Blame Wright's Enablers
MORE
Joe Conason
As the Rev. Jeremiah Wright gleefully tours the airwaves, inflicting severe political damage with almost every utterance, he is proving that racism isn’t the only obstacle to a black president. That historic prize is almost within the grasp of one of the most talented politicians America has ever seen. Yet what seems most likely to frustrate Senator Barack Obama now is not white prejudice but the frivolity, egotism and pettiness of those who should be his most serious and dedicated supporters.
To criticize Mr. Wright is not to reject the black church, the speaking styles of black preachers, the aspirations of black children or the rhythms and tonalities of black music, as he seemed to suggest in his address to the N.A.A.C.P. last weekend. To reject his ideas about the origins of AIDS or the causes of 9/11 is not, as he puts it, to confuse “different” with “deficient.”
Yet his self-serving formulations seem to be approved by black leaders, if the audience response in Detroit provides any measure. And apparent approval reinforces doubts raised by the televised remarks of Mr. Wright in the minds of many Americans who might well vote for Mr. Obama but now wonder whether they know him.
Those Americans probably don’t care about the Democratic front-runner’s bowling skills, his dietary preferences or even his unusual name. What they do care about is his dedication to this nation’s great promise and his capacity to transcend the old bigotries that have disfigured us. What matters is whether he shares their deepest values and loyalties—whether his vision of America resembles theirs or not.
It was highly predictable that the most offensive quotations from Mr. Wright—selected and broadcast by the mass media—would be deployed to embarrass Mr. Obama as soon as he fulfilled his mission of derailing Senator Hillary Clinton. (It was, in fact, predicted in this space in January.) It was almost as predictable that when the moment arrived to choose between the aspirations of Mr. Obama and the bloviations of Mr. Wright, too many of America’s black leaders and pundits would feel obliged to defend the latter—no matter how indefensible and no matter what the cost.
So long as a religious or political leader sounds sufficiently “militant” and seems to outrage white people, he (or she) must be not only accepted and excused but celebrated. That is why Minister Louis Farrakhan—the Nation of Islam leader who shares responsibility for the conspiracy to murder Malcolm X and whose theology of hovering spaceships and evil big-headed scientists is highly eccentric, to be polite—enjoys fulsome admiration from the likes of Mr. Wright. That is why the Rev. Al Sharpton—who was paid and financed by Republican dirty tricksters in 2004—still somehow wields influence in the media and politics. And that is why Mr. Wright himself can insinuate that the government purposely invented AIDS, and claim that the brains of white and black children function differently (a notion that would rightly be dismissed as racist idiocy coming from a white academic or preacher).
Far more challenging, for any black statesman or minister, is being the leader who at his best hopes to lift America above racial, religious and ethnic paranoia on all sides—that is, to be Barack Obama.
Perhaps the most repulsive aspect of Mr. Wright’s sudden celebrity is that he has elevated himself by stepping on the head of his former parishioner. Charismatic and clever as he may be, his theories would not command two minutes of national airtime except for the remarkable rise of the Obama campaign. That he would not hesitate to ruin a young man who loved him like a father shows a deep flaw in his character, unredeemed by religious cant.
How Mr. Obama can escape his toxic mentor is not clear. His remarkable speech on our persistent racial divisions necessarily pierced the illusion of transcendence raised by his campaign, but then resurrected the possibility of perfecting our union. Recognizing the fallible humanity in Mr. Wright as in himself and the rest of us, he hesitated to enunciate a complete rejection. Now it may be too late.
But responsibility for the ruin of the Obama promise will not fall upon the Illinois senator alone. The enablers of Jeremiah Wright should ask themselves why they have collaborated in his self-promotion. If he truly wanted change, as he told the N.A.A.C.P., he would have maintained a wise silence, and they would not have offered him a platform. There is nothing new in this dispiriting display of bogus defiance. We’ve seen this show too many times already.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Hi Joe,
Great article. One part of me feels sorry for what is happening to Mr. Obama right now. Another part of me feels like what Wright is doing is a setup just so Obama can distance himself completely from Rev. Wright. He didn't do it well enough the first time.
Sure enough today Mr. Obama totally chastised and distanced himself from Rev. Wright. It seems to convenient and staged for my taste.
some 10,000 folks attended the naacp event just to hear rev. wright; in other words, he must be doing something right! the problem is that he scares the white establishment, and we all know that's a 'no no'. i agree with EVERYTHING rev wright have said, and if that cost obama the election, then so be it. all power does is corrupt anyway, so if obama makes it, he'll just end up being 'just another politician'. i prefer it the old fashioned way:grassroots, baby!.
long live rev. wright! it's too bad americans are too intellectually deficient to comprehend his words. death to white supremacy. it's time that others share the power!
First of all I do agree w/part of Mark Davis comment and that is I do feel sorry for Obama at a time like this. I'm African American and an avid church goer, and have been for tirty of the fifty years of my life. I feel comfortable in almost any church and understand protocole from black as well as white churches. I am a member of church w/the majoriity of the members being Black. The pastor is Black, the pastor wife, children and in-laws are black. And I must say in all my years I have not witness this type of behavior coming from the pulpit. I don't think it is fair for anyone to think the way Mr. Wright handle himself or this situation is way the typical black pastor would have. No, of course not. Mostly black churches preach on empowerment, and being all you can be. So, if this is what Mr. Obama is trying to accomplished, being all that he think that he was created to be, I don't understand how Mr. Wright would not get behind him. Now, when I said I haven't seen this behavior in the black churches that I became a member of...let me clarify something. I am not saying I haven't seen, disagreements, and separations...no, I have seen plenty of that...but I have seen people walk off from the person who is trying to accomplished the impossible and keeping their mouth off of them. They might not agree w/the person but if there is a real relationship there they will walk away w/out tearing the other person down. Mr. Wright didn't do this. He walked away and tore this man down. There are times when people don't want to see another person whom they have mentored grow. They seldom want that person to have more success than themselves. They are the ones who are use to the lime light and the public pawning over them. But when the situation changes and the one they have been sent to mentored rise up...yes, it happenes...they will literally step on them if possible. The best part thing about this Wright situation in my opinion, is that win or loose Obama will always know that Wright doesn't have his back. And there is nothing he could ever say to me otherwise if I was Obama. And I wouldn't care how many years later it would be. I will forgive, but I will never trust him to be on my side-not even in a spit ball fight. Wright was wrong...but most important his heart was wrong towards this young man. If he didn't agree w/him, he should have went some where and shut up. And he can't not hide behind the Black church on this one. No siree. Becaus the church is about love, helping your fellowman, and giving him your hand to lift him up, not placing your foot on his backside.
Well, the die has been cast. The Gold Dust Twins have made it evidently clear that what emanates from black churches is so much vitriol, conspiracy theory, racism, and empty rhetoric.
So we are supposed to believe Obama when he says that in 20 years he never once heard Reverend Lovejoy speak like that??
B.S.
With or without "Republican dirty tricksters," Al Sharpton would still be a wart on the ass of society, Joe.
It's tough to be a black man in America today. Once black neighborhoods have seen sweeping changes, becoming Hispanic and Vietnamese (Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, etc.) While in New York gentrification has pushed Africans out. A whole segment of young black males is unemployable and never will be. Yet Rev. Lovejoy would like to speak about government induced aids, and gyrate on stage like a chimp.
Shame on Obama. How he ever thought he could run for president after associating with this guy for 20 years is beyond me. His handlers (like he's an animal!) have not served him well.
What a shame as the country is desperately seeking the next JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the country Rev. Wright is crying out for the new Malcom X!!
After seeing Rev. Wright speak out over the last few days, I wondered exactly the same thing that Joe writes about - why did this man place himself over the broader interests of uniting our country, reducing racial tensions and perhaps, electing our Nation's first black President? Every time Rev. Wright speaks, he inflames white America with his absurd ideas of genocide via AIDS and equating Hiroshima with terrorism.
Of course, Obama had to denounce Rev. Wright a few weeks after he said he "could no more denounce him than he could denounce the black community." I thought Obama should have denounced him in Philadelphia instead of giving that tortured speech on race relations in which he equated his white grandmother's racial attitudes (she was sometimes afraid of black men) with Rev. Wright's "God Damn America" rants.
Hi:
I agree with Mark Davis. This is a well thought out setup to give O.H.B. the mettle that somehow has eluded his too polite rehtoric and kept him from attracting certain voters.
It is all theater....political trickery..... to snar the unwary. I am not amused.
So anything no matter how racially based or biased said by a black man such as Jeremiah Wrigh is o.k. in your book. I feel more likely that asanother poster pointed out Wrights latest comments are so outrageous that Barack can diclaim any indentification with them. I support Obama for the reason that he is not Hillary, an old time politician in a dress, who practices the politics of personal distruction claiming the allegiance of all women, because of her gender. The truth is Hillary would not be where she is if she were a man, and Obama if he wer not half black and half white. The media bears a great deal of responsibily for publishing the rantings of nut jobs like Jerimiah Wright.
Excellent opinion by Conason and an equally excellent comment by Chaplain Pam. I find this whole affair deeply deeply depressing on so many levels. How can a man who has mentored Obama, presided over his children's baptism's etc. be so utterly lacking in character, Christian charity and grace as to commit this act at a critical moment the the campaign of an African American with the greatest chance in our history of reaching the presidency? As a supposed man of god, he has committed a number of the seven deadly sins including greed, envy and pride. As Pam put it:
"The church is about love, helping your fellowman, and giving him your hand to lift him up, not placing your foot on his backside."
Secondly, it bring up all of the toxins yet again in our society - the racism, the anger, the irrationality, the hatred that has poisoned our politics. It also reminds me yet again why I do not want to see another Boomer in the White House - Wright is yet another 60's Boomer filled with rancor and unable to get past the divisions and injustices of his past.
Ultimately, it reminds me yet again why we as a nation are in such decline - in a moment when we have a real opportunity to try and transcend the divisions of the past, people like Wright want to pull us back down into the muck - and the Republicans and the press are all to happy to oblige. THe whole spectacle makes me sick.
Yes Wright's enablers are partly to blame - and Obama is one of those enablers. There is no way he did not know what Wright was like. And Wright is not the only spiritual advisor to Obama that is a radical aligned with Farrakhan.
One of Obama's official campaign advisors is Father Michael Pfleger. Pfleger is a radical Catholic priest from Chicago who supports and is friendly with Farrakhan. Pfleger caused and uproar and was rebuked by his Cardinal for addressing a crowd outside a Chicago gun shop saying they were going to drag out the owner of a gun shop and "snuff" him. This happened last spring and was well known in Chicago.
Obama has close ties to people who spout anti-American venom, the closest of whom is his wife. According to an article in the New Yorker (3/10/08) Michelle Obama routinely began her stump speech saying that America is "downright mean" and that we are a nation of cynics, sloths and complacents. This is brought up constantly by Fox News people but is ignored by the mainstream media. That will change once Obama faces McCain in the GE and it will not be acceptable to the American people.
Mr.Conason,
I read your column regularly for your cogent and intelligent commentary on the American politics.
I expect a little more than liberal nay saying, about Mr. Wright’s self-defense, from you. Black folks support each other when attacked by the right wing smear machine, which is prima facie racist! I would argue here, that Obama is collateral damage. My attitude would be to address the issues squarely as Wright did at the National Press Club. Your characterisations: frivolity, egotism, pettiness are misplaced and inapt. His attitude is and was, don't attack me and my long public service, and expect me not to respond. That is a response that I and most every one of your readers can respect, and sympathize with. It was not impolitic for him to be justly outraged about how he was being portrayed in the corrupt, malfeasant, American media: In fact it was necessary. He is not a candidate for office.
With reference to his beliefs about AIDS. Please consult the book "Medical Apartheid" to fully understand the reality based suspicion, of black people toward medical practice in America; it is revelatory.
The comments on Mr. Farrakhan I cannot explain. But I can say that Wright has a right to his opinion, and that he was right that Farrakhan did lead a "Million Man March". That Farrakhan is a racist, homophobe, antisemite are truisms that cannot be argued with, and should be subject to an unsparing critique. And you are right to direct our political attention to it.
It would be nice if Senator O'Bama could get his wife on board with his own denounciation of the more radical racial views of those of Rev. Wright.....her, "let's just get over it..and carry on" point of view is nothing short of deserting her husband under fire!
Stephen K.'s point of view is typical of many hypersensitive, politically tone-deaf liberals who believe in supporting anyone on their side of the aisle regardless of how paranoid and unhinged they may be. Then when they lose election after election, they blame the "corrupt, malfeasant media." Incidentally, all the supposedly corrupt media had to do was replay Wright's own words and his defense of those words - how is that a mischaracterization?
For almost 40 years, conservatives did the same thing - that is, they blamed the "liberal media" for their losses. They, too, stayed out of power for those 40 years. It was not until Clinton flubbed his first two years as President and Newt developed 10 items that had overwhelming public support as part of his "Contract with America" that conservatives regained power. The way to win is to quit whining about the media and take real issues to the people.
Obama is not responsible for paranoid conspiracy theories his minister believes and, unfortunately for his own credibility, repeats. Obama has finally done the right thing by cutting the "crazy uncle" loose. Equating Hiroshima with terrorism (Truman made the right decision and it saved lives), blaming the federal government for committing genocide with AIDS, praising a bigot like Farrakhan - how can any rational person defend this nut? If Obama stuck with him, it'd be Mondale all over again - he'd be lucky to carry his home state. Conason is simply pointing out the intuitively obvious - at least to everyone except a few posters.
Speaking as a hypersensitive,politically tone deaf liberal who supports paranoid ,unhinged persons,Douglas:I support the right of all people to defend themselves, against attacks manufactured of out of context quotes, from any source, in order to reign obliquy, on another person, for political advantage.That is what occured with Wright.Wright is neither paranoid nor unhinged! He is a long time builder in his community,a contributor with a long and distinguish
career.You need not like his opinions.
Douglas,you want to win in November and Wright is in the way of your "victory".He is a "distraction" the first of many "distractions"that Rovian politics will manufacture with the help of the corrupt,malfesant media. The strong player in this political mix is the Internet and it is the place where the media is unmasked every time it makes a "mistake".Newspapers and television have lost credibility.The Internet has the capability of reversing that erosion of trust in public institutions, and the press is a public instution.Faith in the viability and veracity of public institutions is the sine qua non of this Republic
To Stephen Mack:
Just ignore Douglas. He's a right wing tool who thinks he knows everthing when in fact he knows very little.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Peter
_____________________________
Re: Joe Conason - 04/29/08
This article STINKS....
press@katrinaalliance.org
Joe... YOU are one of the enablers.
YOU have always been one to cry "racism" & bigotry when it would have been MUCH more accurate to say: " True, but very hurtful to say so...." because the cries of racism / bigotry was worth MUCH more mileage to your left-wing buddies.
YOU Joe, and Drunk-ass-Ted Kennedy & Joe Biden & "Bob" Boxer, Feinstein, Begala, Carville, ( you name the rest - they're all in YOUR camp.... )
I believe that Wright damages Obama's campaign when he "defends" himself against his own words - especially when he complains that his words were taken out of context right before repeating the same lunatic statements. I understand that people have a right to defend themselves, I just thought that Rev. Wright might put his personal pride aside for a few months in order to help contain the damage he's done to his parishioner's campaign. Rev. Wright has undoubtedly done much good in his community and I am sure that those who know him, think highly of him. Unfortunately, most of the country will not have the opportunity to know him any further than the caricature he's become in the media.
Mr. Conason is right the media will "enable" any person or story that it deems will attract attention. The news media is nothing more than a visual or an audio tabloid! Their (the media) business is ADVERTISING that is why they have COMMERICALS! Almost all of the media answer to their "corperate" sponsors..the media is as tied to corperate sponsors, as far too many of our elected officials are tied to Washington lobbists!
That's why you can see over an hour of the rantings of a Rev. Whight...but not a single picture of a flag draped coffin comming home from Iraq! 40 killed yesterday in a roadside bomb attack...soldiers that are supposed to be protecting us from that "mushroom cloud"..that was never there...being brought back to America to be quitely buried away...just like the lie that got them killed in the first place....but we have more important things to "pay attention" to like Rev. Wright.
Hell..maybe Obama didn't pay all that much attention to Wright..I fell asleep after the first 30 minutes of his "sermon" aired live...you don't have to like the preacher to sing in the chior..or one that gives you the chance to take a nap!!!
Joe,
haven't written you in a while. Hope you are well.
You say that Sharpton was financed by REPUBLICAN dirty tricksters. Somehow that sounds a little like Rev Wright's credibilty on AIDs virus from the govt.
By the way, how come you have deserted Hillary? You were the most slavish Clinton Acolyte of all. Obama is going to be a catastrophe or worse.
Best,
Lee Tabin
Controversy is what sells news. That's why the ratings were sky high for the Jeremiah Wright fiasco. It's always been this way - think of William Randolph Hearst.
As far as too many of our elected officials being tied to lobbyists, it's good to remember an old saying: "When a society allows government to control all the buying and selling, the first thing to be bought and sold are the legislators."
I take issue that Obama is one of the most talented politicians of our time. He has never faced a serious opponent until now. If the main stream media hadn't been derelict in their duty he would not be in the position he is today. The fact is that he is far left and that only flies in places like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. His association with Rev Wright, Bill Ayers and Tony Resco are par for the course in Chicago politics. If the left and the Democrats are determined to put this man up as their guy they will end up with another McGovern/Mondale/Dukakis result. Given the tremendous advantages Democrats have in the upcoming election this couldn't be any sweeter for the right and the Republicans.
Barrack's association with Wright illustrates his inability to be president. It demonstrates his hypocrisy as well. Condemning Bush and Clinton about bad judgment -hello kettle-. It is not even that BHO associates with known terrorists and racists it is his "Ah shucks I didn't know excuses" that are the most convincing. The Presidency is larger than one man and a good administration is executed by the people the President trusts most. Barry has proven he is a terrible judge of character.
Joe,
IMO, Rev. Wright's weltenshauung is not the issue. Rather, Michelle is poised to bring "one of America's most talented politicians" to his knees. Women have been banging their heads against the corporate glass ceiling for ages and what's Michelle's message: "WOMEN, DON'T GOT TO WORK FOR CORPORATE AMERICA." There's more and I'm sure you have heard them all.
BTW, have you had a chance to peruse her Princeton thesis?
Joe, I'm a kid from the 50's. Any bright 11th grader at the time equipped with today's 10-dollar calculator and a Underwood typewriter could have matched that collection of nonsense. Probably, the paper would have been shot back with a note saying... IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAMPLE A POPULATION, GET MEANINGFUL NUMBERS!!
All the Best