[Vision2020] Questions for No. Weatherman

[Chasuk]

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On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 18:00, No Weatherman <no.weatherman at gmail.com> wrote:

> I understand that YOU believe Wright is not a black-separatist
> anti-Semitic America-hating racist pig and I presume you understand
> that your view is the minority view.

Let me also do a little clarifying:  I know that I might hold the
minority view, but that's okay.  The majority might have the power,
but that says nothing about truth.

The majority believe whatever makes them feel good, or whatever is
easiest to digest.  They possess few, if any, critical faculties.  I
don't think I need to substantiate these claims.  On this, we probably
already agree.

Wright today and Wright yesterday are undoubtedly different persons.
We all are.  Perhaps Wright's ideas have evolved malignantly over the
years, and that's what Obama now repudiates.  I conjecture that if
Wright  had been the man then that he is today, they might not have
become friends.

If you and I had been friends for 20 years, and you suddenly and
publicly announced your support for something truly heinous, I
wouldn't reject you as a friend, but -- if I were a serious contender
for President of the United States -- I might have to disassociate
myself from your beliefs.  I still consider this cowardice, but
sometimes I am a coward.

Of course, I may be wrong, and you may be correct.  Wright may be a
black-separatist anti-Semitic America-hating racist pig, and this is
the "person" of whom Obama speaks.

You ask:

> I'm curious, therefore, exactly what political expedience do you
> believe compelled Obama to disassociate from Wright, saying, "I have
> been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I have
> known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday
> was not the person that I met 20 years ago. . . . What we saw
> yesterday out of Reverend Wright was a resurfacing and, I believe, an
> exploitation of those old divisions. Whatever his intentions, that was
> the result."

The complete context of the remarks you quote is here:

http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2008/04/29/obama_remarks/

In these remarks, Obama denies political expediency ("political
posturing"), but I think that's exactly what it was.

if you watch the videos at the links I've provided, you will see
evidence that Wright is a good man who has sacrificed much and walked
the Christian walk instead of just talked the Christian talk.  He may
indeed harbor a black-separatist anti-Semitic America-hating racist
pig inside him. but I don't believe that is the man who inspired
Obama.  I'm sure you are familiar with the maxim "action speaks louder
than words."  Conflate this with Jesus' message from the Sermon on the
Mount, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:16, American
Standard Version, for those who care), and hopefully you see the man
that I do, who isn't a bogeyman at all.

That's the best answer I can give.

Chas