Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It's an Impressive Speech [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Which can be read in its unembargoed embargoedness
here.
Two nits:
The speech gives the impression — in several places — that Wright's controversial comments occurred in recent weeks. Presumably Obama has to give that impression because to address them head on and honestly would open him up to a deeper conversation not conducive to soundbites and elections. (
Why is Wright and UCC so mad? And why am I O.K. with that?) He's also doing it because he's eager to obscure the fact that he had ample reason to know what Wright is all about — and that he continued to provide significant financial support to Wright's church.
Obama claims that he "strongly disagree[d] with many of [Wright's] political views" that he heard "while I sat in church"? This invites the question what, if anything, he did to express his strong disagreement. Did he cut back contributions? Or did he just have the audacity to hope Wright would hush up and burn the tapes before long?
From the speech:
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, 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. On the other end, we’ve heard 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.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
03/18 10:46 AM
Share
