Obama, Rev. Wright & the cynic in me...

First, I am an Obama supporter, through and through. But I am not starry eyed…mostly, I’m a cynic. I believe the process and the system is broken - possibly irretrievably so - and my first instinct is that all politicians (of any flavor) are lying or pandering until proven otherwise.

That said, I find myself drawn to Obama because I would like to believe that his fresh voice and message of change and hope is a positive thing; that perhaps he could spark something in our attitude and expectations…and maybe get the electorate calling for actual change in our government, our culture and our attitude towards the world.
Still, I must admit that when I read this article my first thought was, “The Rev. Wright might be inflammatory and he might be a bit of a demogogue - but he’s not an idiot. Why would he say things even more reactionary now, when Obama needs the story to go away?..oh yeah, because it lets Obama go out there and denounce him on a slow news day, and defuse the situation before it’s an even bigger issue in the general.”

WARNING: HYPOTHETICAL to forestall the outcries and doomsayers

And then I realized that would mean Obama (or his people) asked Wright to do this as a way of getting it out there, and then took the opportunity.

I know, (IF IT HAPPENED) it’s good political sense. And it’s what you’ve got to do to win against such cutthroat opponents. It doesn’t make me want to vote for him any less - it’s a lot better than what I’ve seen from the others’ camps.

But still, this is the state of American electoral politics. It saddens me that even the best of intentions and means can become so corrupted by the process. I doubt it will ever improve, at least not without some major external agent of change.

Le sigh.

Amen - I see you will cast your vote wisely. :slight_smile:

I think it’s probably just serendipity. But you make a good point that if he plays it right, it can help him.

Nah–denouncing Wright doesn’t seem to help Obama much. I’m thinking Rev. Wright is a loose cannon trying to make his 15 minutes of fame stretch out as long as possible, with little or no regard given to the political aspirations of his loyal customer of 20 years. Dickhead move, but I don’t see a conspiracy. JMHO.

Why did he just denounce him the Philadelphia speech – and then have Bobby shoot him in the left buttock out in the parking lot later.*

  • Sopranos reference.

I agree.

Also, again HYPOTHETICAL (all disclaimers in place), the whole “no press is bad press”- how much press has Hillary had this week (and that with IN and NC just around the corner and both of them desperately needed by her)? She’d damned near have to put out a cigarette on Chelsea’s forehead to blow Obama/Wright off the front page.

Me also, the typical American voter doesn’t think past the sound bites. I see some of Obama’s gaffes as political inexperience and perhaps a bit of naivety. I think he has a charisma, and the possibility to use the “bully pulpit” to unite the people , not unlike Reagan.

There is no way any Obama campaign strategist would think that this situation would help Obama. The only thing he can do is make it not damage him too much, which it seems like he was able to do.

G-d forbid that I admit that I listen to Sean Hannity, but Mike Huckabee hypothesized on the show that Wright has nothing to gain from an Obama presidency. He’s better off letting Obama take a fall, and then be able to say that Obama never had a chance because he is black.

Now who’s cynical?

Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates.

I don’t have to admit listening to Hannity, thank goodness, because I read it in another thread, but yeah, this cynic is backing this horse. If Obama, Wright’s own parishoner (okay, “parish” is the wrong word there, since they’re not Catholic, but you know what I mean) actually takes the presidency, it blows Wright’s theories of black oppression right out of the water. Not only that, but one assumes Obama could then look through all the classified stuff and definitively reassure him that Whitey didn’t invent AIDS to kill black people, and he doesn’t want to hear it.

Nope, best, even if totally unconsciously, to sabotage Obama’s campaign so he can sleep the sleep of the self righteous, knowing that a black man still can’t win, even against an unlikable white woman.

Classified material doesn’t really work like that. Sure, he’d be the Prez, but he’d still need a “need to know” in order to access still-classified files. Assuming, for the sake of the argument that the files did exist, there’d be no reason for Obama to need to see them, so he wouldn’t be granted access. It’s not like there’s a big book the Freemasons put together that is handed over to the President on Inauguration Day titled Secrets of the Universe.

Sure, but don’t you think it’s likely that Wright thinks there is?

I also agree. Obama would be happiest if Wright were to dig a hole, climb into it, and pull the dirt in after himself. For the next seven months, at least.

I think it’s a lot simpler to explain what Wright is doing as follows: “Holy cow! Everybody’s looking at me! Everybody is going to listen to what I have to say for the next few days! Okay! Okay! Finally, finally, I get to tell everybody who’s really responsible for the AIDS virus! I have the truth, I’ve been trying to tell people, but nobody listened before! Now they’re listening! Now is my chance to get the truth out!”

Whereupon he leans forward and takes an oral shit on the front page of the newspaper.

Attention makes some people go temporarily crazy.

Heh. Probably.

Which brings up another good point, which is probably outside the scope of this thread. When somebody says, “THEY’re hiding X from us,” my first thought is always, “HOW do THEY know, and WHY would they be hiding it?” I can never think of the how, much less the why.

Occam’s Razor would have it that Wright got a taste of fame and it went to his head. Hardly a new story that.

That Wright would want Obama to lose is deeply cynical but possible although I would find it more likely that Wright would only think that way unconsciously. If he intentionally sought that then he is actually an evil man standing in the way of (possible) reform that would help the very people he has supposedly spent his life trying to help.

As for Wright falling on his sword for Obama’s benefit that is just too much. To plan such a thing would either be a matter of genius or madness. More likely madness. Such things cannot be controlled media-wise really. To roll those dice seems insane in such a competition especially when Obama is winning anyway.

I think so too. If the man’s going to go wild, better now than during the general election. I think Wright being more public now makes him less of a nebulous figure to the general public and put’s him squarely in “regular kook” territory instead of “mysterious advisor.” Plus, now it’s abundantly clear that he’s not secretly whispering “enslave whitey” in Obama’s ear.

I don’t think it was planned, but I’m kinda glad it happened this way.

I’d been thinking along the lines of the “political theatre” scenario posited in the OP. A further refinement: Obama showed a lot of class in the Philadelphia speech, in which he sought to distance himself from the “crazy uncle” rhetoric without throwing Wright under a bus. Unfortunately the PA primary result showed that a full-on denouncement was going to be necessary, and it would have to happen before another large-state primary.

BTW, what’s the run-time on the accumulated “crazy uncle” sound bites?

A campaign strategist could think of a way this situation could help Obama. If I were a campaign strategist I’d tell Obama: de-nounce Rev. Wright, re-affirm Rev. Wright’s message (and your message) of Audacity of Hope.