Letters to the Editor
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ann0nymous
Dear ann0nymous: Reverend Wright's speech was not campaigning against Senator Clinton. It was delivered in 2002.
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@ Nicky
Very moving, Nicky. Heartfelt and cogent.
I'd be shocked if they published it, especially given its length, but man, I'd strongly encourage you to give it a shot.
Thanks, on behalf of all of us for whom you speak (and you speak for me, in that letter).
Bravo.
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No the Jeremiah type is the problem
I find it incomprehensible that a talk like his would be given in any religious meeting in the UK except perhaps in a mosque and the man who did it is in prison. Religious meetings are there to talk about the one on whom their faith is based and in this case Jesus Christ and I cannot remember him talking like this. Australia India China and Ireland all had unhappy and unpleasant past histories some worse than slavery but look at them now steaming ahead like an express train and very rarely talking about the past but looking excitedly to the future. Africa however always talking about white colonialism and look at its condition. The Australian has very little sympathy for the whinger and nor do I. The early years of my life were spent in poverty but I don,t keep going on about it.
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@ robo
Wow, prevaricate much?
Sorry to be glib, but man, what do Australia, India, China and Ireland have to do with, well, the price of tea in China?
You got your degree in comparative sociology from where?
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Puerile nonsense
How does patriotism come into it? You have not established a connection between peoples' legitimate concern about a raving mad religious as a cause and patriotism as a cause. I think most people are just thinking that in dangerous times, however it is we got here, here we are and people are legitimately concerned that Obama's close and spiritual association with a nutjob like Wright is an issue. Why is that concern ridiculous? I mean all of the left has been so worried about religion in politics and now we have a bona fide connection between the leading Democratic candidate and a religious hate monger, so where are your criticisms now? It's the fact that Obama has everyone fooled that concerns me.
So why is patriotism, a legitimate love of one's nation (and not necessarily policies) somehow worse that black liberation theology of a conspiratorial nature? As a professor, I'd say this paper demonstrates the true nature of the word "sophomoric".
Simmel
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this article
is part of what's right with America.
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Best commentary I've seen so far on this ridiculous pseudo-controversy
Well done, Gary. I assume you like feathers with your tar.
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@ Simmel
Do you know what "begging the question" means?
"I think most people are just thinking that in dangerous times, however it is we got here, here we are and people are legitimately concerned that Obama's close and spiritual association with a nutjob like Wright is an issue."
Whether or not Wright is a "nutjob," as you say, is the issue on the table for debate.
This essay is arguing that, despite the clips they've been playing, the man is not a "nutjob."
Please, try and keep up.
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Yo!
They must be smokin' on the pipe right? Don't believe the hype!
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@ Simmel
I should be more precise: the essay is not, in fact, about whether Wright is a nutjob in general, but rather about whether the sermon in question is evidence that he is a nutjob.
The essay is arguing that this sermon suggests nothing of the kind.
If you have any evidence that WRight is, in fact, a nutjob, I invite you to bring it forth.
(Before you do, you might consider the criteria according to which you consider someone a nutjob, and share them as well. That way, we can be on the same page as we go forward with this dialogue.)
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Obama's minister
We should not confuse patriotism with jingoism. Many, perhaps the majority of Americans even, are deeply patriotic; not necessarily "my country right or wrong", but more "I love my country even when she is wrong." They would no more ask God to damn America than they would ask God to Damn their child. They are proud to put their hand over their hearts and wear flag lapel pins and hate it when people disrespect their flag or their country. These are the folks whose sons and daughters join the military and four thousand of them now have come home in coffins from Afghanistan and Iraq.
The challenge to liberals and progressives is to convince these voters we actually care about America as much as they do. When we are angry we need to communicate that our anger is born of caring not contempt for this country. That is Obama's challenge in this campaign.
Jason Whitlock wrote "A Letter to Obama" published in the Sports section of the Kansas City Star on Sunday, March 24, in which he writes the speech he thinks Obama should have given in response to Rev. Wright: "It is impossible for me to despise, dislike and wish for God to damn America, Whitlock writes. "I am America. I am a product of America’s melting pot, proof of America’s willingness to acknowledge its mistakes and do better, an example of the kind of tolerance and opportunity you will find nowhere else in the world." This article is still available online at www.kansascity.com. I recommend it.
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Whew! Good dialog and I'm late, dammit!
Where to begin, because there is so much to add and respond to....
1 - The article is very good for what it highlights about patriotism being a bludgeon...but I would like to point out that it is mostly the hyperventilating media and people with different agendas but all of them with a desire to bring Obama down. If you are following the polls...and I am....an overwhelming majority of Americans have seen Wright's comments, have watched Obama's speech in its entirety, and overwhelming majority think that Obama handled it extremely well, he's back up in most of the polls, and he's now killing HRC in NC by 21 points [pollster.com, gallup, etc]. In other words, *Americans* have indeed moved beyond the bloviating having been presented with cogent reasoning. Would that Kerry had stood up for himself in '04...I would argue that Americans were ready for change then but the jackass they knew was slightly better than the jackass they didn't.
2 - So all the blind predictions that Obama is through or can't get elected are just so much bloviating. Because - and here's the point of the appeal for Obama - the man decided to talk to Americans like they were adults [- jon stewart]. It's not the "controversy"; it's how he handles it and he clearly handled it magnificently.
3 - jimmysanborn, I get that your thoughts are deeply held but in reading what you wrote I simply don't believe that you investigated any further what Wright said if you think that they were so hate-filled. Angry is different from hate. And I don't believe you watched/read Obama's speech. I just don't believe you could come away with that impression if you did...
4 - To the poster who asked for proof of Christian support for abuse of women and children, please check out the web site: christiandomesticdiscipline.com for what some apparently feel is Bible-sanctioned wife- beating.
5 - And to Madam Fauntleroy [sp?] - you keep at it and know that there are lurkers [and sometime posters] who are supporting you. Some of the folks on this thread are clearly trying to provoke and not actually engage in true dialog.