did you read/listen to the speech? he is actually trying to address the underlying issues. he is not blaming the messenger at all, he explicitly explained the cause of the message.
guilt by association is a pretty weak foundation, but unfortunately it is very hard to respond to. i give obama alot of props for actually trying to discuss this as an adult rather than running from it. unfortunately, this involves explaining things in more than one simple sentence, and that simply doesn't fly in our country today.
Yep...and read transcript multiple times. It's an awesome speech, but misses the point on so many levels....for instance:
Barak Obama said:
...And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way.
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Let's take out RevWright's name and insert your favorite racist group (like the KKK) or terrorist group (like Hamas) that probably has done some 'good' things as well. Does that excuse their hate?
How many people would be making excuses if we took out the words "African-American" and "Black" and instead substituted "White" or "Hispanic" or "Asian"?
Obama threw his own grandmother under the bus in trying to explain away Wright's comments.
I want him to just stand up and say "These are stupid statements. There are no excuses -NONE - for any of this being said. It doesn't matter that 400 years ago slaves were brought to this country. I went to Harvard, my wife went to Princeton, I'm a US Senator, and a strong candidate for President. My LIFE is an example of the fact that what Rev Wright is saying makes no sense and is talk from a hater, a racist, and I will have nothing more to do with him. I should have expelled myself and my family from his congregation 19 years and 364 days ago and I'm sad that I didn't. I want to be a president for ALL americans and not just these inner city black folk who hate whitey"
If he had said that, I think he would have won 65-35 in the general election. Heck, I may have even voted for him. As it is, this blackwashing of these stupid statements probably cost him even the DNC nomination.
Again, his rhetoric and his actions are crossways against each other, and that's a terrible position to be in as a politician before you're elected, especially.
