Should it become necessary in the months from now to identify the moment that doomed Obama's presidential aspirations, attention is likely to focus on the hour between nine and ten this morning at the National Press Club. It was then that Wright, Obama's longtime pastor, reignited a controversy about race from which Obama had only recently recovered - and added lighter fuel.
Speaking before an audience that included Marion Barry, Cornel West, Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam official Jamil Muhammad, Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, defended the view that Zionism is racism, accused the United States of terrorism, repeated his view that the government created the AIDS virus to cause the genocide of racial minorities, stood by other past remarks ("God damn America") and held himself out as a spokesman for the black church in America.
In front of 30 television cameras, Wright's audience cheered him on as the minister mocked the media and, at one point, did a little victory dance on the podium. It seemed as if Wright, jokingly offering himself as Obama's vice president, was actually trying to doom Obama; a member of the head table, American Urban Radio's April Ryan, confirmed that Wright's security was provided by bodyguards from Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.
and then he went on to imply that, his public protestations to the contrary, obama secretly agrees with him.
and there's lots of other good stuff, too--i encourage you to read the piece.
but there's more--lots more.
not content to sing the praises of farrakhan, reverend wright then goes on to rhapsodize about his good friend james cole, a guy who makes farrakhan look like martin luther king by comparison.
haven't heard of mr. cole? well, lemme just tell you that he's a leading proponent of a school of thought known as "black liberation theology." these folks believe that blacks are the "chosen people," white people are "the devil," and that all white people are collectively responsible for all white oppression that's ever happened. cone has written, “what we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.”
want more? cone “refuses to accept a god who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. if god is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him."
to reverend wright: thank you, you racist self-aggrandizing loon, for not knowing when to shut up. and please, keep talking--america needs to hear what you and your friends have to say.
10 comments:
You forgot about June E. Hale and the whole 'left brained' whities and 'right brained' African Americans.
But that's okay...I've got it covered.
Well, if I were a supporter of Barack Obama, I'm not sure what I would do.
Since I am not, I can say with great conviction that I am shocked, shocked by the comments of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and that Senator Obama's denouncing him today is too little, too late.
If a number of Democrats do not have buyer's remorse on Obama, that is because they have taken a big gulp of the Kool-Aid and nothing is going to pull them into reality.
I think Dana Milbank is right in that this could really just doom Obama right here and now today as a viable candidate for President.
To me, the most interesting question is why Wright did what he did. He had to know this was going to have an impact. His interview with Bill Moyers was for the most part rather thoughtful and sophisticated. His National Press Club appearance was the most outrageous piece I have seen in a while. Republicans will not need to play the clips from various sermons, they can just role him talking at the National Press Club pretty much unedited and uninterrupted.
Was he deliberately trying to doom Obama?
Was he trying to expose white America to black rage so we would get it?
Was he just awed by being in the media spotlight and did not want to leave so he played his part?
I look to you, guttermorality, for answers to questions like this.
judi: i'm unfamiliar--enlighten us, please.
noblesavage: i'm with you completely; while i haven't yet listened to the entire moyers interview, from what i have heard, wright presented himself reasonably well.
as far as the press club fiasco is concerned, the only thing i can figure is that his ego got the best of him; the power dynamic in his relationship with obama has completely reversed--the son is now the father--and wright's not handling the repudiation and subsequent loss of face well. additionally, i think that a lifetime of literally preaching to the choir has given him somewhat unrealistic expectations of how his message will be received by the world at large.
I meant Janice Hale. She is of the belief that blacks are right-brained and whites are left-brained.
You can check out articles here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120952079425155103.html?mod=opinion_journal_federation
or click on my name...yeah, yeah, shameless plug.
For once, Noblesavage, I'm also completely with you.
--Judi
I'd say something about this except that I wouldn't be able to hold back my racist sentiments . Wright is why certain dems should just run as the atheist moral relativist pussies that they are and stop the façade .
bb: yeah, this would stoke the fires of your racism, wouldnt' it? thank god you have your morals to fall back on ;)
oh, and nice cedilla.
I wonder what the left-brain-right-brain theorists think Asians are. Or Asian-Americans, especially Indians that keep kicking ass in science and every spelling bee I've ever watched. Just wondering. The U.S. is, after all, way more than just black and white.
it's all excuses, joey. the cultures whose children have succeeded in the west may be diverse in many ways, but all have two things in common: (1) strong, cohesive families; and (2) a belief that education is paramount.
sadly, neither of those elements holds true for a huge swath of african-american culture, and as long as american blacks continue to look outside their culture for scapegoats for their present deficiencies (whitey holding 'em down or this left/right-brain bullshit), it's not gonna change.
that's my belief, anyway--i'll probably have more to say about this in the near future.
mkf : I think I basically agree with you on all that. I'm from the NYC area, and have seen those same achieving factors amongst Orthodox Jews all my life. Etc. ////I also think what some others are suggesting is possible: that certain race-baiters don't want Obama being elected to the highest office in the land because it would greatly negate what they make their livings on- the whole "white man holding us down" thing. A President Obama would take away all the excuses for ones own bad behavior ("I sell drugs because there's no way to make it in this white man's country legally") and it would give the blacks who really are trying to succeed some good self-esteem and reassurance. That's what I WOULD find positive about Obama as president. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced he's the better choice for a slew of other reasons. (You've probably more than covered all these subjects already. Bear with me, since I'm new here).
joey: i couldn't have said it better myself ;)
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