Dear Reverend Wright:
Shut up.
Stop talking. No, seriously, you are still talking somewhere to someone as I type this. Shut the fuck up.
You are helping no one (with the possible exception of the media). You are not helping Senator Obama, someone for whom you claim some affection. You are not helping Americans or our democratic process. You are not even helping yourself, which is painfully apparent now that is all you care about. Also, astonishingly, you have no historical perspective--your words, either 30 seconds from a sermon seven years ago, or from your continuous and unending blather over the last 72 hours, matter.
Stop talking.
Because I want this primary fight to end soon. My man will be victorious but I would rather not have him limp to the Convention.
Stop talking.
Because last week it cost me $56 to fill up my car with 17 gallons of gas. Because this war is a disastrous and expensive mistake and it must end. Because millions have lost, or are on the verge of losing, their homes. Because 47 million Americans don't have health insurance.
Because I can't remember the last time I heard anyone talk about any of those issues.
Every moment spent deconstructing some tabloid story du jour (or du week or du month) is one less moment devoted to solving our serious problems. You must realize this. So when you needlessly hold press conferences, like that Wright-centric ego-orgy this morning, you cheapen the discourse; you play their games. You do everyone--from the man I bust my ass for, to everyone voting for him, to everyone he will eventually govern--a disservice.
Your press conference this morning began earnestly enough. You were talking abut reconciliation and the historical place of black religious tradition. Fine. But during the Q-and-A that followed, you revealed what you are--a brazen, arrogant, self-centered man. Again, shut the fuck up.
Do I think you are unpatriotic? No. Do I think you are a radical? No. Do I think the press have unfairly maligned portions of what you have said? Absolutely. But do I think you are a grossly irresponsible, out-of-touch, loose cannon? Yes, and it might ruin this campaign. Again: you might ruin this campaign.
Maddeningly, you have complained about the media taking your words out of context, twisting sound bites for subversive purposes. Yet, and for reasons I cannot logically grasp, you gave an interview with Bill Moyers Friday, you spoke to the NAACP yesterday and you talked at the DC Press Club today. You have effectively given the media hours of new sound bites to distort and fill 24-hours news cycles gasping for new content. And the look on your face as you were answering questions this morning: you enjoyed it. You were smug, glib, and arrogant as you traded not-as-clever-as-you-thought quips with the questioner and the audience.
And while we are at it, Senator Obama--in response to your comments--gave one of the most eloquent and honest speeches I have ever heard. And he was gracious enough not to throw you under the bus while doing it. So it is sickening (and abjectly false) for you to dismiss it as something "a politician has to say." Quit saying that. It is not true. Nearly 1.5 million people have contributed to this campaign precisely because it not true.
We are working toward a new kind of politics here. We thought you were on our side. Now we're not so sure.
So please, again, stop talking.
Sincerely,
JB