Ah, the changing of the seasons; from blustery Winter to meek and mild Spring. Some feel it’s time for Optimism; a time for a changing of the routine. Some might bring out their dusty bicycles or clean out the garage. Some might rejoice. And why not, it’s getting warmer after all. I’ll tell you why. People. Same as they ever were. Some people, if you can believe this, actually become more annoyingly imbecilic the warmer it gets, as if their stupidity is somehow retarded, frozen if you will, by the cold weather. For example…
How Can it be Wrong When it Feels so Wright:
Unless you’ve been living, albeit in a much reduced sense, in a block of Antarctic ice, you’ve almost certainly heard of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Why, he’s the pastor at Senator Barack Obama’s church. And, over the course of a number of years, he eloquently said all sorts wonderful things (“God bless America? No, I say God DAMN America!” and everyone’s favorite, “US of KKK A”). Woe is him, for the media coverage of his sermons has been oh so trite; and for no good reason, I might wistfully add. So, the great Rev has taken an opportunity to correct the situation; to clear his good name.
Old Boy spoke yesterday at the National Press Club. Of course, he didn’t really defend himself. Rather, he accused that the hoopla created by his sermons as an attack on “the black church.”
“This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. It is an attack on the black church. Why am I speaking out now? If you think I'm going to let you talk about my mama and her religious tradition, and my daddy and his religious tradition and my grandma, you got another thing coming."
But wait, maybe he did defend himself and his stances. Asked what he meant about “the chickens coming home to roost,” on 9/11, he replied, "Have you heard the whole sermon? No. You haven't heard the whole sermon. That nullifies that question."
I would respectfully disagree with the good Reverend. Since he complains that only hand-picked sound bites are what are played, the question about his meaning is supremely pertinent. Why not explain himself, since obviously, the perception of the man is wrongly based on a few sound bites taken grossly out of context. Right?
Hugging Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam and no stranger to supreme controversy? No biggie, just taken out of context. Regarding his assertion that the US invented HIV to commit genocide against minorities, he said, “Based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything.” See? Context. He went on to say that, “God damns some practices and there's no excuse for the things that the government, not the American people, have done." So his beef is with the government, see, not the American people…who happen to make up the government. By the People. For the People. That sort of thing. No wonder his grandiloquence is confusing. He’s confounded me, and I’ve only read hand-picked sound bites and quotes. I wasn’t there. I didn’t hear his whole sermon, er, speech.
For those who might deign to question his patriotism (I like to say patriotism like the first syllable rhymes with Pat – sounds lofty), I’ve got news for you. He served six years in the military. I ask, as does Reverend Wright, how many bloody years did Dick Cheney serve? That’s right, none. Patriotism score: Team Wright: 1, Others: 0.
Wright also said, “My goddaughter's unit just arrived in Iraq this week while those who call me unpatriotic have used their positions of privilege to avoid military service while sending over 4,000 American boys and girls to die over a lie.” Take that, you sonsabitches who deftly avoided the draft and service in Iraq and Afghanistan by fleeing to Canada or having daddy purchase deferments. Team Wright: 2, Others: 0. What? Wait…We still have an all-volunteer force.
In this case, as in most, Wright’s argument is as insipid as it is out of touch with reality. I don’t like this argument for a number of reasons. For one, we’re really talking about the service record of two vastly different generations, separated greatly by time and ethos: one from the 1960s and 70s, which included people who may or may not have used their privilege to avoid service, and one from the present, who may or may not choose to serve. But Wright, in his comparison, seems to imply that he’s talking solely about today because his critics live in the now as much as he does. More importantly, patriotism in no way hinges upon having served in the military. I know of plenty of former military members who I would classify as not overly patriotic (some have become less so as a result of said service), and plenty of people who have never served that are very patriotic. So the argument that he’s served and his goddaughter has served somehow equates to a certain level of patriotism is invalid.
By all means, Wright should keep speaking and defending himself and his beliefs. His further explanations will keep him in the news (bad for Obama) and what he believes will soon become abundantly clear. Frankly, I think that the fundamental power of the First Amendment is its ability to expose stupidity, burn away false pretenses, and subject idiots and their foolish ideas to widespread ridicule.
Burger King Endorses Dodd, Who Endorses Casey, Who Endorses Obama:
Endorsements. If you’re an athlete or a musician, you want them. If you’re a politician, you want endorsements too. Not from companies, but from other important people. You may not receive cash awards for wearing a Dodd t-shirt on stage, but you will accrue political capital, which in the political sphere is easily as good as money.
Having provided a sufficient back story to draw you in, I should now hit you with the plot: Obama now has more Senate endorsements than Clinton. Your response should be…wait for it…Who Cares?
Endorsements of politicians by fellow politicians should be all together meaningless. In fact, they shouldn’t be allowed to endorse jack. In today’s society, endorsements mean sales. Kobe Bryant endorses Kruk’s Enemas and everyone must go out and get one for themselves. If Kobe uses them, they must be good. No matter that it’s unlikely that Kobe uses them. He just gets paid to say that he does. Same with politicians. Except they trade political capital and favors. They’re all rich, so cash means less, you know.
But we elect these people. Doesn’t it seem odd that the people we elect are now passively telling us who we should vote for? I find it creepy. Why should Dick Durbin’s endorsement of Obama signal to me that Obama’s got the right stuff? It shouldn’t. There was likely a significant amount of horse-trading that took place in order for Obama to secure that endorsement. You read about it all the time. Politician X is going to endorse Guy A, but is waiting for the right time to do so. If it weren’t so staged, don’t you think that the endorsements would come more naturally? So many politicians wait until so late in the game to endorse because no one likes to be on a losing team. It’s like waiting until the Red Sox are up 3-0 in the World Series before finally picking a team to root for and you choose the Sox. Chances are that you’ll be right. And the Sox’ll owe you some favors because maybe your endorsement helped them sell a few thousand more tickets on Opening Day. Same thing with Obama. He’s beginning to look more like a sure thing, with his delegate lead and all, so he’s getting more endorsements. But Clinton’s still in the race, and she could pull off something, so maybe it’s best to wait. It’s all about favors, and I find it distasteful and disingenuous, not to mention inappropriate. You will almost never see someone endorse a member of another party, and once the nomination is secured by one of the candidates, you will see virtually all the endorsers fall in line and campaign for or back the nominee. Probably no one will refrain from supporting the party’s nominee, because it’ll cost him/her favors in the future.
So, to be frank, political endorsements, like celebrity endorsements, which are equally worthless for other reasons, should carry about as much weight as fortunes as told through the reading of goat entrails.
Word of the Day: Gimcrack (JIM-krak) (noun): 1. A showy but useless or worthless object; a gewgaw. (Adj): 1. Tastelessly showy; cheap; gaudy. Political endorsements by politicians, are as much a gimcrack as a sermon by Reverend Wright.
On This Day in History: Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans (1429). Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title after refusing induction in the US Army (1967). Privilege. Random other events.
"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme." – Reverend Jeremiah Wright, 2003.
