Huckabee on Wright

This sounds convoluted, but the plight of the Obama campaign is really not far from that of most ‘conventional’ religions. The only reason I draw that parallel is because my grandparents, whom are lovely and wise, often get on me because my spiritual beliefs are not in line with theirs.

While this is a highly involved subject, and an entry that will surface eventually, I think its relevant to what I do on the campaign, in terms of higher objectives, inevitable skepticism from others, and the people who say they are believers but refuse to truly commit.

In news, however, something totally unrelated other than it has to do with one pastor commenting on another, Mike Huckabee has an interesting take on Rev. Wright’s actions over the past weeks. Mike Huckabee is a former G.O.P candidate and Pastor, who brought a very insightful comment on the fiasco.
Now no matter what happens with Wright, it will never affect my vote. At this point, Obama supporters realize it is far removed from Barack Obama, and this spectacle is something that surely contradicts every expectation Obama had of his former pastor.

Huckabee reduces Rev. Wright’s press tout, and insistent refute of his comments and stance on the Black church to the fact that he needs to be right. Finally, Rev. Wright has the national stage to glorify the issues that he has been preaching on for years. If you ask me, that attention and opportunity went to his head and he’s discussing and forcing issues that are not only irrelevant but totally damaging to his cause.

Here is the link to the article (International Herald Tribune).
While I don’t believe that Rev. Wright wants Obama to lose the election so Rev. Wright can be proven right about all of his judged ‘prejudices’ and ‘outlandish comments’, I do believe that he is deathly afraid that his argument will lose strength, and in the process he will have lost a close friend and ally in his plight.

If Barack Obama wins, it will be a victory in so many ways. He has truly humble beginnings, he ran a progressive campaign that revolutionized how presidential campaigns could work, and he also championed those ‘racial attitudes’ we all keep bringing up.
He’ll also be living proof that there is hope, and that divide truly isn’t as large as we feel in our own lives sometimes, day-to-day.
That has potential to diminish Rev. Wright’s base for his comments, his outrage, and disposition.
At this point, he is only concerned about getting the attention he feels he deserves, and asking America “Can you handle the truth?”.

We know there is a divide. We know that even if Obama makes into office there will still be social segregation and racist attitudes. He’s worried that the less-involved American will breath a sigh of relief and forget those tensions, and even if they do, it doesn’t matter, because so many of us won’t. He needs to relax and reflect right now.

See, Wright is more concerned about being self-righteous and proven right, than making change or embracing hope. In that respect, he’s the opposition.

I hope Americans come to understand this.

Howard Zinn: Be apart of your country’s Democracy

Everyone should vote. Furthermore, everyone should be educated and active in the process.

This is really far beyond Howard Zinn, as Zinn is just a figure in American activism and academics who has really exemplified the type of attitudes we rarely see today. He was one of those people arrested on numerous occasions, taking risks most of us are unfamiliar with, and all for people other than himself, really. I guess there is an understood correlation that civic engagement translates into greater good even if the concentrated effort is for only one group at the time.

I guess its decently elementary that if you’re fighting for a minority’s civil rights, that in turn that establishes the standpoint that you deserve yours, because the basis is that everyone does.

Zinn’s point that I think carries over to modern democracy is the fact that you, as an individual, having a voice is democracy. The fact you have a system you can act within, is democracy. The fact that you don’t, means that you are responsible for handing it over to the people who do.

This also goes along the lines of Reverend Wright. While there is the overwhelming fact that those demographics sheltered from this sect of the Black community are shocked out of ignorance. They truly do not understand the context of Wright’s words against America and even that ‘white oppression”.
To add to that mix, as Michael Eric Dyson pointed out in his commentary on NPR, that these beliefs are widespread in the community and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. most certainly made equally as disruptive statements about the white community and state of our nation.
I always say this, but after working with at-risk youth in Pittsburgh Public Schools, 95% African American, I can say that no, those attitudes are not evaporated from our society. Whether that oppression is just left-over angst from generations past or there is true persecution, the fact is that Rev. Wright is not anti-American.

Also as Dyson so truly pointed out, Patriotism is taking pride in your country and working toward it’s utmost potential. Blind worship of your country, and rejection of criticism, is dogmatic Nationalism.
Rev. Wright obviously speaks from an impassioned, empathetic stance that correlates with the emotion and struggle of the most Urban of communities; whether that is fully accurate or right, is debatable, but perception is reality. The reality for those communities is something most of us outside of it can’t fully put into context.
Furthermore, just as a side note, Rev. Wright wasn’t DAMING America. He’s a Reverend, for crying out loud; that’s straight up blasphemy. He was saying that America is not clean, and its not pure, and it’s corruption has harmed many Urban populations. He associated the dynamic of America’s corruption to that of us all being damned for our ways. (“our” being a bit subjective)

EXAMPLE: Did you know that Pittsburgh City Schools has a 50% drop out rate? (Our city schools are about 80% Black, just for an idea) When these urban kids begin to fail, COUNSELORS are urging them TO DROP OUT.

WHY? Because as the current education system is set up, along with No Child Left Behind, school funding is based on group performance.
This isn’t that bizarre, if you are actually familiar with depressed, urban areas. If your child was told to drop out of school, and they had to resort to street life, you might have a different perspective on where community leaders like Rev. Wright are coming from.
His sentiment is not much different than any skeptic, whether it be a Libertarian or Anarchist, criticizing America’s negligence to people, and allegiance to big business and bought interests.

Obama was living and working in a community with many walks of life, and he tried to be helpful to many, and salvage those who had resorted to ‘other ways’. Was he supposed to turn his back and reject a great man, and people with potential, because of these inbittered things they were saying? He couldn’t. Because he knew deep down, Rev. Wright’s heart was in the right place.
Rev. Wright is concerned about the fate of our society.

People like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired many, but had more enemies, and was not a popular man.  Barack Obama’s stance on our United States is not the most popular one. Any true change, especially a good one, has come out of taking a stance that was right no matter its popularity, and be willing to make sacrifices.
He believes we should be making sacrifices if we truly want to reform our biggest social woes, whether it be war or education.  He recognizes this isn’t easy, as does his counterparts.

By running for office you can be sure that Obama is willing to die for this cause, just as many great leaders before him predicted and went through that fate. We all hope it won’t come to that; but the fact he is putting his entire future career on the line, putting his ideals on the line, and virtually his life, he is showing us he’s ready to make sacrifices.

I guess that is what compels me to volunteer for his campaign. We can’t keep living a life of ignorance and excess if we plan on implementing policies and morals for the better of our society.
To those people who don’t feel compelled to volunteer, I wonder if they still feel it is okay to complain about the events in our country, in our world. For those who do more for themselves than anyone else, I wonder if they realize that there are people who have died for them.
I wonder if they know what our nation lost the day our greatest leaders of the 20th century were killed.
Do they know what its like to be a soldier that has decided to give up their life for these ideals that we take for granted back home.

Every time I get incredibly discouraged, one rude voter after the next, I have to challenge myself to think about these things. I have to remember that in Venezuela people wait in line 7 hours to vote, in Kenya they are dying so they can have fair elections, and in Tibet they are rioting so they have the right to practice their own culture.

Even on our worst day, we’re lucky.

Democracy isn’t voting, it’s the right to have a voice, whether in social work or a union hall.  No matter what it is, I hope you get involved.

Those are my thoughts for now

Cheers