The Wright Problem

See, now, I've got a whole 'nother take on the whole thing. To me, this is the most brilliant political move I've seen in decades, and, yes, I've been paying attention. First off, of course, Obama knew well before he threw his hat into the ring that the Reverend Wright was going to be an issue. Take that as a given. I know some people consider Obama naive, but he came up through Chicago politics. No one gets anywhere there unless they're pretty fucking savvy. So, the question is, what to do? Well, you come up with a plan. First, the most incendiary/controversial comments from the Reverend that you can come up with get blasted all over the Internet and cable TV. You make an inspiring (and, yes, it truly was) speech about race in America, and you denounce the comments while refusing to denounce the man. You use this as an opportunity to try to raise the level of debate, which, of course, fails to register anywhere in the media or punditry for more than thirty seconds of of 24-hour news day. But, it's out there. Some people are going to "get it" right off the bat, and consider the issue closed. Others, however, are going to have lingering questions about your association with this "nutjob." So, the next step is to create an opportunity to sever ties. The Reverend goes out one weekend and says more crazy shit. You show up the next day, remorseful and hurt to have to turn your back on the man who is a shadow of his former self... Now, there can be no question as to your relationship, as it is over. You have loudly and publicly divorced yourself of this whackjob. Everybody, the media, the pundits, Obama himself, looks at the Reverend as a sad case of what can happen when you let momentary fame and progressive insanity get a hold on you. It's fucking perfect. Come November, sure, McBush is gonna trot out the "God damn America" footage, but by then, the only people who are going to be swayed by it are those who wouldn't vote for a "fucking ni**er" anyway. Neutralized the threat. Anyone who doesn't think Obama's got his political chops has their head straight up their ass, IMHO.