Ever heard of the Obamorons? These are the morons who will cheer anything that Barack Obama says. Right now the Obamorons are wildly enthusiastic about their man's race speech, and are trying to persuade the rest of us to stop talking about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and move on to talking about how Obama is the next best thing since Jesus Christ.
Obama does have some very good qualities, but it's clear he also has a dark side that is only now beginning to surface. Consider his bizarre analogies aimed at vindicating the Reverend Wright. Many of us, he argues, "disagree" with things that our pastors and family members have said. True, but how many of us have pastors who say stuff like the Reverend Wright? It's one thing to sit quietly while my pastor says things I don't agree with about evolution or the Rapture, quite another for Obama to sit quietly while his pastor says that America deserved to be attacked on 9/11 and that the U.S. government deliberately injected AIDS into the country. My guess is that even in the black church "God damn America!" is not exactly standard rhetoric. Certainly the Reverend Martin Luther King didn't talk like that.
Especially bizarre was Obama's analogy between the Reverend Wright and his white grandmother. According to Obama, grandma too was given to racial "stereotypes" and at one point confessed to her fear of black men. First of all Obama didn't cite what stereotypes his grandmother held. A stereotype is merely a generalization: it may be true or false, harmful or benign. As the sociological literature on the subject shows, most stereotypes contain at least a grain of truth, because stereotypes develop out of popular experience.
As I document in my book The End of Racism, fears of black men are rationally explained as the consequence of the fact that black men have the highest violent crime conviction rate of any group in our society. One out of four young black men are at any given time in prison, on probation, or on parole. Some years ago Jesse Jackson admitted that if he heard footsteps in the dark and turned back to find out that the person was white, he would feel relieved. The point here is that Obama's grandmother's views, as relayed by Obama, seem rooted in empirical facts and bear no comparison with the Reverend Wright's maniacal ravings.
Besides, she's his grandmother! We choose our pastors and mentors but we don't choose our grandparents. When Obama calls the Reverend Wright "family," this is because he selected him as a friend and teacher. At any point during the past two decades, Obama could have walked away from the pew. Wright is not "family" in the involuntary sense that Grandma is family. In addition, Obama's grandmother made her remarks in private, within the sanctity of the household. The Reverend Wright has been shouting his doctrine from the pulpit for decades. Private prejudice is much less harmful than public hate speech.
Obama is smart enough to know all this. So what is the explanation for the bizarre moral equivalence that he seeks to create between his pastor and his grandmother? It cannot be that she treated him badly, since Obama himself says she loved him more than anything in the world. The only other explanation is that Obama is that Obama is more attached to the radicalism of the Reverend Wright than he is to his kind old grandmother. He is quite willing to protect Wright, and his own presidential prospects, by throwing grandma under the bus. Hell of a guy, right Obamorons?
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 40)
61. mo,
if there is no coerion then why the hostility with peace loving chrsitians? why the berating of christians as dumbing down? why the stereo-typing of christians as narrow,bigoted,intolerant? when in point of fact you are very very coersive
brian at 11:16AM on Mar 24th 2008
62. k,
and next week it will be annother explanation. embrace the truth K. GOD is not a cosmic brain, he is a person who has given us attributes just like him. we are made in his image. my guess is you dis-like the moral constraints a holy God requires and that is at the heart of your rejection. how far will what others do get you in the judgement? you going to tell God that johnny did this or that therefore i trashed any need of you? really is that not rather thin?
brian at 11:22AM on Mar 24th 2008
63. k,
at least in the christian world as paul said there is neither jew no greek free no slave. in God's eye we are one and we all have the same value. but we were not all created equal,some have advantages that others don't.
K do you not agree that 95% of all blacks vote for obama because in some measure he is black. and in some measure because he goes to rev.wrights church?
brian at 11:26AM on Mar 24th 2008
64. Miss Eleanor: When you make racist statements, you are a racist. When you make erroneous statements, you are either mistaken or a liar. Obama has never been a Muslim. That is an out and out lie.
You are both.
Linda at 11:27AM on Mar 24th 2008
65. brian,
I'm not hostile to peace-loving Christians like Botts. I'm only hostile to the ones who have shown significant dumbing-down (mostly you, dude), which I believe comes not from your religion, but your insecurities. If I'm coercing you into anything it's to stop being so spiteful all the time. Who is it who's always spouting the words "narrow", "bigoted", "intolerant", "drivel", et al? Between the two of us, why am I the one labeled as hateful?
For those here who usually disagree with DD but agree today, don't you at least see the manipulative sophistry employed here? Look at how he uses literary aikido to twist Obama's arm so that he makes him slander his own grandmother. Just LOOK. There is nothing DD can't misrepresent, that's his most profitable skill.
Mokele-Mobembe at 11:27AM on Mar 24th 2008
66. Dinesh D'Souza has been defending the indefensible, George W. Bush, for nearly eight years now. If blind devotion constitutes being a "moron", then D'Souza is one of the biggest morons on the planet.
emelpe at 11:28AM on Mar 24th 2008
67. People vote for the candidates who they believe best represent them, and are most likely to address their issues. THAT is why blacks turn toward Obama.
K,
You sound hot.
Mokele-Mobembe at 11:33AM on Mar 24th 2008
68. If you table-pounding ignoramuses bothered to read Obama's autobiography, the discussion regarding his grandmother's comments about race are in the book. This is not out of the blue. It was something that helped to shape him.
There were members of my paternal and maternal families who hated my nuclear family for being neither all Jewish nor all christian. For many years. Things like that help to shape who you are and introduce you to prejudice at a young age.
He dissed nobody. He was expressing something that he grew up with.
Linda at 11:35AM on Mar 24th 2008
69. mo,
i read this article. DD is making a valid point. but here is the thing,i would not vote for obama because he represents the party of death. i think the democratic party has been bad for blacks,bad for many minorities. good for foriegners who can get cheap loans to buy motels and subway rest.
and in truth you are the least offensive atheist on this blog and generally the most courteous all the time. so when i was speaking of atheist i should have left you out. the ryans of the world,knight,etc floyd.
as for botts, you need to realize he is a wolf in sheeps clothing. you like him because he does not challenge your belief system with the truth
brian at 11:44AM on Mar 24th 2008
70. It appears to me that Obama cannot open his mouth without some so-called "expert" jumping on his words and bad mouthing him. The more he tries to explain himself, the more people beat up on him, because the truth of the matter is that these people don't really want Obama to be as popular as he is. Maybe they're Hillary worshipers, or maybe they're McCainites. Maybe they've never been in a church congregation where, if you criticize the pastor, you'll be stung to death by the rest of the congregation. Obama's biggest mistake is trying to explain himself. He shouldn't have to. McCain's so-called "spiritual guides" are far worse than Obama's. At least the reverend Mr. Wright does have 300 years of past discrimination to shape his POV. Hagee, Robertson, etc. are religious fanatics with lunatic ideas that would bring on a world holocaust if carried out. Nobody has attacked Hillary Clinton's religion because she has never appeared to be a church goer. The African-American community relies heavily on its religious connections because that has been where the warmth, community, and fellowship lies. It's hard to break away from that. Obama probably hasn't even attended his church as faithfully as others because he hasn't been in Chicago, but has been in Washington, D. C. So he probably did miss most of the fiery sermons. For pity sake--give the guy a break and stop trying to challenge him on everything he says. It's hard to say something intelligent when you're being attacked from all sides every time you open your mouth. I imagine words from his "white" grandma hurt worse than anything coming from a stranger's mouth would have. And she sounds as if she was somewhat prejudiced toward persons of color. We all have our prejudices. From broccoli to skin color--you can't make someone like something. But sometimes getting to know something (by eating broccoli with cheese on it or having a person of color as a neighbor or friend--one can overcome prejudice.) We have the right to be prejudiced, but for the betterment of the USA--we should try to get to know each other. We have a lot more in common with each other than most of us know. I see Obama as an excellent "bridge" between whites and blacks in this country. (I'm an elderly white lady, btw).
rosenrob at 11:49AM on Mar 24th 2008
71. PS: No matter what your race, religion, or politics, calling people who support Barack Obama "Obamorons" is a blanket insult, and shows what Dines D'Souza is: a jerk.
rosenrob at 11:55AM on Mar 24th 2008
72. Well said, rosenrob.
But I believe that Obama HAD to respond to the release of the sound bites of some of Wright's sermons. To have remained silent would have been much worse.
Linda at 12:02PM on Mar 24th 2008
73. brian,
I jabbed at you and you shook it off and turned the other cheek. I like that. I'll go easier on you for a while. Botts believe plenty of things that I do not, and that's challenge already. If he gets too disagreeable I won't hesitate to let him know. I'll even defend my foes sometimes if I feel they have been misconstrued.
Mokele-Mobembe at 12:03PM on Mar 24th 2008
74. brian,
"and in truth you are the least offensive atheist on this blog"
FOR THE LAST TIME: MOKELE IS NOT AN ATHEIST. Jesis, are you sure you're not composed of a neutron star? Because you are at least that dense.
And McCain's priest John Hagee has spouted hate speech that would make the "god hates fags" cult blush.
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2008/3/19/12226/1730/Diary/Different-Standards-for-Black-and-White-Preachers
Piss off.
brandon at 12:03PM on Mar 24th 2008
75. no rosenrosen,
DD statement is designed to get guys like you to post. the thing that DD leaves off is the obvious. ferraro pegged it when she said were obama not black he would be nowhere. now that is an interesting obversation which has some merit. wright is an interesting observation that deserves discussion
but what about hillary quietly loving all the heat obamaboy has been taking. when mathematically she cannot win. the hun is loving this and if she is the nominee for the party of deqth obama won't be a blip on the radar again,just like kerry,just like mondale and all the other past saviors of the democrats. its a sad party really.
brian at 12:04PM on Mar 24th 2008