Trying To Plug The Dike
Well, the story of the little Dutch boy sticking his finger in the dike to hold back the surging sea may be completely made up, but the image is useful here. Because Barack Obama is surely trying to stem a surging tide of negative publicity about his close, personal relationship with the serial America-bashing cleric, Reverend Wright.
Officials at Sen. Barack Obama's church have taken offense at the controversy born out of the fiery statements made by their senior pastor who sermonized that black Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
"I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have [been] the subject of this controversy," Obama said, saying that he'd never heard any of them personally.
"One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president and I put out a statement at that time condemning them," he continued.
But more than a year ago, Obama disinvited Wright from speaking at his candidacy announcement. Wright told The New York Times then that Obama told him, "You can get kind of rough in the sermons. … It's best for you not to be out there in public."
Church member and University of Chicago theology professor Dwight Hopkins says Wright's message has been taken out of context.
"The whole point to Dr. Wright's sermons is to how do you make America a better America. If anything he's a true patriot," Hopkins said.
Sorry, Hopkins, I'm not buying that particular ration of rationalization. Hate against one's country is not patriotism. Nor are the increasingly ludicrous chorus of the true believers saying that Wright is no different than Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell getting any traction here. No Republican presidential hopeful that I am aware of claimed either of those two as their spiritual mentor.
The fact is that Obama has a serious problem right now. Is the Clinton campaign helping push this? Oh, heck yes. That does not make it less of a real problem. Obama has sat in this pastor's church for twenty years and cannot have been absent from every single hate-filled sermon. It does not - and should not - sit well with a lot of people.
(I've never defended Roberts or Falwell on this site, It is patently lame for the true believers to try that particular defense here. There is zero equivalence.)
By TKelso, Monday, 17 March , 2008 @ 11:57 pm
Tonight, Chicago’s PBS station featured a local journalist roundtable on Obama’s Reverend Wright problem. Participating reporters from the Tribune and the Sun-Times were all unsatisfied by Obama’s response to date and were actually talking about him as they would any other Chicago politician (where we routinely consider all of them corrupt-until-proven-innocent). The most interesting reactions came from the lone African-American on the panel (who seemed to be a community member rather than a reporter). Anyway, this nice woman seemed very uncomfortable addressing the topic and said as little as possible anytime it was her turn to speak. Granted, she is a focus group of one, but I sensed a reluctance in her defense of Sen Obama as well as what I interpreted as a recognition that this relationship with Reverend Dr. Wright represents a serious threat to his candidacy. Seems to me that this may turn out to be a very very big problem for Obama.
By syn, Tuesday, 18 March , 2008 @ 5:42 am
I wonder if Iowans who put Obama in the race back in December are not a tad bit angry today at the media for doing such a poor job of vetting Obama?
By K T Cat, Tuesday, 18 March , 2008 @ 7:23 am
I thought that Romney’s speech on religion was a disaster. The last thing he needed was to call attention to religion. This one is even worse. Barack has straddled two very polar constituencies and after the initial wave of euphoria praising his eloquence, hard-headed analysts will dissect his speech and rip him to shreds no matter what he says.
Having said that, he really doesn’t have much of a choice any more. I think his only way out of this is to take a hard stand one way or the other. Anything other than that will prove the critics right - that he’s a mealy-mouthed weasel.
By Neo, Tuesday, 18 March , 2008 @ 11:25 am
Just how is a President Obama going to take on those who’s intentions are genuinely evil, when he can’t confront the softer prejudice and misunderstanding in the church he has been attending for some 20 years ?His speech may fool some Catholics who don’t understand how other Christian denomination run there churches, but, really, Obama’s inaction shows a real lack of leadership. If he can’t put himself and his desire for racial harmony ahead of his pastor, you have to wonder why he bothered to attend Trinity at all, except possibly just for show.
By syn, Tuesday, 18 March , 2008 @ 12:07 pm
Lately I’ve personally been questioning the divide seen among various religious institutions, couldn’t figure out if they’re preaching or sermonizing God’s words or Marx’s words; for example, I cannot understand how a Methodist minister of God could endorse a politician who voted to continue sucking out baby’s brains.
Now, after hearing the Lord’s name used in vain by a man of the cloth inside a House of God and reading that the United Church of Christ is defending Rev Wright taking the Lord’s name in vain I can only conclude that the United Church of Christ isn’t preaching the word of God and perhaps should rename itself the United Church of Anti-Christ.
Forget for one moment Rev. Wright’s skin color, isn’t it troublesome to hear the lord’s name taken in vain by a man of the cloth inside God’s church?
My point is that progressive Leftism (or rather liberal fascism) seems to have inflitrated God’s holy houses and all this talk about rascism, classism, ad nauseumism is a disguise for some not so Godly churches.
By martian, Tuesday, 18 March , 2008 @ 12:52 pm
"saying that he’d never heard any of them personally"
Who is he trying to kid? I swear he thinks we’re all stupid! He really wants us to believe that over a period of 20+ years with Wright as his "close personal friend", "mentor", and "spiritual advisor" he never heard Wright express what are clearly extremely strong, deeply held convictions on Wright’s part (just watch the tapes and tell me they’re not)? I am personally deeply insulted that Obama thinks I’m that much of a fool! And you (and by that I mean all of you who are reading this and the American pubilc in general) should be deeply insulted, as well, that Obama thinks so little of your intelligence.
As for this Hopkins character, he’s just as bad! Nothing was "taken out of context" in those tapes. There can be only one interpretation of what Wright said. There is no context that would make what he said acceptable. Wright a patriot? Sure, right up there with Benedict Arnold and John Kerry!