PolitiPorn™

“If Loving You is Wrong…I don’t want to be Wright.”

by Shush, Politiporn Religion Correspondent

By now everyone has heard about Reverend Wright’s speaking tour.  They’ve heard the breathless blonds on the news asking what this means for Barack Obama and asking a bit furtively if this is even something that we should be talking about anymore.  The questions follow thusly:

“Did Obama’s speech on race offend Reverend Wright?”
“Has Obama distanced himself too far from his former mentor?”  (Odd, since at the time of the “race speech” Obama had his proverbial hands slapped for not distancing himself enough.)
“Did Obama mean to offend Wright?”
“Is Wright acting out parental concern or just anger?”
“Is Wright angling for a book deal?”
“Are the Clintons behind this new ‘face’ of Wright’s?”
“Whatever shall Obama do?”

The past few days have shown a few developments.  The first is that it has become clear that Wright is no longer Obama’s mentor.  Wright has said (paraphrasing) that should Obama become the president that Wright would pursue him as he had former administrations.  Wright has said that Obama is simply “doing what a politician does”- which is a very vague statement readily interpreted in any number of icky ways.  Wright is no longer Obama’s mentor, instead he has made himself a voice of dissent.  This is ultimately good for Obama, because the more clear it becomes that the waters between them are agitated the more easily Obama can turn away from the words of Wright’s that could most harm them.

The question that we must then ask is if Wright is doing this as a favor or out of sincere offense.  I would guess the latter, because the easiest thing for everyone to do would have been to simply put it all back to bed when it first woke up.  Obama’s words of retort also speak to a sincere hurt. One does not easily say that the man who married one to one’s wife and held one’s hands through spiritual journeys has become a stranger.  There appears to be a genuine rift, and with that rift comes further questions- Is Obama falling on the side of the rift where other black Americans have fallen? Will this rift ultimately help or hurt him? Garner him sympathy or irritation?

Thus I myself join the breathless blonds of the network news in wondering what in the world it all means.  Perhaps it means nothing.  Perhaps “Wrightgate” “Bittergate” and “Husseingate” ultimately mean as little as their names convey.  These “gates” are not like the “Watergate” they derive their name from- they certainly do not seem to imply the utter destruction of a career and the alienation of the trust of the people.  They are more like garden gates- a token door between one place and another, more for decoration than actual use.