It’s No Longer Cool to Hang With Racists?
May 4, 2008 – 10:13 amI know that I’m a bit late on this, but I can’t resist commenting. Barack Obama has [finally] separated himself from his former father figure-pastor-confidant-spiritual advisor. In a speech that came approximately two months later than it should have, Obama called Reverend Wright’s media hoopla nothing more than a series of incomprehensible rants. If elected, let’s hope he’s quicker when it comes to addressing national security issues. Considering his vast political experience (cough, cough), I’m sure we have nothing to worry about. After all, Obama’s got more than enough hope and change to go around, right?
If Obama’s recent denunciation isn’t a sure-fire decree that his leadership skills need tailoring, I don’t know what is. Only now, when Obama’s numbers are slipping, has he decided to step forward against his bigoted former pastor. Not only do I find it reprehensible that Obama waited to long to disavow his mentor’s words, but it’s also laughably ironic. His supporters will say one of two things – either “Reverend Wright was right (no pun intended)” or “Obama is finally doing the right thing.” Both statements are shamefully incorrect.
Oh, but I almost forgot the third response – from those individuals who think they’re being fair-minded: “Well what does Wright’s connection to Obama matter anyway?” This response is quite possibly the most ridiculous of the three; I’d rather have someone agree with Wright than openly admit that a candidate’s allegiances don’t matter.
So, to address the latter of the three: Reverend Wright is a racist who preached divisiveness. Obama was directly connected to him, he heard Wright’s racist and anti-American rants and sat unshaken at the Trinity United Church of Christ, Wright married Obama and his wife, he baptized his children – oh, and Wright also inspired one of Obama’s books. That’s more than an allegiance. And it matters.
To address the first response, how can anyone actually believe that Wright was right? Sure, you may agree with the sentiment – that African Americans have had it tough in America, but to actually believe that what this man preached, the manner that it was delivered in, was right is also reprehensible. Don’t get me wrong – America still has her share of racial issues. While I believe that this nation needs to rectify its past skeletons, I also believe that we need to be realistic about our nation’s demographics.
And to address the second statement (that Obama is finally doing the right thing): Why the hell did it take so long? The only logical conclusion centers upon the notion that Obama didn’t necessarily disagree with Wright. Most logical human beings would run fast and far from a pastor who made such ferocious statements — unless of course they agreed. This — to some degree — is indefinitely the case with Obama. He knows that he has no chance of winning in a nation that is around 70% Caucasian if he doesn’t separate himself from Wright’s rants.
Here is a snippet from some of Wright’s hope-filled words:
“The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people…God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”
Race has never been an issue for me; I’ve always befriended individuals without considering their heritage as a deciding factor. I find it ironic that Wright can use those words and actually believe that they are part of the Christian doctrine. Instead of harsh and divisive words, would it not be more effective to share the plight of African Americans and other minorities who are downtrodden by a broken educational system and a history that has led to suppression? Instead, Wright tells white people what trash they are. If his methods are right, then I must be insane.
Was Wright also correct in his assertion that Farrakhan is one of the greatest voices of this century? Let’s hope not.
I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard from the Reverend.
4 Responses to “It’s No Longer Cool to Hang With Racists?”
@ “…but to actually believe that what this man preached, the manner that it was delivered in, was right is also reprehensible.”
Obama has repudiated Wright’s demagoguery.
I’ve yet to see McCain denounce the the extremist views of the cornpone fundamentalist nutjob, Reverend Rod Parsley of the Pentecostal World Harvest Church, whose endorsement he actively sought, and won.
In his 2005 book, Silent No More, Parsley wrote:
“I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.”
Here we see the mind of a born-again sociopath who claims America has a divine purpose— leading a “Christian” jihad against Muslims.
Yet this story seems to be a non-starter with the same mainstream media that has excoriated Jeremiah Wright.
Just more proof that there is no hypocrisy too low for McCain now that he’s trying to court the evangelical vote he alienated with his past (and entirely correct) denunciations of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance”.
So we are treated to the sorry spectacle of McCain bootlicking extremist demagogues like Parsley, and he gets a free pass from the craven mainstream media.
By Vince Williams on May 8, 2008
Sadly, you’re case is weak. Is this the best response that Democrats have to offer when confronted with the Rev. Wright debacle? John McCain has never attended Parsley’s church, did not write a book and claim that it was inspired by Parsley, was not married by Parsley and does not consider Parsley a confidant. I’m not sure why you think that this is a valid comparison; it’s not.
Furthermore, even if is was valid, Parsley’s comments are religiously-based. While they have a small affect over America’s cohesiveness, race — what the crazed Rev. Wright commented on — has a far greater potential to divide Americans. And since this is a race for the American presidency, there is no doubt that the implications associated with his statements are far more dangerous. Obama has continued to speak about hope and change and bringing the nation together, yet he sat in a pew and listened to a man who preaches nothing of the sort. It’s ironic at the least.
By Billy Hallowell on May 9, 2008
You’ve missed my point. John McCain is a moral fraud.
McCain calls this fundamentalist hooligan Parsley a “moral compass” and a “spiritual guide”. Only a fool would believe he’s sincere when he says that.
The sight of McCain groveling before this redneck rabble-rouser shows us just how desperate he is.
A man who will compromise his religious convictions to get elected president is spiritually bankrupt.
By Vince Williams on May 9, 2008
I don’t know whether Hillary is the female McCain, or if McCain is the male Hillary.
Each would throw their own principles (?) under a bus and say ANYTHING (see “Gas Tax Holiday”) to garner a vote.
It’s part arrogance, part desperation, part situational morality.
And wholly, transparently insincere.
Neither one could pass a polygraph test.
By Steve Levine on May 9, 2008