Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Wake up and feel the glaring heat of national scrutiny.

Michelle Obama lifted the lid on the irritation felt by the leading Democrat candidate for the White House at the way anti-American outbursts by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have dogged his campaign. … .. Her husband was thinking “I can’t let my ego, my anger, my frustration get in the way of the ultimate goal,” she said. “Barack has been characterised as many things that have nothing to do with who he is.” … .. Michelle Obama: Barack has hit boiling point

Hillary’s been there, done that more than once, with the sequels ongoing. I
can only imagine how the Obamas would have reacted with some of the stuff the
right-wing threw at the Clintons in the 1990s. Murderers!, which came
from one of their reverends. Drug dealers! Illegitimate child!
Hillary and Vince Foster! You name it, it was slung. So forgive me
if I find Michelle Obama’s lifting the lid on their irritation falling
on unsympathetic ears.

There’s another problem, Obama isn’t the nominee yet. There seems to be just
a tad bit of entitlement creeping in because Senator Obama has run a terrific
campaign, which he has. But he hasn’t reached the delegate promised land just yet. Someone needs to alert Michelle Obama.
Perhaps Mrs. Obama should also keep that in mind when bellyaching about not being
able to hit McCain, because Obama is still in the nomination fight of his life.

The other issue is that Senator Obama brought this on himself. We pick the
people with whom we associate. He nor Michelle can blame the media or anyone
else for his choice of political godfather, Tony Rezko, or for the fact that
long after other Chicagoans walked away from Rezko, Obama took help from the
indicted thug in getting his big house. Nor can the Obamas blame anyone else
for associating the William Ayers. Seriously, it’s not about Obama being a baby
when Ayers started his domestic terrorism career. It’s that the Senator didn’t
seem to understand what an association like this would mean to a politician
seeking higher office. Naive doesn’t come close to it. As for Rev. Jeremiah
Wright, choosing the church as a political base was a jumping off point for
Obama’s ambitions. That’s understandable. But twenty years is a very long time
to keep ignoring the obvious. Rev. Wright’s good works are one thing, but his
anti-American hate speech is quite another. Even after the YouTubes surfaced
it took weeks more before Obama got the message. A little slow on the uptake,
if you ask me.

Oprah got it in a heart beat.

… ..According to two sources, Winfrey was never comfortable with the tone of Wright’s more incendiary sermons, which she knew had the power to damage her standing as America’s favorite daytime talk-show host. “Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost,” said one longtime friend, who requested anonymity when discussing Winfrey’s personal sentiments. “She’s always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn’t be smart. She’s been around black churches all her life, so Reverend Wright’s anger-filled message didn’t surprise her. But it just wasn’t what she was looking for in a church.” Oprah’s decision to distance herself came as a surprise to Wright, who told Christianity Today in 2002 that when he would “run into her socially … she would say, ‘Here’s my pastor!’ ” (Winfrey declined to comment. A Harpo Productions spokesperson would not confirm her reasons for leaving the church.) … .. Something Wasn’t Wright Why Oprah Winfrey left Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church.

So my advice to the Obamas is to chill out. First, this isn’t over yet. They’ve
got other worries presently besides bad press. Like winning tomorrow, because if Hillary cuts
Obama’s once sure fire double-digit victory in North Carolina down to size,
then wins Indiana, the lid on Obama’s irritation, pushed by his ego,
anger and frustration could blow the candidate’s cool sky high.

Graphic via an email from TM reader pmichael.