Mame wrote:nimh, question for you:
What do you personally think of a man who abandons someone for the sake of his aspirations? Do you feel he consigned The Good Reverend to the fates with his denials of listening to him in church, agreeing with his views, etc., yet remaining in his parish for 20 years as a 'loyal' parishoner?
I'm having a little trouble with his distancing himself from the Pastor the way he has. I think Obama could have spent some time explaining where Wright was coming from. A friend would have done that. A loyal parishoner would have done that.
Hi Mame,
Well I myself would rather have seen Obama stick with a more nuanced answer. One that would repeat that "no, I do not agree with much of anything that Rev. Wright said at the Press Club, and I want to emphasise that both as President and as candidate now, my political philosophy, actions and policies are guided by principles that are starkly the opposite from those Wright has expressed" -- well, the whole thing he
did say, now -- "but I do object to how Wright has been reduced and baited into a caricature of the man I have known and listened to for many years, and I do think it's important for Americans to realise the wellsprings of his anger; because for a man of his generation especially, but to any black man still today, there is plenty of cause for anger, however it ends up being expressed."
<nods> Yeah, something like that would be my perfect answer. But there's three problems with it: A), most importantly, I am more radical than Obama is; the last bit especially is just not very "Obama". B) It is the answer of an outside observer like me, whereas Obama must have been extremely angry. C) Yes, it would have been political suicide.
I do think it deserves pointing out, however, that Obama
did do exactly what you say. He did, at length, explain where Wright was coming from, defend Wright's perspective as a logical/natural one for a man like him, and
did emphasise that he had learnt much in Wright's congregation, and valued his experiences there. He did all that in his big race speech.
So it's not like he just threw the man under the bus (gack, I hate that expression by now) as soon as he meant political trouble. Obama took as principled a position on this as I've seen any politician take on a matter like this (compare that with the cowardly "I did not inhale"!). When Wright then went on a national speaking tour, however, feeding a continuous media frenzy, of course the political pressure grew. But I think it was more than that which caused Obama to unambiguously condemn him.
It was, for one, Wright saying that all this stuff that Obama had said in his race speech? Thats just what a politician has to say. Suggesting Obama was lying or obfuscating or just being opportunistic. That must really have stung. I think Obama was rightly just plain angry about that, even wholly aside from the destructive effect Wright's claims was threatening to have on his campaign, and that it made him want to set the record straight once and for all. I can easily see that.
