The Wacky Pastor story, as Charles Krauthamer said on Fox, has assumed the proportions of a scandal. The proof of this is that Senator Obama has gone into panic mode (Hillary should send him flowers). He issued a statement on the Huffington Post:
Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.
That is nicely done. It looks categorical, but it doesn't mention any particular statements. When he denounces any statements that "divide us from our allies," does that mean, maybe, Israel?
Let us recap some of the things that Reverend Wright has proclaimed from the pulpit:
The United States knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor, and let them do so to justify a war.
The United States manages the drug trade to afflict Black Americans.
The United States invented the AIDS virus as an instrument of genocide.
The United States deserved the 9/11 attack because of its sins.
God Damn America!
Presumably, Obama has now disavowed all of these atrocious and ridiculous assertions. Is his disavowal enough?
Paul Mirengoff at Powerline has the best defense of Obama that I have seen.
Here's a possible explanation, which someone acquainted with Obama in his early days in Chicago finds quite plausible, but which Obama can't proffer. Twenty years ago, Obama was trying to establish himself in Chicago with an eye (in all likelihood) towards a future run for office. Obama was an outsider. His Ivy League credentials, his having lived abroad, etc would have cut no ice on the south side of Chicago. He needed strong local connections. What better way to establish his authenticity on the south side than to affiliate with Pastor Wright and his influential church? (Obama reportedly also reached out to former terrorist and local political player Bill Ayers and, not ignoring another part of his future coalition, set himself up at the University of Chicago).
That is an explanation that I, as a political scientist, can have some sympathy with. And it helps explain why Obama didn't leave the church. It would have made it look like what it was: politically expedient. But how can we be certain that it was merely expedient?
Here is what bothers me: he didn't just get married by this full-tilt bozo of a priest. He brought his daughters to that church. He didn't seem to mind that they would be exposed to the ravings of a man who hates America down to the bottom of his heart. And it wasn't just Rev. Wright. Watching the many clips of Wright's sermons, it seems pretty clear that the congregation was singing along. Every execrable word was applauded.
Did it never occur to Barack Obama that there was something wrong here? That he might not want his children to grow up to be just like Rev. Wright? Or did Barack Obama feel perfectly comfortable and at home in that environment?
I confess that I am suddenly very concerned about what is in Senator Obama's heart. Up till now I thought that the return of the Clintons was the great thing to fear. I may have been wrong.
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