Pity the Messenger

Barack Obama continues to make the political rounds to convince white America that he’s a little white; and to convince black America that he’s still black. Hyde Park rumbles the success of a ‘so called’ unprecedented speech, forgetting the hot water that Bill Cosby got into a few years ago or even Wynton Marsalis’ last recording speaking directly to black America about the possibility of losing a generation of changes that forbearers penetrated. These folks also haven’t spent any time watching Maya Angelou interviews or any of the perspectives that are usually aired each and every February.

Most people that have read the context of the speech, looked at the object psychology; albeit political necessity have found it to be rather sanguine posture disingenuously engaging in mock comparisons and the overall folly is that Barack Obama comes up short on the overall point: Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ is not only volatile for a Christian church and in its most meanest sense a driving dividing line that states that no matter the credo; All Americans are not still Americans. I listened to Reverend Otis Moss III speak during an interview yesterday on NPR explain the nature of the church and it’s intent to still carry on in the manner of Reverend Wright; reinforcing the continuation of hate, disrespect and counter culture of black America versus white America.

But he can not quit; not being able to ensure that his base; not his fan base; but his base sticks with him. The same way that McCain can’t denounce the fringe maniacs on the polar end of Christianity. It’s a dilemma that takes more than leadership; but heart, more that intellectualizing; but guts; courage. Bigotry; no manner how one wants to cast it is still bigotry. What does Wright, Moss and Obama believe in? What do they have in store of American if they indeed are handed the keys?

America is a culture of frail behaviorists. As it has been mentioned; we enjoy being the best and we scorn those who by proxy deliver failure. The passions that follow the behavior of people like Wright are reflected now to Barack Obama because he has established himself as not being able to see the forest for the trees. The lack of ability for him to understand that the politics (not religion) of Jeremiah Wright, the disposition (not color) of his words are what people can not contend with. Barack Obama is out there asking for our empathy in his goal of protecting a hatemonger. Obama’s statement of crazy Uncle Jerry is sinister at best; what will he tell us of his wayward cousin Osama bin Laden? Obama has said that he is shaken by the uproar; but not the message. Well America is shaken too; distraught disappointed in the character of a man whom so many supposed had character.

Barack Obama should become a footnote in political history; rather than hailed for the stigma he has now attached to him and his supporters.

Perhaps some of his supporters would like to ask the only questions coming from his opponents…

1. If a white minister preached sermons to his congregation and had used the "N" word and used rhetoric and words similar to members of the KKK, would you support a Democratic presidential candidate who decided to continue to be a member of that congregation?
2. Would you support that candidate if, after knowing of or hearing those sermons, he or she still appointed that minister to serve on his or her "Religious Advisory Committee" of his or her presidential campaign?
I hope my message gets to someone in the Obama campaign -- or to a reporter traveling with the Senator -- who can persuade Senator Obama to answer them directly. As I just wrote, he will have to do so -- either now or perhaps in the fall.

Sam’ old Sam’ old; Mr. Barack Obama

Great Speech what else is new?

Some Questions for America…

Do you understand race better?

Does it count for your diversity training?

How does this dispel that folks like Rev. Wright are not still influential people to Mr. Obama or anyone in general?

Who will now be his spiritual advisor when he has to hunker down with moral questions, similarly with Christian Idealism?

Such as What if the War must go on or escalate?

Or What about new Israeli-Palestinian flare ups?

Does he agree with those remarks that aren’t exactly black vs. white issues? Rev. Wright talked about a lot more that wasn’t race.

Does he think that that AIDS was started by the US government to kill black people?

It is easy to dismiss ‘all that is offensive’; blanket the fire with a nice intellectual statement that circles in the sky the way a buzzard waits for a wounded animal to die. Hyde Park is smiling.

I think the speech was highly calculated; ‘the black community vs. my white grandmother’ nice…

So Nobel Mr. Obama where was the regret for the antagonism that Rev. Wright placed against Hillary Clinton for the most public of humiliation that she had to endure? You only gave an overt reference to her ‘evidence that she's playing the race card’.

Someone said recently that politics is still the same as it was back in Athenian forums; and what we witnessed yesterday is evidence; a slight variation of the central themes. It is as cynical as moving the goal posts; he simply redefined them to deflect the posed concerns.

I think it was largely a commitment of more of the same, no news.

A la:

Oh ~ Blacks are angry about the segregation, slavery, Jim Crow?
[When did that start?]
White folks are pissed because they don’t feel as dominant a race as they did 50 years ago?
[Really?]
Wait, did he indicate that Irish and Italians didn’t always get along or Catholics and Protestants haven’t always been friends?
[C’mon!]
I was waiting for him to say that gay people might live in rural communities?
[I didn’t get off that boat yesterday either…]

I expect the same reaction around the country as we got when we found out that Rev. Wright was a highly charged radical preacher from the South Side of Chicago: shocked, shocked! That this kind of demoralized feelings about race, class and basic humanity was going on in America! (or in the whole world: hint Iraq War)

I’m sorry that America has kicked up some dust in your sandbox Mr. Obama; but here’s the God’s Honest Truth… Life is Hard; For Everybody…Message you didn’t deliver: Get Over It!

I am no more able to complain about my disenfranchisement than anyone else in this world.

I think all that was done by this speech was validating the hurtful, hateful commentary of every racist in America; as well it will increase the capacity of every co-dependant self pitying pill popping constituency (who is guaranteed to love that speech)who once again will not reach beyond themselves to exhibit a self reliance in these basic human elements.

No; I don’t think this is leading by example; this speech is enabling the worst aspect of American society.

By keeping your heart and soul in the possession of any church that even hints at the aspect of Hate; you are no longer at a church but a member of a cult.

America knows this.

Plenty of people are capable of turning off their televisions, walking out of movies, restaurants; kitchen tables AND YES it is possible to walk out of a church that dispenses the continuum of a negative direct selection philosophy. Why can’t you do this?

All this talk of confronting race head on in this speech is malarkey; what exact fears of your own did you confront?

I think you hid them in this speech; attracting pity of the white folks and stalling the fallout from the black community for providing a hesitation before you perform in yet another suite as the chameleon.

I can’t tell if I am outraged more by the irony of the acceptance of this horror or by the implicit call to bifurcate the Theme of Racism.

Mr. Obama, I don’t think you know how to explain race any more than the next guy; even myself… but I will give you this one story before we go off the deep-end.

Many years ago; my brother in law raised as a racist was struggling with these emotions, drunkenly decided on Christmas Day to confront them. We drove to a bar in Clearwater, Florida on Greenwood Avenue; he walked into this bar (I wish I could remember the name; but this was 1994), sat down at the bar and proclaimed to the few people that were in there that he was born and raised a racist but thought that if he could come into this bar and drink with people he was taught to fear; he could change his beliefs.

I went to sit in a booth to let him fight his demons; a man named Rudolf came and spoke with me to see if he was for real; or if I was the ‘heavy’ as he put it.

We left a few hours later; everyone was hugging and grinning… saying, ‘wow’.

The speech we heard yesterday was filled with spoken truths, attempted to sooth political hysteria and to protect Mr. Obama’s flank. He may have been afraid to give the speech and overcame that; but didn’t over come his fears that consummate what is racism.

Courage is defined as the ability to confront fear, pain, risk, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. Not Biography.

Mr. Obama; where was your fear, pain, risk, danger, uncertainty or intimidation without the flowery remarks that are all part of a good speech?