Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

How many Rev. Jeremiah Wrights does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

If you're expecting the punchline of this joke, I can't give you it but if you change the joke to "How Many Jeremiah Wright's Does It Take To Screw In A Barack Obama" the answer is one. That's all it takes. Jeremiah Wright is proving this by his unwillingness to remove himself from the mainstream media's spotlight long enough for the election to be over and then come out with the interviews and defend himself and exercise his 1st Amendment Right. When I look back on Obama's Speech on Race last month, I specifically remember Obama defending Wright to a certain degree. He implied that Rev. Wright came from a different time and lived in different set of realities in his lifetime and to dismiss everything he's been through would be to not even attempt to understand why he said the things he was caught on tape saying. He didn't throw the man under the bus. Obama very bravely put principle before political convenience. Apparently this was not good enough for Jeremiah Wright.

There's no doubt Rev. Wright has been getting a ton of attention and his personal stock will never be greater or at a higher premium than it is now. I get that. All that said, his own personal hurt feelings aren't greater than the Black Church as an institution and he shouldn't be throwing rocks as a singular entity and then running behind 'the black church's skirt' as he as been. He doesn't represent the black church wholesale. There certainly is a faction of the black church that acts, talks and follows his suit but Jeremiah Wright can't say the entire infrastructure is being attacked because of his lone stances and quotes made as an individual speaking on behalf of himself . You wanna know how I can say he was speaking on behalf of himself? Because even if you play some of the clips from his sermon the Sunday after Sept. 11, if you watch the crowd and the people standing behind him as he goes into Jeremiah Wright Mode, not every stands up. Not everyone applauds. Not everybody is overcome with emotion in agreement. Some are but a lot aren't. Jeremiah Wright can't possibly speak for the black church if he can't speak completely for his OWN church. (See the video below for confirmation of the divided nature of his congregation)

The larger point is Barack Obama's candidacy for the United States of America is bigger than Jeremiah Wright. Obama's message of solidarity antiquates Jeremiah Wright. If Obama was any close friend, or person of reasonable acquaintance he should have the character to bite his tongue for the next couple months and then speak on his own behalf. The Reverend needs to play like his last name and publish a book; a LONG book; a book that should take him a few months to write. That would be the right thing to do if you feel you haven't been sufficiently defended or represented. Giving the media more bad soundbytes does little to help your cause or Obama's so why continue upon this trail? I'm beginning to think you're on the Clinton Payroll.

Point check, this campaign isn't about you. This isn't about God. This isn't about the black church. It's about the guy in those soundbytes from 2001 who said those things that created such an uproar. Find me a mirror and I'll introduce you two. Stop making what you said and your problems into other people or other faction's problems. You're in your late 60's. You really ought to know and show better.