Left Flank

Image via Wikipedia

Admittedly, when a international, moderately conservative magazine sets up Reverend Jeremiah Wright with more insight than an American moderate liberal institution, one has to wonder if Americans have lost the ability to look squarely in a mirror.

E.J. Dionne, Jr. lowers himself to the Fox standard of commentary.

In March, Obama tried to explain the anger in the black community and insisted that «to condemn it without understanding its roots only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.»

In light of this racial gap, it's worth pondering why white, right-wing preachers who make ridiculous and sometimes shameful statements usually emerge with their influence intact.

I'm glad Dionne has caught on to the blogosphere, and its trademark tit-for-tat baiting. But, Dionne is as decrepit as Reverend Wright. Post-MLK, post-Malcolm X, America is no longer the single nation taking a short detour to handle its «race» problem. It's a cacophony of angry, divided voices wondering if it needs a nation, and how to get it.

What inspired this calamitous performance? Egomania was clearly part of it. Mr Wright responded to the applause of the amen corner in his audience with ever more outrageous assertions. There was probably a touch of jealousy too. Mr Wright has seen his former protégé rise to heights he himself could never have dreamed of, and he has been caught up in the tailwinds.

But there is also something deeper here: a generational struggle for control of black politics. Mr Wright belongs to a generation of activists—Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are other prominent members—who thrived in part by playing to the resentments of their black supporters. Mr Obama belongs to a much more pragmatic generation, people who want to get beyond racial polarisation and enter the political mainstream. Mr Wright's generation is not about to leave the stage quietly. So much the worse for America.

History has passed by Reverend Wright, and Reverend Jesse Jackson, like a bus careening wildly. I'd be angry, too, though, because Americans don't even know, nor care enough, about the whirlwind we have lived through. Sorry, Reverend, but your audience left the building! Oh, do you have people who can take care of you?

I've watched coverage of Senator Obama's relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright pinching my nose. Perhaps, as Ross Douthat argued in another diavlog, the MSM's coverage and performances, showcasing a midrange between platform wonkery and character, are as good as Americans can expect.

Yet, I'm still dismayed. I expected more honesty about all the communities in America, and I expected Obama to lead the discussion. His dismissal of Reverend Wright smacked of opportunism, from a candidate, who, although speaking of transcending race, has the rhetorical ability, intelligence, and pulpit now to distance himself from his opponents. He could speak his mind to the people, as the people speak truth to power. If Douthat is right, Obama has a much steeper hill to climb for me to trust him now. Instead, he's balking.

I worry about the compromises I will have to make between the two Democratic candidates, between two politicians whose platforms I do not fully support. Both support universal health care, so I can hold my nose and vote Democratic. But, I'll be holding my breath for four years, on foreign and fiscal reforms.

Here's an excellent discussion about Reverend Wright, probably the best I've read or heard in the past few days.