The Pot and Kettle Game
The Wright Stuff
Any political column worth its salt needs a bad pun for a title before it can become legendary. So I submit this one to the Academy, wish me luck! But just what is the Wright stuff all about, anyhow?
Barack Obama’s pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, at the Trinity Church in Chicago was recently given his Humliation-Tube moment courtesy of a few diligent diggers. He was on tape saying such incendiary things as the fact that “[America’s] chickens are coming home to roost” (I can’t say it right, you’ve got to watch him say it, quotes don’t do it justice. He’s like a haunted house narrator). This was in reference to 9/11, by the way; the subtext being that American foreign policy had sparked resentment that gave rise to the terrorism we saw that day. Shocking concept, no? What other controversial things has he sullied his parishioners’ minds with? Well… he did say something about the government secretly creating AIDS to control the Black population. Admittedly, a little out there- just a tad. He also said, in reference to enduring poverty and inequality in this country, “God daaaaaaaaamn America!”
Indeed, being upset about less than ideal conditions in one’s country is something that we should all condemn. Stiff upper lip, old chap… wait a minute, this isn’t *Britain*! Hold on a moment…
In the replaying of Reverend Wright’s ineloquent and brutish diatribes on cable we’ve seen the same old round of condemnation without any real thought provoking or meaningful dialogue. As we saw the parade of mostly White, Republican-leaning faces or craven-Democrats marching past to condemn Wright as a lunatic, we saw the same old America that indeed none of us should be proud of. Not because Wright’s remarks were not worth condemning (In my opinion, as you saw, some are and some aren’t). But because they’re not being looked at more closely; nor are they being compared to similar remarks made by a pastor who happened to be White and on the Republican side of the field:
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists and the gays, and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularise America. I point the finger in their face and say: “You helped this happen.”
~ Jerry Falwell, September 13, 2001
Well, I totally concur.
~Pat Robertson, two seconds after.
Senator John McCain had been assiduously courting Falwell in the months before the reverend’s death, and gave a commencement speech at his Evangelical oriented Liberty College. Where were the talking heads on cable or the moral outrage from the chattering classes? Is it reprehensible for Reverend Wright to say that the government caused or created AIDS? Yes. But wait!
“The Rev. Jerry Falwell famously argued that AIDS is a plague sent by God to punish homosexuals and American society for tolerating homosexuality.”
~Juliet Lapidos writing in Slate magazine.
I suppose you get in more trouble for suggesting that our loving and benevolent government would spontaneously conjure a disease than you do for suggesting our loving and benevolent God would…?
The question that needs to be asked is why and how is it acceptable for men like Robertson and Falwell to be courted and have their rings kissed by the scions of the political Right, and even some on the alleged left as Bill Clinton proved- and yet men like Wright are treated as radioactive? Acerbic, psychotic preachers are the same, no matter what colour they are, yes?
Yet again, it seems some lunatic reverends are more equal than others. Is it any more radical to support the Palestinians than it is for Falwell to call Arabs “barbarians” as he did in that same interview? Logically no. To those that say Obama’s connection to a man who said that America brought 9/11 on itself shows he’s anti-American, I can gesture at yet another comment from this box of chocolates interview with Falwell: “…What we saw on Tuesday [9/11], as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.” Emphasis mine.
By the logic of the talking heads on cable, is this not anti-American ranting that should be carted away and sealed? Fruit of the poisonous tree that no politician should stand within ten miles of? Or is it in fact bullshit? Wright suggested something that, had it not been for his stupid phrasing, is not so far out of the mainstream: America’s Cold War policies made a lot of people around the world Very Angry. I’ve explained this time and again, explanation and justification are two different things. Nothing justifies the mass murder of that day, but then again, if we are to prove ourselves more enlightened than our enemies we should accept that our government’s been a naughty boy in the past. We must also accept that our government’s behaviour engendered anger that has not been dealt with or defused in any meaningful way, and attempt to learn from the mistake.
Wright’s phrasing was awkward and an oh-so-exploitable tirade, but fundamentally he was not wrong. Obama still unequivocally condemned “the remarks”, as he surely must, sadly.
While we’re on the subject of double standards, I should direct you to the Right Wing pet peeve of political-correctness or “PC police.” According to the Far Right, any time they exercise their right to free speech to say racist, sexist, or overtly bigoted things- the Lefty Hippies come round in their hybrid PC Police car to correct them and censor them. Many far right Christians complained that the outcry in the wake of Falwell and Robertson’s artful comments on 9/11 was another example of Liberal PC policing. Radical conservatives love to suggest that political correctness is unconstitutional and cheapening political discourse in America.
All well and good.
So what do they call what’s gone on with Reverend Wright? The truth is that there is a Right Wing PC Police as much as there is a left-wing one, and the former is actually much more active and powerful. This sorry episode is another example of that. Forbidden things, that a politician absolutely cannot say, include many of Wright’s theses: America brought 9/11 on itself, the War in Iraq is a waste, and denouncing “God Bless America.” There are others, of course, and I have touched on this in the past. We cannot have an intelligent discussion in this country about the circumstances that gave rise to Middle Eastern terrorism because it’s un-PC to do so: it is un-PC to suggest American responsibility. Far better and safer to believe the comfortable lie that this all came out of nowhere.
No politician explicitly says that, because it is as stupid as it really sounds, but they tacitly imply it by constantly beating the drum of American victimhood (another thing Right Wingers supposedly hate) and suggesting that 9/11 was unprecedented and unexpected. It’s actually an insult to the intelligence of the citizenry to keep suggesting history does not exist along a continuum, and that events do not flow from previous ones in some way.
Obama has suffered from it in another way as well. His wife, Michelle, was excoriated by the political classes for saying “for the first time in my adult life I am truly proud of America.” Again, awkward phrasing, but her sentiment is understandable. Pride and shame are mutually exclusive, but love and shame are not. My father holds beliefs that make me cringe and are flagrantly offensive to me. He says and does things that do not leave me feeling proud of him all the time. But I love him all the same, a great deal. It is more than possible to feel the same way about one’s country. Loving your homeland does not mean you must blind yourself to its failings, nor does it mean your pride must be constant if it would controvert your personal convictions. The Right Wing PC Police thinks otherwise. They are not particular fans of nuance.
I could go on and say that this sorry situation again shows that religion breeds contemptible things- or is, at the very least, not a shield against them- but that certainly wasn’t a conclusion drawn by the Right Wing PC Police. (As an aside, Wright had been Obama’s pastor for over two decades and has stood by him- isn’t that a quality that the supposedly Christian rightists ought to admire? I wonder what the good people in Reverend Falwell’s congregation would have said if I asked them to abandon him after his interview. Probably something about me being a policeman who should butt out…)
Beyond all that, however, some good did come out of it. It was good that capitalized on the rich opportunity for contrast afforded to Barack Obama in the wake of the cable networks’ thoughtless flogging. An epic speech on race relations in this country that was open, frank, and didn’t address us as if he were a used car salesman pitching to a twelve year old. It was a speech that offered a bitter pill to swallow for all of his critics, and one that the biracial Obama was uniquely placed to make. He contrasted the Reverend Wright against his own White Kansan grandmother who (as I said of my own father) made cringe-worthy political statements. But he could no more disown her than he could the reverend. He went on to add that understanding that those feelings were there- the resentment, the anger, the bitterness- was only step one. Moving forward after that acknowledgement was the work of this generation. His inspirational speech showed a glimpse of what political life would be like if people in the political class and the media stopped to actually analyse and explore the realities we all face.
Analyse things in a realistic, frank way that showed there was more to an issue than- forgive the pun- a black and white view to things. He spoke to all Americans, and related to them personal experiences that would speak to disparate groups- and showing why this un-tempest in an un-teapot mattered in a way entirely unrelated to the way the PC Police thought it did. It matters because Wright is part of America, as is his experience growing up in a time of state sanctioned segregation. It matters because we need to see *all* of America and move forward from that. Obama’s speech spoke to all Americans like we were adults that were ready to face reality and look at the other side. It pandered to no one because it spoke to everyone. It was indeed a glimpse of what might be; politics with a thoughtful and uniting voice.
And that’s change *I* can believe in.
Any political column worth its salt needs a bad pun for a title before it can become legendary. So I submit this one to the Academy, wish me luck! But just what is the Wright stuff all about, anyhow?
Barack Obama’s pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, at the Trinity Church in Chicago was recently given his Humliation-Tube moment courtesy of a few diligent diggers. He was on tape saying such incendiary things as the fact that “[America’s] chickens are coming home to roost” (I can’t say it right, you’ve got to watch him say it, quotes don’t do it justice. He’s like a haunted house narrator). This was in reference to 9/11, by the way; the subtext being that American foreign policy had sparked resentment that gave rise to the terrorism we saw that day. Shocking concept, no? What other controversial things has he sullied his parishioners’ minds with? Well… he did say something about the government secretly creating AIDS to control the Black population. Admittedly, a little out there- just a tad. He also said, in reference to enduring poverty and inequality in this country, “God daaaaaaaaamn America!”
Indeed, being upset about less than ideal conditions in one’s country is something that we should all condemn. Stiff upper lip, old chap… wait a minute, this isn’t *Britain*! Hold on a moment…
In the replaying of Reverend Wright’s ineloquent and brutish diatribes on cable we’ve seen the same old round of condemnation without any real thought provoking or meaningful dialogue. As we saw the parade of mostly White, Republican-leaning faces or craven-Democrats marching past to condemn Wright as a lunatic, we saw the same old America that indeed none of us should be proud of. Not because Wright’s remarks were not worth condemning (In my opinion, as you saw, some are and some aren’t). But because they’re not being looked at more closely; nor are they being compared to similar remarks made by a pastor who happened to be White and on the Republican side of the field:
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists and the gays, and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularise America. I point the finger in their face and say: “You helped this happen.”
~ Jerry Falwell, September 13, 2001
Well, I totally concur.
~Pat Robertson, two seconds after.
Senator John McCain had been assiduously courting Falwell in the months before the reverend’s death, and gave a commencement speech at his Evangelical oriented Liberty College. Where were the talking heads on cable or the moral outrage from the chattering classes? Is it reprehensible for Reverend Wright to say that the government caused or created AIDS? Yes. But wait!
“The Rev. Jerry Falwell famously argued that AIDS is a plague sent by God to punish homosexuals and American society for tolerating homosexuality.”
~Juliet Lapidos writing in Slate magazine.
I suppose you get in more trouble for suggesting that our loving and benevolent government would spontaneously conjure a disease than you do for suggesting our loving and benevolent God would…?
The question that needs to be asked is why and how is it acceptable for men like Robertson and Falwell to be courted and have their rings kissed by the scions of the political Right, and even some on the alleged left as Bill Clinton proved- and yet men like Wright are treated as radioactive? Acerbic, psychotic preachers are the same, no matter what colour they are, yes?
Yet again, it seems some lunatic reverends are more equal than others. Is it any more radical to support the Palestinians than it is for Falwell to call Arabs “barbarians” as he did in that same interview? Logically no. To those that say Obama’s connection to a man who said that America brought 9/11 on itself shows he’s anti-American, I can gesture at yet another comment from this box of chocolates interview with Falwell: “…What we saw on Tuesday [9/11], as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.” Emphasis mine.
By the logic of the talking heads on cable, is this not anti-American ranting that should be carted away and sealed? Fruit of the poisonous tree that no politician should stand within ten miles of? Or is it in fact bullshit? Wright suggested something that, had it not been for his stupid phrasing, is not so far out of the mainstream: America’s Cold War policies made a lot of people around the world Very Angry. I’ve explained this time and again, explanation and justification are two different things. Nothing justifies the mass murder of that day, but then again, if we are to prove ourselves more enlightened than our enemies we should accept that our government’s been a naughty boy in the past. We must also accept that our government’s behaviour engendered anger that has not been dealt with or defused in any meaningful way, and attempt to learn from the mistake.
Wright’s phrasing was awkward and an oh-so-exploitable tirade, but fundamentally he was not wrong. Obama still unequivocally condemned “the remarks”, as he surely must, sadly.
While we’re on the subject of double standards, I should direct you to the Right Wing pet peeve of political-correctness or “PC police.” According to the Far Right, any time they exercise their right to free speech to say racist, sexist, or overtly bigoted things- the Lefty Hippies come round in their hybrid PC Police car to correct them and censor them. Many far right Christians complained that the outcry in the wake of Falwell and Robertson’s artful comments on 9/11 was another example of Liberal PC policing. Radical conservatives love to suggest that political correctness is unconstitutional and cheapening political discourse in America.
All well and good.
So what do they call what’s gone on with Reverend Wright? The truth is that there is a Right Wing PC Police as much as there is a left-wing one, and the former is actually much more active and powerful. This sorry episode is another example of that. Forbidden things, that a politician absolutely cannot say, include many of Wright’s theses: America brought 9/11 on itself, the War in Iraq is a waste, and denouncing “God Bless America.” There are others, of course, and I have touched on this in the past. We cannot have an intelligent discussion in this country about the circumstances that gave rise to Middle Eastern terrorism because it’s un-PC to do so: it is un-PC to suggest American responsibility. Far better and safer to believe the comfortable lie that this all came out of nowhere.
No politician explicitly says that, because it is as stupid as it really sounds, but they tacitly imply it by constantly beating the drum of American victimhood (another thing Right Wingers supposedly hate) and suggesting that 9/11 was unprecedented and unexpected. It’s actually an insult to the intelligence of the citizenry to keep suggesting history does not exist along a continuum, and that events do not flow from previous ones in some way.
Obama has suffered from it in another way as well. His wife, Michelle, was excoriated by the political classes for saying “for the first time in my adult life I am truly proud of America.” Again, awkward phrasing, but her sentiment is understandable. Pride and shame are mutually exclusive, but love and shame are not. My father holds beliefs that make me cringe and are flagrantly offensive to me. He says and does things that do not leave me feeling proud of him all the time. But I love him all the same, a great deal. It is more than possible to feel the same way about one’s country. Loving your homeland does not mean you must blind yourself to its failings, nor does it mean your pride must be constant if it would controvert your personal convictions. The Right Wing PC Police thinks otherwise. They are not particular fans of nuance.
I could go on and say that this sorry situation again shows that religion breeds contemptible things- or is, at the very least, not a shield against them- but that certainly wasn’t a conclusion drawn by the Right Wing PC Police. (As an aside, Wright had been Obama’s pastor for over two decades and has stood by him- isn’t that a quality that the supposedly Christian rightists ought to admire? I wonder what the good people in Reverend Falwell’s congregation would have said if I asked them to abandon him after his interview. Probably something about me being a policeman who should butt out…)
Beyond all that, however, some good did come out of it. It was good that capitalized on the rich opportunity for contrast afforded to Barack Obama in the wake of the cable networks’ thoughtless flogging. An epic speech on race relations in this country that was open, frank, and didn’t address us as if he were a used car salesman pitching to a twelve year old. It was a speech that offered a bitter pill to swallow for all of his critics, and one that the biracial Obama was uniquely placed to make. He contrasted the Reverend Wright against his own White Kansan grandmother who (as I said of my own father) made cringe-worthy political statements. But he could no more disown her than he could the reverend. He went on to add that understanding that those feelings were there- the resentment, the anger, the bitterness- was only step one. Moving forward after that acknowledgement was the work of this generation. His inspirational speech showed a glimpse of what political life would be like if people in the political class and the media stopped to actually analyse and explore the realities we all face.
Analyse things in a realistic, frank way that showed there was more to an issue than- forgive the pun- a black and white view to things. He spoke to all Americans, and related to them personal experiences that would speak to disparate groups- and showing why this un-tempest in an un-teapot mattered in a way entirely unrelated to the way the PC Police thought it did. It matters because Wright is part of America, as is his experience growing up in a time of state sanctioned segregation. It matters because we need to see *all* of America and move forward from that. Obama’s speech spoke to all Americans like we were adults that were ready to face reality and look at the other side. It pandered to no one because it spoke to everyone. It was indeed a glimpse of what might be; politics with a thoughtful and uniting voice.
And that’s change *I* can believe in.