It was said months ago that the media was not being hard enough on Barack Obama. It was purported that somehow Hillary Clinton was getting all the scrutiny, and that he was getting a free ride in the press coverage. After this repeated assertion from Hillary and her surrogates, the media responded by bowing to her wishes. They put more and more efforts in attempting to dig up dirt on Obama. Unable to find any scandal or disgrace to report on, they decided to instead attack his relationship with his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. We were repeatedly shown clips of him saying things like "America's chickens are coming home to roost" and "God damn America!" If you took these heavily edited videos at face value as they were run and re-run on the nightly news, you would immediately begin to question Senator Obama's patriotism. How could anyone who claims to be a patriot go to church every Sunday and listen to anti-American rhetoric? As has been said by many pundits, why did he not just "walk out"?
I will admit that I shared these same doubts and misgivings when I heard these remarks. I started to question the opinion of Obama that I had formulated. Could a man who claims he wants the best for America actually have a close relationship with someone who spews such hate towards it?
It wasn't until I was urged by a friend to watch the unedited version of those sermon clips that I understood the massive editing job that had been done. When Reverend Wright talked about the "chickens coming home to roost" he was referring to an interview with Ambassador Edward Peck on FOX News. In Wright's sermon, his point in quoting Ambassador Peck was to point out that those words, which were originally Malcolm X's, were being quoted by a white ambassador, not a militant black man. He was referring to the growing number of people who are dissatisfied with American policy, foreign AND domestic. Past and present. He wanted to point out that it wasn't just a black man preaching against violence towards other cultures, but a former ambassador to Iraq, a white man.
Taken out of context, this quote has the OPPOSITE meaning! That would be like me saying:
"I hate racism. Just the other day I heard a man say 'I hate Hispanic people.'"
but edited:
"I hate Hispanic people."
Taken out of context it has a completely different meaning. But the media has given no thought as to determining the context of Wright's remarks.
Check it out for yourself:
The other quote they play is Wright saying "God damn America!" What they don't show is the context of that quote. Again, taken out of context it sounds like he is anti-American. But if you watch the whole clip, he is trying to make the point that our history of putting Native Americans on reservations, putting Japanese in interment camps, and enslaving Africans is akin to the American government playing God. In that context he says "No no no, not God bless America, God damn America!" for it's reprehensible domestic human rights record. While it may not be the way some would choose to phrase such an opinion, I don't think anyone would disagree to condemning that portion of our history.
Check it out for yourself:
What amazes me even more is that while we are busy trying to bring down Obama for having a fiery and opinionated preacher, but are paying hardly an attention to Hillary's blatant lies about her trip to Bosnia:
At least Obama is truthful in saying that at times his pastor's remarks were heated and contradictory to his own beliefs. Instead of trying to slander Obama by proxy, let's focus on the complete fabrications that Hillary is passing off as "experience". If she is lying about her Bosnia trip to bolster her credentials, what else is she lying about? How many times will she lie to us as president, and about what?
I say that it is time to once again turn the spotlight of scrutiny back on the candidate who has backpedaled on her stance on NAFTA, has been passive-aggresive in her criticism of other candidates, and made up a story of "arriving under sniper fire" simply to boost public opinion of her "experience". Ever since Hillary accused Obama of getting a "free ride," the media has been clamoring to prove otherwise. In the meantime, they have had to soften their criticisms of her in order to appear "fairer". Let's bring back objectivity in the press. Let's hold Hillary accountable for the things she says, in the same way that we hold Obama accountable for his relationship with Reverend Wright.
6 comments:
I would love to see the context for the USofKKKA.
And, incidentally, the other two parts of God's three part revelation in the first clip.
Mr. Garment, you rock.... That is all.
So Obama gets butthurt once and all of a sudden the media is giving Hillary special treatment.
Have you seen the news the past few days? (CBS News and other outlets have been running clips of her visit to Bosnia and questioning her experience) Have you heard the things conservatives have said about Hillary since 1992? (The conservative wing of the Republican Party has been denouncing media bias in support of the Clintons for many years now.)
You are taking an "Us vs. Them" attitude and projecting yourself into this campaign and personalizing it. No matter how many times you hear the word "hope", the campaign is not about you or me personally. This campaign is a fight for the direction of the country for the next four to eight years.
This little flare-ups amongst Democrats do nothing to engender either liberal candidate to the "average" American.
Obama got spanked on his pastor. Now, it looks like many are trying to get some measure of revenge against Hillary for some perceived injustice.
Many have said it before me. I'll say it again loud and clear: "HUMANS ARE SUBJECTIVE CREATURES. COMING TO AN OBJECTIVE CONCLUSION MEANS YOU MUST USE SUBJECTIVE ANALISYS. USING SUBJECTIVE ANALISYS AND CLAIMING TO BE OBJECTIVE IS A FALLACY."
What exactly does butthurt mean?
Had you read the entire post, you would have seen that I have indeed been watching the news, the last video clip is the CBS clip that you refer to. I think that must realize that while YOU may not think that this campaign is about you or me personally, I believe that it is. Every day the trillion plus dollars we dump into Iraq annually affects our economy, and therefore affects me. And yes, I am personalizing this campaign, because the "direction of the country for the next four to eight years" directly affects me. With McCain in office, there's no telling how far our country's standing on the global stage will fall. There's no telling how long millions of people will be struggling to pay their bills while the republicans give our tax revenue back to the rich as tax cuts.
As far as Hillary vs. Obama, I believe that the scandals brought up about her are legitimate, but get little coverage. The "scandals" about Obama are not even about HIM! I mean, if I am to be judged by the pastor who preaches at my church, then who is to say that I should not in turn be judged by the people I work for, or the actions of my friends and family.
As far as being objective, I am not claiming to be objective. This is my opinion. I realize I am highly subjective in what I say. I actually am "hope"ful enough to actually believe that a candidate wants to change business as usual in the government. I like the idea of making the government more transparent. Hillary is like painting your Yugo (our government) a new color. It may look different, but in all practicality, it's still a piece of crap. Obama is like buying a brand new fuel-efficient car. It looks different, it runs great, and it makes you excited to drive (be an American) again.
Thanks for your comment!
-Robbie
when am I gonna get to read a new entry?!
They report what they want to report not the truth
It is never about the truth... just ratings
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