I guess if you cant attack a man on his own character...you find a reason to attack someone who he is connected to right? Is that how it works? Is that what our political system is coming down to?
I have watched for the last two weeks as the media and other public figures have repeatedly asked Obama to denounce his supporters. First, the debate where he was confronted with comments from the Minister Louis Farakhan and most recently from his affiliation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright in Chicago. Does anyone else see what is going on here? Does anyone else see the irony of this latest political ploy?
In a country founded on the principles of freedom of speech, how is it that a candidate is being ridiculed not even based on his OWN comments but he has to defend the comments and opinions of someone else! That is democratic hypocrisy at its purest form and it contradicts everything this country is supposed to stand for. I guess we can add it to a long list of ironies including slaveholders composing the "declaration of independence" with the premise that "we hold these truths to be self evident..that all men are created equal." The lies continue...
I do not care if you support Obama, Hillary, McCain. This is not a political ploy but it is a call to think about the hypocrisy of whats going on in this country, and more importantly why? Its a distraction from the real issues...health care, education, this ridiculous war that is costing us billions of dollars and sending us into an economic spiral. It is a distraction from the fact that my student loan was discontinued last week because of federal cuts in the grant program. It is a distraction from the millions of people in this country who don't make enough to feed their families or who are not working at all. It is a distraction from an unjust economic system that rewards the rich at the expense of the poor!!
Maybe instead of crucifying Rev. Wright we should take a moment to listen to what he is saying. Perhaps it is offensive to some to speak so negatively about this "great country" but everyone must understand that everyone's experience here has not been a positive one and he still has a right to that opinion. We all have a right to our opinions and no person or institution...even the great U.S.A. is above critique!!
You don't have to agree with Rev. Wright's comments but to make a man have to denounce his pastor for the sake of politics...thats a huge price to pay and I'm not sure if even America is worth it. But what do I know...I'm not running for president...YET
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I TOTALLY FEEL YOU!!! This whole thing with Jeremiah Wright has been annoying me for the longest now. What annoys me even more is the mainstream media and how they feed on these kind of things like maggots on rotten meat. I am sick and tired of the real concerns of Americans being buried under unimportant drivel that has NO impact on my life or anybody eles's. The worst part about it is nobody questions it or seems to think that there's anything wrong with our extreme focus on these distractions.
People have always been judged by the company they keep. The people one chooses to associate with speaks to their own character and judgement.
Obama has chosen to associate for 20 years with a preacher who spews anti-American and racial hatred. Obama has also chosen to associate with a terrorist who participated in the murder of quite a few Americans.
To me that speaks to judgement.
Judgement is the most important quality in a President and so anything that reveals if a candidate has good or bad judgement is not a distraction but rather is extremely important.
If one of the candidates was making nice with David Duke I'd hold that against them too and so would most of Obama's supporters.
You referred to Rev Wrights comments as "anti American..." but what do you use to define that term? Where is the line drawn between critical rebuke and anti patriotism. If I love someone, I love them enough to tell them those places where they need to be better and if you really listened to him in his entirety, his message was not one that is against America but instead it speaks to his disgust at what America has become based on his understanding of what America could and should be. If what we have is all that we can be, there would be no need to speak against it or to challenge America to be better. All Rev Wright wants is for America to live up to its own words and the crude injustices and contradictions to America's own "declarations" of independence and freedom have a tendency to piss people offl. Especially when the victims of such injustice and systemic inequality happen to look like you. Most of his comments were taken out of context and what the public heard were only snippets. But if it upset America then I applaud him...and Obama for supporting him. Because we are not going to solve the problems of racial inequality and injustice until we air out our dirty laundry and make some real amends or at least acknowledgements of those places in our history that need to be corrected.
Even still, is anyone talking about the allegations that Hillary Clintons former pastor is being brought up on child molestation charges? Does that speak to her character and judgment as well?
I suppose everybody can draw the line for themselves. For me, it was when he implied that America deserved to have 3000+ people murdered on 911.
Maybe you missed the news conference but Obama NO LONGER supports Rev. Wright. He threw him under the bus last week when Wright repeated most of the things he had said in his sermons. I'm not sure how to take this. Either Obama finally realized after 20 years of being oblivious that his Pastor held numerous unacceptable and in Obama's words, "offensive" views. That speaks to judgement. Or he threw him under the bus because even though he supports those views (as you apparently do) they were damaging his political aspirations. That speaks to character and marks him as just another cheap politician without principles. Either way, it is not good.
As far as Hillary goes, I think both the poor quality of her character and her judgement were revealed by Travelgate when she fired a bunch of decent people to install her political cronies and Filegate where she illegally gathered up 900+ of the FBI files of her political opponents. Her poor character and judgement are well known but I have no problem with you citing additional examples.
One of my colleagues accused me of agreeing with Jeremiah Wright's comments. And on some levels, I will not dispute that I do. I agree with what I believe he was actually saying and not just about some people's limited or skewed interpretation of what they believe that he meant. I was educated in some of the same school as rev. Wright and graduated from the same seminary that he did. Many of my friends are active with his ministry and I have had the opportunity to understand what he is saying on the larger spectrum. Sometimes we are so busy taking individual comments and being offended that we can allow our emotions to block our critical minds and our ability to really listen to the message being portrayed. This is not about being anti American and I do not believe that Rev. Wright would ever justify the killing of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. As a pastor and just a human, there is no way that he would be able to not grieve with this country and those families that lost both in 9/11 and that are still losing everyday in Iraq and the Middle East. But...AMERICA needs to be held accountable and understand that as powerful as we have become, there is a price for tyranny and for enforcing our ideals and our way of thinking and being on others. There will always be resistance when you are forcing yourself upon another and for whatever reason, our country began, and continued with this notion of inalienable rights to go into lands we did not own, claim and use their resources, exploit their people often with force and we have bullied our way into becoming the superpower that we now are. Not that I am defending the terrorists on 9/11 and neither was Rev. Wright. What they did on that day was detestable and horrific because they punished the innocent on behalf of the powerful.
But lets take another perspective. What if modern day terrorism is a last minute ditch effort of some irrational groups trying to get access to power that America claims to have the only right to. The power to be...the power to be who they want to be without our permission or our input. Why is it that we have the right to dictate to other countries what they should or should not be...how their government should be run...our own definition of what is acceptable based on our own understanding of cultures and governments? Who gave us that right? And don't give me that crap about fighting on behalf of justice...we fight on behalf of power. This country did not begin on principles of justice...the "founding fathers" fled their country because of their own oppression and came here to establish a far more oppressive system. America only works when some are wealthy and some are poor. That is the heart of capitalism and the system would crumble if real equality was established or if everyone was taken care of. Who is willing to give that power up? The wealthy? Do you really think so? I don't. And so the have nots live lives of constant frustration and after awhile rebellion is sure to come. And America needs to be accountable for that and at least acknowledge that there could possibly be a better way. THAT is what the message was...not that 9/11 was ok or that those deaths were ok. The deaths were horrific...but maybe America shares the burden for the bloodshed and maybe as a nation we need to repent and change the way that we look at things...
As far as Obama, since this is how this all started. It is not our place to assume his motives and really I don't care that he denounced his pastor. I feel bad that he was put in the situation where he needed to make that choice and I know that it is a choice that has great personal and emotional consequences. But that only shows me how much he is willing to sacrifice for the opportunity to make this country better...not that he is inconsistent. Maybe he doesnt agree with Rev Wrights statements but what he does agree with is that America needs to change...that we need to do some things different if we are really going to grow and become the great nation that we claim to be. And I believe that we have that potential. I did not at first and I do not know if we will reach it in my lifetime because we are talking about changing an entire system or way of understanding ourselves as a country in relation to the world. But this campaign helped me to believe again that it just may be possible...and maybe in a twisted way Rev. Wright's comments inspired Obama to believe that too.
Don't miss the forest for the trees people...Open your minds and consider what the message is before you throw it all away or get caught up in the political and media hype. Be part of the solution...decide that you will treat people differently than maybe your parents or your grandparents. Decide that you will use your resources to help those that do not have them...invest in this country in the places that need the most help so that we all may become great together.