Remarks of Senator Barack Obama (D), “A More Perfect Union,” Philadelphia, PA, March 18, 2008.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”  Link: my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords

“I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for our children and grandchildren.”

“The belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.”

“I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.” “I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”

“It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that his nation is more than the sums of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.”

“Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how Hungary the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.”

“This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign.” “ ….some commentators have deemed me either “’too black” or “not black enough.’” “We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during week before the South Carolina primary.” (IMO, it started with the Ohio voters displaying the ugliest sentiments for use of the race card vehemently reared its head.) “The press has scoured…for…evidences of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.” “…it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken…divisive turn.”

“…, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap.” “…we’ve heard from my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.”

“Did I strongly disagree with many of these political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”

“…, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.”

“We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, (…incidentally who ran as a democrat for president back when in…. Go figure that one out.) In the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

“But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now.

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Obama’s Minister Committed “Treason” But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero, Frank Schaeffer, writer and author of Crazy For God-How I Grew Up As One Of the Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back

“When Senator Obama’s preacher thundered about racism and injustice, Obama suffered smear-by-association, But when my late father – Religious Right Leader Francis Schaeffer – denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, he was invited to lunch with the presidents, Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.” (IMO, isn’t that the frying pan calling the kettle black? Typical)

“Dad became a hero to the evangelical community and a leading political instigator. When Dad died in 1984 everyone from Reagan to Kemp to Billy Graham lamented the passing publicly as the loss of a great American. Not one Republican leader was ever asked to denounce my dad or distanced him from Dad’s statements.”

“Today we have a marriage of convenience between the right wing fundamentalists who hates Obama, and the “progressive” Clintons who are playing the race card through their own smear machine. As Jane Smiley writes in the Huffington Post “[The Clinton’s] are, indeed, now part of the ‘vast right wing conspiracy.’” (www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/im-already-against-the-n_b_90628.html)

Both the far right Republicans and the stop-at-nothing Clintons are using the “scandal” of Obama’s preacher to undermine the first black American candidate with a serious shot at the presidency. Funny thing is the racist Clinton/Far Right smear machine proves that Obama’s minister had a valid point. There is plenty to yell about these days.”

* * * *

Discussions

Obama’s Faith in the Reasoning Abilities of the American People:

Barbara O’Brien, “I found the whole Wright “controversy” manufactured and relatively petty from the start, and worse, the by-product of a glaring double standard, so the speech obviously wasn’t aimed at people who had the beliefs about this whole matter that I had.” “The speech will be adored by Obama fans, the political and media elite, and high-information, politically engaged voters other than those firmly entrenched on the Right. But politically speaking, that isn’t the target audience either.” The real question with regard to the speech’s political impact:

I think the question about the speech, articulated by Rachel Maddow on David Gregory’s news MSNBC program, is whether white America will step up and receive the speech in the same spirit which it was given. Obama’s speech was challenging. He assumed that his audience could hear his words and think about them. He assumed people could get beyond simple narratives, sound bytes, and jerking knees.

Steve M. reluctantly makes the case as to why the speech won’t work despite (or, more accurately, because of high-minded, steadfast refusal to pander:

The premise [the speech] lies out require you to be an adult, and I’m not convinced that most American is adults, at least when looking for a candidate to support. . . .

This isn’t what Americans like to hear in political speeches. They like to hear: Good people = us (America, our party). Bad people = them (communists, terrorists, criminals, drug dealers, our ideological opposites, the other party, or some group we identify in code rather than explicitly).

That wasn’t the tone of the speech. I hope I’m wrong, but Obama may pay a price for not giving people what like to hear.

The entire premise of Barack Obama’s candidacy is built upon the opposite assumption – that Americans are not only able, but eager, to participate in a more elevated and reasoned political discourse, one that moves beyond the boisterous, screeching, simple-minded, ugly attack-based distractions and patronizing manipulation – the Drudgian Freak Show – that has dominated our political debates for the last two decades at least.

Even Americans who authentically believe that they want a “new, better politics” may be swayed by the same old petty, personality-based demonization works, and the belief that it won’t work any longer in the absence of a major war against it may be more a by-product of faith and desire than reality. Obama’s calm reason and rational (though inspiring) discourse are matched against very visceral images and psychologically gripping strategies.

Pam Spaulding commenting on the Jeremiah Wright video:

That said, people have to acknowledge part of the reason for the discomfort lies in Wright’s delivery of the message. It’s so black, isn’t it? It sounds militant to tender ears outside the traditional black church. . . .

I want to turn the discussion to race, because I think this episode with Rev. Wright exposed the whole “scary black revolution” primal fear hear. . . .

When I heard Wright, I heard a delivery not unlike the unhinged gay-bashing. Reverend Willie Wilson . . . . The delivery sounds go angry, so harsh to many. You get the feeling, based on the reaction out there, that people are afraid of Barack Obama by association, are some sort of Trojan Horse of Black Anger waiting to be unleashed, prepared to exact revenge on white society by pulling the wool over their eyes by appearing friendly, “articulate” and non-threatening. In other words –- not that (Wright) kind of guy.

Obama, Trying To Bridge America’s Racial Divide, by Kevin Merida, The Washington Post, March 19, 2008:

As a rule, politicians don’t volunteer to give difficult speeches – not on sexism, not on religion bias, not even on the sacrifices required of a fiscally troubled nation.

“Nobody gets into politics to give those speeches,” said Pat Schroeder, the former Colorado congresswoman.

He had been pushed to the moment by a controversy over video snippets of sermons given by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wight. While condemning Wright for comments that were “not only wrong but divisive,” Obama also sought to put the minister and the black church in context.

Schroeder, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton but also likes Obama, said: “I think he tried very hard to bring everybody to where we need to bring them. I just hope the people heard it.”

Internet Congregation Responds in Many Voices: In the World Created by YouTube, the Preaching Can Go Both Ways, by Jose Antonio Vargas, The Washington Post, March 19, 2008:

Wright’s homilies – including the one where he says “God damn America” – have taken on a new life, opening a conversation so kaleidoscopic only the vastness of the Internet has room for it. It’s about race, Sen. Barack Obama, the presidential campaign, us.

Standing in his kitchen, speaking in front of this web-cam, a middle-aged white asks of Wright: “Where is this guy from, the dark ages?”

A young black man, made-up bed in plain view in the video, says, “I believe America is afraid of Barack Obama. . . .His pastor speaks the truth on certain things.”

An Asian woman, holding a small microphone and fixing her ponytail, wonders: “Why is he” – Wright – “being harassed for talking about race?” The word ‘racist’ is just thrown around and I don’t think it means anything if you’re going to call everyone a racist because they said something about race or something you might be offended by.”

Dear Village Family,

It took me so time to piece this entry altogether; I could not sum up this issue in 100 words or less. It is a topic that can go on ad nauseam not just here in America but the entire world.

Peace, Love & Together