Wrighteous Indignation

At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Barack Obama publicly divorced himself from his former pastor, calling Jeremiah Wright's controversial comments inexcusable rants, destructive, outrageous and appalling. Obama appeared to take the appropriate tone and has received, thus far, mostly positive reviews throughout the blogosphere and in the mainstream media.

The comments by Wright were also wrapped into a news cycle in which Al Sharpton took a surprisingly sharp tone with Obama, criticizing him for seeking nonviolence in the wake of the Sean Bell verdict. According to the New York Post, Sharpton accused Obama of "grandstanding in front of white people." Taken together, Wright's comments and Sharpton's criticism suggest a growing schism among the leadership of the African American community. Those leaders born out of the struggle of the civil rights movement appear frustrated, if not threatened, by a potential Obama presidency.

To some extent, it is a question of method. The post-racial ideals that undergird the Obama candidacy run counter to the tone that Sharpton and Wright have used as a guiding principle: furious anger in the face of injustice. Obama's approach is more measured, more even-keeled, and given his success, more effective. It may be that Sharpton's and Wright's motives are purely selfish, growing out of a fear that Obama will marginalize the need for their kind of leadership.

Whatever the case, that Reverend Wright has stepped back onto the national stage is undoubtedly damaging to the Obama campaign. But it brings with it a silver lining. Though Obama's attempts to defend Wright while denouncing his comments were certainly admirable, it had the effect of keeping the Wright story alive. Now, the nuance that Obama once required is no longer necessary; when McCain or the RNC attacks Wright, Obama can agree.

It also allows Obama to separate himself from Wright in a way he has, until now, been unable. Obama's previous defense of Wright had painted him as a good man taken largely out of context, leaving questions in the minds of many as to how much Obama and Wright were really alike. Now that Wright has proven himself to be angry and arrogant, paranoid and delusional, the contrast between him and Obama could not be more stark. It is no longer possible to compare them.

In the narrow context of the upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, Wright may still prove to have been severely damaging to Obama. But in the broader context of a race that won't end until November, this new controversy will likely subside.

The frustration with presidential contests is that they almost always devolve into issues that do not -- or at least should not -- matter. John Kerry's race was more about Swiss cheese and wind surfing than it was about Iraq and health care. It seems too that a presidential race itself has little relationship to answering who would make a better president. Debates and town halls bear little resemblance to the day to day activities of a commander in chief. But the one thing a presidential campaign can demonstrate is the extent to which a candidate can deal with the political reality of political reality.

Reverend Wright as an issue shouldn't matter. Reverend Wright as an obstacle should. Obama must prove that he is capable of navigating such hurdles, and overcoming them; doing so is the only way he can prove to the American people that he will not be distracted from the work with which he is asking to be entrusted. As of today, he has done his job well.

Comments

[CallMeDeaconBlues]

Well, I am not sure. I am still waiting to hear what a 'typical white person" is?

[axt113]

I know what you are, a person whose unintelligent enough to not comprehend that people occaisionally phrase their comments poorly.

[CallMeDeaconBlues]

Yeah, especially when you are giving a speech about that very subject right?

[PioneerKing]

a typical white person is like the "Chief white woman in America".

[twostrangers]

No longer possible to compare Wright and Obama? Obama in his book "Dreams of my Father" said the only book which touched him was the autobiography of Malcolm X. When he gets to Chicago he joins Jeremiah Wright's church which seems to have a theme similar to the teachings of Malcolm X.

Obama, a politician, joined a highly political and very radical church and stayed for 20 years. Are we supposed to suspend reality and believe that Obama joined a church which held political views opposite from his own? Sorry, I can't bring myself to that point. Wright is inconvenient now to Obama and that is the only reason he has ended the relationship.

[ShawnMichel]

What an idiot you are ... and a hypocrite.

As a matter of course--thus something you'd miss--Wright has ministered to the Clintons, and, as a matter of course, supports Billary in her disgusting bid for the presidency. But you wouldn't know that, would you.

It's also apparently okay for a foul, soul-dead creep like Hagee to support McCain, or for evil unbeings like Robertson, Falwell, et al to support Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. But Wright and his 'radicalism' is just too scary for your sad suburban ass, is he?

How pathetic you are. How misinformed, and well an uninformed, as well as simply ignorant.

Time to wake up, Adolf. The clock, she's a-tickin'!

[axt113]

The only reason you can't, is you lack the intelligence.

See it comes down to this, Wright introduced him to his religion, and so in a way was a father figure to him, had nothing to do with shared political beliefs.

[BeingFrank]

If you want to post an opinion based upon Malcolm X , you should know his full story,
not just the first chapters.

Fact is, Malcolm was assassinated because he changed his views and broke from the Nation of Islam.
At the end of his life, he called for all people to work together in peace and to reject the violence and hatred.

Seeing how you swallow the bits and pieces that suit you, while ignoring the rest, it's clear that yours in the typical response of a person who is masking a deep seated bias, that you evidently don't want to face yourself or admit to the world.

Whatever the case, we can ignore you from this point on,....

[Nommo]

Malcolm was murdered for the same reason that Dr. King was. He had gone beyond the ghetto, linking international events with events here in the states. Once he began to make connections between "Third World" nations and Black people in America, he became dangerous. Malcolm and others were planning to petition to UN to look into the issue of genocide against Black people in this nation.

Do you remember when the French denied entry to Malcolm because they had become aware of a plot to murder him? That kind of stuff is bit beyond the reach of the NOI.

[stockton2malone]

Wright speaking out on issues that effect his community, our community, and his care for communities around the world makes him delusional and "crazy"??? Amazing.

[shackelford]

Maybe we are neglecting the fact that Rev Jeremiah Wright has reached the age where he may have a
touch of senility and we should not be so harsh on him. After all, he was actually quoting
Ambassador Peck (in interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News) when he said much of the
mean things. Frankly, I am wondering if McCain may be also touched with a little senility since he often needs Lieberman at his side.

[hinnis]

First, the vast majority of the statements made by Wright were not quoted from Peck. Secondly, when one quotes another to make a point, one is adopting that same point as their own; therefore, no defense.

[criscokid]

Throughout his campaign, Obama has packaged himself as someone who can bring discordant views to the table to achieve positive change. If he wasn't able to effect cooperation from someone who he has known for 20 years, and someone who purportedly supported him, doesn't that reflect on Obama's ability to gain a consensus from those who will vehemently oppose him?

[BeingFrank]

Your post is totally illogical. There is no path of sense to your train of thought.

You should take the time to rethink your suppositions or you just come off as another one of those that are digging through the garbage for any reason to justify your biases.

[Looplinker]

Really now. Wright may be dillusional and a demagogue, but you must really be dillusional if you think that Obama in his 20 years of association with his spiritual mentor had no inkling of Wright's world view. One cannot deny that there was a 20 year long association between the two men. It is very possible that Wright's statement about Obama saying one thing politically while believing the exact opposite spirtually may be true. The fact that Obama had no problem with Wright until he announced his candidacy for the Presidency and the video tapes surfaced suggest that Wright may know more about Obama than we give him credit for.

The whole affair has shown that Obama demonstrated very poor judgment about his choice of a spiritual mentor. This is not a trivial deficiency. It speaks to character.

[BeFair]

The consequence of Hillary/McCain's poor judgement greatly inpacted people of the world.
1. Vote for Iraq war.
2. Promise to bomb Iran
3. Gas Tax Holiday=no money for infrastructure, job loss, higher oil company profit.....
The consequence of Obama's poor judgement causes only personal pain and anquish to himself.
Wright's rant did not killed anybody.

[axt113]

No, it speaks to a person's humanity, and humans are not perfect, we are very capable of putting blinders on ourselves, and seeing what we want to see not always what is there, Obama's comments were very telling, he still saw Wright as the man he met 20 years ago who introduced him to his religion

[BeingFrank]

Your 'opinion', which is being parroted like a broken record by those who are either can't let go of the frayed rope they thought would hang Obama, or have an unnatural relationship with their pastor, is getting old.

Let me try this from another angle,…

If you want to believe that Wright preached these sound bites every Sunday for 20 years then you are the delusional one, but let's allow you this fantasy for arguments sake.

Wright's political views are his own, from his own era and experiences, as yours are your own, as it is for us all.

Obama's views were formed by his mother his family and by his life, well before he even met Wright.

This can be proven by the path that he has taken in his life, by his choice of public service in the system, not against the system.

Open your eyes and look at the man for who he is, by what he has done, not by the words of a old preacher.

Your argument is ridiculous and marks those who refuse to see the facts that are sitting there in front of your eyes, or have an agenda and are too dishonest or afraid to reveal them.

Whatever the case, only fools would believe so are no loss to the cause,...

[hinnis]

This is not about Wright. It is about the character and judgment of someone who would join a racist black liberation theology church; stay for 20 years; formulate a close relationship with the racist and anti-American pastor; try to conceal this from the public by continually saying that he is a "Christian;" and then expect us to forget about those 20 years, merely because he himself is finally "outraged." Wright preaches black liberation theology. Here are a few statements from James Cone, a founder of black liberation theology, about Obama's religion:

(1) To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people. (2) While it is true that blacks do hate whites, black hatred is not racism. (3) Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.

[Lon]

Wow, that sounds absolutely nothing like the message of Trinity church as preached by the Reverend Wright. It is almost as if you don't care whether your attacks on Obama are truthful.

[hinnis]

Lon, you really need to look this stuff up before you make your comments.

The first two comments by James H. Cone are from his book "Black Theology and Black Power." The last quote is from "A Black Theology of Liberation" By James H. Cone 1990 ISBN-10: 0883446855 Page 27

The fact that Obama's church was a black liberation theology church, and the fact that James Cone was Rev. Wright's theological mentor, used to be on their website, but they have scrubbed their website recently to delete some of the more damaging material. Here is an article about that: http://tinyurl.com/yssq48

Regarding other connections between Rev. Wright's teachings and that of James Cone, merely Google Jeremiah Wright and James Cone and will find many references. If fact, when James Cone was asked which church of any most closely followed the tenets of black liberation theology, he cited Trinity United.

I hope this helps.

[liberalloons]

Obama coming out and saying all that he said is bull and everyone should know it. Suddenly Obama is appalled by Wright? He defended him in his speech about race and said he couldn't "dis-own" him, yet the last couple days Wright is just repeating what he has already said years and years ago and now Obama is upest? It's crazy for him to think americans are that dumb not to pick this up.

I would be willing to bet if all of Obama's baggage came out last year, there would be no way he would be leading this contest.

[ApolloSpeaks]

Obama has proved himself to be a man of stupendous naivity and very poor judgement. Yesterday he looked like a weak and beaten candidate overwhelmed by events. This is not very admirable, not presidential, not even senatorial.

[BeingFrank]

No one can see every mistake in his or her personal life while going through it.

Can you ?

His judgment however when it comes to his public life is laser vision like.
Dispute that !

As far as how he looked yesterday, I saw a man that was hurt by a horrendous betrayal.
Obama stood and took stones and arrows for weeks but did not turn his back on Wright, until the situation was going to effect America.

I call that admirable !

[ApolloSpeaks]

Obama didn't turn against Wright until he became a serious embarrassment and political liability. Not very admirable, not very courageous, but very very expedient and way too late.

[clintonius]

McCain and Hagee?? Anybody? Hello? Anybody going to talk about McCain and Hagee?
I actually like Wright and am pissed at Obama for playing politics....though I know you have to be a lying sack of shit to elected to office in this country.

[Bluesage]

OK - once again - McCrazy did not sit in Hagee's church for 20 years listening to his craziness. Apples and Oranges!!!

[CapitalistRebel]

He just courted his endorsement knowing how crazy he was.

[Goldie9]

Correct-- McBush actually made the effort to gain Hagee's endorsement, even knowing ahead of time that Hagee was a real America hater! America don't need no so-called leaders like McBush and Hagee anymore!

[kdogg]

Well McCain did spend years in a pow camp and I's sure that the pow camp had a far larger effect on McCain then Obama's time at his church. I'm sure that McCain has many psychological scars that are sure to effect his judgment. No one is talking about that either. Give me a freakin break.

[pagopago]

why don't you do something productive and search out kenjisan and apologize for your insensitive and ugliness? This person lost their child in service to this country and you sit here and carry on like your opinion serves any value to any one. The loss of someone's child in Iraq has way more value to America than anything you can ever come up with.

[oldtree]

One cannot question that they author can read and write. One can however marvel at someone who doesn't understand the concept of freedom of speech. Since when did anyone in this country have to answer for what someone else said? Is it the author's idea that someone should?
If you buy in to this kind of "qualification" of free speech, there will be none.

[Bluesage]

It really is kind of humorous to watch the schizophrenia set in on the Obama supporters as they grapple with first defending the good Rev. and everything he says and stands for and then after Obama throws him under a speeding train they are trying to distance themselves from Wright and defend the pitch from Obama. I'm getting so dizzy!

[pagopago]

Need I remind you that you serve Clinton no good with your constant and ugly remarks about Obama and Wright, you only serve to remind the supporters of Obama to bring front and center once again, how Rodham Clinton is an embarrassment for America with the lies she told regarding her role in the Peace Process in Ireland and was called out on it. Her lies about being shot at in Tuzla, Bosnia, where the citizens who were there to greet her were shocked and dismayed by her lies. By her wanting to OBLITERATE Iran.

Please continue to beat the dead horse that is Wright so that we can all continue to remind YOU OF THE FACTS about your candidate, who is presently in court in California for election fraud. By all means, continue to bring up things of no relevance to Obama and continue the name calling so that 5 Obama supporters will challenge you and remind you of what a disgrace Rodham Clinton has become on the international stage, and how she has managed to bring down the Clinton legacy for her own selfish lust for power. Do continue, Dizzy, you have not seen anything yet.

[TXfemmom]

Say what you like but Obama sat in that man's church for 20 years. Either he agreed with him, or he didn't leave the church, or he used the situation for his gain. Even if he just misread Wright's character, what does that say about Obama?

I diagree with Wright, but I also disagree with Robertson, Hagee, and all the far right wingnuts, too.

[Goldie9]

TX-- If you paid attention at all to what Sen. Obama said on Tuesday, Rev. Wright no longer represents the man he knew 20 years ago... people do change, you know. I've have a few friends that I've had to disassociate from because they were no longer the same friends I had 2 or 3 decades ago.

[Bluesage]

OK Huff Post - I apologize for my snarky remark about you deleting my post. My bad! They were there, then they weren't and now they are back. Ooops!!

[elusiveyo]

so i guess what youre insinuating in this post is Obama will take on the black leaders that may scare white people, and he's not like them, and besides none of this should matter, cause Obama did the right thing, well know one believes that Obama did this for any other reason than cya, (except the dittoheads that worship Obama's Disneyesque speeches) couple with that the fact he said the same thing about his friend and slumlord Rezko when he neede to jettison him when it became politically expediant, he is an empty suit just like gwb