Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Crazy Like a Fox.
Bob Obama-Herbert has some thoughts about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:
Or maybe Rev. Wright figured out what some of us already suspected about Barack Obama: that he says, and agrees with, anything and anyone he thinks he has to, to get elected:
- The thing to keep in mind about Rev. Wright is that he is a smart fellow. HeÕs been a very savvy operator, politically and otherwise, for decades. He has built a thriving, politically connected congregation on the South Side of Chicago that has done some very good work over the years. Powerful people have turned to him for guidance and advice.
So itÕs not like heÕs na•ve politically. He knows exactly what heÕs doing. Forget the gibberish about responding to attacks on the black church. That is not what the reverendÕs appearance before the press club was about. He was responding to what he perceives as an attack on him.
This whole story is about Senator ObamaÕs run for the White House and absolutely nothing else. Barack Obama went to Rev. WrightÕs church as a young man and was blessed with the Christian bona fides that would be absolutely essential for a high-profile political career.
Faster than anyone could have imagined, the young Mr. Obama became Senator Obama and then the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. Then came the videotaped sermons and the roof caved in on Rev. WrightÕs reputation. Senator Obama had no choice but to distance himself, and he did it as gently as he felt he could.
My guess is that Mr. Wright felt heÕd been thrown under a bus by an ungrateful congregant who had benefited mightily from his association with the church and who should have rallied to his former pastorÕs defense. What weÕre witnessing now is Rev. WrightÕs ÒIÕll show you!Ó tour.
Or maybe Rev. Wright figured out what some of us already suspected about Barack Obama: that he says, and agrees with, anything and anyone he thinks he has to, to get elected:
- And perhaps even worse for Obama, Wright suggested that the church congregant secretly concurs.
"If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected," Wright said. "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls."
