The Wright Stuff

I just watched John McCain come closer to winning the election this fall. His odds of becoming the next President increased with every word that Rev. Jeremiah Wright said this morning. Unfortunately most people were at work and missed a spectacle, a production, a carny show by a man who only cares for himself, Jeremiah Wright.

The phrase “It’s all about me” was created just for this man. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright likes nothing better than to be center stage and to hear himself talk. He thinks he is the smartest, wittiest and wisest man in the room. And when given free reign as he was at the National Press Club today his attempt at humor becomes heavy handed, his sarcasm sounds malicious and he turns on the innocent as he did to the young moderator during the Q and A. This poor woman was simply reading other people’s questions and there was no reason for Wright to be mean to her and to try to look witty and smart at her expense.

As for an apology for any previous statement, forgettaboutit. It would be impossible for this man to say he is sorry because he firmly believes is he always right (no pun intended), that he speaks not for himself but for all black churches, and that he and the church are the victims to whom apologies are due.

Speaking of which, victimhood was a major tenet of his speech. I certainly could understand how the black Christian church originated by the slaves. Yet it seems as if they have never left slavehood according to this preacher. He feels that white America owes an apology to black America for something that occurred over 130 years ago. Instead of an apology I kept thinking sarcastically “Get over it already.” And apparently the government is evil and capable of doing anything, even starting the Aids virus and downing the Twin Towers, according to Rev. Wright. And with every conspiracy theory he spews his credibility drops another notch (and McCain gets another vote). I also wondered where is the outcry for the separation of church and state? Is the Rev. Wright preaching politics only when it suits him and then turns around and argues that he is not a politician but a preacher and will stay a preacher regardless if Obama wins or not.

Then there was his theme of divisiveness. He hammered on the message that black America was different from everyone else. When he said that their churches were not bad, only different, I again thought of his statements of God Damn America. I am sorry but to me that kind of different is bad. But I was even more astounded when he continuously said that black children learn differently. Excuse me? What does he want, a repeal of Brown v Board of Education? And throughout his speech on how black America was different I kept thinking about our founding fathers and their message of “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”….

As for the Q and A afterwards you really had to see it to believe it. This man was so damned smug as he tossed off sarcastic or scathing or demeaning remarks. He was literally strutting behind the podium and you could see his pleasure in being the center of attention while he delivered controversial remarks. It was obvious that he had prepared for questions on his prior controversial statements and he tossed off these retorts with malicious glee knowing that his answers were nonanswers that only added fuel to the fire.

I have been channel surfing through the major news channels since Rev. Wright’s performance (and it was more performance than speech). Ironically Wright has done something that I have rarely seen before – CNN, MSNBC and Fox pundits all agreed on something! Pundits on all three channels agreed that Wright is a kook who threw Barack Obama under the bus. Of all the sound bites from Wright’s speech (and believe me there are a lot to choose from) the pundits go back to Wright’s response when asked about Barack distancing himself from his preacher. To which Wright basically said that Obama is a politician who will say anything to get elected. Wow. And this is the man that Barack compares to his beloved grandmother. To which I can’t help but think “My, Grandmother, what big teeth you have!” And unless Barack decisively walks away from the Rev. Wright then this wolf in sheep’s clothing might take him down for good.