Monday, June 2, 2008

Political Rule # 384: Never appease a tyrant


Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Trinity are community building blocks that the right wing has turned into bricks to be thrown at presidential candidate Obama from now until the general election ends in November—and perhaps beyond.

So in an attempt to turn manufactured right-wing ammo into blanks, Obama has completely separated himself from his minister and his church. What worries me is this: Can we expect a President Obama to cave in to the whims and will of the right on policies and issues he knows are important, if this nation is to move forward in a progressive and compassionate manner? Can we expect him to genuflect to negative reports by an uninformed, misinformed or ill-willed media? Is the candidate of change willing to go-along in a willy-nilly get-along fashion?

I hope not, but I’m not sure.

…Should this become his practice as president, then for those who have invested so much hope in him, his victory will only be a pyrrhic one.

--Monroe Anderson


Tell me that’s not the realest shit you’ve heard.

Resigning from his church is the single worst move Obama could have made (aside from telling the press corps that Louis Farrakhan is a great man).

Sure, Obama’s decision won’t sit well with many of his black supporters, but this isn’t actually as big a deal as it might seem. Black people have been extremely practical about the media’s bullshit surrounding Obama and his “radical” associates. For the most part, we understand the impossible situation facing Obama.

Running away from his “controversial” church isn’t going to appease the right wing, and it isn’t going to appease the media.

Obama had better be prepared to hear the following two questions ad nauseum:

1.) What took you so long?

2.) What do you stand for?

Allowing the media to dictate what church he attends only fuels those who think that he is a secret Muslim and that his commitment to Christianity is one borne chiefly of political expediency.

Moreover, it makes the dim right wing pundits and the mainstream media (when it comes to race, same thing, really) even more apt to attack and problematize other aspects of his blackness that are too “exotic” and “angry” for white America.



This decision marks the beginning of the end of Obama's presidential run.

1 comment:

William L. Tucker, Jr. said...

I disagree Obama's leaving Trinity will injure his campaign. Principally, it's a necessary token gesture -- one I believe Rev. Wright, Obama, and many voters understand as part of a Black person's career in American politics. I seriously doubt Obama's views on public service have changed, influenced as they undoubtedly are by Wright.