mudwhistle

"I can no more disown him (Jeremiah Wright) than I can disown my white grandmother."

-- Barack Obama, Philadelphia, March 18

WASHINGTON -- Guess it's time to disown Granny, if Obama's famous Philadelphia "race" speech is to be believed. Of course, the speech was not just believed. It was hailed, celebrated, canonized as the greatest pronouncement on race in America since Lincoln at Cooper Union. A New York Times columnist said it "should be required reading in classrooms across the country." College seniors and first-graders, suggested the excitable Chris Matthews.

Apparently there's been a curriculum change. On Tuesday, the good senator begged to extend and revise his previous remarks on race. Moral equivalence between Grandma and Wright is now, as the Nixon administration used to say, inoperative. Poor Geraldine Ferraro, thrice lashed by Obama in Philadelphia as the white equivalent of Wright's raving racism, is now off the hook.

These equivalences having been revealed as the cheap rhetorical tricks they always were, Obama has now decided that the man he simply could not banish because he had become part of Obama himself is, mirabile dictu, surgically excised.

At a news conference in North Carolina, Obama explained why he finally decided to do the deed. Apparently, Wright's latest comments -- Obama cited three in particular -- were so shockingly "divisive and destructive" that he had to renounce the man, not just the words.

What were Obama's three citations? Wright's claim that AIDS was invented by the U.S. government to commit genocide. His praise of Louis Farrakhan as a great man. And his blaming 9/11 on American "terrorism."

But these comments are not new. These were precisely the outrages that prompted the initial furor when the Wright tapes emerged seven weeks ago. Obama decided to cut off Wright not because Wright's words or character or views had suddenly changed. The only thing that changed was the venue in which Wright chose to display them -- live on national TV at the National Press Club. That unfortunate choice destroyed Obama's Philadelphia pretense that this "endless loop" of sermon excerpts being shown on "television sets and YouTube" had been taken out of context.

Obama's Philadelphia oration was an exercise in contextualization. In one particularly egregious play on white guilt, Obama had the audacity to suggest that whites should be ashamed they were ever surprised by Wright's remarks: "The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning."

That was then. On Tuesday, Obama declared that he himself was surprised at Wright's outrages. But hadn't Obama told us that surprise about Wright is a result of white ignorance of black churches brought on by America's history of segregated services? How then to explain Obama's own presumed ignorance? Surely he too was not sitting in those segregated white churches on those fateful Sundays when he conveniently missed all of Wright's racist rants.

Obama's turning surprise about Wright into something to be counted against whites -- one of the more clever devices in that shameful, brilliantly executed, 5,000-word intellectual fraud in Philadelphia -- now stands discredited by Obama's own admission of surprise. But Obama's liberal acolytes are not daunted. They were taken in by the first great statement on race: the Annunciation, the Chosen One comes to heal us in Philly. They now are taken in by the second: the Renunciation.

Obama's newest attempt to save himself after Wright's latest poisonous performance is now declared the new final word on the subject. Therefore, any future ads linking Obama and Wright are pre-emptively declared out of bounds, illegitimate, indeed "race-baiting"(New York Times editorial, April 30).

On what grounds? This 20-year association with Wright calls into question everything about Obama: his truthfulness in his serially adjusted stories of what he knew and when he knew it; his judgment in choosing as his mentor, pastor and great friend a man he just now realizes is a purveyor of racial hatred; and the central premise of his campaign, that he is the bringer of a "new politics," rising above the old Washington ways of expediency. It's hard to think of an act more blatantly expedient than renouncing Wright when his show, once done from the press club instead of the pulpit, could no longer be "contextualized" as something whites could not understand and only Obama could explain in all its complexity.

Turns out it was not that complex after all. Everyone understands it now. Even Obama.

Townhall.com::Obama's Changing Moral Equivalence::By Charles Krauthammer

winthrop

The real problem was not Reverend Wright's beliefs on the "AIDS conspiracy" (there is a history of government experimentation on Black citizens, so while the AIDS conspiracy may itself be far-fetched, the suspicion is understandable), his praise of Farrakhan (whether or not white people think Mr. Farrakhan is scary, he does address fears and more suspicions which result from the four hundred years history of American race relations, and are understandable), and the American responsibility for terrorism against ourselves and allies (the word "blowback" applies, as any objective observation of our activities in the Middle East since the beginning of the Oil Age and particularly in the Cold War will attest).

The real problem was Reverend Wright's dismissal of Mr. Obama as "doing what a politician has to do", or reducing Mr. Obama to a mere "politician". He is a politician, of course, and that will become more obvious and clear the closer we get to November. Whether or not he is more remains to be seen.

Mr. Obama was to be applauded for his reluctance to toss aside the man who performed his marriage, baptized his children and led the church wherein Mr. Obama felt he had found the purpose of life. That suggested he might be more than mere "politician".

Now political reality forces him, after the Reverend responded to Mr. Obama's extraordinary, if not totally unqualified, loyalty by bringing Mr. Obama back to earth, to more thoroughly denounce the Reverend, and rightly so, since the man he thought was his friend has proven to be anything but.

The Reverend and consequently Mr. Obama have reminded us that, whatever else to which he may aspire, Mr. Obama is a politician running for office. That will disappoint only the naive and easily disillusioned.

As for Mr. Krauthammer, his leap to attack Mr. Obama leaves him to explain what he would prefer; more of the last seven years? If so, then he is a fool as much as Mr. Bush himself, as well as his dwindling supporters. Of course he wants to keep the Reverend issue alive, while disregarding his candidate's own religionist supporters who call for (and pray for) genocide to cleanse the world of those unlike themselves so it will be a new paradise. I suspect Mr. Krauthammer will never utter a peep about those characters.

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Kanadesaga

As opposed to your crippled ass servicing TheDick?




Things change dipshit. The preacher got "Hollywood" and forgot the central message wasn't about him.



You would know all about cheap rhetoric wouldn't you?



and with the intellectually challenged, such as your self, he was in a lose-lose situation. Sooner or later, to you, Obama would be doing the "politically motivated" thing. Like fucking invading Iraq wasn't fucking political? You retard!


All three claims are either correct or at least plausible. But to crackers like you that possibility is unfathomable.



You're really bitter that god crippled you aren't you? They were taken out of context, and it was more the circus, clown-like atmosphere that the Reverend Wright performed in front of the Press club, et al. He also spoke for Obama and said he agreed with him when he didn't. but you somehow missed that tidbit charlie.

Look at the big word out of chuckie!


He was surprised by the man's behavior. So were a lot of people. If someone you knew began behaving strangely you'd be surprised too. Well maybe not you chaz.

Those little green eyes are showing chuckie baby. At least Obama is capable of Intellectual something, as opposed to the retard you worship. Funny how only you see this fraud, only you see the hypocrisy. well you and your fellow Hitler youth.

sounds about right.

Let it go chuckie. In the words of Anton "torture isn't punishment" Scalia; "Get over it!"

Now if we just get you to understand, anything other than that twisted self that is chuckie.

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ibex

Charles Krauthammer is a member of PNAC, the "elitist" organization that got us into the most baseless, dangerous war since Vietnam. He fucked up royally, he should have been kicked out of the public discourse long ago. Once again the score is REALITY-1, MUDPIE'S SORRY ASS-ZERO. You lose again, Douchebag. Like so may right wing fucktards, you'll never, ever admit you're wrong, but I'll bet you lack the balls to respond to Kanadasega's post or mine. Next time you want to launch an Obama attack, base it on something other than glorified girly gossip. If you want to talk about "changing texts", let's take a look at Krauthammer and the other Bushies' Magical Ever Changing Reasons for Invading Iraq. I suppose you'll be posting excerpts from "Mien Kampf" any day now.

mudwhistle

It looks like most of America agrees with Charles Krauthammer.


Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election.

ibex

This doesn't change the fact that this is a non issue, Krauthammer is a liar and a war crminal, and you're a fool for wallowing in this garbage. You would have been right at home working either for Joe McCarthy or Joe Stalin, since you're a brain dead fanatic who relies on emotion rather than reason. Yes Mudbrain, there are millions of morons just like yourself, that doesn't make you or them right for worrying about Obama's minister and other such junk news while our country sinks further and further into the ground as a result of the last seven plus years of your Lord and Saviour George W. Fucktard.

winthrop

For a time "most of America" believed Saddam was responsible for the September 11 attacks as well. As do you still, probably. That gives none of you any credibility.

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mudwhistle

Your trolling me and vulgar name calling is a non issue.

Jeremiah Wright is an issue. It tells us a lot about B Hussein Obama: that he has bad judgment, that he is morally flexible, that he says what's politically convenient at any given moment, that he aligns with the most divisive people.

BillCosby

My GAWD Mud................ mcbush is even supporting the torture........ flip, flopping liar........

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

winthrop

Maybe, but he has revealed how much fun it can be...
Oh, and when will you babies learn responding to your pronouncements is not "trolling". It is responding. It is what one does on a message board. Start your own private blog and disallow the "comments" feature if you do not like response.

It tells us he is a human being running for public office, without a spotless life, just like all the other humans engaged in the same endeavor. This is a surprise to only a few.
It has nothing to do with how he would be as president, and remember you are the Bush Cultist, with that record and personality to defend.

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