BARACK'S SPEECH

The other day Barack Obama was forced to explain his long-time association with the inflammatory pastor of his church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose condemnations of domestic racism and foreign policy had filled You Tube for several days. The resulting speech was an example of clarity and eloquence rarely seen in politics. It didn’t rise to the level of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech, but I don’t think it was intended to. It simply explained, in no uncertain terms, the nature and source of black anger at our historically repressive society, where that anger is often expressed and where it usually isn’t.

Listening to the endless critiques that followed, I can’t help but feel that some people heard an entirely different speech. Why did Obama persist in clinging to Rev. Wright, they wanted to know? Why hadn’t he simply, as the popular expression goes, thrown him under the bus, without equivocation? Perhaps it is because he is a man of integrity, someone who doesn’t abandon his friends because it is the easiest or most advantageous choice. I can see, however, why that strategy would befuddle most politicians and pundits – it’s so ... honest.

In the end, I wonder what they are so afraid of. What is the real fear they expressed by condemning this relationship? Do they think that in some dark part of Obama’s heart he agrees with Wright, that he secretly hates his country and if elected would do it harm? I don’t think so. Frankly, I don’t think they give a damn, one way or the other. I think they simply saw an opportunity to harm Obama’s candidacy by exploiting the derogatory words of a close friend. Nothing personal, just politics.

a foot on either side