I want to start off with a couple of apologies.
First off, I want to apologize for the 'piling on' of this subject of the Obama/McClurkin controversy. I imagine some of You are saying then, well, don't pile on and write something else instead. Fair enough criticism, and while You have a point, I do have something to say on this that I don't want just inserted as a comment on somebody else's Diary. Hopefully, it will be valid enough to stand on its own for some of You.
Secondly, by using Obama's name in the title, I have teased out an interest on an issue that is more immediate in Our collective minds, but I believe that the 'advice' is applicable to all of the Democratic Candidates.
One thing though -- PLEASE read through the entire Diary before jumping in with a comment
Why The Visceral Outrage
I am guessing that many of Us are astounded at the 'visceral outrage' that this controversy has brought on. Please don't tell me the reason's why YOU personally are outraged, in all likelihood, I have already read it somewhere here For the time being though, let us all step back a little more than three years ago to July 24, 2004
It was kind of late at night and while I was committed to watching as much of the Convention, I have to admit that it was starting to lose me a bit. Then came the Keynote Address of the Convention. Like many here who watched it live, I was glued to the television, and by the end, I had shivers down my spine and tears rolling down my cheeks. I went upstairs to my wife (who was already in bed) and told her, still with tears in my eyes that I had just seen the First Black President of The United States of America
I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a 'fake memory' and so I went and found the original speech and watched it again. Yep, he was that good. If You don't have the time to watch the full 18 minutes of the speech, check out this summary.
If You watched that and have neither tears in Your eyes or some sense of either longing or hope or SOMETHING ... then go to another diary -- this one aint for You
For me, this video expresses why so many have weighed in on this issue. It is Our own "Audacity of Hope" in Barack Obama that has many of us expecting much from the man.
I am tempted to offer a comparison of What if Candidate X appeared with Performer/Person Y" But, without it becoming too 'off the rails' of a comparison, I admit it a somewhat difficult thing to achieve. But I think I may have come up with one. For those Hardcore Obama supporters, I want You to reflect on this comparison and say whether You would be outraged at all if Tom Tancredo appeared on stage with Prussian Blue
Before Going off on me. Take a moment and think about it. Is Prussian Blue that far off from Tom Tancredo as is Donnie McClurkin is from Barack Obama? To be clear -- I am NOT comparing McClurkin with Prussian Blue ... I am asking You if the difference between the Candidate and the "Performer" in each case is comparable. I think it is. And I think that if You would be reasonably outraged by Tancredo hosting Prussian Blue, it should be reasonable to ask You to, as a minimum, accept the outrage of those of us by Barack Obama's hosting Donnie McClurkin
What the Hell is with Barry Goldwater in the Title
Fair enough. First off, I want to state unequivocally, I have NO LOVE for Barry Goldwater, unlike some in the Democratic Party. He did however have something relevant to add to this conversation, I feel, when On September 16, 1981, Barry entered this into the congressional record(I assume as a speech on the Senate Floor):
However, on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C," and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism."
While I believe it is fair to compare the Religionists with some of the Critics of Obama, I have to wonder why our Legislators on either side of the aisle will not offer the words from the Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11:
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Why can't we extend this proposal to within these United States of America and have the Audacity of Hope to ask Senator Barack Obama, if he should appear with Donnie McClurkin, to condemn with the Strongest language the Homophobia of the Black and Black Christian Communities while on stage with McClurkin and to point out the hypocrisy it has when dealing with its own bigotry on this issue.