Redstate

Posted at 4:05pm on Apr. 29, 2008 No "Sister Souljah" Moment for Barack Obama

The embattled candidate goes back to the same well with supporters, then tries to present a different face to the general public

By Jeff Emanuel

The sudden return of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's pastor and spiritual mentor for over two decades, to the media spotlight this past week has sparked anew the debate over the true extent and effectiveness of Mr. Obama's actions to deal with the growing thorn in the side of his campaign that his former friend has become.

Wright's interview last week with Bill Moyers, in which he undercut the entire rationale for the Obama candidacy by referring to Mr. Obama's statements and actions on the campaign trail as simply being "what politicians do," caused the harsh spotlight of several weeks ago to be re-shone on Rev. Wright and his relationship with Mr. Obama, whose judgment, beliefs, and willingness to stand up for what he claims to believe in.

The intensity of that spotlight increased exponentially with Wright's addresses to the National Press Club and to the NAACP, in which he -- among other outrageous statements -- equated the U.S. flag with the flag of al Qaeda, berated "white America" for its failure to confess the sin of racism, reiterated his claim that the U.S. government created the AIDS virus to eradicate the African-American community (a charge about which CNN actually contacted the Center for Disease Control on Monday for an on-the-record comment), and declared -- complete with mocking vocal imitations -- that the black and white races differ genomically, with each being programmed to primarily use a different side of their brain.

The damage done to the Obama campaign is still being calculated, obviously, and new theories are popping up across the spectrum about why Wright chose now to re-enter the spotlight, and whether Mr. Obama's actions to date to deal with this issue, including a press conference this afternoon, will be effective.

Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Politics as usual | Rev. Jeremiah Wright | Sister Souljah — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:35pm on Apr. 25, 2008 Rev. Wright: Barack "does what politicians do"

By Jeff Emanuel

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Sen. BarackObama's spiritual mentor and pastor for over twenty years, source of the "HopeChangeHopeChange" mantra that has become the messianic core of his empty campaign, and giver of the Obama couple's nuptial vows, recently gave an interview to Bill Moyers about the recent dustup caused by the revelation to the general public that Wright has frequently used his pulpit to preach a racist, hateful, and intolerant brand of so-called "Christianity" to the members of his megachurch, including the surprisingly-not-so-post-racial Obama clan.

In the sit-down, one of the less-coherent segments of which was treated by RedState's absentee earlier today, the Reverend Wright made a very interesting comment about his former flock-member's Philadelphia speech on race and religion, made in the head of the Wright-gate media frenzy.

More below the fold, including video, and an accurate analysis from a most surprising source.

Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | Politics as usual | Rev. Jeremiah Wright — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:59am on Mar. 12, 2008 The Folly Of Fallon

Why do we care that he's leaving CentCom again?

By haystack

This article in Esquire magazine is apparently a big deal for our anti-war ("I love losing") crowd. In it we find a "Thomas Barnett" who fancies himself a stick buddy of Admiral Fallon (the soon to be no longer Commander of Central Command). Barnett also allows his piece to imply that it was Fallon who has been serving all this time as Secretary of State instead of Condoleeza Rice...and he shows us once again how really cool you can be if you throw around a few F-bombs and drop the "neocon" slam here and there, interspersed between lots of nuance and innuendo that furthers a preconceived political agenda.

What outstanding reporting we are graced with once again by one who continues searching for new and ever-more creative ways to convince us we must stop fighting enemies who would see us and our allies dead; give them what they want and they'll go away...or somesuch nonsense. These people need to stop working so hard...they might pop a blood vessel if they don't calm down.

I really can't exert the required energy to review Barnett's piece here (an op-ed in the form of a "news and biographical" article); there's just no point in trying to argue with folks willing to align themselves with underlings by propping them up into a "thing" they are not - Fallon was an Admiral, Bush is still Commander in Chief, and Gates is still (well, "was") Fallon's direct boss. Whooptydoo...

I'm more interested in what's NOT being said during all this hub bub about a military guy that did a job, for 12 months, and is now being rotated out. I thought we were SUPPOSED to be doing rotations to keep "our guys" fresh. Please, war-haters, put your memory caps on and recall the hype about a Navy guy taking over CentCom...how it was to be a new beginning...a change in how Bush was to manage the war (and prepare for the peace) and that maybe...JUST maybe, Fallon actually FAILED at one or more of his assigned objectives. Heck-Petraeus has done far better with his assignment than Fallon...just because the Admiral thinks war with Iran might be ill-advised, do we really have to make this retirement business into something that it's not?

More below the fold...

Posted in Anti-War Admirals | Democrats | Failing means winning | Iraq | Neocons | Politics as usual | War — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »