Contradictions
Sen. Obama is right that Rev. Wright's teachings are a "contradiction to everything my campaign is about," as he said in today's press conference. That's the problem.
It is simply not possible to reconcile the "post-racial, bring us together" premise of Obama's campaign with the "racist America is a terrorist nation" theology preached by Rev. Wright. And I don't find Sen. Obama's current argument compelling.
He's asking us to believe that Rev. Wright's behavior at the National Press Club--a man Sen. Obama has seen preach hundreds of times--came as a surprise to Barack Obama. That Obama had no idea what Rev. Wright believed until after the preacher speak to the National Press Club yesterday.
In other words, Sen. Obama's answer regarding Rev. Wright's lunacy is "Hey, it's all news to me."
So this is the NEW Rev. Wright? Is that what I'm supposed to believe?
What happened? Has Rev. Wright suddenly changed his medications? Has he suffered a recent trauma. I've watched excerpts of his sermons going back 10 years, and Rev. Wright is consistently paranoid and idiotic throughout. How can I believe that Sen. Obama is "shocked, shocked!" to discover that a racist maniac is, in fact, a racist maniac?
Today's press conference is the reason why Sen. Obama has tried to avoid this moment. How can Sen. Obama wipe away TWENTY YEARS? How can he change the fact that, when he announced his presidential race, it was Rev. Wright in the basement he was praying with beforehand? How can he deny the widely-quoted statements between Rev. Wright and Sen. Obama acknowledging before his campaign started that Rev. Wright's sermons would hurt the Obama campaign?
Sen. Obama is discovering a "natural truth" shared by H. L. Mencken almost 100 years ago: "Any man can bear injustice. What stings is justice."
It is simply not possible to reconcile the "post-racial, bring us together" premise of Obama's campaign with the "racist America is a terrorist nation" theology preached by Rev. Wright. And I don't find Sen. Obama's current argument compelling.
He's asking us to believe that Rev. Wright's behavior at the National Press Club--a man Sen. Obama has seen preach hundreds of times--came as a surprise to Barack Obama. That Obama had no idea what Rev. Wright believed until after the preacher speak to the National Press Club yesterday.
In other words, Sen. Obama's answer regarding Rev. Wright's lunacy is "Hey, it's all news to me."
So this is the NEW Rev. Wright? Is that what I'm supposed to believe?
What happened? Has Rev. Wright suddenly changed his medications? Has he suffered a recent trauma. I've watched excerpts of his sermons going back 10 years, and Rev. Wright is consistently paranoid and idiotic throughout. How can I believe that Sen. Obama is "shocked, shocked!" to discover that a racist maniac is, in fact, a racist maniac?
Today's press conference is the reason why Sen. Obama has tried to avoid this moment. How can Sen. Obama wipe away TWENTY YEARS? How can he change the fact that, when he announced his presidential race, it was Rev. Wright in the basement he was praying with beforehand? How can he deny the widely-quoted statements between Rev. Wright and Sen. Obama acknowledging before his campaign started that Rev. Wright's sermons would hurt the Obama campaign?
Sen. Obama is discovering a "natural truth" shared by H. L. Mencken almost 100 years ago: "Any man can bear injustice. What stings is justice."
posted by Michael Graham at
2:14 PM
<< Home