The Cleveland Plain Dealer's David Briggs: Obama Shill, Clueless Political Hack, Or Both?

In the "Ethics" section of yesterday's PD, Mr. Briggs wrote a column entitled "Politics is poisoning our discourse on racial issues".

His main contention seems to be that Mr. Obama ought not be called to account for his decades-long membership at Trinity UCC and his very personal association with Jeremiah Wright. (Despite the fact Obama acknowledges that Wright brought him to Jesus, performed his marriage, baptized his kids and has been the recipient of big donations.)

Mr. Briggs begins by asserting:

No one said being a prophet would be easy.

He continues with fulsome praise for Wright's accomplishments, including how he helped inspire Obama's presidential aspirations, before continuing:

What no one counted on was a political culture that would reduce thousands of sermons into a couple of shocking sound bites that portray the pastor and former Marine as racist and anti-American. And that the controversy would go so far that Wright and Obama would turn against each other in public.

Oh, sure...aside from the sound bites (which came from DVDs sold by Trinity UCC), I'm certain Wright's never, ever spewed such garbage. Not even on camera in front of the NAACP or National Press Club as recently as last week.

Apparently, Briggs is either completely unaware (or deliberately ignorant) that Wright is a vocal proponent of "black liberation theology", a pathetic, racist bunch of claptrap initially promulgated in America by theologian James Cone. In Cone's own words:

Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.

In other words, Cone claims that a God who doesn't want to kill whitey ain't worth shit; that doesn't sound very loving or inclusive to me.

Some other highlights from Cone's writings bigoted frothings:

All white men are responsible for white oppression.
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What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal.
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Any advice from whites to blacks on how to deal with white oppression is automatically under suspicion as a clever device to further enslavement.

This would seem to distill down to "shut the fuck up and/or die, honky motherfuckers". But I digress; nothing to see here, folks.

Briggs continues:

For black and white religious leaders, it is a sad day in American politics.

Hillary Clinton, Obama's opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, and right-wing commentators have exploited fears among significant numbers of white voters by creating a "scary" black figure in Wright, religious critics say. A campaign that had been historic in its ability to transcend race is mired in old racial divisions.

I believe it's more accurate to say that Obama's campaign (which had included Wright as an advisor) had simply attempted to ignore race, as they knew damned well what would happen when that particular can of worms got opened.

The truth of the matter is that Wright is scary.

And black.

It is neither possible nor desirable to ignore those facts.

In his speech to the NAACP last week, Wright claimed that black children learn differently from white children because blacks are right-brained and whites are left-brained. (This also begs the question: is Mr. Obama ambidextrous-brained? Enquiring white brains want to know.)

Wright's claims about "learning" are scary, not to mention racist stuff. But again, I digress; back to Briggs' column:

"This whole thing has had nothing at all to do with Jeremiah Wright," said the Rev. Marvin McMickle, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland. "This was an attack on the prospect of a black president."

Actually, it has everythng to do with a credible, major party presidential candidate who is closely associated with a racist dirtbag. Personally, I'd be very happy to vote for a black presidential candidate, but he or she would have to be someone who supported my own views. Like Thomas Sowell, whom I believe to be one of the keenest intellects of our age.

What America is left with is not a national discussion on racial and economic injustice that would have been a serious response to Wright's ministry. We are left with a political conversation on how much Obama will suffer from being a member of Wright's church.

It didn't have to be this way.

Yeah...because there ought to be no questions whatsoever asked of Obama about his long-term relationship with Wright; perhaps it's one of those "you wouldn't understand; it's a black thing" things.

And what the hell is "economic injustice", a phrase I've always had trouble parsing. Does money somehow violate the rights of black people? Sic dogs on them or spray them with fire hoses? Is it only worth $0.67 on the dollar when it resides in a black persons' wallet or is deposited into their bank account? Is there a different currency exchange rate for black folks?

The unprecedented attack on Obama because of his pastor began with the charge that Trinity United Church of Christ was racist because of its motto, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." How many presidential candidates whose churches have been unashamedly all-white have received similar criticism?

It's not the motto; "it's the theology, stupid".

By sifting through years of Wright's sermons, critics found incendiary comments in which Wright uses an obscenity to refer to the United States or says it could be called the "U.S. of KKK-A."

Actually, not much "sifting" was involved; it only required purchasing DVDs from Trinity and watching them.

Missing from much of the conversation is the context of those lengthy sermons on a history of racial injustice and economic subjugation of the poor that religious leaders of many faiths have railed against. Within the tradition of the black church, where pastors often are expected to be social and political advocates, provocative sermons provide hope and inspire reform.

But don't you dare question their tax-free status. "Economic subjugation"? Briggs, uh, puh-lease!

That pastors such as Wright sometimes cross the line on reasonable discourse was evident this week when Wright affirmed his earlier statements that AIDS may have been a government conspiracy against blacks.

The fact that AIDS is also affecting non-black folks just goes to reaffirm my belief that government can't do anything right.

Obama rightly disowned this allegation and others as "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth."

Obama added, "But they're so hilariously fucking entertaining, I couldn't keep myself from listening to them regularly for the past seventeen years, tossing a few bucks into the collection plate and sharing them with my children. Yeah, it's for the children; that's the ticket!"

But what we cannot do is silence pastors as they challenge us. Nor can we allow Obama's political opponents to use Wright to feed racial prejudices.

No; we should in-turn challenge pastors who spew this sort of vile, bigoted shit. And we cannot allow a man who is asking for the job of leader of the free world to weasel out of the inconvenient truth that he has been affiliated with this poisonous demagogue for quite a few years. Further, Obama's political opponents don't need to use Wright to feed racial prejudices; Wright's doing a splendid job without their assistance. You go, Reverend!

When he first addressed Wright's comments in March, Obama said Americans need to acknowledge the profound misunderstandings we have on race and work to heal those wounds.

Agreed; I cannot understand the profound lack of gratitude from a wide swath of the black community for all of us ofays who put our lily-white asses on the line for equality. Believe me, it is a bit hurtful; we pale, left-brained people have feelings, too. Black clergymen really ought to quit hatin' on us Mister Charlie-Americans.

"If we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care or education or the need to find good jobs for every American," he said.

I, myself, am not walking away; I am being pushed away by the vicious hatred from some members of the black community. And if you want to solve the above challenges, get the damned government out of every aspect of our lives. Just like my man Tom Sowell advocates.

Those are the words of a prophet.

Nah...they're the words of a pandering asshole who's been caught with his robes hitched-up to his waist.