“America too is going to Hell, if we don’t use her wealth. If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty, to make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to Hell.”
“The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.” – (referring to 9/11)
Those are some pretty crazy statements aren’t they? A politician would have to be nuts to associate themselves with anyone making statements like that. At the very least, that would say something about the politician, right?
The first statement was uttered by Dr. Martin Luther King during the final weeks of his life. He was rallying striking sanitation workers in Memphis. The second statement came from the lips of Dr. Jerry Falwell a few days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Each of these ministers can rightfully claim to have inspired and counseled several national politicians and even a few Presidents over the years.
I share these examples to raise what I hope is an obvious point – our national political obsession with Dr. Jeremiah Wright and his relationship to Barack Obama is nothing short of moronic. (And yes, blogging about it only adds to that in some miniscule way, but more on that in a bit…)
Set aside the fact that none of us is in a position to accurately judge the entirety of Dr. Wright’s work, or the work of his church. Set aside the fact that none of us can really know the nature of the Wright-Obama relationship. Oh wait, I forgot, cable news and Youtube give us all the context and information we need to make such judgments, right? Sigh.
The real question is – why do such judgments (as moronic as they may be) carry so much more weight than real items such as a candidate’s positions, statements, past performance, etc.? Why does whatever the “gotcha” story of the moment may be seem to take away from all the other rational reasons to support or oppose a candidate?
The answer is – the gotcha stories outweigh everything else because they can. It’s human nature. We live in a world where we are inundated with information. The internet, cable tv, radio and newspapers choose what information to share based on what the audience wants. “Controversy” sells better than an honest analysis of whether suspending the gas tax is a good idea or not.
And I know that my blogging about this doesn’t help Obama “put it behind him.” (If I hear one more talking head raise that point I am going to scream.) But my hope in starting this blog was that I would make my non-political friends and family think about issues in a different way. We know that we haven’t heard the last of the so-called Wright controversy. The NC Republican Party has already signaled what kind of campaign they plan to run for the fall by producing a television spot trying to tie both of the Democratic Gubernatorial candidates to the mess. So maybe my blogging about it adds a twig to the bonfire.
In the long run, if we can all arm ourselves with better information, we’ll douse that bonfire pretty quickly.
16 responses so far ↓
That Girl // May 5, 2008 at 9:36 am
Great piece SMD. I couldn’t agree with you more. The fixation on Rev. Wright is ridiculous. Early on in the primary, the main stream media seemed dedicated to making sure Obama was the nominee and biased in his direction. Then, once they realized that the longer the primary goes, the better the news viewership, they decided to switch to promoting Hillary to keep the race going.
It always amazes me how many people say they hate how the media presents things, has bias, over-covers stories, etc. yet we all, yours truly included, must be watching, or they wouldn’t be able to keep doing it.
As Americans, we have a responsiblity to demand that our media tell the stories that really matter to real Americans.
I’m anxious to see what happens tomorrow. I call NC for Obama by 8-10 points. Indiana will be close, with Hillary barely edging out a win. Then the quuesiton comes - what will the superdelegates do in response? They should come out strongly for Obama and end this thing so the Dems can unite behind out candidate and begin to address the real evil in our world - John McCain and more of a George Bush approach to politics!
Political Junkie // May 5, 2008 at 11:04 am
Yep, there goes that “liberal” media again. I couldnt’ agree more with That Girl….we know more than we need to know about Rev. Wright but the media just won’t let up for the reasons stated by her. I was yelling at Tim Russert Sunday morning…they stayed on the Wright subject for 30 minutes when the time could have been spent discussing REAL issues. Please notice the time the media spent on Hillary’s lies about her Bosnia trip and Mark Penn…both got about 5 minutes media time and then back to Wright.
Damon // May 5, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Most thoughtful post, and comment I have read all week
Anne // May 5, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I agree, even though I’m not an Obama fan, unfortunately some of us shy away even more because of all of the hype over Wright. It does pull us away from more important issues, but…is that their perogative? hmmm…
packpigskinfan25 // May 5, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Agree completely. Crazier things have been said about America. The man defiantly has issues that I don’t care for, but I can not say that Obama or this country should suffer because of this.
I really hope the Dems get this things straightened out in the coming weeks… or its gonna be a land-slide for the Republicans.
Being a moderate I can appreciate(and hate) both sides of the political monopoly the two parties have on our system- but have to agree with Obama when it comes to the “gas-tax” situation. Do we really think that the oil companies wont just raise the prices more?!
packpigskinfan25 // May 5, 2008 at 8:14 pm
oh and btw SMD, been coming here for the past few weeks- enjoy the blog. On the BBQ though- I am sticking with Wilbers!! I worked there for 7 years and ate it every day, and still love it today!
southernmaledemocrat // May 6, 2008 at 9:04 am
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Anne - Just because someone has a perogative, doesn’t make it the right or smart thing to do. It could be my perogative to eat barbecue all day!! Then where would I be? (besides 300 lbs?)
Packpigskin - Many thanks on the compliments.
Obama is dead on about the gas tax. It’s a gimmick designed to win elections rather than solve the problem. That’s unfortunately what our system is set up to do - give is short term, feel good solutions over long term, proactive ones that require a little sacrifice from everyone.
You’ll note though - I didn’t say Wilber’s was bad. In fact - I ate at Wilber’s the night before I ate at Skylight. That’s good stuff. I would urge you to try Skylight and see if you agree with me.
packpigskinfan25 // May 6, 2008 at 9:37 am
A gimmick it certainly is. People hear about it and think “OH! What a GOOD idea!”
Yeah- if you drive the #18 M&M car at Daytona!! Why not get to the root of all of it, and fix the damn problem starting with the oil companies, and ending with an efficant car that runs off of humane waste or something?! We could do away with a bit of that, right?
I have actually eaten at Skylight before, great Q! I guess I am a Wilbers fan through and through though. Its not the most consistant stuff(bad managment, and an owner who is getting to old to care), but is great when its on. Plus, you know those delicious pieces of skin they put in at the Skylight? If your REAL nice, they will do it at Wilbers too!
packpigskinfan25 // May 6, 2008 at 3:36 pm
ok… how do I change that avatar? I am really not a fan of that pink tribal thing!
southernmaledemocrat // May 7, 2008 at 10:58 am
^I don’t exactly know. I think it has something to do with your WordPress login. Are you prompted for any more information when you login to post?
packpigskinfan25 // May 7, 2008 at 2:26 pm
^just a website
Undecided // May 8, 2008 at 6:06 am
I truly am still undecided and I *try* to look at every issue with an open mind. All I keep coming back to is how I would react and how offended I would be if Dubya or McCain’s pastor said similarly incendiary remarks about African-Americans.
southernmaledemocrat // May 8, 2008 at 10:48 am
^Offense over such remarks is fine. I was offended by what Rev. Wright said.
The real question is - how much does that matter, and how much should it effect our view of a given candidate, as opposed to their record, votes, etc.
Undecided // May 8, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I can not honestly say that it wouldn’t effect my view of a caucasian candidate if the situation were reversed. The record is important, but so is the company they keep. It is all part of the full picture.
I think many readers of this blog (possibly myself included) would be calling for McCain to drop out and railing against him if the situation were reversed. In the interest of doing my best to have an open mind I have to consider that.
southernmaledemocrat // May 9, 2008 at 1:28 pm
^Really?? You would call for McCain to drop out in a reverse situation?? Wow. I wouldn’t. Yeah, the partisan politico in me would cackle with glee because it would hurt his campaign. But I would never really think he should drop out.
Again, my point is this - NONE of us are in a position to accurately judge Rev. Wright or Obama’s relationship to him. We have not sat in those pews for years, we don’t know about the other programs and ministries of the church.
Tell you what - go take some time and read through as many of Rev. Wright’s sermons as possible. Read through the entire sermons that were blasted all over the Net but edited down as soundbites. Then, take some time to talk to members of the church who have gone there for a long time. Find out about various ministry programs.
After all that, you MIGHT be in a little better position to judge Rev. Wright. But unless you are a member of the Obama family, you are still going to have no accurate judgement of what their relationship is or how the Rev. may have influenced Barack.
This “gotcha” journalism is designed to goad us into making judgements that no one is qualified to make.
moose // May 9, 2008 at 3:07 pm
If i was old enough to vote, I wouldn’t. I agree with those quotes at the beginning, and no candidates really fit that.