So, I wrote a long defense of Rev. Wright based on watching his interview with Bill Moyers’ on Friday. Since then, a lot of Rev. Wright-related fun-stuff has transpired. Yesterday, he went on a personal media blitz that included a firy appearance in front of the NAACP in Detroit and the National Press Club in Washington. After several remarks extolling Louis Farrakhan and further elaborating on the conspiratorial role he thinks the government played in the AIDS epidemic, it has become impossible for Obama to continue in this campaign inextricably tied to his former pastor.
And so, today, this happens:
I am not yet sure what I think of this. Given Wright’s flagrant display of callous “self-regard” as Andrew Sullivan wrote yesterday, my nascently formed opinion is all over the map. The Wright I saw in Bill Moyers’ interview appeared to be gentle and softspoken. The Wright everyone saw yesterday appeared to many to be showboating and, simultaneously, extra-strength crazy. Having reviewed the footage from yesterday’s press events, I am getting on one hand a vague feeling that Wright has deliberately betrayed Obama and all of his supporters. On the other hand(and this is admittedly a stretch) he may have done Obama a slight favor by giving him the ammunition necessary to justifiably sever his ties. Needless to say, I am of no firm opinion at the moment. I will have to have some time to put my thoughts together in order to do justice to what has happened in this continuing saga. I am certain of one thing though: this is not a fun day to be a Democrat.
Finally, for the sake of my own general well-being and the mental health of any Obama supporters that may happen upon this blog entry, here’s Jon Stewart from last night riffing on Wright’s performances:
Yeah, it looks really bad especially on the whole judgment part…