A quarter century ago, I did a small, silly graphic design gig for $150: I airbrushed a chrome title design for an adult video called Hershey Highway, a movie which I cannot recommend as I have not seen it.
Lots of designers in L.A. have quietly taken on jobs like that during thin times. Rent must needs be paid. But as I cut the frisket, one odd thought pounded in my head:
You can never run for public office.
Not that I had any ambition to do so. Still, the idea was disconcerting: Setting foot in the adult industry, even to a small degree, forevermore bars one from political life.
Why didn't a similar warning resound in the noggin of Barack Obama as he sat listening to the anti-American screechings of his black nationalist mentor, Jeremiah Wright?
Obama may think that he can undo the damage by finding the right mollifying words, but those words do not and never will exist. Actions speak louder than. Obama attended that church for twenty years.
He cannot claim ignorance. The media did not "cherry pick" Wright's statements; Wright sells video tapes of his sermons, and many of them are incendiary. When Wright screamed "God damn America!" or when he blamed America for 9/11, Obama -- if he had any political ambitions at all -- should have walked out and resigned his membership.
He did not.
Wright still has a minor but official position in the Obama campaign.
You cannot undo the past. You may think that you can justify the things that Wright has said, but your rationalizations simply do not matter. Barack Obama cannot become president without the votes of white America, and many whites will feel repulsed by Obama's "mentor."
Barack Obama will never be president. Even if I still wanted him to achieve that office, I would have to admit that his past bars him from it. If he gets the nomination, McCain will flood the airwaves with Wright's Greatest Hits, 24/7. If McCain can also find some way to distance himself from Bush and the Iraq war -- well, that will be the end of it.
Expect a 48-state rout.
18 comments:
damn joe, you might be right (i'll refrain from the pun), this could be the wedge to split obama's support. that's some heavy prognostication on your part, and if it indeed comes to fruition, your bragging rights'll be deserved and insufferable...
but i gotta say, i hear wright's comments as those of someone who conflates race with poverty--granted, he's not enlightened enough to make that direct leap, but there are enough recognizable truths to power within his readings. i don't think this will be lost on everyone. i can understand someone's social commitment to a church (i'm jewish, so maybe i can't) while only being, say, 90% behind the teachings of the pastor, which is what obama has basically said. i can hear your accusations of naivete on my part, and hey, you may be correct. this issue will be used against obama, and it will be effective, but not necessarily devastating. your post actually gives me advance warning of a headache...
apropos of nothing, are you familiar with adam curtis' documentary, 'century of the self'? seems like it'd be up your (and lots of cannonfire fans') alley. should be on google video.
and hey joe, check out the hot hillary supporter action here (under 'women's work'):
http://www.truepanther.com/blog.html
y'know joe, you're a bit like that 90% preacher to me... not always 100%, but close enough.
and you can ban or curse me if you want, but i'll always check in...
-quasiblotto
This story has been around for several weeks. So why does Obama have a 12 point lead on McCain in a recent poll, significantly higher than the Clinton 6 point lead vs. McCain? You really think the words of a supporter are that big a deal? Farrakhan has said things ten times worse and Obama handled that issue so well it bacame a non-issue. McCain supporter Hagee has said crazy things about Catholics and said Hurricane katrina was sent by God to punish New Orleans for sin and a planned gay pride parade. The McBush team realizes if they push the supporter issues Obama will push back.
So why does Obama have a 12 point lead on McCain in a recent poll, significantly higher than the Clinton 6 point lead vs. McCain?
* Because the people don't know yet. The ad bombardment -- Wright's Greatest Hits -- will begin after the convention.
You really think the words of a supporter are that big a deal?
* The words of a "spiritual mentor" are.
Farrakhan has said things ten times worse and Obama handled that issue so well it bacame a non-issue.
* First, I've heard Farrakhan at length, and I do NOT think he was worse. I actually have some respect for Farrakhan. I despise a lot of what he says, but at least he -- unlike Wright -- is a fine orator.
Obama's deflection worked because the people did not know the facts. That blissful ignorance will not last.
NO words will deflect the Wright albatross. That is the point of my piece. There are certain decisions you make in life where you have to tell yourself: "If I go through with this, I may never run for public office."
Obama fucked up. Years ago. Irrevocably.
The idea that a candidate must publicly repudiate every statement or action by anyone with whom he/she has associated in their adult life is ridiculous.
As someone who spent a lot of time in churches and often heard idiotic sermons and was polite enough not to get up and leave in a huff, I would hate to be judged by the attitudes and opinions of those clergymen.
The fact is that as Democratic voters, we only have 2 choices and of them Obama is the most likely victor.
As a dreaded "prog", I am not overjoyed with this either, and I can dream that the convention would reject them both and pick someone new in August who has never listened to a controversial sermon, nor slept with a prostitute, nor had any questionable real estate dealings, but I know that is a fantasy.
The fact is that we will probably have a choice between Obama and McCain and of the two, Obama is far and away the better choice. You are fond of telling progressives that we should think of the party rather than our petty positions on the issues, well it's time to take your own advice.
Instead of parroting the talking points from Fox News, how about using this blog's considerable research and investigative skills to uncover the dirt on McCain? This is an angry, hate-filled, far-right lunatic that regularly sells his office for filthy lucre. Let's drag his skeletons out of the closet instead of attacking the likely Democratic Party nominee.
Actually, according to NBC/WSJ, Rasmussen, AND Gallup polls Obama's lead over McCain has dissipated by 10 points to 2-3%.
Now the same as Clinton. Poll info from Real Clear Politics.
But wait. If you can't undo the past, then it would seem that the good paster has a valid reason to be mad.
You can't have it both ways. So which is it?
I'm sorry, did he say something that wasn't true?
Is what his minister said any worse than what a host of right-wing pseudo-religious "leaders" who endorse McCain have said and will say?
Joe, I never realized how truely weak you were until recently. Only now does this realization put your past diatribes into more understandable context. Better late than never, I guess.
Adios.
I just don't think it's that bad. Preachers say all kinds of things. I think you've been looking for an excuse to oppose Obama. I'm not following this blog anymore.
The OBAMA PLAYS THE RACE CARD graphic is superb. (Unlike Johnny Cochran's, Barry's play is a sandbagging, though you might see it as checking and raising.)
Fix the Hillary banner. The Obama graphic is a positive assertion, easy to grasp and retain. The second part of the Hillary banner tries to convince with negative assertions like a quadratic equation. Plus, I don't think the subjunctive is appropriate or correct there. (Those kind of 'would have' constructions usually work best with 'had they/had they not [earlier]..', 'they would/would not have [later]..'. Or, 'Were they balh blah..' (if your journalistic integrity requires the subjunctive dysclaiimer).
Sorry you feel that way, but as you go, recall my prediction. Come back when events prove me right. I won't be TOO insufferable.
One last point, Davy...
"Is what his minister said any worse than what a host of right-wing pseudo-religious "leaders" who endorse McCain have said and will say?"
From your point of view? No. From mine? Maybe not.
From the point of view of Joe Sixpack in Ohio...? I think he's going to have more problems with a Wright than with a Hagee.
Besides, can't you see your own hypocrisy? You want to live in a world where you are free to scorn McCain for accepting an endorsement from Hagee, yet you can rationalize away Obama going to Wright's church.
That world does not exist.
And there's is a massive difference between not sneering at an endorsement and choosing a pastor as a "spiritual mentor" over the course of twenty years.
Wright still has an official (albeit minor) post in the Obama campaign. Did you know that?
Look, this isn't a matter of whether or not I like Obama. Be objective. The guy's gonna get slaughtered in the electoral college.
"Even if I still wanted him to achieve that office, I would have to admit that his past bars him from it."
Joe,
You're problem is you are too damned rational and objective. The Obama-bots will never admit that their candidate is unelectable. They will come up with every flimsy excuse in the book. The comment threads on TPM Election, Washington Monthly, and other sites are unbelievable. Not to mention Obama-boy himself, Andrew Sullivan.
Yours is a fair analysis and prediction, Joe, but it still may not come true.
Why? Because the objective facts do not matter as much as how the media is willing to portray them.
As of now, the media is giving Obama a relatively full pass, even as to his pastor's inflammatory remarks. According to Josh's TPM today or yesterday, Chris Matthews, who is a bellweather for the Jack Welch NBC crew's line, said 'we all know he is not responsible for what his pastor says.'
IF, I say, IF, the media continues with that position, after they eliminate HRC from the race, then BHO will not suffer from this association.
The problem, of course, is that the media slimes Democrats out of habit and/or job description, and they love the Straight Talker, perhaps even more than the brilliant and charismatic young challenger.
So they may turn on a dime, and really gin up the attack machine. Surely, the GOP will try that anyway, but the traction it receives will depend on the media position on that matter.
...sofla
Obama cannot treat Wright like an embarrassing uncle who sometimes blurts out inappropriate comments. In addition to two decades of membership in the church, which the family presumably chose and attended for spiritual and moral guidance, they donated 22,500 dollars to the church in 2006, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Moreover, the church's extreme Afrocentrism is at one with Obama's desperate, lifelong effort to prove himself black enough (read his autobiography), his wife's undergraduate thesis and later public remarks, etc. It's tragic that people have only started paying attention to these things now, because they were available all along to those who cared, and who weren't desperate to believe in this man's ability to "transcend race"(!), when in fact the evidence shows that he's been fairly obsessed with it.
In any event, Wright's church and its ideology seem to be quite consistent with Obama's core beliefs, and while Democrats have been loathe to play these things up, you can bet that the Republicans won't be so reticent. Obama may still get the nomination, but I can't seem him withstanding the scrutiny on these issues long enough to prevail in November.
I agree with your post. He's done. There's no way the next president has a pastor that talks about "god damn america" and america being responsible for pearl harbor and 9/11 and aids...it all makes my stomach turn.
Another reason this is such a tragedy for the country is that if Obama does win the nomination, we may end up with a President (McCain) that even most Republicans can't stomach...
I'm with Democracy Lover and DHSmd. Obama isn't saying these things. Yawn.
I'm as average as a white middle-class American woman can be, and my ancestors settled America and were patriots in the Revolution, yet I agree with the pastor. GodD America for what our so-called elected officials have done in our name. We Americans ARE responsible, and I'm happy to see black America includes themselves in this responsibility by denouncing what our leaders have done. We all should be GodD'ing America for it.
This political distortion hasn't changed my opinion of or support for Obama over Clinton one iota. Clinton's a good candidate too, but I think Obama is much better.
I think America is ready to overthrow the corporatocracy, and Obama is sharp enough to pull it off. It won't happen with Clinton.
But, if not, Clinton is likely at least to work for social progress within that oppressive, fascist-like social infrastructure. Either is a step forward.
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