Remember when Barack first put himself forward? The Obama's not black enough kerfuffle among the old guard civil rights activists? Most of them slowly came around, driven partly by the Clintons' willingness to marginalize Barack after South Carolina but mostly because -- it was just crazy not to. After Iowa the impossible had become possible.
But still. At some level there was this feeling, and it didn't go away. A feeling of -- this isn't fair. It fell into his lucky lap. Look at him, swanning around in front of all those adoring white kids, reaping all the props. And he never paid his dues.
Jeremiah Wright is like the return of the repressed, a last desperate lunge of the undead 60s toward center stage. Wright represents a longing for enduring relevance so deep that it is willing to sabotage the very possibility of setting out on the long road that runs past race in order to preserve the claims of a certain righteousness, a certain rhetoric, a certain stance -- a familiar and heroic sense of self-in-the-world.
It's so hard to get old. It's so hard to watch history pass you by. It's so hard to look out across a public landscape in which your style of being once loomed so large and to realize that somehow -- you are suddenly yesterday.
People who say Obama needs to confront Wright are correct. But he needs to do it simply, he needs to tell the truth. He needs to say, kindly but firmly: old man, I love you and I thank you for your service -- but your day is done.
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Jeremiah Wright just doesn't get it. He is so full of himself that he is blind to the fact that his own parishioner could be the one person in America who can help change our myriad racial problems . Barack Obama is a visionary with his eye on making a better world for everyone. Wright is a mean-spirited man (did you see him make fun of John Kennedy's Boston accent?) who is so caught up in his own self-importance that he is willing to deny black Americans (and white Americans) the opportunity to move forward, past the hatred and divisiveness of the last 200 years. Wright just keeps fueling the fires.
America has not always acted well and it is true that our leaders have made some poor choices in the past. But here comes Obama with a plan to get us back on the right track and Wright is running around like Rumplestilskin on steroids, having temper tantrums, ignoring the peaceful solutions Obama is seeking, and dwelling on the negatives that he feels divide black and white Americans. I'm so sick of negatives. I'm sick of the so-called media shouting out what they call newscasts. I'm tired of tabloid journalism and hate. I want reason. I want logic. I want good will. I want peace on earth. I thought that's what all people want, pastors included - peace on earth. Guess I was wrong.
The problem is what the 'Rev ' is saying is for the most part correct. The far left was right in the sixties and we are paying a huge price today for losing that battle. Today you want to start the discussion with right wing talking points and have the nerve to insult the people that got it right the first time around.
Being the nice guy Obama is, he never disowned the pastor. But Rev Wright's confrontational way is not what Obama preaches and it's time for Obama to speak up and disown the guy. Obama knows very well that racism is not confined between Blacks and Whites, it affects Yellow, brown and all shades of color. As he has a family of all colors, Obama has gained the right to disown him.
Huffington post and all the other blogs should post this picture at the tops of their pages.
oad.wikime dia.org/wi kipedia/en /c/cc/Jere miah_Wrigh t_Dec_1961 _Boot_Camp _Graduatio n.jpg
http://upl
Absolutely correct! Perhaps the Matthews and other MSM folks who never served in the military or spoke to a Non-commissioned officer should listen to where these AIDS stories are coming from. The only one's I've heard speak of AIDS and military labs are people who were in the military themselves. It's not black or white, its both and in many cases people who feel very bad about military testing in the civilian sector. Maybe the AIDS didn't happen but it's close enough to many things that did that it resonates. You could add "Plum Island" to that same story with Lyme disease. The point is that the world's governments and large pharmaceutical corporations are treating the civilians like the U.S. treated the civilian populations of Germany and Japan. Or seem to be. It doesn't matter if any one specific case is true. What matters is the fear and the liklihood of it being true. Consider the new push for Nuclear Power and the deliberate lack of security around working nuclear plants. You can believe almost anything given such ineptitude. Digoweli
What's with the Obama/Clinton blackout from the HuffPo since saturday? Too much negative news out there about Obama? Fox News 101; CHANGE THE SUBJECT.
It might be instructive to remember that Rev. Wright gave up his college draft deferment during the Vietnam War and joined the Marines, then transferred to the Navy and became a Corpman.
Too bad Mr. 5 deferments Cheney or Mr. Ingrown Hair Limbuagh didnt serve like Rev. Wright did.
Im not trying to say he's some kind of hero but I bet Fox never mentioned that while they were playing
those clips over and over and over. I dont think anyone else has either. At some point people earn the
right to say what they think.
You are supposed to already have that right as an American. If you happen to endanger Obambi's campaign, then you are in biiig trouble.
You are so wrong. I can't believe Jeremiah Wright wants Sen. Obama to lose. First of all, the Rev. Wright Issue is one created by the media. What the media has done is create a convenient scapegoat. It is so easy for a closet racist to say I was going to vote for him until I learned about his former pastor. If Sen. Obama loses the nomination, it is not because of Jeremiah Wright. It will be because of the number of people that are racist in their heart of hearts. It will be because of the dumbing down of America and the inablity of people to actually think for themselves. And it is because America does not want to heal as a nation by turning from their wickedness so they can be blessed by God.
THIS post is a very good example of why the Obamabots are not trusted.
It's not that we think that Clinton is not a better candidate.
It's not that we don't like Obama's stands on many of the issues
It's not that we have real issues on whether or not Obama is electable.
No, none of these are vaguely possible to the trance/ranting Obamabots. If someone doesn't fall to his knees and worship Barack's aura, then there's nothing for it but that person has to be a RACIST. You children have an awful lot to learn. Sadly, you may not have the innate intelligence to do so...
-MS
MS
Obama supporters are not all some kind of delusional or misguided fools. Bots with no will of our own as you would seem to indicate. That directly contradicts the evidence. Barack gets MORE educated people.
I do think that the electability question often comes down to race. Rendell said PA will not vote for a black person and I think people are afraid that is true for the rest of the US. They should feel reassured as Barack has widespread support with more votes, delegates, and states won.
Clinton has run a miserable campaign and would likely run and equally miserable White House. Her ability to lead is what should be at question. Your point about Hillary being more electable is moot. She can't even run a good primary campaign and we are to expect a better general election campaign?
Also, she is one of the most divisive figures in politics and has HIGH negatives. That is not a recipe for unifying the party or winning. She is the weaker candidate who has written off whole states as unimportant and ticked off whole blocks of voters in her bid for the nomination.
You accuse Obama supporters to be delusional, but if you can ignore all of then maybe it really is the pot calling the kettle black.
At this point according to the Rev. Wright it is all about the Rev. Wright (indeed he is all of Black America) and whatever he says, it is always right. Rather than quietly, rationally explain the context of his words, he provides cable news with more. I don't care about the Rev. Wright, but you know they'll try to beat Obama with him, for as long as anyone does care.
I am not voting for a war hero, black person or a female. I am voting for the person who, I feel will make decisions that will help the average Americans and do what is the best interest of the majority of Americans, not the ultra-rich. I LOL when I hear the term from the “sainted” Ronnie Raygun: trickledown effect. (has never worked, never will). What America gets with republicans and republican lite’s is more of making the rich richer and hope the huddled masses do not revolt. Enough is enough. Of the three choices today, McCain is a total loser (flip flops like a fish out of water), and Hillary is not far behind, she and her slimy husband will say whatever they think will get them elected. Obama is the only candidate who appears to want to help the average American. That is why MSM and Billary try to destroy Obama, they want to keep the rich get richer syndrome going.
This blog post is a perfect example of why Psychology 101 should be banned from the curriculum.
.
From your lips to G-d's ear...
Let me guess, you are a boomer and resent the implication.
I rest my case.
Like Obama said, he went there to worship God, not his pastor.
This simple statement is brilliant, and absolutely true. It ends right there, and all should easily understand. Let's not dare take any thing away from God.
I have found myself feeling the same way in church since I was a kid.
Priests and pastors talking at times as if they were the only connection to God. Wrong.
But it's not about that. I was there to worship God, not the messenger.
I think everyone should relax, take a deep breath and stop listening to MSM trying to freak us out. Wright says some things that are right on; he also comes across as an egotistical racist sometimes. But, there's nothing for us to do. Wright is Wright. Obama is Obama. They don't agree on a lot of things and they seem like very different kinds of people with very different temperments and personal histories. We're not voting for Wright. He's not running for any office that I know of. Let's keep him in perspective and do what we can to help others do the same.
I agree. Listening to Rev. Wright was like watching a 1966 newsreel. Rev. Wright is still living in the Sixties--before "Black History" courses entered university curricula, before the entire country learned about the African American experience through the mini-series "Roots", before Colin Powell became Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Sect. of State, before Condi Rice, before Will Smith became big box office. Rev. Wright has accomplished a lot--but he does not represent the entire African American church,. Now, he seems to have forgotten that he is merely a servant of God; he himself is not God Almighty. His vanity, pride and jealousy are at play right now. Obama represents the future--he is not a part of the rancor and divisiveness of the Sixties, as Hillary and Rev. Wright are. Sixties' and Seventies' leftist activists, like Wright and Hillary, thrived on division, one-upsmanship (the dozens?) and in-your-face, shock value tactics. They were so destructive they opened the door for the right, as they are opening the door for McCain now.. Hillary and Rev. Wright are alike; it isn't surprising that Hillary and Rev. Wright's mutual friend, Barbara Reynolds, organized Rev. Wright's National Press Club (harangue) appearance. Ms. Reynolds did a hugh favor for her friend, Hillary Clinton, by organizing the Press Club event; I wonder what Hillary promised her in return. The Sixties are over. Rev. Wright and Hillary are anachronis ms--atavar s of the Sixties.
Sidney Poiter was huge box-office in the 1960s. How many Oscars has Will Smith by the way?
As a Liberation Theologian Dr. Wright preaches as if martyrdom is always upon him, so subtlety is not the standard. His namesake, Prophet Jeremiah, was martyred by his own government -- the Judean monarchy for calling out the King as a sinner and announcing the impending destruction of Judah by foreign armies by God's permission. John the Baptist was imprisoned for baptizing people (something allowed only to Temple priests) and executed for defaming the Queen. The bible teaches that holy men are supposed to be in-your-face. Didn't God punish Jonah for his timidity?
Thomas,
You have stated this election in it's basic reality. This is not a racial or ideological election, but one about generation. The older generation, as represented by pastor Wright narcasystically wants to remain relevant but continue to dredge old wounds forward in a vain attempt to overcome them. What is ironic is that the younger generation has already done this and now sees the urgency of following a new path. Everyone is playing the "change is good' card, but instinctively younger people know Barack gets it while his over the hill challenger don't. This is about relevancy not winning. Race is not an issue because it's not. Older die hards insist on paying the same immature game and it only invigorates the younger electorate to get involved and take power. This won't be easy or smooth, but most see it as necessary. None of the candidates is far off on position and arguments dribble forth into dice rolls on policy. The general toe though is that it is not about genius in governance but maturity in viewpoint. Even if Obama makes mistakes his election will be a turning point in our history that will repair our collective ideals. Not because he is better or above the fray of politics, but beyond the old generational baggage by simply being who he is and how far he has gotten.
Obama has to do a few things to stay viable.
He must now show anger real anger towards Wrights latest comments, especially the attack on the Black Church and his implying that Obama didn't really distance himself from Wright. He will always love Wright and be eternally grateful to him for leading him Christ. Chicago has appreciates all of the wonderful things that the church has done for the community. However, he does not speak for me or the Black Church. Obama must state he loves this country and its citizens and that Black Church’s don't believe or teach diverseness.
Flood the airwaves with ads depicting the high gas prices, home foreclosures, factories closing, high unemployment, families for the first time having to use food banks. State that all of these events took place while a Republican sat in the Oval Office.
Tell people don't be fooled again, Vote for the real issues that affect your life, not someone's "fear" strategy.
Create ads that ask : Does listening to pundit's attacks on my patriotism make their lives any better? Do they address the question of how they are put food on the table? Do they help bring the jobs back? Do they make gas cost any less or help people stay in their homes? You must stop allowing the pundits and TV & radio personalities distract you from the real issues that affect your life.
If he does that successfully, he will have a chance.
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