After a string of public appearances by Rev. Jeremiah Wright were cancelled following the circulation of his radical sermons via video in March and his church web site was sanitized, God-o-Meter assumed that Wright was cooperating with the Obama campaign in an attempt to defuse the controversy surrounding his relationship with the presidential candidate. Wright's performance on Monday blew that assumption to smithereens, and today's The New York Times traces the long unraveling of the once super-close Wright/Obama friendship, including the mounting tensions between Wright and Obama's campaign advisors:
Aides say that they and the candidate came to feel that they had no control over the pastor, no sense of what next he might do or say.
With Wright totally off the Obama reservation, he threatens to pop up publicly in coming weeks and months and seek revenge against the campaign (God-o-Meter, by the way, saw this thirst for score-settling a while back). Obama may have denounced Wright this week, but that doesn't mean the news media will ignore the pastor whenever he appears publicly. He's somewhat weakened by Obama's denouncement, but Wright's nonetheless become a persistent threat to the campaign.
5
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
The best thing Obama can do is just ignore Wright. Obama reacting to him is what is fueling Wright's comments about Obama.
Paul,
When you say: "The Religious leaders of the black community MUST step forward and actively reduce Wright to the status of a tired, egoistical old has-been radical that is out of date and out of touch with the main stream Black Americans."
That seems to me to be an open question. It seems like very few (any?) black church leaders have denounced Wright precisely because he's NOT considered a self-absorbed radical throwback. There's a fair and unaswered question about whether Wright is representative of the black church or out of step with it.
The McCain folks haven't said anything because they are laughing so hard they can't get the words out.
I don't care what Wright thinks, and if the media were interested in presenting news that matters and not just looking for a sensational squabble, they wouldn't bother with him. I care what Obama and the others will do about the very serious problems we are facing in this country. When Obama (and either of the other candidates) claim that the public does want to hear about the issues, they speak for me.
"The McCain folks haven't said anything because they are laughing so hard they can't get the words out."
Actually they are staying as quiet as they can - or the press may decide to make more of Hagee's endorsement!
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.