Posted by
Bob Siegel on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:07:08 PM
It’s the hottest topic on TV, radio and newspapers. Obama
finally gave a speech. He finally
responded to questions about his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Some are heralding this as the greatest public address since
Martin Luther King. Others are breathing
a sigh of relief because Obama said everything he needed to say and finally put
this politically embarrassing mess behind him.
Still, others, after listening to the speech several times, have no idea
what the man actually said. Well, be of
good cheer. Your ol’ pal Bob is going to
decipher the speech for you.
You see, Obama thinks it’s
sad that we can’t put race behind us. If we could just get off the issue of
race, we might be able to ignore the words of his pastor for twenty years who
taught that white people invented the AIDS virus to destroy black people. We
should not make a big deal out of those words even though, incidentally, Obama
never actually heard those words spoken in church and yet he did hear something
like that spoken in church and he clearly denounces such words. But, (and this
is very important) while he denounces those hurtful speeches of Rev. Wright, he
does not disassociate himself from Rev. Wright. He still respects this man and
we need to understand where Wright is coming from. Why? Because even though race should not be an
issue in the campaign we do need to understand the anger that black people feel
toward white people. And Obama is
uniquely qualified to bring blacks and whites together because he has a white
mother and a black father. But even though he is qualified to bring us
together, race should have nothing to do with the election and it has had
nothing to do with his campaign. Now we
have a choice: We can dwell on the words
of Rev. Wright or we can move on. If we move on we will see change, that magic
word that we had forgotten in the face of a candidate who attended a racist
church for twenty years. But if we could
just forget about this church and if we could also seek to understand this
church and the anger of black people and if we could also just forget about
race altogether, we could return to the agenda of change. What kind of change
will Obama bring about? More money will be poured into government institutions,
which means higher taxes and mandatory redistribution of wealth. If this looks like typical, liberal, Democrat
rhetoric and if you are wondering where the change is, just remember that Obama
will bring about change by reaching across the isle and offering unity. It’s time to bring our country together by
forgetting racism and remembering how racist of a country we really are or
really were but will not always be if
he is elected. And if those who keep
bringing up race by objecting to racist comments in church could realize that
they are being part of the problem instead of the solution, and if Republicans
could just accept all of his Democratic ideas, then indeed, we will see real
unity and real change. Once again, he is
uniquely gifted to bring about such change because of his multi-ethnic
background. That makes him the man to help us forget about race once and for
all.
Are we clear?
No? Well here’s something we can
be clear about. If we, as a nation, elect this man, it means we deserve this
man.
Also by Bob Siegel:
Obama
Didn't Know His Pastor's Views? Sure, Now I'll Tell One
Would
Obama's Christianity Be Recognized by Jesus?