Election '08 by Gus, Part 8

My predictions:

North Carolina: Obama 57, Clinton 43
Indiana: Clinton 52, Obama 48

Since I last posted, the Rev. Wright has popped back up again. What's wrong with Wright?

Let's suppose you are a black man who has spent his entire adult life championing the cause of the Black population in this country. If you were such a man, it's difficult to think of something that would be more healing/empowering for the Black population as a whole than the prospect of a thoughtful, charismatic Black man being elected the first Black President. And so one might think you would do everything in your power to help that election happen.

Not so the Rev Wright.

And one might further think that if you were possessed of a number of highly controversial publicly stated views that would alienate a significant portion of the electorate, you might try to keep those views temporarily under wraps while the election process was happening.

Not so the Rev Wright.

One might think further still that if you had continued to go public with your controversial views, you would understand intellectually why your fellow Black man would have to distance himself from you, and might even be flattered when he refused publicly to completely disown you, and out of a sense of mutual respect, try to keep your piehole shut for just a few months while he tries to get himself elected.

Not so the Rev. Wright.

The other option, of course, is to mouth off pretty much as often as the press will allow you to, because your hypersensitive ego has been bruised and you feel betrayed that your friend didn't commit political hari-kari tripping over himself to be loyal to you regardless of how bizarre your opinions are, thereby contributing to a culture of victimization that paralyzes rather than helps the Black community confront and resolve the many legitimate issues that it disproportionately faces, and imperiling the realization of a historic milestone for the Black community.

Note to the Rev. Wright: if you actually want to do something constructive for the Black community overall, and your congregation in particular, sit down and shut the fuck up. Every time you open your damnfool mouth, you delay the day we'll finally have a society like the one Dr. King dreamed of. I mean, it's certainly your prerogative to exercise your right to free speech, but I have a right to walk across the 101 blindfolded in rush hour traffic, and I don't exercise it. Why? BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FUCKING STUPID, THAT'S WHY. Like your continuing to talk. I'm just saying...