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TweetObama gave his major race speech today. If you didn’t see it, Drudge has the transcript.
The whole speech:
And here he is refusing to disavow Jeremiah Wright
A whole lot of jargon for a select group of people. Doesn’t disavow Wright, continues to defend him. Blames Talk radio and conservative “commentators” for stirring hatred. mmm, ok
My thoughts: If Obama is so committed to racial unity, why would he attend a church for 20 years that has outright paranoia for white people?
Initial reactions:
The fact that Obama twisted his pastor’s offensive and outrageous remarks and made it into a race issue was clever. It doesn’t excuse his pastor or excuse the fact that he sat with the America-hating racist for 20 years, though.
And, the fact that he plays it off like “all of us are at fault” is insulting.
Obama’s bottom line: Everyone’s a victim. You’re part of the problem if you keep talking about Jeremiah Wright. Everyone’s churches have crazy demagogues. Schools need more money. Leave illegal aliens alone. Never mind all the black grievance-mongers who have built careers sowing seeds of divisions. Look at all the talk show hosts and conservative commentators! Elect Obama. Fixer of souls.
There’s also this that bothers me: His loyalty to Wright seems to run a little too deep. As a friend e-mailed me during the speech: ‘I always thought what created a controversy was that statements made or positions held might be true, notwithstanding that they were unpopular and even bracing. In that sense, Wright’s statements that Obama heard were crank statements, not controversial statements, no matter how hard he tries to sugarcoat.’ Then, near the end of the speech, he was doing it again: ‘The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society.’
That was never my problem, senator. My problem is he spoke as if he hates America, as if he believes there’s something fundamentally wrong with the greatest nation on earth. You can talk about racism, senator. But what how do you think about America? Is it what we hear from Mrs. Obama and the Obamas’ pastor? How imperfect do you believe our union to be? Coming away from his speech, I’m a little worried that Barack Obama believes America is great as long as she elects him president.
“Hey, let’s focus on the real bad guys — corporations!!”
Did Obama succeed with this speech in containing the damage? It depends on the intended audience. This speech appears aimed at 795 specific individuals — Democratic superdelegates. Obama needed to show that he can address the racial issues in an inclusive manner, and walk the highwire with Wright by scolding him without alienating the black community. While the delivery was uncharacteristically lethargic, the content probably made the sale.
Deflect, deflect, deflect. It’s not Rev. Wright’s fault for saying horrible, hateful things, nor my fault for having the bad judgment to associate with him for 20 years. Nope, it’s the fault of the media for presenting Wright as a hateful caricature, despite the fact that Wright is a hateful caricature.
Obama, the “uniter” is dividing. It is painfully clear to me that Obama believes that half of America agrees with G-d damn America Jeremiah Wright and he intends to exploit that hate and play on these terrible, imagine fears. I do not believe he is right. But he is going down the hate mongering ship. Separatism, not inclusion. What unites us is we are Americans, and frankly he just doesn’t get it.
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