Words falling on deaf ears
“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.” – Barack Obama
These are words that no one has heard. Or, at least that’s how it seems.
By now you have heard about the congregation turned upside down in Chicago because of its reverend, Jeremiah Wright Jr. You’ve heard the dozens of talking heads on the 24-hour news shows debating whether or not Obama hates his country because of his former pastor’s remarks.
You’ve heard something in passing about Obama being a racist because of Wright’s firm opinion against racist white people.
But you haven’t heard the words that the candidate has spoken.
Fox news would be proud. After all, for the past two weeks the ‘fair and balanced’ station has been on an anti-Obama, propaganda-laden crusade that would make the Vatican envious.
Ever since Rev. Wright started preaching his anti-American sermons, the station that loves the right has had nothing less than a smorgasbord of Barack-bashing, so strong that their own hosts and analysts have stormed off stage on live TV, filled with disgust that their own network is capable of such discernible subjectivity.
In an effort to do nothing less than crucify the democratic front-runner, fox news has temporarily thrown unimportant things like ethics to the backburner to make sure that anyone watching knows that Obama is an unpatriotic, white-hater (even though Barack’s mother is white).
They’ve ignored that he has completely and utterly denounced everything derogatory that his former reverend preached. When Barack gave a lengthy speech about the issue (something he was practically forced to do thanks to the unrelenting pressures of the pundits searching for talking points) no one seemed to care about what he said, rather he was critiqued and further condemned. Is nothing good enough for these people?
In his speech Obama was open, honest and absolutely clear. Yes, he knew the reverend, yes he was close to him. No, he does not agree with, or condone any of the things he has said. In fact it’s been just the opposite from day No. 1, but not a single member of the national media has seemed to notice.
The game of politics has turned into a side-show. Obama went to church where a preacher has extreme opinions; therefore Obama must have those extreme opinions.
What part of that makes sense? Please someone tell me. Obama goes to church just like every other devout follower, but that doesn’t mean that he subscribes to each and every school of thought that his reverend is teaching. Well, sense or not, none of the pundits at Fox seem to care, they’ve completely blocked out logic and common sense.
Speaking of logic; haven’t any of these pundits even thought about that fact that if Obama knew that Wright had such extreme thoughts and ideas wouldn’t the candidate have just stayed the hell away from the reverend?
You see, Obama didn’t know that his reverend was a nutball, and now he’s being crucified for it. It’s not his fault, and he has handled the situation with more grace and civility than anyone could have predicted.
Allow me to close with another quote from the Senator, and for once we should take a second to listen to what he’s saying and not condemn him for the words others have spoken.
“We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina – or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
“We can do that.
“But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.