Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht

Friday, March 28, 2008

Brilliant?

Jennifer Rubin over at Commentary's blog contentions picks up on something that's been bothering me about the whole Obama-Rev. Wright thing.

In his big speech in Philly, Obama essentially excused Wright by saying that he'd grown up under different circumstances and that his "static" views on race were thereby understandable, if still wrongheaded. It's a nice rhetorical move, even if Wright grew up quite comfortably and even if Obama's "distancing" coincided precisely with his presidential ambitions, but it doesn't quite square with the idea that Wright is somehow "brilliant," does it?

In my mind, if someone's pretty smart, they have the capacity to look beyond their own particularities (never perfectly, of course) and do better than Wright has done - he seems stuck in 1968. All goes to the idea that Obama's really just playing games here (and was probably playing games with his embrace of Trinity UCC). Just another pol, I suppose.

1 comment:

Tom Van Dyke said...

Just another pol? Yah, that's where I'm ending up. You can find some Jesus in all sorts of places on a Sunday in Chicago. Only Trinity offered both Jesus and a ton of votes.

Y'know, I'm told Sen. Obama is brilliant, too. Editor of Harvard Law Review and all, no small honor.

But it's such a fine line between stupid and clever, to quote the equally brilliant Spinal Tap.