in support of Wright's ideology. While a member of that congregation Obama must have stood-up and cheered "Amen!" along with the rest of the congregation. It is a statistical marvel that over 20 years Obama has managed to never be present when any hatefu/racist statements were made by Wright. Would Wright, with his strong unabashed "public" statements, NOT mention nor discuss any of them with Obama at the "personal" level, one-on-one? Obama likened Wright to be as close as a "family member." He can't have it both ways: Either he was "close" and so, had to have known of Wright's ideology, or their friendship was so "distant" that he could not have recognized Wright's ideology? It's difficult to fathom how he could have made Wright the "religious compass" of his campaign without knowing of Wright's statements. Most people change churches when the Pastor preaches the opposite of what they believe. Obama had to at some level agreed with the Pastor's vile ideology, AND accepted it--otherwise, such a hateful/racist person as Wright would have repulsed any true "non-racist" person. We need to a more complete understanding of Obama's "real" core beliefs before we make him our President. |
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You really can't think of any? It was wacky conservatives (Republican activist, pastor John Hagee) saying that Katrina was caused by gay people. Falwell and Robertson never retracted their statements that the US brought on 9/11 by angering God.
Listen to talk radio. Every day, it is a panoply of outrage, normally aimed at American culture. Every day, Laura Ingraham calls America a sewer. Dinesh D'Souza, a favorite columnist hear, essentially argues, over and over again, that mulsims are RIGHT to hate us for a degraded culture!
The fact is, it is the right who keeps up the constant drumbeat of outrage, the constant insistence that America is horrible and terrible, that ou
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Just keep on slamming black preachers.
And you all wonder why blacks don't vote Republican and Republicans get labeled racists.
There is tact, respectful ways to disagree, then there is Town Hall and its oh so vitriolic word bombs designed to get the most glee from those who agree, and insure the most annoyance from those being tar and feathered.
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Everyone knows that the conservative majority forged in this country since the Reagan revolution requires that arbiters of conservative power keep things simplified so that those who are not college-educated can be kept within the herd.
Thanks for contributing to your own dark cause. May the burning flames of hell sear you through eternity,
Jeff |
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If John McCain won't stand up to his "Mexico First" hispanic outreach director, Juan Hernandez, how can we trust him to secure our borders and enforce our laws? |
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If I read your hateful statements correctly it is an absolute obomination for a black preacher to condemn "America" but are you when the "White" televangelists preach their hate? You certainly weren't disavowing the hatred as loudly as you are here. I am white and lived thru the transitional years of desegregation. In Tennessee during my grade school years, only 2 black kids were on my bus. They were there because their parents were paid to send them to the white school not because they wanted to be. Their parents desperately needed the money to keep a roof over their heads. My mother hired a black lady to help with our ironing and I will never forget my mother's shock when this dear lady asked where an outdoor toilet was! When my mother informed her she was always welcome to use ours she did but used bleach afterwards. Have we already forgotten the recent noose incident that caused such a shameful uproar? This race is not about Obama's church but about Obama's willingness to listen and learn from all sides. Unlike Hillary, his past isn't cloaked in secrecy and shame. His past isn't filled with missing documents that suddenly appear in the Whitehouse after Hillary's associates went to jail or ended up dead. For someone who is demanding Obama open up his records hers are conveniently not open to the public. She claims Obama is as bad as Ken Starr! That must have been one of her slip ups because I am old enough to know why Ken Starr was after her. She really doesn't want anyone to go there, she just might land in jail instead of the Whitehouse. |
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If Obama can't stand up to his America-hating crazy Pastor who is merely armed with a microphone and a podium, how can we trust him to stand up to the America-hating crazy Mullahs who are armed with...nuclear weapons ? |
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Name a country that was not built on God and War. |
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Liberals condemn America for not giving them everything they want free of charge. Conservatives condemn LIBERAL behavior that dominates American culture. |
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"conservatives continually denounce America, American people and American culture"
"Conservatives condemn Americans for their freedoms"
Pretty B-R-O-A-D statements, animalgirl.
Can you support them with specific examples? |
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Aren't conservatives constantly condemning America's culture? Read through this site, it's at least half of the columns. Conservative churches love condemning America.
It's not about condemning America...conservatives continually denounce America, American people and American culture. It's about what you are condemning them FOR. Conservatives condemn Americans for their freedoms, liberals condemn warlike and imperialist behavior. |
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"(and creating the perception that they were trying to "move on up" away from their home church"
"move on up"?
This is what we've come to, using The Jefferson's theme song as a racial marker? Seriously, Carol.
Great Scot!
Buckley dead, Cheney in hiding and now this???
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I am a white, 57 year old woman who was reared in Tioga County, PA. The same Tioga County that made the front page of the Wall Street Journal in the mid 80's for racial and bias acts. It is the same TIoga County that in the 70's ran a black man out of town for dating a white girl. It is a sportsman's paradise and with that it has roots with the KLAN. Residents are much less likely to be members, but faces of lawyers, doctors, accountants and businessmen from Philly or Jersey who have "clubs" in the region, are currently faces of this antiquated organization. They fly their helicopters or bring their Hummers to the region and exchange their angry rhetoric of race, religion and even education bias. They call the residents cattle who are just a breed to serve their needs. The KLAN is no longer an organization against the blacks, it has grown to include all poverty dwellers. It is now a class system. We need to start addressing the "truths" of our nation if ever we are going to overcome our weaknesses. I believe Obama sees this nation with a good heart and a gift of unity and hope. I was reared by a father who uttered the bitterness of a different era. If you walk into an elder care home, you can hear the bias of that generation. I know I hold far different views. I believe many of us have evolved. We can no longer close our eyes. We need to speak about the wrongs, bring them out into the open arena and find a cure for them. Our past does include secret laboratories and tainted history. But those tests were not limited to the blacks. They include Indians, poor whites and orientals. We can utilize this information to create a better tomorrow. |
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Until his speech this morning I thought of Obama as likeable even though a leftist. Now that he has equated Reagan voters and conservative commentators as being equivalent to Rev. Wright's hate speeches, I find Obama not only unlikeable but offensive. His speech did not satisfactorally address Rev. Wright's diatribes and I doubt if he convinced enough voters, if any, to save himself. Assuming he loses, he has only himself to blame. |
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LittleL1954:
You are correct. If he looses the nomianation or the presidency, then he lost because of his race. This country will be even more racially divided after this is all said and done. If he wins, then I'm afraid to say that it's still not over.
Carol Platt Liebau:
I think you have hinted to something that I think is the heart of the matter. To understand why Barak has a strong connection with Rev. Wright you have to point the finger at his wife. Remember, Barak wasn't rased in black neighborhoods; he was raised by pretty much a white family. However, who is going to ask the question where Michelle Obama grew up? Answer: South side of Chicago. She says she is only now proud of her country. She said "America is down right mean". I don't think this is Barak Obama's church. This is Michelle's church and pastor. This is where she grew up. I'm pretty sure she is comfortable with churches like this. So, rejecting Rev. Wright would mean to reject his own wife. Thats why this minister is consider his "crazy-ole" uncle. |
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... means focusing on America's failures, not its successes.
You can quote me on that, if you like. :O) |
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Rev Wright's rants sure don't help to bring people together. I believe this whole mess will set relations back a good 20 years. And he said it in Church - that's the really bad part, using the Cross to divide. At least we know what Wright, the Obamas and the Dem/libs really think of America. |
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When McCain patronizes Americans, at least he has the CHUTZPAH to simply come out and say, "Calm down."
But when Obama patronizes Americans, it is spun under the GUISE of "hope", "unity", and calls for "humilty and contrition." Mere pandering.
Which is the more DECEPTIVE -- and ultimately the more destructive -- approach? |
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If Obama is not the Dem. nominee or if he is the nominee and loses in the General, he has laid the foundation that he lost because of Race.
Did he bring the racial divide out in the open, NO. America knows there is a racial divide. It is how it is addressed that should matter. Not that it exists because of what "injustice" may have been done years or centuries ago, it is about what America has done to correct itself.
I know no one who can walk across Lake Michigan without getting wet, including Barack or Pastor Wright. Telling me why I should accept an angry, hate filled, America hating person (of any race) will not make it acceptable conduct.
When a person carries HATE with them throughout their life, they do so because they Choose To! When the "sins" of the fathers are carried generation to generation, that is NOT CHANGE or HOPE!
Barack had an opportunity to close the book on this but instead he not only supports it, he justified it as Good, beacuse of works done in a local community. By that thinking, Manson can be justified for feeding down and out young people. Support that if you want, but to me it is just flat WRONG thinking!!
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http://berliozblogger.blogtownhall.com/
Great points, Carol. My feeling on the matter is that Barack stayed in the church because his wife felt at home there. Certainly she seems to have taken the Reverend Wright's sermons more to heart than her husband. I agree with you that he is not hateful of America, but the flagpin incident does show how far he was willing to go just to prove he wasn't a "phony" patriot.
But if you are a patriot at all, wearing flagpins, singing the anthem etc are not a big deal, but simply your expression of love of country. Obama has an elitest sense of patriotism.
http://berliozblogger.blogtownhall.com/ |
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