I dare say that Barack Obama was a smidgen disingenuous (a fancy word for “dishonest”) when he claimed that he was not present and therefore unaware of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s vitriolic outburst against whites and America. After the revelation of a 20-year close relationship with the vituperative pastor and a 17-year active membership in his congregation, the senator had to back off the allegation that he was not privy to the extremist rant of the bilious preacher.
Realizing he was up to his ears in the worst crisis of his political life and that damage control was urgent, Obama presented an astutely candid response to the raillery of the reverend, dealing with matters of race and racism in America. But his March 18 speech was hardly without ambivalence, if not the taint of hypocrisy.
While stoutly condemning Rev. Wright for his boiling bigotry, Obama defended his avuncular leader because of his deep indebtedness to him for spiritual guidance and other religious reasons. Also because of the 30 years of good works by the pastor.
In the light of a long and close friendship with the latter, Obama had to backpedal from his facade of ignorance about what could hardly be a one-time burst of venom. Raised as a black man, despite a mother and her parents who were white, he surely was not oblivious to the injustice, anger, protest marches, riots, police brutality, and assassinations of the turbulent civil rights decades of the last century. His speech, therefore, was not without justification for giving some context to the racism in America that implicated whites no less than blacks.
Credit belongs to the senator for tackling the problem head-on promptly and honestly. He cannot be faulted for intimacy with the black culture of Chicago amidst a broken America and not be affected by it.
Sen. Clinton, despite being a child of Republicans, also came out of a radical culture. As a rebellious student, she soldiered in step with the anti-Vietnam War crusade of the ’60s, which was often as angry and violent as the black militants. But she chose to get educated, graduating at the top of her class at Wellesley and Yale’s School of Law.
Obama likewise opted for education over radicalism, after a callow experiment with drugs and some, allegedly, promiscuous dalliance, hardly out of the norm for undergrads. A Harvard degree in law won him the distinction of editing the Law Review.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also chose education, plus, like Rev. Wright, the ministry. But, unlike the latter, he chose another kind of radicalism, the radicalism of nonviolence over violence, of love over hate, of a more perfect union over divisiveness. And that must have impacted Obama far more than his minister’s damnation of American and his flagrant fabrication of our country’s evils.
Still, in spite of all the rationalizations, in spite of all the heartfelt tugs of affection for Rev. Wright, in spite of all the latter’s mentoring, one may question the wisdom of a senator with great ambition, with the greatest ambition, to maintain personal and emotional ties to a friend so rabid in his deracination of America. It hardly fits well with a non-cynic who aspires to unite and heal rather than divide and hate.
Shakespeare happens to be pertinent on the matter. The lovable, mischievous, quixotic, boastful, blustering, pretentious, cowardly, hypocritical, deceitful, gluttonous, devilish, joyous, pompous, witty, goodhearted, loquacious, hard-drinking buffoonish and obese sybarite, Falstaff (surely one of the greatest creations in all of literature!) is a fast friend, a bosom buddy of the young Prince Hal, heir to the throne of England and destined to be lionized as Henry V, a great warrior and king of a great nation. Faced with the awesome demands of duty to his country, he brazenly and abruptly breaks ALL ties and allegiances to the old tub of exuberant, joy-generating lard, the beloved and decadent companion of his carousing days of miscreant youth.
Obama is no Prince Hal. In his March 18 media-intensive speech, he made it decisively clear not only that he would not cut the ties that strongly bound him to Rev. Wright but presented a kind of apologia for his longtime loyal friend, focusing on the positives of his ministry as well as his service to Obama and his wife in their marriage and in the baptism of their children.
Was the senator’s commitment a fearless and courageous show of loyalty to a close friend or was it an inexpedient, if not a politically suicidal failure of the judgment he is so proud of? Perhaps a failure to assess the reaction, especially among uncommitted, or even committed, whites suddenly unexuberant about fidelity to what appears to be a preacher peddling the worst kind of racist bigotry.
Obama’s decision, right or wrong, bold or blundering, noble or ignoble, wise or witless, could be his Achilles heel in the great combat to come with Sen. John McCain.
No matter that Obama’s put-down of his minister’s “very offensive views,” and no matter that “this guy has built one of the finest churches in Chicago.” The wannabe president is still no Prince Hal.
— Saul Rosenthal
Terre Haute
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: In battles to come, Obama has an Achilles heal
- Flashpoint
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
As you know if you pay attention to national affairs, the United States faces a perfect fiscal storm at the end of this year.
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FLASHPOINT:Bipartisan vs. Nonpartisan
During the primary election season there was much discussion regarding whether bipartisanship is a positive or negative attribute as it relates to the work of the United States Congress.
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FLASHPOINT: School libraries essential for reading achievement
If the situation were not so serious, it would be laughable. How can we improve reading achievement if we make it more difficult to put books in the hands of our children?
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FLASHPOINT: Lugar warns of 'unrelenting partisan mindset'
I would like to comment on the Senate race just concluded and the direction of American politics and the Republican Party.
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FLASHPOINT: Is money a problem in politics? Depends on where you sit
The role of money in politics needs to be better understood. Does it make the political system work better, or is it a problem — and if so, how much of one?
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FLASHPOINT: ‘Private’ clubs should be exempt from smoking bans
Over the past several years I have watched the Vigo County Council, followed by the City Council, and lastly the legislature of the great state of Indiana, wrestle with a smoking ban.
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FLASHPOINT: Downtown developers should share more details on project
With all of the opinions being expressed about the fate of the 500 block of Wabash Avenue, one element is sorely missing: the details.
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FLASHPOINT: Be careful when making accusations of ‘racism’
Perhaps, in a way that he doesn’t understand, Attorney General Eric Holder is correct in accusing America of being cowardly about discussing issues of race.
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FLASHPOINT: Historic hotel demolition was shameful day for Terre Haute
In an April 13 article on the potential demolition of historic buildings at Fifth and Wabash for student housing, Mike Ellis says, “I love the old historic buildings and have always had a passion to see them saved and restored. I was an opponent of seeing the Terre Haute House come down and the new hotel go up,” he said. “I have been proven wrong with what that would do for Terre Haute.”
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FLASHPOINT: Notes on saving structural history
There are several reasons why the historic buildings adjacent and west of Roger’s Jewelers should be saved, and why our downtown needs to protect and embrace our remaining historic fabric. First and foremost, rehab and reuse saves our historic buildings for future generations to experience, and the more architectural authenticity our downtown preserves, the more admired and “walkable” it will become.
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FLASHPOINT: Can anyone hear the call from Farrington's Grove
On Friday, March 30, a dear friend was brutally attacked in broad daylight in an alley in the neighborhood I grew up in, on the edge of Farrington’s Grove.
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FLASHPOINT: We have the power to co-exist without violence or prejudice
Innumerable forces in our lives, and throughout our society, seem to have convinced us that immediacy is best. We have to do it now. We have to have it now. We must go there now. We need it now!
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FLASHPOINT: Issue surrounding Florida shooting fueled by race
I am writing as a mother and as president of the Terre Haute branch of the NAACP because there may be some who wonder why the shooting of Trayvon Martin has created such an uproar: “What exactly is the issue?”
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana — open for business
With the 2012 legislative session in the rearview mirror, the two-year work of the 117th General Assembly elected in November of 2010 is complete.
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FLASHPOINT: The Constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act
On March 26, the United States Supreme Court will begin three days of hearings with six hours of oral argument on the constitutional challenge filed by Indiana and 25 other states against certain sections of the federal health care law: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as “Obamacare.” This historic lawsuit will explore the limits of the power of Congress under the U.S. Constitution.
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FLASHPOINT: The burning questions of ‘Fahrenheit 451’
“Remember the firemen are rarely necessary. The public stopped reading of its own accord.” — Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451”
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FLASHPOINT: Wonderful place to be during a very hard time
University Hospital (Indianapolis), part of IU Health Group, is a wonderful place to be if you are seriously ill.
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FLASHPOINT: America’s energy brings America jobs
The increase in fuel prices affects many aspects of our daily lives.
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FLASHPOINT: Change coming to the Indiana Statehouse
The General Assembly is about to undergo a major face-lift. I’m not talking about new construction. I’m talking about destruction — partisan destruction, in fact.
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FLASHPOINT: White House rejects Keystone XL: Sad day for U.S. workers
Imagine a project that could create 20,000 American jobs during construction, and as many as half a million longer-term positions.
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FLASHPOINT: Graduation rates are up; great news for Indiana
As Hoosiers celebrate the conclusion of a truly remarkable Super Bowl experience, there is even more good news that should fill us with pride.
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FLASHPOINT: Tech trail leading us into a dense, digital forest
It seems the Southwest Parke schools are the latest to play the laptop lottery game.
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FLASHPOINT: Republicans enable war on middle class, unions
About six years ago at the pinnacle of the Bush/GOP Dictatorship, I began telling you that the wealthy and Corporate America were laying the ground work to politically, financially and physically take over America.
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FLASHPOINT: Howey ignores truth to advance his agenda
Brian Howey’s Jan. 8 column about the U.S. Senate race proves once again that he will not allow the facts or journalistic ethics to get in the way of attacking Richard Mourdock and promoting his chosen candidate, Dick Lugar.
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FLASHPOINT: Putting fairness first
This time of year, with chords of Auld Lang Syne still ringing in our ears, it’s not uncommon or unnatural to think of days gone by as being more desirable than the era we live in today.
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FLASHPOINT: What really motivates right-to-work proposal?
You may have heard about the upcoming “right-to-work” legislation before our lawmakers in the next session of “law making.”
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FLASHPOINT: The right-to-work debate: ‘Devil at Our Doorstep’
As the 2012 Indiana Legislative Assembly convenes, January will represent a tipping point for all Hoosiers’ individual freedoms as politicians and Big Labor draw battle lines to determine if Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state.
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FLASHPOINT: State’s House Democrats will offer alternative for job creation
As the leaders of single-party control in state government outline their agendas for the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it is easy to be cynical about their intentions in the months to come.
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FLASHPOINT: Community colleges must lead way in reshaping higher education
In the 1970s, I began what was three decades in the automotive industry. ... Today, in my position as president of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, I see higher education confronted with some of these same challenges.
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FLASHPOINT: There’s little right about ‘right to work’ proposal
The danger contained in these three simple words – “Right to Work” — is that they sound so innocent.
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
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