The Race to Address Race in the Race

A hypothetical situation:

A man has a friend.  They’ve been friends for 20 years.   The man sees his friend once or twice a week for most of that time.  Often, one of these weekly visits involves a speech given by the friend dealing with theology, politics, value systems, and the state of the world in general.

The man is dating a woman.  The woman finds out that the man’s friend is a racist.  She finds out that he holds destructive values that divide people and distort reality.  She finds that the friend is living in a past that no longer exists.  But she fears that her boyfriend is being filled with unhealthy ideas by his friend.

She confronts her boyfriend about the friend.  The man first tells the woman that the friend is not to be taken seriously, that he is like an old uncle who sometimes holds views that the man disagrees with.  When he is pressed further, he tells the woman that he has never heard his friend talk about these racist views.  The woman is skeptical- she has seen the man listening to his friends rant, and others have told her that the man certainly has heard these rants, and indeed has been seen nodding in agreement with the racist ideas presented by the friend.

(End hypothetical)

These are the conclusions we have to come to with regard to Barack Obama’s relationship with Jeremiah Wright.  Being a rational, logical, and empathetic person, when I heard Obama’s attempts to distance himself from Wright, my first thought was “OK, give the guy a break, he’s making it clear that he disagrees with his racist pastor.”  But Obama is attempting to LIE his way out of the situation.   Moreover, he could have left the church at any time- there are many churches to choose from on the south side of Chicago.

After all, this is not the Trinity Church of America.  This is not the United Methodist Church of America.  These are the United States of America. 

That makes about as much sense as Obama’s “Red States/Blue States/United States” mantra.

Ask yourself- what else will he lie about?  What else has he lied about?  Who is this guy, really?  Perhaps the annointed one is really just another politician.