I watched part of Obama on Meet the Press this morning. In part, Russert was tolerable, in other parts he was, as usual, frustrating in his inability to ask follow ups.
MR. RUSSERT: Why didn’t you just say then, “You know, Reverend, we’re going on different paths because this country does not believe in white supremacy and black inferiority.”
SEN. OBAMA: Right. Well, my commitment, as I said, Tim, is to the church, not to a pastor. And I think that’s shared by millions of people who are going to church this morning. You, you join a church community, and Reverend Wright helped build a wonderful church community, one that has been a pillar of good works in Chicago, and, you know, I feel a great loyalty to that church. Reverend Wright was going to be retiring in a year, and I thought it was important for me to maintain my commitment to that church.
Now how is it that you get to distance yourself from the preacher because he’s offensive, but at the same time embrace the church that this offensive man built, and that cheered when the offensive man said his most offensive things? That last part always got me about the Wright clips; whatever protestations Obama and Wright may have once made about “context,” the church never seemed shocked when Wright said his stuff. This wasn’t just about one crazy man saying crazy things, it was a crazy man saying crazy things, and hundreds of people standing up and cheering him on. This is the church body that Obama now calls “wonderful.”
And, it’s worth pointing out, the church and its new preacher aren’t doing much to distance themselves from Wright. It’s unfortunate that this has become a scandal about a few sound bites instead of a scandal about a hateful way of thought, and a racially divisive theology.
Of course, this just continues the game instead of ending it. Wait until their present pastor makes his way onto youtube. Obama had his chance to leave this noxious church; instead he chose to embrace it and treat Wright as an epiphenomenon. But the real problem is the political philosophy of liberation theology, and those who are attracted to it.
Second, how arrogant is this:
MR. RUSSERT: He said in a letter to The New York Times, he suggested that you apologized for not letting him do the invocation. Is that true?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, what happened was is that, you know, I was sorry that he felt, that he felt hurt by that decision. And, you know, that is–that may be a fault of mine that I own up to, which is, is that I’m concerned about how other people feel, particularly somebody who I’ve known for quite some time.
This sort of non-apology (I’m sorry that you were offended, but not for my offending behavior) seems to be a dirty habit of his. But the bit about how caring about others “might be a fault” of his – how arrogant sounding is that type of crap? He answers it like some stupid job interview where the interviewer asks “what is your biggest weakness?”
But his answer boils down to: he wanted to make Wright feel better, so he mislead him. This comes in the same interview where, as is his wont, he praises himself for his ability to tell people truths that they don’t want to hear.
Posted by Apollo in Audacity of Hype