Letters to the Editor
msdiscus
Published Letters: 44
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@Weeping Part 1 wish I could be more succinct, but it is a complex question
[Read the article: Obama "outraged" by Wright]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've argued elsewhere that, despite the fact that I consider "the radical right," fundamentalists, etc......I want to understand the people in the Bible belt, too. Even if I disagree with them, I want to see them as human beings, not caricatures.
The first thing you need to recognize is that living in the “Bible belt” is not synonymous with being a “radical right” fundamentalist. I would hazard a guess that most people residing therein are more moderate than you think.
I had a thought provoking experience this afternoon that provided insight into what those “people“ may be thinking, particularly the vast majority of those who are independent and/or moderates, Joe & Jane Voter so to speak. Those at the far end of either the left or the right are not likely to be swayed. This makes it critical that the Dems make sense to Joe & Jane Voter.
I spent significant time this afternoon in a crowded physician group’s office waiting while my mother underwent tests. There were probably 60 people or more who filtered through the waiting area, which had Headline News on a TV with the sound turned low but still audible. The room had 30 or so people in it at all times, about evenly split with senior citizens and their adult children who, like myself, transported their parents where they needed to go. Also a few young people (20s & 30s). The crowd was predominantly white, with a few people of color also, probably a 70/30 split.
These people were reading, visiting, texting on their cell phones, doing all the normal things one does while waiting for the overscheduled Doc. An audible hum filled the room that was louder than the barely audible TV. The first time one of the Rev. Wright video clips played, I thought I noticed a pause in the waiting room activity. OK, I thought, this is interesting but I hadn’t been paying that much attention, reading to pass the several hours I knew I would be there with my MP3 & headphones for music (or in case the TV was tuned to Faux News - as it tends to be here in the Midwest bible belt).
I wasn’t sure that my perceptions were accurate so I walked around, stretched and sat down directly under the wall mounted television, my nose stuffed in a magazine and sans headphones. The drone of activity continued until the clip ran again. This time the waiting room got very quite and most of the people there were watching the clip, which made them visibly uncomfortable. Most were riveted by it and it was actually one of the less inflammatory clips that have been playing. When the clip was over people resumed chatting but this time there were primarily conversations about Rev. Wright and what Obama must have known, why he didn’t leave and all the other questions that had been raised.
Many of these people were well and truly shocked, stunned that a presidential candidate’s minister would say such things and did he actually believe it. The next clip ran and again, the waiting room got very quiet. I saw people actually physically wince as the Reverend bellowed on. Then the conversation resumed and what I noticed most was that some of the folks were starting their conversations with what they had heard Dick Morris, Rush, Hannity, Tim Russert and others tell them.
Then some of the conversations started spilling over and people with people opining that Obama’s membership in that church, which Wright touts as being Afrocentric didn’t show that maybe Obama was indeed a wolf in sheep’s clothing and a closeted Muslim. There were many who expressed genuine disappointment that such a fine man that they thought Obama to be had such hateful ideas and beliefs.
These was a cross section of a large block of the Dem base and they don’t get their information through thoughtful web sites or candidate rallies. In a nutshell, Wright’s current media blitz has taken the lingering doubts of these people and transformed all of that silly sh*t into reality or at least evidence that confirms that what some of those guys on FNC had been saying.
As much as most of us want to be able to move on from flag pins, elitism, Michelle’s unfortunate Nate statements and all the rest, the simple fact is that a big chunk of people who WILL vote in the general do see these things as important. The total damage is unknowable at this time BUT Rev. Wright’s current antics, added to the horribly inflammatory “God Damn America”, the claim that the govt invented aids to kill off African Americans & all the rest of the hateful, blowhard rhetoric coupled with Obama’s reaction or lack thereof has closed them off from even considering Obama in the general. Obama was a member of Rev. Wright’s church, had a close relationship with him for 20 years and this feeds their fear of what Osama’s "real beliefs" are. It makes them think that Obama’s speech about race was nothing more than a politician trying to fool the voters after being caught in something bad.
Those who will attack my observations as “selling the voters short”, seeing the public opinion and action as static or launch the “yeah, but Hillary did………or Hillary said………. or personal attacks, including all those who just respond by posing questions that are Obama campaign talking points in disguise please spare yourself the effort and don’t shoot the messenger. I would love to think that between now and the general Obama’s intelligence, charisma and great oratory skills will move them beyond this kind of silly quibbling about flag pins, church and such, but its not going to happen, no matter how many times you chant “Yes We Can”.