Obama's Hope For Changed Circumstances

It appears that Barack Obama's hope to change America needs to be scaled back to hope that enough people think that his views about his church, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, have changed sufficiently to enable him to continue his run for the White House.

He's got to not only disavow his church's positions on race, which if the tables were turned would surely force Obama from the campaign, but has to do a far better job of distancing himself from his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright (who polling finds to be just this side of evil). His statements to date fall short, despite his protestations to the contrary.

So, this is what he's come up with:

On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

The truth is not what Obama says either. He's got to know what his church's foundation documents contain, having been a member ever since Rev. Wright married him and Michelle, and baptized their two children.

Obama would like people to believe that the reason that his campaign is faltering is because of the pundits and blogosphere. The fact is that anyone who bothered to look any more deeply at the Obama campaign and Obama the man would see serious problems that this speech did nothing to address. Trying to blame the current mess on cherry picking of selected comments might curry favor with his core constituency on the left, but it's not going to generate a whole lot of support among independents and moderates, let alone conservatives.

Ross Douthat thinks that Obama's long association with Wright isn't all that significant because he doesn't think that Obama shares his views (how exactly are we to know what Obama truly believes and what he doesn't given that Obama has been a member of Wright's church for as long as he has). He thinks that this is a big problem for Obama because it undercuts Obama's promises to transcend politics as usual.

Here's the thing. Obama isn't any different than any other politician. He's a product of Illinois politics, including the sex scandal that sent him to Congress as a complete unknown and empty slate who was better known for voting present in the Illinois legislature than actual achievements.

Rev. Wright's statements are troubling indeed. Obama's church website is a veritable treasure trove of anti-Semitism, racism, and hate-based faith. Throw in the fact that the Church is pulling its hate-based faith videos, and you've got yourself some real issues that Obama's speech and claims to lofty rhetoric fail to address. Of course, the speech wasn't just addressed at the general public, but at the superdelegates who might find that their meal ticket was rotten to the spiritual core.

As Bob Owens notes, why exactly has Obama chosen this church and this pastor for spiritual guidance and leadership, and how could he have not known what Wright had been saying all these years - 20+ years.

UPDATE:
The Politico notes that the speech didn't pander. Well, it also failed to explain why Obama would stick with a church whose leader would make repeated racist, biased, and ugly statements that no amount of context could ever make right.

Don Surber notes that Obama is the only person on the national stage who can have a discussion about race. Well, unfortunately, Obama hasn't gotten past that to explain why he stuck with this church. Talking about race and seeking to heal a racial divide is one thing, but ignoring the 800 pound gorilla that is his spiritual adviser for 20 years is another.

James Joyner weighs in with a very measured and insightful post, which notes the good and not so good moments from the speech. He also notes that most people will not listen to the speech or read the speech in its entirety and will instead rely on the media, which will provide only snippets of the speech that are most likely to favor Obama.

Others weighing in: Hot Air, AJ Strata, Stop the ACLU.