The Wright Backlash is Coming, but not in the way people were expecting.
I say this not to scare or alarm White America (since we all know White America is the "important" America, the America that "matters" at least according to the MSM), but because it is the simple truth. Through the corporate media’s demonization of Jeremiah Wright and subsequently the Black Church, Black America (and those who stand with Black America) are getting to the point where we say "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!"
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Now some of you may or may not know that lately Tavis Smiley has NOT been my favorite person. In fact I had an entire diary dedicated to his leaving the Tom Joyner Morning Show but not soon enough for me. But this morning, I agreed with everything he said. He said that he was GLAD Jeremiah Wright finally came out and defended himself, and he was basically ANGRY at the reaction of the media "analysts" who are only going on and on about how this would "hurt" Obama’s campaign. I agree with him, I think Rev. Wright has every right to come out and defend himself against the smears. He may not be doing it in the best way, but he has to do what works for him, and in the long run if Barack Obama is meant to be President, he will be. We’ve gotten over this controversy before, and we can do it again, and that does NOT mean he has to throw Rev. Wright under a bus, what I don’t understand is how Rev. Wright is a big deal when EVERYONE, even JOHN MCCAIN agrees that Obama does NOT share Wright’s views.
The reason I say the backlash is coming, is because Tavis didn’t stop his commentary with Rev. Wright’s right to defend himself. He brought up the Buchanan dilemma and the fact that Pat Buchanan wrote a "Brief for Whitey" that got NO recognition in the MSM while Wright's 30 second "greatest hits" were played repeatedly ad naseum. Even when people here on Kos and other areas of the Internet wrote the MSNBC about their outrage, nothing was done. I even heard Buchanan PROMOTE his "Brief for Whitey" on MSNBC, and no one said anything. Tavis not only MENTIONED the "brief" but he ALSO read excerpts from the brief. And even though I had read it and been sufficiently outraged before, hearing it read on NATIONAL radio in the midst of the latest "Rev. Wright" controversy (which is all they have been talking about on Morning Joe based on my flipping to the show hoping to catch Axelrod) pissed me off again. There is a serious double standard on this. What Wright said was not NEARLY as offensive as Buchanan’s claim that America has done more for Black people than any other country, and that we should basically be showing more gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have been done for us since we were captured and shipped over here like animals. Talk about elitist and condescending. But Pat Buchanan has not been disciplined in any way, he was even allowed to promote his brief on the channel.
I may not be a fan of Bill Clinton at the moment, but what he said was not NEARLY as bad as what Pat Buchanan said, but the media is STILL focusing on his comments. Yet there’s a blackout on Pat Buchanan.
Remember Don Imus? I didn’t think his comments about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball Team was that bad, but when taken in the context of his other racially charged language, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Guess what channel was showing Imus and only fired him after corporate sponsors started pulling back? That’s right MSNBC. The very same MSNBC that is allowing Patrick Buchanan to go on almost every hour on the hour and spew his racially charged diatribe. While progressives and the left want to complain about FOX, they should also be more forceful about the crap that MSNBC is allowed to put out daily. Not only to they have Pat Buchanan, but you also have Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough on every day talking about how Obama needs to appeal to "White America" without offering the counter analysis to the other candidates appealing to "Black America" or "Latino America" or "Asian America." Notice, the other three Americas only matter when there is a state with high concentrations of them. But "White America" is always the main concern. So you have these channels purporting to speak for "White America" while performing a very thorough character assassination of both Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama.
The backlash is coming.
I’m still listening to the TJMS and people are calling in showing their displeasure over people saying Jeremiah Wright needs to "hush" and "sit down" because he so called scares White people. People are also saying that Tavis was totally right about people not wanting us to know about Buchanan and his comments. I like to think I’m a pretty level-headed person, but this Wright controversy has really upset me. I don’t think it’s fair that he’s being caricatured the way he is, nor do I think it’s fair that Barack Obama has to "explain" the actions of his former Pastor. Joe Scarborough gave "advice" that Obama should basically explain away Wright by saying that he’s the man that brought him to his faith, and that he cannot disown him for that reason, but that he strongly disagrees with Wright’s statements. Mind you, Scarborough is calling Wright Obama’s "spiritual advisor" the entire time which BOTH Rev. Wright and Barack Obama have DENIED. Also, Barack Obama DID say that Rev. Wright is merely the person that brought him to Jesus, and was NOT his spiritual advisor and that he does NOT share the views of Rev. Wright.
Everyone may not like Tavis, but we do listen when he speaks (much like Farrakhan in Wright’s explanation). The fact that I, someone who has strongly disagreed with most of Tavis’ comments lately was clapping as I sat here and listened to him says that a backlash is coming. Black America, and our allies, are not stupid. We can clearly see the double standard that is applied to Rev. Wright, and even Bill Clinton (who is not a total innocent, but has, compared to Buchanan and others like him been given a raw deal).
And Tavis will be giving a companion commentary to the one he gave today on Thursday, which I’m sure will once again be dedicated to the hypocrisy of the media with regard to Buchanan.
And while I’m at it, CNN has its own Bigot in the form of Lou Dobbs. None of the "major stations" are immune, and it's time to start holding their feet to the fire as consistently as people hold FOX's feet to the fire. They are ALL stations that merely promote propaganda, and a lot of times the other two get their talking points FROM the very same FOX they allegedly hate so much.
So again, I say this not to scare people, because we are above the politics of fear, but people are REALLY getting tired of this process, the lies, the mischaracterizations, and the overlooking of blatantly racists pundits who are allowed to spew their hate every day unchecked.
Yesterday, I wrote a diary titled "A Change is NOT Going to Come" and in that diary, I said that a change won’t come unless we are willing to fight for it. Looks like the fight is on the horizon, and it’s not going to be pretty.
I was listening to my iPod yesterday, and a song came on by Everlast called "The Greatest" from the Ali Movie Soundtrack. There is a lyric in that song that really made me think of this primary and the treatment Obama has been getting:
I float like a butterfly
I sting like a hornet
They won’t let me have it
Not even if no one else want it
And if I try to take it
They wanna break me down and strip me naked
They write a brand new rule and break it
They lie they cheat they steal they fake it
But Imma make it, Lord I can take it
I’m the, (the greatest man alive)
Boy cut the drama, boy save it for your mama
I’m the (the greatest man alive)
I can’t sweat it,
I know I gotta get it
I’m the (the greatest man alive)
Without no doubt, my name will survive
This is not to say that Barack is a savior or something, but look at those lyrics and say they aren’t what we’ve been thinking. They are trying to break him down and strip everything off of him, all of the good he has done, and replace it with lies. They are re-writing rules/moving the goalposts. They have lied about Barack’s statements as well as Rev. Wright’s statements. The Clintons feel perfectly justified in stealing the nomination from Barack via Superdelegates. And I don’t even need to expound on the "they fake it" line (hunting/drinking anyone?).
But yet, through all of that Barack Obama is still standing. Rev. Wright is still standing. The Black community is still standing. Other Obama supporters who have been severely disrespected in this primary are still standing (Youth, Women not supporting Hillary, White people that refuse to fit into the media narrative). We are all still standing, and we are not going to take it anymore.
Thoughtful discussion is welcomed and encouraged.
And for those who don't know, the quote in the title is from Mahatma Ghandi.