It's hard to find another way to say why I support Barack Obama for president, when it's said in so many wonderful ways every day on this site and elsewhere, but I think I've put my finger on something in watching the debate tonight on MSNBC.
First of all, shame on MSNBC for succumbing to the same media narrative that any link between Obama and Islam can and should be made ad nauseam. First, they put up the picture of him in the 'native garb.' Then, they made the inexplicable connection between Obama's pastor's previous support for Louis Farrakhan, and the trip to Libya taken by those two. Good god. You'd think Obama trained in a madrassa.
If I were Obama, I would have called out Russert, and said something like, "Tim - it sounds like you're taking part in a media narrative that unfairly attempts to connect me with Islam, and I resent that, not because I hold anything against that religion or any other, but because it's a further attempt to divide people in this country. We could just as easily talk about some of the darker connections and questionable comments of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist or Hindu leaders in this country."
But he never takes the bait, even despite far worse stuff, of recent note including Bill O'Reilly's incredible claim that he wouldn't go on a "lynching party" against Michelle Obama unless there was evidence that she wasn't sufficiently proud of her country. And then it struck me. Obama may be JFK, MLK, and RFK when he speaks, but he's more impressive in his ability to refrain from speaking, to refuse taking the bait. In that sense, he's more Jackie Robinson than MLK.
So even if you think words are cheap, consider that Barack Obama's restraint in the face of some truly hideous smears is profound.