First, let me state categorically that I still am firmly in support of Barack Obama becoming our next President but, after watching this morning's news on MSNBC before heading off to work, I'm seriously concerned about the damage the airplay of the rantings of Reverand Wright are going to have on his campaign.
Not only were they there in all their glory on TV but the audio of those same vitriolic outbursts were being played over and over again on talk radio (including Air America) as I drove in.
These must be addressed now and with conviction or Obama will be as damaged as Howard Dean was when his "Yee haw"s knocked him out of contention. Here's the response I think will blow it away.
Obama should say something to the effect of:
"One of the problems we have right now in our foreign policy is a complete and utter lack of understanding of the mindset of people around the world. We tend to paint pictures of people as black and white, good and evil, angels and devils. When someone says or does something that rankles our way of thinking, our response has been to dehumanize those individuals and resort to violence to counter them. Our history has shown that to be a failed tactic. For every "evil" dictator we've deposed we've created many more radical and vengeful people to take their place."
"I've seen the best and the worst of the Reverand Wright and although my skin bristles and my hair stands up on end when he attacks the things I believe in, I am a lessor man if he is not part of my study of human nature and ultimately what we need in a leader right now is an expert in that area. Our geopolitical arena is not some mindless game of Whack-A-Mole where winning comes from the quickness and severity of your response but instead it's more complex than the most intense chess game where you not only think 30 moves ahead but you understand instinctively the human side of your opponent."
"Compared to some of the threats we face in the world, the Reverand Wright is the neighborhood dog that barks all the time, upsetting our sleeep but biting nobody. I've also though seen him compassionate and caring and the one person able to give hope to the hopeless."
"Are we to the point in our political landscape where we must rule out all outrageous acquaintances from our lives and only surround ourselves with people that believe exactly as we do? I would bet that all Americans have their crazy friends that, even though they cause you upset at times and offend your senses, they still challenge your mind to understand the depths of human nature. I refuse to isolate myself from the broad landscape of human diversity because that will take away my edge from understanding the world we must interact with."
I sincerely hope this is the direction that Obama takes it although there may be better ways of handling it. We all have our crazy friends but instead of them branding us as crazy they give us insight into the complex human brain and force us outside of our comfort zone where creativity flourishes.
I'm looking forward to hearing from others as to how Obama should handle this. I'm pretty much convinced he must address this now and with conviction or the scar will be deep and possibly disastrous.