The Shape of Things to Come
What's the Fall campaign gonna look like? Something like this:
- The MSM flog Obama over moronic comments made by his former pastor, while glossing over rabidly anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic rants by McCain's religious braintrust;
- McCain, apparently disatisfied with the old "Who would Osama vote for?" slander, has upgraded to actively claiming that Al Qaeda will kill people in order to elect Democrats;
- Ezra Klein, sadly, hits the nail right on the proverbial head as to why Obama's ex-pastor "matters," but Joe Lieberman's rabbi and Pat Robertson don't.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Elections, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, MSM, Pat Robertson, President, Religion
posted by The Local Crank | 9:07 PM
10 Comments:
I've heard "howler monkeys" scream about Rev. Wright for days, but waited to read/hear another view before I mae up my mind on it. And here in your post I find the other view.
It seems like the main "anti-Obama" line lately is that he has some bad friends. It is a valid negative point, but I think it only goes so far. (and can go a lot farther with others when their bad friends and business associates end up convicted of felonies).
(By the way, Klein is in error to call Chomsky any sort of libertarian. He is strongly statist. Rather contradictory, like those who call Emma Goldman an "anarchist" despite her pushing for more a stronger more powerful government).
Yeah, I didn't get the Chomsky = libertarian bit either. But on preacher-gate, it's all a matter of perspective. If the MSM want to grind on Obama over Pastor Wright (which is frankly pretty ludicrous in my estimation), then there's just simply no justification (other than a racial/political double standard) for not highlighting similar comments (or in the case of saying America brought 9-11 on herself, IDENTICAL comments) by Parsley, Hagee, Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, etc.
Great point.
The difference as I understand it between Wright and the likes of Falwell/Robertson/Dobson is that Wright has a much closer personal connection to the Obamas, having married them, baptized their children, and preached to them every Sunday they were in church. If these were the kinds of things he said every weekend to the approval or at least indifference of the Obamas, then it would cause me a little concern. But so far it's not clear this was the case, and I generally ignore "guilt by association"-type allegations of this nature from the media.
"The difference as I understand it between Wright and the likes of Falwell/Robertson/Dobson is that Wright has a much closer personal connection to the Obamas"
I don't buy that. Obama has specifically and explicitly denounced these comments by his former pastor. How much easier then for McCain to do the same for preachers he is only cozy with because he believes they can deliver him votes? And McCain has described Parsley at least as a "spiritual advisor." And, again, that doesn't explain why a sermon is despicable and worthy of media frothing at the mouth when made by a now-retired black pastor of one church in Chicago, but not when the EXACT SAME SERMON is given by white pastors with their own (in the case of Falwell and Robertson, nationwide) television shows.
If Wright had been making comments of this kind for years during his Sunday sermons, with the Obamas present, and Obama only just NOW denounced them, then I think his belated denunciation would be a little suspect. But again, I have no reason yet to believe that's the case.
I'm embarrassed to ask, but is Parsley the San Antonio clergyman? I'm less familiar with that story, which probably proves the point about the media's selective focus.
Hagee is the one from San Antonio.
"If Wright had been making comments of this kind for years during his Sunday sermons, with the Obamas present, and Obama only just NOW denounced them, then I think his belated denunciation would be a little suspect."
I don't buy that either. Hagee has been calling the Catholic Church the "whore of Babylon" for years, Robertson & Falwell denounced America for 9-11 seven years ago, and yet Republicans still flock to gather their blessing (well, maybe not from Falwell any more). Also, would you claim a pro-choice Catholic candidate was a "little suspect" if he had been listening to pro-life homilies for years without becoming Protestant?
"Also, would you claim a pro-choice Catholic candidate was a "little suspect" if he had been listening to pro-life homilies for years without becoming Protestant?"
I would not consider the CANDIDATE to be a little suspect. I would consider his DENUNCIATION a little suspect if he was only now making it for the first time in years after having a warm relationship with the priest in question and never having raised the issue before. I know a lot of people who left churches for good because a single sermon irritated them so badly. In fact I was talking to one co-worker today who did exactly that and never looked back after just one anti-gay sermon from her priest.
John McCain, as I recall, drew quite a lot of criticism in 2000 from fellow Republicans for openly challenging the Falwell-Robertson wing of the party. True, he's not criticizing them this time around, and that does bother me more than a little, but on the other hand I understand (even if I don't like) the fact that our stagnant two-party political system forces presidential candidates to play nice with elements of their party they may not agree with or even remotely like.
"I would not consider the CANDIDATE to be a little suspect. I would consider his DENUNCIATION a little suspect if he was only now making it for the first time in years after having a warm relationship with the priest in question and never having raised the issue before."
Okay, that I can see.
"I know a lot of people who left churches for good because a single sermon irritated them so badly."
Including me. Well it wasn't a single sermon but using Mother's Day as an excuse to rail about the Muslim (???) hordes sneaking over our borders and destroying "our way of life" was the proverbial (and pardon the pun) straw that broke the camel's back for me.
"our stagnant two-party political system forces presidential candidates to play nice with elements of their party they may not agree with or even remotely like."
Practicing law is very similar in that regard...
BTW, I was impressed by what little I heard from Obama's speech today. He did a better job articulating the same point I tried to make either in this thread or another (I've lost track) that comments like Wright's fail to take into account the impressive progress our country has made on racial equality, to the point where a black man is poised to become the Democratic nominee and quite possibly the next president.
Post a Comment
<< Home