Published: May 07, 2008 05:35 pm            

ALBATYS: Obama learns we truly are judged by company we keep

Well, it seems that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has finally seen the light. It took 20 years, countless sermons and several recent nationally televised interviews with his controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for Obama to realize there is something fundamentally wrong with Wright’s message.

Obama in a recent speech condemned Rev. Wright’s comments saying that “they were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church. They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs.”

It is hard for most people not to be offended by Wright’s message. He has suggested that the government used AIDS as a weapon against minorities. He has shown support for the racist views of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Obama, who has tried to distance himself from his own youthful association with Islam, cannot afford to be seen as supportive, even by association, of the radical Islamic leader.

The Rev. Wright has said that terrorist attacks on America are a direct result of America’s own terrorist foreign policy. In all fairness, Wright’s premise on America’s foreign policy is one that might be seen as having some merit if separated from his ridiculous radical views.

In any case, the last thing Barack Obama needs at this stage of the campaign is to have to share the spotlight with his former pastor.

The big question in most peoples minds is whether Obama’s change of heart is sincere or the product of political necessity. It seems to many that Obama has become the very same politician he has so often criticized in the past.

Without question, Rev. Wright is entitled to his opinions. He is no stranger to controversy. Although one could question his apparent disregard for his old friend and congregant. It seems disturbing to me that Wright is self centered enough to be willing to compromise Obama’s historic candidacy for an opportunity to air his own views on the world stage.

The problem, for Obama, is his own willingness, over a 20-year period to support Wright’s radical views. It seems to many that Obama should have seen through Wright years ago. How can a man as unquestionably intelligent as Barack Obama listen to this man for twenty years and keep coming back for more? Only when there was no other choice was he willing to distance himself from Wright.

Rev. Wright has become a tremendous political liability. Every time he opens his mouth Obama loses votes. A friend of mine said it best when he said “the Clintons couldn’t have a better friend than Jeremiah Wright.”

In a few months, the Democratic party will have to choose our Presidential candidate. Neither candidate is likely to have the necessary delegates to win the nomination. The choice will be left to the super delegates. Their job will be to choose a candidate that has the best chance of winning in the fall.

Obama, who has lost the primaries in most of the power states, including the all important contests in Pennsylvania and Indiana, is clearly on the defensive. Five times he has had the chance to win the nomination. Five times he has come up short. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton, looking resolved and confident, gains support. Most Americans can’t help but admire her “never say die” attitude.

For the first time in decades the voters in Indiana and Kentucky have a voice in the Democratic Primary. But it comes at a time when our party is more divided than ever. Not only between Clinton and Obama but between the faction that wants Rev. Wright to shut up and those of us, in the Clinton camp, that hope he keeps on talking.

If there is a lesson for Barack Obama in all of this, it is that there is truth in the old adage “we are judged by the company we keep.”

Andrew J. Albatys is a Henryville resident. He can be reached via e-mail at douglassloop@aol.com.

        

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