There’s a growing consensus in the commentariat that Jeremiah Wright has sought not just to protect himself, but to damage Obama:
Take Roger Simon in The Politico:
Wright is also interested in taking Obama down a peg or two. In his speech at the National Press Club on Monday, Wright was contemptuous of Obama, accusing him of being just another hypocritical politician.
Why? I imagine because Obama had the audacity to distance himself from Wright and some of his more inflammatory statements a few weeks ago.
Mark Silk goes further at Spiritual Politics:
In the wake of the latest Wright/Obama tempest, a view is taking hold (see Ambinder here) that the Wrights of the world would actually prefer to see Obama lose, inasmuch as an Obama victory would give the lie to their conviction that the American deck is irredeemably stacked against people of color. This analysis might be extended to make the point that the professional black establishment, if one might call it that, has more to gain (especially at this point) from a Clinton presidency than an Obama one. In an Obama presidency their swot would certainly be reduced.
To the extent that Obama’s supporters could further this line of argument, Obama stands to benefit, positioning himself as an underdog betrayed by his own pastor and by rebranding Wright as one more exemplar of the old politics of division that Obama’s candidacy is built on slaying.
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posted April 30, 2008 at 11:30 am
Dan, 7 out of the 8 articles that concern Obama on your “Recent Posts” list have to do with Wright instead of Obama and his policies.
Obsess much?
Howzabout a little meat instead of this foolish distraction from real issues?
No wonder you average ONE response per blogpost. Maybe Time should re-think your salary – they ain’t gettin’ much for whatever they’re payin’ ya.
posted April 30, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I think if you question a man’s patriotism he has the right to ask why that is when he gave up a deferment in order to enlist in the military and then went on to become a commended anestiologist while serving in the Navy? Why don’t you question Dick (5 deferments and counting) Cheney?
You ask about this man’s patriotism when he states that 9/11 was “blowback” yet when Robert Gates said the same thing no one questioned that.
Didn’t the US create the super predator black youth paradigm right before three strikes laws were passed?
The fact is that Wright thought Obama was going to “speak truth to power” but found out he isn’t anything but just the next one like the last one.
posted April 30, 2008 at 9:27 pm
It astounds me that the media and the American people are paying so much attention to Jeremiah Wright and his connection to Obama rather than Obama’s stances on healthcare, the war in Iraq, the economy, education, technology, stem cell research. You know, REAL issues.
I mean, the ministers that have come out in support of John McCain, such as Rod Parsley and John Hagee, regularly come out with extreme, divisive statements that make those of Rev. Wright pale in comparison. They routinely spout out anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim, and anti-gay sentiments (Parsley said that we are at war with all of Islam), and there is no furor over them. I guess McCain can’t denounce those guys because if he does, there goes at least a third (if not half) of the GOP base.
If only Americans were more like Europeans in the sense that they cared more about a politicians’ stances and competence rather than how he/she feels about Jesus.