I've stayed away from diaries about race generally and Rev. Wright specifically. I don't like being called a racist and I don't like hearing people I otherwise agree with skating a little too close to the "race" line. Furthermore, there is more truth to some of Rev. Wrights sermons than many Americans want to hear. I also admired and agreed with much of Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday. I particularly liked the line about competing dreams.
I have also been sympathetic with the view that Rev. Wright is just preaching within the tradition of black liberation theology. The problem is that he lost me in the sermon he gave on Sunday January 13. Here Rev. Wright veered far away from the Bible and attacked Hillary Clinton as rich and white and privileged. He also attacked Bill Clinton for "riding dirty" on African Americans.
Maybe, Rev. Wright just got a little too excited. But ...
Look at the sequence of events.
On January 7, Bill Clinton made his infamous "fairy tale" analogy.
On January 8, Hillary Clinton had her surprise win in the NH primary.
On January 9, Donna Brazile went on CNN's Situation Room and accused Bill of demeaning Barack Obama, accusing him of characterizing Obama's entire candidacy as a fairy tale.
On January 10, Jesse Jackson Jr. accused Hillary Clinton of lacking compassion for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
On January 13, Rev. Wright delivers his now famous sermon about the Clintons.
Maybe its just a coincidence. Maybe Bill Clinton was disrespectful of Barack Obama. Donna Brazile dwelled particularly on Bill's characterization of Barack as a "kid."
However, Jesse Jackson Jr's attempt to link Hillary Clinton's misty eyes on a bleak day in NH to a lack of compassion for victims of Hurricane Katriana, now that was a stretch. That wasn't spontaneous anger. That was so contrived it had to be planned.
So then what do we make of Rev. Wright's blatantly partisan sermon three days later, accusing the Clinton's of "doing" the African American community? A sermon, by the way, that starts out in the tradition of black liberation theology but then ends up as nothing but a political hit job. A sermon that is posted on the web for anyone to watch. Was it just piling on? Maybe. But I'm starting to feel a little cynical.
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