Does Obama Know Wright From Wrong?

I’m generally not the type to condemn by association. Public officials and office seekers can’t always be held accountable for the statements, views and actions of those around them, whether they are family members, campaign contributors, political allies or advisors. An official is entitled to agree with some, but not all of an associate’s views without completely disassociating his or herself from that person.
It’s different with Brack Obama and his controversial pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. What’s at issue here is not whether whether Obama shares Wright’s bigoted and unpatriotic views. Clearly he does not.
The issue instead is one of moral courage. Acknowledging that he has been a member of Wright’s church for 20 years, the senator also admits that he’s been in the church at times when some of these offensive statements, which I won't repeat here, (Google him) were made. As a private citizen, what exception he may have taken with the pastor is between the two of them. As a man aspiring to be our commander-in-chief and chief executive of our nation, it is incumbent on him to detail whether he, as a prominent congregant and public official, he confronted the preacher about those views and tried to change them, and why he never considered leaving the church as a form of protest. Was this the best voice for his impressionable young daughters to hear at church? Did he offer those daughters an alternative view at home?
The cynics among us will assume that Obama did not cause a stir at this prominent Chicago religious stronghold because it was politically important to be associated with it as a candidate and to greet his constituents there as a state legislator and later as a senator. And Obama hasn't given much cause not to view things cynically.
In his latest, excellent commentary Ed Koch says he is “dumbfounded that there has been no drop in Barack Obama’s standing in the polls following revelations that he sat in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years and did nothing, publicly or privately, to voice disagreement with Wright’s hate speech. Indeed, Obama’s poll numbers are going up. The most recent CNN national poll shows Obama with 50 percent and Hillary with 40 percent of likely Democratic voters.”
A Hillary Clinton supporter, Koch contrasts the Wright controversy with that dogging Clinton, that she lied about coming under “sniper fire” during her visit to Bosnia as first lady 12 years ago (as if the U.S. military and Secret Service would really have allowed such a dangerous situation.)
The Wright controversy was worse, says Koch, because “Hillary's failure, as gross as it may be, is related to self promotion. Barack's failure, in my judgment, is an out-and-out failure of moral strength.”
It’s unlikely we’re still looking at a contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama because everyone but the senator and her husband knows her campaign is a sinking ship. So it’s all-but-certain that war hero Republican John McCain, who showed the strongest courage and fortitude when he was tested, will face off against a Democrat who apparently couldn’t muster some backbone under far less trying circumstances.
In the last two elections, the better candidate clearly lost. This time, the Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.

At Least He Was A Man About It

As a former prosecutor, Eliot Spitzer surely understood how strong the case against him was and how small the likelihood that he could beat the rap after he was identified to the media as client 9 in the investigation of a high-priced call girl operation.
So it stands to reason the soon-to-be ex-governor wasn’t offering any of that “I will be vindicated” garbage or even hedging his bets by saying “these are only allegations.”
But it’s good to see that he didn’t come up with any wimpy sidestepping of blame or feigning illness or disability like some other recent public figures. Remember Florida Congressman Mark Foley, who entered rehab claiming alcoholism, saying it was the Evil Bottle that made him send lewd text messages to underage interns? Mel Gibson also played the drunk card after his anti-Semitic ramblings hit the airwaves. Winona Ryder claimed she was doing research for a role when she was caught pinching merchandise from a Rodeo Drive clothing store, and “Who” rocker Pete Townshend tried a similar lame alibi when caught accessing online kid porn.
Former New Yok chief judge Sol Wachtler blamed mental illness on his compulsive harassment of a former lover, and in that case he may be right, but he should've gotten help before it reached crisis mode.
Spitzer has made a mess out of his life and, worse, those of his wife and kids, not to mention legislators and aides in Albany who must work overtime to keep the state budget process on track during an unexpected transition. Whether he was driven to ruin by arrogant overconfidence or a subconscious desire to trip himself up, Spitzer has displayed a recklessness beyond words.
But he deserves a No Alibis award for taking his lumps, blaming no one else, admitting that he violated his own principles and apologizing to his family and the people of the state. Let’s hope he serves as a role model in that regard, at least.